INCLUSIVENESS BECAUSE WE CAN

Aspects of discourses and praxes of inclusion,

with a focus on education

Sergio Saleem Scatolini

Milton A. George
Yasmin Hikmat Hannouna
Editors

Oman ~ Euro-Khaleeji ~ 2017

Copyright 2017 Euro-Khaleeji Research and Publishing House, Oman

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First Edition: 2017

ISBN 978-1-365-64225-8
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Contents
The articles
by Milton A. George.......................................................................................................................... vi
Inclusion as an existential project
by Sergio Saleem Scatolini................................................................................................................ xi
Inclusion can mean many things ................................................................................................. xi
Inclusive education......................................................................................................................xvii
The need for new narratives and praxis .................................................................................... xx
The current neo-liberal backdrop.............................................................................................xxii
To be or not to be inclusive ...................................................................................................... xxiii
References ..................................................................................................................................... xxv
The Role of Students Class Habitus in Shaping Future Professional Trajectories
by Akhtar Hassan Malik & Anes E. Abdelrahim Mohamed ................................................................ 27
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 28
Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 30
Discussion ........................................................................................................................................ 31
Concluding remarks ...................................................................................................................... 39
References ....................................................................................................................................... 41
Cultura: de la colonialidad a la descolonizacin
by Alexis Oviedo............................................................................................................................... 42
Cultura, colonialismo and colonialidad ..................................................................................... 43
La cultura entre el neoliberalismo y la decolonialidad ........................................................... 46
La cultura y la descolonizacin en el contexto intercultural-plurinacional ecuatoriano 50
Conclusiones ................................................................................................................................... 55
Bibliografa ...................................................................................................................................... 56
Evaluation of low vision devices used at Makkah Eye Complex
by Enas Elsiddig Abd Alla & Mohammed Elhassan A. Alawad ........................................................... 58
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 58
Aim of the study ............................................................................................................................. 59
Objectives of the study .................................................................................................................. 59
Subjects and Methods ................................................................................................................... 59
Results .............................................................................................................................................. 60
Discussion ........................................................................................................................................ 62
Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................... 63
References ....................................................................................................................................... 64

iii

Developing depth of knowledge in ESL through experiential learning

by Jacques Mostert & Margarita Georgieva ....................................................................................... 65
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 66
Depth of Knowledge ....................................................................................................................... 67
The Learner-Centered Approach as key to Depth of Knowledge .......................................... 68
Cycle of Experiential Learning ..................................................................................................... 74
Concrete Experiences .................................................................................................................... 75
Reflective Observation................................................................................................................... 76
Abstract Conceptualization .......................................................................................................... 77
Active Experimentation ................................................................................................................ 78
Teaching activities that support experiential learning ........................................................... 78
Experiential Learning in Action: Three Case Studies ............................................................... 79
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 85
References........................................................................................................................................ 88
Developing a Conversation Class from Scratch: Lessons learned in Kandahar
by John Richard ONeil ..................................................................................................................... 90
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 90
Preface .............................................................................................................................................. 91
Student Profiles .............................................................................................................................. 93
Making a syllabus ........................................................................................................................... 94
The Curriculum ............................................................................................................................... 96
Roundtable Discussion Questions: Tradition ..........................................................................101
Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................105
References......................................................................................................................................106
Effective Classroom Management Strategies for Educational Practice
by Mehmet zcan .......................................................................................................................... 107
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................107
Definition of classroom management .......................................................................................109
Effective classroom management ..............................................................................................111
References......................................................................................................................................116
Barriers to Girl Education in Walled City, Lahore
by Saima Ali & Meezan Zahra Khawaja .......................................................................................... 118
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................118
States National and International Commitment to Education............................................120
Research Rationale and Objective .............................................................................................122
Barriers to Girl Education: Literature Review .........................................................................123
Barriers to Girl Education in Walled City, Lahore: A Case Study of Barkat Jan Girls
School .............................................................................................................................................126
Cultural Norms and other inhibiting factors for Girl Education.........................................131

iv

Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 133

References ..................................................................................................................................... 134
Nativeness: Social, cognitive or evaluative fallacy?
by A.S.M. Shamim Miah ................................................................................................................. 135
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 135
On the definition of Native speaker.......................................................................................... 137
What makes a native speaker native? ...................................................................................... 139
Theoretical perspective into native-like attainment through SLA ................................... 140
Against the notion of native speaker ....................................................................................... 144
Sociolinguistic and Psycholinguistic Implications ................................................................ 146
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 147
References ..................................................................................................................................... 148
An assessment of coherence in the translation of prophetic traditions (adth) with
pedagogical implications
by Yasmin Hikmat Hannouna ........................................................................................................ 151
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 151
Religious text: adth .................................................................................................................. 153
Previous translations of Hadth into English .......................................................................... 154
The concept of coherence .......................................................................................................... 155
Cohesion and Coherence in Translation .................................................................................. 156
Parallelism ..................................................................................................................................... 158
Theoretical models of coherence .............................................................................................. 159
Textual Coherence: Analysis and Assessment ........................................................................ 164
References ..................................................................................................................................... 183
Appendix 1 .................................................................................................................................... 185
Appendix (2).................................................................................................................................. 186
Appendix (3).................................................................................................................................. 187
A review of changing trends in evaluation of teachers
professional development studies
by Zafar Iqbal Khattak & Saiqa Imtiaz Asif ..................................................................................... 188
The Need for Teachers Professional Development ............................................................... 188
Review of the Related Studies.................................................................................................... 191
Discussion ...................................................................................................................................... 206
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 206
References ..................................................................................................................................... 207

The articles
Milton A. George
KU Leuven, Belgium, & University of Buraimi, Oman

This collection of articles is not meant for pure theoreticians. The contributions
rather seek to join inclusion-related discourses and praxes among practitioners,
decision-makers, and educators.

Sergio Saleem Scatolini, Inclusion as an existential project

Scatolinis paper briefly introduces this book by underlining some aspects of the
overall concept of inclusion, as well as some ways in which inclusiveness can be
envisaged, with special reference to inclusion in education. The author suggests
that inclusion had better be approached as something which we must freely opt
for and adhere to as a shared existential project. In other words, inclusive ideals
are not founded upon some sort of quasi-physical ethical law, which the UN
managed to encapsulate in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Inclusive
models and schemes are dependent upon humanist and humane social contracts,
namely upon the choices of individuals within communities who would like to
evolve in ways which are determined neither by the view that might is right nor by
staunch neoliberalism.

Akhtar Hassan Malik & Anes E. Abdelrahim Mohamed, The Role of Students Class
Habitus in Shaping Future Professional Trajectories
According to Malik and Mohamed, habitus denotes a social process of matching
dispositions to the positions in the social hierarchy. Individuals learn to play the
role that fits with his or her status according to their place within the social
structure. This helps people to accept their position in social life and to see it as

vi

that for which they are suited; in some case, as that for which they were born (e.g.
in caste systems). Although it is not common to see a great number of people
challenging the system, education can empower them to do this and thereby to
escape their presumed given role and even excel. Education for all should,
therefore, allow people to grow out of the imperative of their habitus. Gender and
poverty should not keep the underprivileged at the bottom of the food chain
because the powers-that-be that benefit from the structure have said so. On the
contrary, education ~especially inclusive education~ can and should demand
growth in all facets of peoples lives, both within and beyond the dominant social
structures. In most cases, the rich assume that it is enough to have family capital
to attain to success.

Alexis Oviedo, Culture: De la colonialidad a la descolonizacin

Oviedo argues that culture and identity are shaped by different structural
systems. They are both dynamic and static at the same time. For the author,
colonialidad, or coloniality, and modernity are two sides of the same coin. They
endorse a Eurocentric approach to culture, where culture is opposed to nature.
The other ~i.e. the non-European~ is seen as exotic. His or her knowledge is
superstition, and his or her art is perceived as folklore. Oviedos article elaborates
on some emerging concepts such as decolonization, interculturality, and
plurinationality, which can lead to new perspectives of culture.

Enas Elsiddig Abd Alla & Mohammed Elhassan A. Alawad, Evaluation of low vision
devices used at Makkah Eye Complex
Abd Alla and Alawad did not focus directly on education, but they touched upon
one of the factors which count as special educational needs, namely low vision. In
their research, they evaluated the low vision devices used at Makkah Eye Complex
in the period 2005 2006. The participants were categorized according to different
criteria, and the findings indicate that more than half of them showed successful
improvements.

vii

Jacques Mostert & Margarita Georgieva, Developing Depth of Knowledge in ESL

through Experiential Learning
Mostert and Georgieva argue that education is placed under pressure to produce
graduates who are immediately competitive in demanding technologically
advanced economies. They plead for a more learner-centred approach which can
scaffold the process of planning, researching, drawing conclusions, and deriving
new knowledge. Without these skills and competencies, learners cannot reveal the
depth of their knowledge. The link between the learners and their environment is
the bridge to experiential learning. Moreover, in their article, the authors
describe four methods of experiential learning: concrete experience, abstract
shared attributes, reflective observation, and active experimentation. Their
approach can help to understand the different steps that can be taken to deepen
knowledge.

John Richard ONeil, Developing a conversation class from scratch: Lessons learned in
Kandahar
John ONeil placed his faith in creating an environment where he could develop a
Conversation Class from Scratch in Afghanistan. His article allows others to catch
a glimpse of lessons that he learned in Kandahar. ONeil did not want to give hope
beyond hope itself, but aimed to include whoever wanted to be challenged to
think, express themselves, and change. In his lessons, the writer encouraged
optimism in a place where optimism may seem more warranted as most believe
that great injustice has been done to them.

Mehmet zcan, Effective Classroom Management Strategies for Educational Practice

zcan focuses on ways to manage the classroom in a constantly changing setting,
especially thanks to technology, parents education, and social and economic
factors. The writer is of the opinion that classroom management is one of the
critical aspects of education. Moreover, the ability to manage classroom
environments and hold positive outcomes mostly depends on teachers ability.

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Saima Ali & Meezan Zahra Khawaja, Barriers to Girl Education in Walled City of
Lahore
Ali and Khawaja reflect on education as a key to brighter futures. For them,
education is the way to increase the know-how and productivity of individuals so
that they can become skilled workforce, without whom no modern economy can
grow towards sustainable economic development. Emphasizing girl education in
the tribal and rural areas of Pakistan, they highlight the role of laws and rights in
the struggle to enhance the position of girls and women. The glass ceiling has not
been broken yet; therefore, the authors wish to help us to understand the barriers
which stand in the way of the poor, especially the girl-child with basic primary
education, and prevent them from reaching higher levels of wellbeing.
Unfortunately, the State continues to fall short of the promotion of respect for
and protection of the Rights of the Child to Education to which it has committed
itself through national and international treaties and projects.

A.S.M. Shamim Miah, Nativeness: social, cognitive or evaluative fallacy

Education is the vessel to the change we want. Its influence can help us engineer
many hopeful futures. However, education is more than teaching. It includes
presuppositions, curricular choices, methodologies, and different aspects of
classroom practices. Issues such as nativeness, which is inherent in descriptions of
people as native, near-native, non-native speakers and teachers, are both
inclusive and exclusive. For Shamim Miah, nativeness in reference to Second
Language Acquisition (SLA) theories is not as obvious as many would like to think.
In the global village, the Queens English has become English as an International
Language, even World Engishes. In such a decentered context, any discussion
about native speakers will be based on inclusive and exclusive social, cognitive,
and evaluative presuppositions. Additionally, it may also be asked if and when
non-native speakers can attain the levels of language proficiency which can be
termed as being native or near native. Any answer will necessarily imply juggling
with objective parameters as well as value judgements touching upon identity and
a myriad of other linguistic, cultural, ethnic, and/or political variables.

ix

Yasmin Hikmat Hannouna, An assessment of coherence in the translation of Prophetic

Traditions (adth) with Pedagogical Implications
In this article, Yasmin Hannouna deals with the English translation of a few short
Arabic texts from the Islamic Prophetic literature, or adth. The author
highlights the importance of assessing the coherence inherent in the source texts.
To her, coherence is among the most crucial properties of text as such. Therefore,
it must be elicited and analysed in the source text and then reproduced in
translation. In this respect, Hannouna bases her treatment of the subject on
insights from De Beaugrande (1980).

Zafar Iqbal Khattak & Saiqa Imtiaz Asif, A review of changing trends in evaluation of
teachers professional development studies
Education is an endeavor shared by students, teachers, planners, curriculum
developers, etc. Moreover, students are not the only ones who need to learn.
Teachers, too, must see themselves as lifelong learners. Consequently, teachers
need to develop professionally throughout their career, not only during their
teacher training programs. Hence, Zafar Iqbal Khattak and Saiqa Imtiaz Asif look
into the issue of the evaluation of teacher training programs and their
contribution to teacher professional development (TPD). All of this is becoming
increasingly necessary not only to produce the skilled manpower of the future,
but also to help learners to become contented human beings and active world
citizens. TPD must ideally be seen as a personalized, practical, reciprocal, and
interactive exercise addressing contemporary aspects and future possibilities. In
other words, TPD schemes should increase teachers know-how, collegiality, and
learner-centered classroom performance. For TDPs to be effective, they should
aim to help educators grow in professionalism and be evaluated not merely to fit
theories but also to better serve the teachers as practitioners and their students as
individuals, apprentices, and non-commercial clients.

Inclusion as an existential project

Sergio Saleem Scatolini
Rustaq College of Applied Sciences, Oman

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists
in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the
unreasonable man.
~George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman

Despite our wondrous technological advances, we have not yet been able to evolve
past institutionalized structures of injustice and oppression, even of murder and
genocide, which are the climactic and ritual materialization of exclusion. It is also
true that the pressure to create fairer and more inclusive societies has never been
felt as strongly as it is now. However, the last years, we have witnessed exclusivist
narratives gaining ground in the West and beyond. It is as though the shockwaves
caused by the Nazi narrative and its carefully designed and executed policies of
death were now fading away. Consequently, an increasing number of our
contemporaries are gradually coming round to the idea that institutionalized,
engineered exclusion from justice and well-being may be justified to protect a
groups comfortable existence.
Therefore, supporters of social inclusiveness are once again in need of rationales or
narratives that can persuade post-truth individuals that we humans are better
off together than pitted against one another in endless sectarian, tribal or class
tugs of war.

Inclusion can mean many things

Social inclusion is essentially a twofold concept. On the one hand, it entails the act
of including someone or something, taking them up and placing them within larger
or newer frameworks of reference. On the other hand, inclusion also refers to the
xi

act and feeling of being included. There can be no real inclusion without the
dynamics of including and being included.
Moreover, inclusion as such is neither good nor bad. Different people will judge it
differently depending on their own criteria and intentions. In fact, in some
communities the strongest social ties may be those within gangs or other criminal
networks (CWP, 2015, p. 6). In Nazi Germany or the Communist USSR, the
militant members of the ruling party felt included and valued as allies. Gangs in El
Salvador or Brussels also lend an identity and sentiments of belonging to their
members. An elite group of millionaires planning to evict the First Nations out of
the Amazon in order to establish holiday resorts would also feel joined by a
common cause of greed and disrespect for humanity and nature. In this book,
however, inclusion will be meant in terms of human alliance and togetherness at
the service of values like those enshrined in the UNs Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.

Inclusion as a remedy
Inclusion can first be envisaged as a remedy to treat special needs cases. Discourses
and practices of inclusivity are usually born from the awareness of deficiency.
They are remedial in nature because someone is failing to meet some important
target.
For example, in education, inclusivity has been part of the question about whose
access to education has been barred by circumstances that are not exclusively
dependent on their good will or innate capabilities. This is why UNESCO often
focuses inclusivity in education on minority groups, such as Roma, street or
working children, people with disabilities, and indigenous and rural people. Later,
other groups were added to this list, such as students of divorced parents,
students who are deaf, victims of abuse or rape, future farmers, religious groups,
wheelchair athletes, teenage girls, and so on (Stainback et al., 1994, p. 488). This
phenomenon has been described as the ghettoization of inclusion (Vlachou, 2004;
Hardy and Woodcock, 2015).

Inclusion as prevention
Inclusion can also be seen as prevention, as a vaccine against future social ills,
designed to help the troubled and the troublesome (Walker, 2007, p. 5). Research
xii

indicates that the causes of social problems are usually manifold. For example, in
the case of high risk British youngsters, education, home environment,
neighborhood, lifestyle, and emotional and mental health (Walker, 2007) have
been identified as significant factors in antisocial behavior. Consequently,
preventative approaches must be inclusive in their scope and design.
Furthermore, since social fragmentation or disharmony is often the result of
power asymmetries, inclusive policies will seek to prevent future outbursts. When
social discrepancies become painfully manifest and are perceived as a sign that
some lives are worth more than others, the ensuing frustration can easily lead to
social unrest, which, in turn, can potentially harm not only the underprivileged
but also the overprivileged. Inclusive policies are, therefore, often put in place to
promote greater levels of (more or less cosmetic) social cohesion1.
In short, inclusion as prevention entails a controlled amount of inclusiveness as a
gateway to securing prosperity by making sure that the (often underprivileged)
troubled and troublesome feel reasonably comfortable and the (often
[over]privileged) well-adjusted and normal can keep their status and feel safe.
In other words, this is a calculated win-win situation at least for as long as
inclusion is deemed good value for money.

Inclusion as an existential paradigm

Additionally, inclusion can be understood as an existential paradigm. The best
example of this dimension of the concept is found in the UNs Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF
HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all
nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping
this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to
promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures,
national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition

Social cohesion is the connectedness among individuals and social groups that facilitates
collaboration and equitable resource distribution at the household, community, and state level. Social
cohesion is essential for societal stability and for easing the material and psychological strains of
poverty. It also affirms individual and group identities, and includes rather than excludes less powerful
groups. (Narayan et al., 1999, p. 175)
1

xiii

and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and
among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction. Article 1: All human
beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with
reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of
brotherhood. (UN General Assembly resolution 217 A, December 10, 1948)2

With this article, the signatories endorsed a metaphysical standpoint (Scatolini,

2010) and expressed laudable and lofty moral goals in their post-WWII context.
For there would be little point in denying that the concept of human equality
(one which we personally and wholeheartedly subscribe to) is neither
representative of fact nor realistically enforceable by law.
Policies can exist along a continuum that ranges from symbolic to concrete (Hardy
& Woodcock, 2015; Taylor et al., 1997). Symbolic policies can more easily translate
philosophical postures (even posturing and wishful thinking). They do not
represent detailed action plans that can be implemented and assessed, and whose
transgressors can be punished for not abiding by. As a result, symbolic policies can
be not only more inspiring, but also more vague. Statements like the ones
encapsulated in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights are examples of
symbolic policies.
Therefore, in the sequel of article 1, governments have always needed to design
concrete policies which forever seek to do away with the obstacles to article 1s
gradual realization. However, neither the governments nor their policies can
deliver universal equality in both birth and law. The UNs Declaration of Human
Rights points to a reality which has eluded us ever since its formulation and which
will continue to do so. Besides, attempts to enforce equality as if we were serial
robots would in turn raise other ethical issues concerning freedom,
individuality, and personal merit.
Equality and the positive inclusiveness that it entails are not scientific facts.
Therefore, people ought to abstain from presenting them in that guise. All human
constituents should be allowed to feel that inclusive policies are the result of our
own choices indeed, as are exclusivist policies, too.

http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights.

xiv

Our discourses of inclusiveness or exclusiveness represent aspirations which are

based on particular understandings not only of who we have become, but also of
who we could still become if we decided to. In other words, both inclusive and
exclusivist narratives are answers to questions pertaining to what kind of futures
we would like to engineer, not only future labor conditions, but also future selves,
future communities, and future environments.
Inclusive and exclusivist discourses, policies, and praxis are not merely ways in
which we react to constraints or dangers (which some might at times see as
vindicating exclusion), but in which we crystalize the limited margin of free
choice which we have. If the overarching context that makes present experience
intelligible is the implicit anticipation of a complete history (Wong, 2008, p. 123),
then we cannot quite tell whether we are destined to inclusive or exclusivist
futures, but we can make decisions that seek to forge one rather than the other.
Additionally, since we seem, more than our forerunners ever did, to feel the need
to have a say in what our societies and communities become, egalitarian and
inclusive narratives should better be presented as plausible, possible, and laudable
expressions of our freedom rather than as imperatives. In other words, inclusive
societies require their members conscious commitment to collaborative projects,
not just rules and regulations. Moreover, we can create inclusive societies not
because the excluded deserve it, but because of the kind of people and societies
that doing that would help us to become.
Furthermore, we should not forget that every utopia carries in itself the seeds of
dystopic elements. Therefore, policy makers who are intent on creating inclusive
societies must remain vigilant and realistic as they tip-toe the line between utopia
and dystopia. Values cannot be materialized in haste; precipitateness can always
backfire. After all, Rome wasnt built in one day.
Nowadays, the loss of appeal suffered by discourses and practices of inclusiveness
may partly be due to the perception that they one-sidedly enhance the rights,
advantages, and gains of outsiders to the unfair detriment of the rights,
advantages, and gains of the insiders. In other words, inclusive policies often
disrupt the status quo in order to distribute justice to some at the expenses of the
others. For the sake of greater equality and inclusiveness, situations of longlasting, widespread discontent must be both recognized and avoided because if
xv

they remain unacknowledged, they could easily become untenable and lead
eventually to unrest or (covert) revenge.
If we accept that article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
represented one of the foundational values of the signatories Post-WWII social
contracts, we should also, at least partially, consider that such a social contract
implied (and still does) a restructuring of local, regional, and global power
structures. After all, any failure of inclusion signals the presence of power
(Connell, 2013, p. 105), and discrimination and exclusion exist within arbitrary
power relations which as arbitrary as they are changeable.
We believe that for discourses of inclusiveness to be credible and palatable
again, they must openly acknowledge that equality and inclusiveness require
social readjustment with the implied levels of discomfort on the part of those
whose comfort had rested essentially or partially on the discomfort of others.
People who might feel that their previous position of privilege is being
downgraded will most probably need a rationale to accept either their temporary
unease or their real or perceived loss of financial or social capital.
At the same time and this is extremely important, discourses, policies, and
praxes of inclusiveness ought to make it plain for all to understand that equality
and inclusiveness can never become excuses to renounce ones duties. Every gift
comes with the implicit need of a counter-gift. Consequently, inclusive policies and
schemes are opportunities for everyone to fulfil their duties and make the
necessary sacrifices to secure both social harmony and increasing shared wellbeing. Equality in dignity and inclusive opportunities for development imply a
reformulation of gains and losses so that everyone can win something because
everyone is willing to lose something. Without gift and counter-gift dynamics,
societies can never become communities of communities freely and truly. Revenge
would always be lurking round the corner.3

Let the return of nativism and explicit racism in Europe and the USA be a warning to all of us.

xvi

Inclusive education
Schools are entrusted with the socialization of younger generations.
Consequently, they are directly influenced by dominant discourses about society.
Whatever is said about society, its possibilities, its challenges, and its ills has,
sooner or later, an impact on the objectives of the education system, school
curriculums, and assessment tools. On the other hand, schools do not only follow
societal trends, they also impact societies. By making it easier for some to access
schooling and to graduate, schools shape power relationships. Hence, for UNESCO,
education is not only about the availability of schooling opportunities in general,
but also about guaranteeing general access to it.
Education is not simply about making schools available for those who are
already able to access them. It is about being proactive in identifying the
barriers and obstacles learners encounter in attempting to access opportunities
for quality education, as well as in removing those barriers and obstacles that
lead to exclusion (Inclusion in Education, 2016).

As for inclusive education, it stemmed from special needs education or special

educational needs, or SEN (Topping & Maloney, 2005a). In the past, pupils and
students who were perceived to be divergent, disabled, or abnormal were
segregated from those who were closer to the norm (or more normal) and
educated in schools and institutions believed to be better suited to their needs.
This was the medical approach.
However, as the idea of educational inclusion started to be seen as a key
dimension of social inclusion, a growing number of educators and scholars, like
Stainback and Stainback (1984), began to plead for regular schools to become
inclusive of all pupils and students. They complained that regular schools had had
a history of being reluctant to meet the needs of all students (p. 110; underlining
mine). Schools needed now to become learning communities and avoid being either
ghetto schools that segregated students or colorblind schools that neglected
individual differences. The ideal was to create inclusive schools that would
recognize students as being different learners, each one of them, and treat them
all as equal members of learning communities (Stainback et al., 1994). This new
paradigm was not altogether new, however. In the past, people already knew that
it takes a whole village to raise a child.
xvii

Additionally, educators and policy makers started to accept that any differences
in outcomes for children with special needs between special and mainstream
schools are small, but tend to favour mainstream school, in terms of both
educational attainments and social integration. Socially, children with special
needs in mainstream school tend not to be as well accepted as 'normal' children,
but they nevertheless enjoy a fair degree of social integration, while learning to
cope in a situation more akin to the outside post-school world than the protective
environment of a special school (Topping and Maloney, 2005a, p. 7).
However, if inclusion was to be the remedy to social exclusion, and maybe also the
vaccine against it, schools had to broaden their own perception of the problem.
They had to go beyond mental or physical disability and take into account
emotional and social debilitating or disabling factors such as lack of due
competencies, joblessness, bad wages, inadequate accommodation, the causes and
impact of criminality, the effect of poor health, and family makeup and
dysfunctionality (Topping & Maloney, 2005a). As a corollary of this, the
educational task became increasingly open ended and cumulative. For anything
that could be related or correlated to social ills could now be given a place not
only in political discourses, but also in the curriculum. As a result, many educators
felt that they were being overstretched.
The strain imposed by social inclusion in some of our schools is in danger of
becoming a time bomb waiting to explode unless properly resourced . . . we all
want inclusion for all young people in Scotland, including asylum seeker
children, so that they too can look forward positively to the future. However,
that future inclusion which all politicians are happy to sign up to and pay lip
service to comes at a price. And in too many schools at the present time that
price is the health and well-being of Scottish teachers . . . disruptive pupils may
be a minority, but they are a growing minority. Now is the time to say enough is
enough. This trend must be reversed. These pupils will not be included in
mainstream provision unless their behaviour can be guaranteed. All schools
must be given the ability to exclude the disruptive. (Douglas Mackie; quoted by
Allan, 2008, p. 1)

Even nowadays, far too many teachers are being confronted with lack of due
resources to support inclusive curriculums and classrooms. They are also being
overwhelmed by the emotional problems and special needs of some of their

xviii

learners, which the teachers have been neither trained to work with nor given the
time to adequately coach.
In addition, the ghettoization of inclusion (Vlachou, 2004; Hardy and Woodcock,
2015) has often been used to classify anti-social behavior in the classroom as a
sign of learning problems. As a result, remedial schemes were turned into
dumping grounds for pupils that teachers felt they could not handle (Steward et
al., n.d., p. 2), which led in cases to further stigmatization and exclusion.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise that inclusion appears to be in something of a
sorry state (Allan, 2008, p. 3), even in a country rich in resources as the UK. The
mismatch between the ideals of inclusive education and the situation on the
ground is at times so stark that aspects of inclusive education have been described
as territories of failure marked by confusion, frustration, guilt and exhaustion
(Allan, 2008, p. 9). The inclusion of the former special needs students within
mainstream education was aimed at fostering equity by providing additional
resources to disabled students; however, in far too many cases, this is not what
happened. The burden of mainstream schools was made heavier, while those in
need of special support could not be guaranteed the extra resources and
assistance which they required. This resulted in deep uncertainty about how to
create inclusive environments within schools and about how to teach inclusively
(Allen, 2008, p. 10). Hence, as Warnock (2005) stated it, children are the
casualties (p. 14; quoted by Allan, 2008, p. 10)
As a result, there is a growing number of educators who support the culture of
inclusion but feel that neither they nor their classrooms are adequately equipped
for the task of universal inclusion (Allan, 2008). Warnock (2005), who was initially
the driving force behind inclusive schools in the UK, made a U-turn and argued
that all children should be included under the common educational project, not
that they should be included under one roof (p. 37; quoted by Steward, n.d., p. 6)
All in all, it may be said that the initial discourse on inclusion in education has
evolved from institutions that catered for special needs to schools that wanted to
include any and all learners within learning communities that strived to become
cultures of inclusion. However, now that considerable sections of our societies
seem to once again be moving towards increasing levels of nationalism,
segregation, and tribalism or nativism, the question may be asked again about
xix

what our education systems may be expected to do next. Must the learners be
envisaged primarily as the future workforce in knowledge economies or, more
ideally, as future participants in the socio-political, scientific, artistic, and
spiritual life of communities of communities? If the latter is to be the case, how far
would we be ready to go, and how much would we be willing to invest in such a
project?

The need for new narratives and praxes

Changes can happen by revolution or by evolution (Allan, 2008, p. 37). However,
evolution would probably guarantee the internalization of the new reality better
than the sudden and abrupt use of force.
Growing up together and learning together may indeed represent an ideal form of
cementing inclusive ideals in the minds and hearts of the younger generations.
However, imagining that we are all born equal and have equal dignity and rights
should not make us overlook the fact that we are actually not equal. We could
experiment more with experiencing both sides of the equality-difference equation
without necessarily erasing either. We need philosophers and philosophies, policy
makers and policies, educators and educational models, parents and parenting,
friends and friendships, neighbors and neighborhoods, learners and learning that
are capable of learning how to learn, to know, to do, to live together, and to be as
equal partners in dignity yet different in fact.
At times, it would seem as if schools had to choose either to be all inclusive, as if
they were adequately prepared for it, or all exclusive, as if institutionalized
fragmentation from an early age was going to heal the wounds in our already
tense communities. Inclusion does not need to be seen as an either-or dimension
of education. The ideal of inclusiveness, as a symbolic dimension of our
discourses, needs to be realized in ways that are real and realistic; they need to
have a chance of success without increasing the existing confusion, frustration,
guilt and exhaustion (Allan, 2008, p. 9).
For example, the decentralization of inclusive policies might in cases help siphon
off the pressure. Municipalities, local councils, school communities, and individual
schools could be given enough room to conjointly articulate inclusive policies that
xx

are cognizant of the local needs; the possibilities, limitations, and dangers
inherent in the community; and the available resources.
Additionally, communities could design inclusive educational projects, not necessary
all-inclusive schools that must physically house all possible types of learners.
Inclusive curriculums should be seen as dimensions of inclusive, communitybuilding policies whereby the different constituents work together on projects at
certain ages and stages. For instance, inclusive projects could be planned and
implemented together by mainstream schools, special needs schools, hospitals,
religious communities, sport associations, homes for the elderly, correctional
institutions, and so forth.
Subsequently, for inclusion to be inclusive, the underprivileged, marginalized, or
neglected groups must be given a say in the strategies meant to foster their
inclusion. They must not only be included, but also consulted about how they
would like to be included. For example, in the area of education: where do the
different groups feel more at ease to learn, where do they feel that they are
learning more and better, and where would they prefer to be educated? We
cannot make people feel included by completely excluding them from the
decision-making process. The method should already be representative of the
goal.
Finally, we should not forget that whatever social contract we decide to endorse,
it will ultimately always boil down to choices. The economy can potentially be
anything we really wish it to be. Apart from the limitations that nature imposes
on us and the accidents which will always happen, much of the rest of social life is
a matter of social engineering and, therefore, depends on the values which we
allow to steer our choices.
The future is necessarily monstrous: the figure of the future, that is, that which
can only be surprising, that for which we are not prepared . . . is heralded by
species of monsters. A future that would not be monstrous would not be a
future; it would already be a predictable, calculable, and programmable
tomorrow. All experience open to the future is prepared or prepares itself to
welcome the monstrous arrivant. (Jacques Derrida, 1995, 386387)

xxi

The current neo-liberal backdrop

Although inclusive policies have a humanist ring to them, they are increasingly
being articulated in light of capitalist and utilitarian paradigms. As neoliberal
narratives of competition and success (Hardy, 2014; Monbiot, 2016) become Grand
Narratives, the service sector including education and healthcare is changing
and has started to evolve in this light. That is how markets in education are
created (Connell, 2012, p. 99), and education is construed as a process of human
capital formation (Hardy & Woodcock, 2015, p. 143). This phenomenon does not
democratize power. On the contrary, it reinforces old hierarchies and
mechanisms of competition (Connell, 2012, p. 99; Salmi, 2009) and establishes
new ones.
Moreover, not only the definition of inclusion and inclusivity is changing, but also
that of equality (Hardy & Woodcock, 2015). At present, the equality principle as it
was heralded in the UNs Universal Declaration of Human Rights is increasingly
being reduced to equality of job opportunities. Said otherwise, why should
education be inclusive? So that everyone can find a job and support him or
herself. However, equality of opportunities is only half the story. Opportunities
refers to the future (what a person could do). However, for opportunities to be
equal, people should have had the same past and been born on equal footing. We
may give people equal future opportunities (or equal access to job opportunities),
but since they do not come from the same backgrounds, some will be more
advantaged or disadvantaged than others.
Additionally, talks of equal opportunities reinforce the paradigm of competitive
individualism, which is being taken as a model for our education systems (Slee,
2012, p. 902). Although such a mercantile mindset may have once been rather
anomalous, the idea that education is one more good in the market has been
gaining force for quite some time. This is an understandable process since the
accumulation of anomalies in the long run produces new definitions of normalcy
(Brown, 1997). In these new contexts, it would be plausible to have situations like
the ones depicted by Barton (1993), whereby Schools in a free market should be
able to choose their customers. Particular pupils will not be welcome at particular
schools because they will be viewed, for example, as unsuitable material...

xxii

ultimately damaging to the status of the school (p. 36; quoted by Brown, 1997, p.
146).
Therefore, one of the most important questions which we must answer (and then
translate into policies) is whether we wish to envisage human life primordially as
market transactions based on offer, demand, price, and competition. Such a
worldview is as arbitrary as more humanist ones; they are all a matter of
concerted choice, of social contracts. In other words, they are to a great extent up
to us.
Finally, as Michaels (2006) pointed out, the defenders of diversity and
inclusiveness are often accomplices in neoliberal practices (Caldwell, 2006). In
other words, We would much rather get rid of racism than get rid of poverty.
And we would much rather celebrate cultural diversity than seek to establish
economic equality (Michaels, 2006). Discourses of antiracism4 and anti-classism
coexist with the very practices that make people severely unequal and
structurally marginal. In fact, the talk of anti-racism and anti-classism is being
embraced by the very people who hold the majority of the world captive in
poverty.
Policies should ideally not only redistribute respect but also income
(WGBHForum, 2012). If praxes of social inclusion do not include economic
inclusion, then rich blacks, rich Chinese, and rich gays and lesbians will take their
place at the table of the (over)privileged without there being any real change in
the structures that create inequality for the underprivileged. Affirmative,
inclusive action without redistribution of income will not radically change the
current system, not even in a world of equal opportunities.

To be or not to be inclusive
Segregationist regimes and their narratives cannot, in the long run, deliver what
they promise. Fragmentation, injustice, self-centeredness, and isolationism will

Our commitment to diversity has thus redefined the opposition to discrimination as the appreciation
(rather than the elimination) of difference. So with respect to race, the idea is not just that racism is a
bad thing (which of course it is) but that race itself is a good thing.
4

xxiii

never produce the conditions that can guarantee lives that are fuller and safer.
Neither will they demonstrate that we have evolved beyond biology or are really
deserving of survival on The Planet of the Robots.
Furthermore, in our defense of inclusive policies, we must not seek to delude
ourselves or others. The ultimate rationale is neither political, nor educational,
nor religious, nor financial. It implies political, educational, religious, and
financial decisions, but it is essentially all about our self-image as a species.
Inclusiveness is not so much about who we have been or what we should do to
maximize profits or guarantee a prosperous future, but about how we would like
ourselves and our societies to evolve. Discourses of inclusion are responses to the
question about what kind of human beings we want to be or become. At the end of
the day, inclusion and exclusion are dimensions of grand narratives. They are the
shape we choose to give to our freedom. They are our imagination becoming
social realities. In a nutshell, we must choose which grand narratives will inspire
our life stories.
To poison a nation, poison its stories. A demoralised nation tells demoralised
stories to itself. ~Ben Okri

Unfortunately, many of the loudest voices in world politics are currently more in
consonance with the mindset that made World War possible than with the spirit
and hopes that prompted the UNs Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the
post-WWII era. These politicians and rulers should give us reasonable reason for
concern. However, they are only the symptoms of a malaise that surpasses them
and which may not be neglected. Yet, since hope and trust, unlike fear and
mistrust, cannot be beaten into people, the strategies and pedagogies of inclusion
should never come across as an imposition. If they do, exclusionist reactions will
ensue. We must once again agree to shape our freedom in more generous ways.
We need more humane social contracts.
Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side;
(...)
They have rights who dare maintain them; we are traitors to our sires,
Smothering in their holy ashes Freedom's new-lit altar-fires;
Shall we make their creed our jailer? Shall we, in our haste to slay,
From the tombs of the old prophets steal the funeral lamps away

xxiv

To light up the martyr-fagots round the prophets of to-day?

New occasions teach new duties; Time makes ancient good uncouth;
They must upward still, and onward, who would keep abreast of Truth;
Lo, before us gleam her camp-fires! we ourselves must Pilgrims be,
Launch our Mayflower, and steer boldly through the desperate winter sea,
Nor attempt the Future's portal with the Past's blood-rusted key.
~James Russell Lowell (18191891), The Present Crisis.

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10(02-03), 221-234. DOI: 10.1080/13603110500392775
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Brown, S. (1997). Special Education 2000. Developing a policy for inclusive education in New Zealand. In New
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Michaels, W.B. (2006, August 13). The trouble with diversity. In The American Prospect. Retrieved on December 12,
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xxvi

The Role of Students Class Habitus in Shaping Future

Professional Trajectories

Dr. Akhtar Hassan Malik

University of Buraimi, Oman

Dr. Anes E. Abdelrahim Mohamed

University of Osaka, Japan

Abstract: This article provides empirical evidence to support Pierre Bourdieus

thesis of habitus and validates that it is the structural view that postulates
practice provoking viewpoints, or dispositions to act in a certain way, to grasp
experiences in a certain way, and to think in a certain way. Simply put, habitus
denotes a social process of matching dispositions to the positions in the social
hierarchy. Each individual learns to play the role that fits with his or her status.
This helps people to accept their position in social life and sincerely see it as
that for which they are suited. Habitus is also a way of being that takes social
structure and propensity for granted. We do not think about or question our
place in the social hierarchy because it appears that the habitus outplays
cognition. Hence, the working class agents keep their aspirations low because
they fully understand their underprivileged position in the society. Conversely,
the rich people assume that enough family capital can bring them success in
life. This study also underscores that ones habitus can also be gendered as a
result of the opportunities available to each group. The female students
perceptions indicate that girls with same professional ambitions are more likely
to face restricted opportunities than boys. In sum, habitus can potentially play a
significant role in social class reproduction.
Keywords: Habitus, social class, inequality, gender, legitimation, social
reproduction.

27

Introduction
The famous French theorist Pierre Bourdieu approaches social power and
inequality within the context of a comprehensive and mega sociological theory of
class reproduction. His main theoretical concepts are habitus, capital, and field,
which are argued to be the useful thinking tools to unearth unequal power
relations and their reproduction in the society, mainly through education system
(see: Hodkinson, 1998; Reay, 2004; Wacquant 2005). Bourdieu (1977) defines
habitus as a system of lasting, transposable dispositions which, integrate past
experiences, functions at every moment as matrix of perceptions, appreciations,
and actions (p. 82). However, Wacquant (2006) explains that habitus is actually an
old concept in philosophy, used by writers including Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas,
Hegel, Weber, and Durkheim. The habitus appears in one way as characteristic
set of dispositions for action within each individual (Calhoun, 2000, p. 293), and
works through the subjective expectations of objective probabilities (Grenfell &
James, 1998, p.15). Habitus is the structural view that postulates practice
provoking viewpoints, or dispositions to act in a certain way, to comprehend
experience in a certain way, to think in a certain way. Robbins (1993) affirms that
habitus not only is a form of social inheritance, but it also implies habit, or
unthinkingness in actions, and dispositions. In sum, habitus denotes a social
process of matching dispositions to the positions in the social order. Each
individual learns to play the role that fits with his or her social status. This helps
people accept their position in social life and sincerely perceive it as that for
which they were suited. Habitus is a way of being that takes structure and
propensity for granted (Bellamy, 1994). We do not think about or question our
place because habitus trumps cognition (Frank, 2002, p. 390). However, Jenkins
(1991) argues that habitus is more than just perceptions and mental attitudes.
Rather, Bourdieu in his work used the concept of habitus to signify deportment,
i.e. the manner and style in which actors carry themselves including stance, gait,
gesture, manner of speaking, etc. (see: Jenkins, 1991, p. 51). Habitus literally
includes the way a person uses his or her body (Bourdieu, 1980). Furthermore,
habitus is not just a capacity of the individual, but is furthermore an achievement
of the collectivity. It is the result of a ubiquitous collective enterprise of
inculcation (Calhoun, 2003, p. 294). As a result strategies can work without
individuals being consciously strategic, because they inculcate who they are and
28

the existence of the social institutions depends on the strength of this inculcation
in regards to orientations to action, evaluation, and understanding. Bourdieu
(1977) himself refers to habitus as structured structures predisposed to function
as structuring-structures (p. 72).
Habitus also exerts a strong influence on an individuals perception of his or her
opportunities in a particular social arena, which is termed as field. It strongly
influences aspirations and expectations. Opportunity is impacted in part by
attributed characteristics. A further refinement of habitus is the concept of illusio
(Frank, 2002). Habitus refers to the sense that one has the right to play the game
(e.g. is entitled to participate in a particular activity). Illusio is the ability to
understand which games should be taken seriously. These are the games that one
should commit oneself to playing. Therefore, a student may not work hard to
comply with requirements for success in school if he or she does not perceive that
education is important (Nugent 2008, p. 75).
Bourdieu also saw habitus as a principle of both social continuity and
discontinuity (Wacquant, 2006). However, the possibility of change in subjective
habitus must be viewed by considering its relationships to the objective world of
other people and things because Bourdieu suggests that habitus is the site of the
internalization of reality and the externalization of internality (Bourdieu &
Passeron, 1990, p. 205). Furthermore, Calhoun states that the most fundamental
social changes have to appear not only as changes in the formal structures, but
also as changes in habitual orientations to action (Calhoun, 2000, p. 294).
In sum, in order to properly work with habitus, it must be understood as a
relational theoretical concept. The research plan of (Capital x Habitus) + Field =
Social Practice helps us to see how habitus cannot be disengaged from the overall
framework as proposed by Pierre Bourdieu. He perceives power as culturally and
symbolically created, and constantly legitimized through interplay of agency and
structure. The main way this happens is through habitus or socialized norms or
tendencies that guide behavior and cognition. Habitus is the way society
becomes deposited in persons in the form of enduring dispositions, or trained
capacities and structured propensities to think, feel and act in determinant ways,
which then guide them (Wacquant 2005: 316).

29

Most importantly, Bourdieus sociological theory is firmly grounded in a wide

body of empirical research, and across a range of social issues. The greatest appeal
of Bourdieu for politically committed researchers is that he perceives the
sociological method as a part of the process of change. Careful analysis can help to
divulge the power relations that have been rendered invisible by habitus (Navarro
2006: 19). Bourdieu proposed a reflexive sociology in which one recognizes ones
prejudices, beliefs and assumptions in the act of sense-making, long before
reflexivity became an integral part of analysis in the academic literature. Selfcritical knowledge that unveils the sources of power and exposes the reasons
that explain social asymmetries and hierarchies can itself become a potent tool
to enhance social emancipation (Navarro 2006: 15-16). Therefore, in this
background, the current research although predominantly focuses on the role of
habitus in social class reproduction, yet tacitly it also highlights the authors
conviction to find ways for social emancipation and empowerment.

Methodology
For this research, we selected two schools from each stream of education in
Pakistan, e.g. elite-English-medium schools, public Schools, and Islamic madaris.
These schools were located in a big city and generally differentiated by social
class. To begin, our main criterion to differentiate these schools was the level of
majority parents economic capital and job status (which was used as an indicator
of their social class). The most parents in public schools and Islamic madaris were
trained and untrained workers. In contrast, the most parents in English-medium
schools belonged to the affluent class. The methods used to gather data were
classroom observation; informal and formal interviews with parents, students and
teachers. The students were interviewed at regular intervals during their two
years of A-level study (or equivalent in other two types of schools), and we
adopted Wengrafs (2006) biographic narrative technique, with the use of a single
question designed to persuade a narrative response: what do you perceive as the
main obstacles to achieving your ambitions in life? The second interview picked
up on what had been expressed in response in order to further investigate the
concepts and themes that had emerged. Using NVivo software to analyze the data
for themes and different categories, we explored the ideas in greater depth,

30

following lines of enquiry as they were raised by the participants. To get further
understanding on the issue in hand; we also did a small survey study with the
population of 60 students.

Discussion
The study emphasizes that the students habitus is generated by internalizing
their place in the social hierarchy; helps them to determine what is, and is not,
possible; and develops aspirations, plans, and practices accordingly. It appears
that this internalization takes place during early childhood and is a largely
unconscious process. However, we argue that although schools help to approve,
validate, certify, and perpetuate the powerful narratives and ideologies of
societys dominant social groups, as they are a significant source of socialization
process they are also able to construct their own narrative and reason. The
knowledge produced and reproduced during every day classwork is, in most cases,
likely to influence the students hopes, aspirations, and expectations about their
future occupational roles. The following data analysis suggests that different
schools provide sufficiently different habitus, mainly due to hierarchal possession
of economic capital.
The school knowledge in madaris involves an explicit recognition of
socioeconomic exploitation that was initiated by the British colonizers and has
been carried on even after independence of the country in 1947. The students are
incessantly told that in the past madaris had created a class of ulema (theologians),
muftis (jurist-consults), and qadis (judges), which efficiently managed the Muslim
states over the years. In the name of modernization, the British colonizers
marginalized madaris and excluded their graduates from senior public and
executive positions. This injustice faced by madaris and their graduates has been
continued by the Westernized ruling elite as a policy in a country that attained
independence in the name of Islam, social justice, and egalitarianism. Hence, the
students are taught to value the political interests that they share with others as
well as the historical struggle in which their social group has been engaged to
achieve economic and social dignity.
During the class time, we observed numerous contentions from teachers that had
a potential to instigate the dispositions of conflict against powerful ruling groups
31

in the social fields, who are generally projected as the proponents of Western
political and economic systems, which are potentially exploitative in nature. For
example:
Our Westernized ruling elite want madaris ineffective and their graduates
financially deprived and worried...they are actually scared of madaris and their
political role, because if the Sharia laws are enforced in true letter and spirit,
they will have to relinquish their unfair privileges.

We also observed the following quotes from teachers: Since the colonial period
our ulema have been challenging the exploitative and unjust Western political
and economic systems in the subcontinent...now...it is our responsibility to carry
on this noble mission..., and Only the Islamic brand of government and legal
system can guarantee meritocracy and equal rights to the citizens.... Therefore,
this kind of school knowledge provides students with habitus that more likely can
express itself in an active political conflict and resistance against perceived
exploitative groups and systems. In this way, when we asked about what they
perceived as obstacles to achieving their ambitions in life, the students mainly
indicated structural disadvantages. Most students believed that a lack of
meritocracy, open-competition, and an official ban on applying for better job
positions have largely restricted their occupational choices. They explained that,
paradoxically, the government officially recognizes the equivalency of madaris
degrees to those from public universities, but in the actual practice they are not
allowed to apply for the corresponding jobs.
The madaris personnel also emphasized that their graduates generally have a
better knowledge base than people with Masters degrees in Islamic studies or
Arabic from public universities. If the government were to provide them with an
equal opportunity to apply for positions as professors in Arabic or Islamic studies,
they are sure that the madaris graduates are capable attain many, if not all, of
such positions. Likewise, most students statements acknowledged their
understanding as being the victims of an unjust system. The following example
demonstrates this:
Student A: After completing masters level education, we are only eligible to
apply for a junior teacher position in a school, and not for a college or university
teacher. I want to know why

32

Student B: We have to face a step-motherly treatment in our own country,

where our own government denies us better jobs
Student C: After spending 17-years in education, I will have to work just as a
masjid imam, whose earnings hardly make both ends meet. Sometimes, I think
why people like us have to suffer such miseries...
Student D: Only Islamic political revolution can break the shackles of our
exploitation.

Therefore, the madaris students understand that structural barriers in the system
deprive them of being able to achieve better occupational opportunities. They
find the solutions to their social and economic plight in a systemic revolution. In
addition, the madaris students fully understand that knowledge and skills which
their schools provide do not sufficiently prepare them to engage critically and
face the challenges of the modern professional world. Hence, when we asked
students what they wanted to do after graduation their first and foremost
response was to be an imam. Similar low expectations are evident in the students
survey results, where almost 90% of students expected nothing more than a
position as an imam after completing their education. Regrettably, due to the lack
of an official patronage, the position of an imam is one of the least economically
rewarding in the country. At the time of this study, most imams were earning
between 3,000-5,000 rupees (equivalent to 40$US) every month, which is almost
equivalent to what daily-waged and untrained workers make per month.
Conversely, most public school students indicated that a lack of physical resources
(e.g. not having sufficient money to get better education, not getting access to
college/university, and not knowing the right people for help) was the major
drawback that lead to their incapacity to accomplish their ambitions. Financial
difficulty was also a common response from the students in both public schools
under study when what they perceived to be obstacles to achieving their
ambitions in life. For instance:
Student A: I have a great desire to finish university and prepare myself for
better job options. But, my parents say they do not have money to pay for it...
Student B: I want to be a computer programmer but...you know...its
expensive, and my family do not have financial capacity to help me achieve this
ambition

33

Student C: My parents are unable to meet the expenses of even one-year

diploma at [name of a technical college]...it will leave no other option for me
than to find a job after the high school...

Therefore, social class is commonly perceived as a barrier for achieving

aims/goals amongst public school students. They mostly indicate structured
obstacles, such as a lack of money or resources as a prominent drawback to being
able to access quality higher education and better occupational opportunities.
Some students (for instance Student C above) also perceive that their low family
socioeconomic status is going to be the biggest factor to stop their education.
Besides, the public school students fully realize that they are at a disadvantage
when competing with the students of private Englishmedium schools for
lucrative careers, such as commission in the Army as an officer or in the Air Force
as a fighter pilot. They argue that their schooling has not properly equipped them
with necessary skills to achieve such careers. The following students statements
underscore this mindset:
The candidates assessment for commission in the Army is done in
English...which is an obvious drawback we have to face... last year a few
graduates from our school appeared in that exam. They say that they could not
properly understand the language of question papers and what they
demanded... therefore, they could not perform well...
They [elite students] have better access to resources at school and things like
that...I think their class sizes are smaller...and they get more attention than
what we do, because we have like 70 students in each class...their courses are
modern and they lean everything in English...

Such perspectives indicate a notion that speaks both to socioeconomic class as a

status as well as an opportunity. The students understand that their social class
position makes them underprivileged in regards to accessing quality education
and skills necessary to compete for better jobs. Some students also foresee the
lack of quality social capital, such as the kind of family connections that build a
middle class career, as an apparent drawback. The following students statement
supports this argument:
Its not about what you know, its about who you know...it is about social
linkages...the area I live in is mostly occupied by the poor, who lack direct access

34

to the high-ranking officials for help...however, students from the rich families
have the type of connections which get their way much easier in life.

Therefore, the class-related obstacles (both physical resources and social

networks) were perceived to be quite common at public schools. Besides, on
numerous occasions we observed teachers remarks that would have the potential
of influencing the students motivation. We consider such practices as highly
unethical, but they appear to be the significant part of public school students
daily schooling experiences. For instance, different teachers reminded the
students about their underprivileged social class location as well as the restricted
choices as follows:
Teacher A: A laborers son is only ordained to be a manual worker or at the
maximum a mason...if he desires to be an officer...it is as if living in a fools
paradise
Teacher B: How can you consider yourself equal to the students of private
schools...where parents spend more than what your entire family earns on their
childs education every month?
Teacher C: Every year many of our students remain unable to get into college
or university even after obtaining more marks than the required merit, mainly
due to lack of funds
Teacher D: Even if you complete a university...how you will find the
recommendation of an MPA [Member of Parliament] to whom the rich have an
easy access

Such perspectives, no matter how true, have the potential of damaging the
students self-esteem and motivation and limiting the extent to which they
engage in active struggle to transform their lives. Their awareness of the
drawbacks makes them limit their future hopes and expectations. Hence, the
students low expectations about their future prospects are greatly apparent in
the survey study. For instance, about 20% of students perceive they will have to
join the labor force immediately after high school in order to assist their parents
to earn the necessary income. About 25% of respondents perceived that it was
better to quit the school if they could find an apprenticeship opportunity at a
mechanical workshop. They thought that spending money and time to earn a
certificate or diploma after high school graduation was not worthwhile if they
could earn the same amount after completing some kind of apprenticeship. Only
35

30% of respondents expect to gain admission in short-term diploma or certificate

courses to be able to become eligible to be hired as skilled workers. Thus, it
appears that in addition to the inculcation about social class trajectories in
home/family settings, the discourses created during classwork to encourage or
discourage students greatly contribute to shaping their future expectations.
In contrast to the students of both Islamic madaris and public schools, the elite
school students appear to assume that the material resources and cultural capital
provided by their families would bring them success in the future. Hence, they do
not nominate structural or class-related obstacles as barriers to achieving their
aims and goals. When we asked the same question as outlined above (what do you
perceive as the main obstacles to achieving your ambitions in life?) we observed
that most students struggled to identify any hurdle in their way of accomplishing
ambitions. Instead, they acknowledged that their relative privilege of having
plenty finances and family support provides them with a good foundation to do
whatever they want. However, a few students clarified that if, by any chance, they
fell short of achieving their perceived destinations in life, it would be nothing else
than their own fault, lack of application, or vacillation to find the most
appropriate professional trajectory. For instance, the following students
statement provides a sense of indecision to choose between two lucrative career
paths:
My parents want me to do MBA and manage the family business...but, I have a
dream to make politics my career...for that I believe a degree in International
Relations or Bar at Law would be more suitable...I think doing one-year gap
after A-levels will be helpful to decide and get the motivation for the path I
prefer to travel...

Therefore, it appears that the elite children are confident enough that, instead of
taking directions from elders, they are able to make their own important life
decisions. It appears to be part of their training to take the time to reflect and
make the right decisions, which is something that they do frequently. However, it
is very rare that elite students exhibit any kind of weakness. Mostly, they are
quite clear about their occupational paths and show motivation to accomplish
their goals. Their only need is the strength of proper application to achieve their
objectives. For instance, an elite school student explained:

36

I come from a family where I do not need to worry too much...I have
everything...I mean...I am in a perfect position financially. Only, I need is to
properly apply myself to work hard and make my way towards success...

Hence, we found that most respondents were quite mindful of their financially
privileged location as well as self-reflexive in explaining their aspirations of
achieving upper white-collar professions (e.g. executive and administrative
positions in public/private enterprises or medical profession; consultant
accountants; engineering, civil, and military bureaucratic positions; politically
elected executive positions). Likewise, during the survey study, 92% of elite school
students expressed a desire to gain admission into international elite institutions
for higher education and indicated that they find them to be the most suitable
sites to achieve their ambitions.
In this way, daily socialization and discourses crafted during the classwork can
potentially equip students with socially prestigious knowledge. For instance,
students are taught to command, make the right decisions, and develop policies
for others to follow. Some of the teachers remarks during the class time include,
good leaders often have a clear vision of what they intend to accomplish;
executive positions require the abilities to lead from the front; and workers
when believe that their leader is caring will often set a more comfortable and
productive workplace. To a student who had an ambition to be the military
officer, the teacher cautioned, wrong tactical moves always jeopardize your life
and the lives of many others. This kind of school knowledge more likely provides
students with the cultural capital of unique intellectual capabilities and inculcates
the spirit of ruling over others.
One of the most prominent limitations of our study is the social and cultural
restrictions that we faced to recruit the female participants. We could get female
representation only from elite schools, mainly due to gender tolerance that is an
obvious feature of this elite social class. Our study emphasizes that an individuals
habitus can also be gendered as a result of the different opportunities available to
male and female groups. Bourdieu (1984) emphasizes, Sexual properties are as
inseparable from class properties as the yellowness of a lemon is from its acidity
(p. 107). Hence, the following female students perceptions indicate that girls with
same professional ambitions are more likely to face restricted opportunities than
boys:
37

I wish to get admission in Oxfordafter completing my schoolthe way my

brother is planning but... I knowI will not get this opportunitynever.not in
million years. They [parents] say that it is not safe for daughters to live in
foreign countries without supervision...they [Western countries] are open
societies and provide chances for the mixing of gendermaking relationships
with boys.but when parents make decisions for male childrenthey do not
consider such factors

Therefore, it appears that while boys and girls may begin their lives with an
analogous class location and cultural capital, the social reproduction process
functions in such a way that girls attain less privileged positions than boys. For
girls, the socio-cultural stereotypes outweigh the disposition or attitude about
having a professional job. In sum, the female students perceptions of the
opportunities available to them are greatly influenced by the traditional model of
the division of labor between sexes, which makes them take on roles as expected
by their society.
Finally, it appears that the youth studying in the elite schools are overtly obsessed
with elitism. The students perspectives and practices indicate that they have
systematically become alienated from the majority of other people,
psychologically, socially, and culturally. The most obvious manifestation of this
fact is evident in the students narratives wherein they designated themselves as
the chosen ones; the superior beings, or I was born with a silver spoon in my
mouth. Another elite student emphasized, Our ancestors had received the
leadership of this state due to exceptional qualities, and now it is our
responsibility to demonstrate the same caliber and competence to maintain
whatever they achieved. Such perspectives emphasize that the rich environment
at home/school alike tacitly and almost unconsciously have inculcated
dispositions among students that they belong to a superior class. Hence, they
believe that it is their birthright to prevail and rule over the large majority of
commoners. Moreover, Bourdieu (1984) argues that among the members of the
dominant class, a unitary lifestyle emerges around what he calls the sense of
distinction (p.199). The lifestyle and cultural practices through which the
processes of mutual classification unfold are lodged in the habitus and thus
situated below the threshold of reflexive consciousness. Accordingly, the elite
childrens lifestyles generally refer to those elements of culture that are
universally recognized as worthy, canonical, and distinguished in some ways.
38

They tend to maintain tastes in regards to food, clothing, sports, art, and music
that correspond with the lifestyles of the Western petit bourgeoisie. The most
elite students claimed to have inherited English as their first language. Most of
them also admitted that they have more understanding of American and British
political systems than that of Pakistan. The elite school education promotes this
kind of knowledge, as their textbooks exclusively discuss such topics. There is an
insignificant amount of information about Pakistan and Islam in their textbooks.
Therefore, for elite children, Eurocentric tastes and lifestyles serve as a vehicle
through which they symbolize social similarity with their group and social
difference from underprivileged socioeconomic classes. Moreover, some elite
students who plans to permanently reside in any of the advanced Western
countries after the school graduation, revealed a mindset of considering Pakistan
as a failed state and unworthy to permanently live in. They were anxious to leave
this jungle state to their dream country, which will be compatible with their
elite status. This kind of elite mindset is not surprising for Pakistanis, who
understand that a major segment of this dominant class have dual nationalities,
permanently live in, or have established business empires in advanced Western
countries.

Concluding remarks
The study greatly supports Pierre Bourdieus treatise of habitus and corroborates
that habitus is a system of structures, dispositions, and principles that establishes
the practices among individuals and is oriented toward practical functions. The
social world is organized, according to Bourdieu through its relationship with the
habitus, a system of cognitive and motivating structures (Bourdieu, 1980: 53).
The habitus finally determines the peoples decisions, choices, and actions. In
other worlds Bourdieu explains:

The habitus, as a system of dispositions to a certain practice, is an objective basis

for regular modes of behavior, and thus for the regularity of modes of practice,
and if practices can be predicted---this is because the effect of the habitus is that
the agents who are equipped with it will behave in a certain way in certain
circumstances (Bourdieu, 1990: 77).
39

The habitus has a historical derivation and worth. The childhood experiences in
an individuals life are imperative in the construction of the habitus, which
Bourdieu terms as the practical hypothesis based on past experiences (Bourdieu,
1980: 54). Therefore, our study provides evidence that the habitus originates as
part of an individuals history and the milieu, which, subsequently, generates
social and cultural practices, and hence preserves itself over time. The habitus
ensures historically persistent social practices by shaping present practices and
structures offering indications to respond to similar practices and structures in
the future. Therefore, the students in both working class schools, e.g. Islamic
madaris and public schools, fully understand that due to their underprivileged
positions in the society, they have restricted job options. In addition, the madaris
students articulate dispositions of anguish to be discriminated against within
their own country by the ruling elite, which has continued the unjust policies
against madaris and their students that were instigated by the British colonizers.
The public school students perceive a lack of physical resources is the major
drawbacks for their incapacity to accomplish ambitions. They fully understand
their options are limited to obtaining a short-term diploma, completing a
certificate program, or an apprenticeship at a workshop, if they are even able to
continue their education at all. Besides, both the public school and Islamic
madaris students fully realize that their schools have not properly equipped them
with necessary skills (cultural capital) to properly compete in the job market to
achieve the lucrative careers. Conversely, the elite school students appear to
assume that enough material resources and cultural capital provided by their
families would bring them success in the future. They generally aspire for upper
white-collar professions and reveal tenacity in achieving their ambitions at any
cost. They also understand that their schooling has equipped them with socially
prestigious knowledge to command, make the right decisions, and develop
policies for others to follow. Our study also underscores that ones habitus can
also be gendered as a result of the opportunities available to each group. The
female students perceptions indicate that girls with same professional ambitions
are more likely to face restricted opportunities than boys. Finally, it appears that
elite schools reproduce dispositions of elitism in the society where their students
mostly act snobbish and consider themselves as superior beings. Such
perspectives and practices alienate them psychologically, socially, and culturally

40

from the majority of citizens. In sum, it appears that habitus can potentially play a
significant role in social class reproduction.

References
Bellamy, L. A. (1994).Capital, habitus, field, and practice: An introduction to the works of Pierre Bourdieu. In Erwin,
L. & MacLennan, D. (1994). Sociology of education in Canada: Critical perspectives on theory, research, and
practice. Toronto, ON: Copp. Clark,Longman Ltd.
Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1980). The Logic of Practice. Stanford, Stanford University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste. London, Routledge.
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The Forms of Capital. J. G. Richardson, Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology
of Capital. New York, Greenwood Press: 241-58.
Bourdieu, P. (1990). In Other Words: Essays towards a reflexive sociology. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J. C. (1990). Reproduction in education, society, and culture (2nd Ed), London, UK: Sage
Publications.
Calhoun, C. (2003). Pierre Bourdieu, In G. Ritzer (ed.), The Blackwell Companion to Major Contemporary Social
Theorists, Malden, USA: Blackwell Publishing
Frank, A. (2002). Memorial: Pierre Bourdieu remembered: 1930 2002. Journal for the Social Study of Health,
Illness, and Medicine, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 389-393.
Grenfell, M., & James, D. (1998). Bourdieu and education: Acts of practical theory. Great Britain: Biddles Ltd.
Hodkinson, P. (1998). Career Decision Making and the Transition from School to Work. M. Grenfell & D. James
(eds), Bourdieu and Education. London: Falmer Press.
Navarro, Z. (2006) In Search of Cultural Interpretation of Power. In IDS Bulletin 37(6): 11-22.
Nugent, Jo Anne, C (2008). Why at-risk students persist: Pierre Bourdieus theory applied to student retention at
Humber College, Doctorate thesis. Toronto: University of Toronto, OISE.
Robbins, D. (1993). The Work of Pierre Bourdieu. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Reay, D. (2004). Its all becoming a habitus: beyond the habitual use of habitus in educational research. In British
Journal of Sociology of Education, 25(4), pp. 431-444. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0142569042000236934.
Wacquant, L. (2005) Habitus. J. Becket and Z. Milan, International Encyclopedia of Economic Sociology. London:
Routledge.
Wacquant, L. (2006). Pierre Bourdieu. In Stones, R. (ed.), Key contemporary thinkers. New York, NY: MacMillan.
Wengraf, T. (2006). Qualitative Research Interviewing. London: Sage.

41

Cultura: de la colonialidad a la descolonizacin

Alexis Oviedo
Universidad Andina Simn Bolvar, Sede Ecuador

Abstract: The current conception of culture, and the relationship the individual
must have with it, has been shaped according to the development of the
capitalist system and from a hegemonic worldview that emerged with
modernity. The conquest of America, inaugurated coloniality as a system of
domination. Coloniality and modernity, the two sides of the same coin, set a
Eurocentric approach to culture, where culture is opposed to nature. The
"other", the not European, is seen as the "exotic", his/her knowledge is
superstition and her/his art perceived is folklore. However, emerging concepts
such as decolonization, interculturality and plurinationality face these
conceptions and open space to new perspectives of culture understanding.
Keywords: Culture, colonilaity, descoloniztion, interculturality, plurinationality

Resumen:
La actual concepcin de la cultura y la relacin que el individuo debe tener
frente a ella ha sido moldeada de acuerdo al desarrollo del sistema capitalista y
desde una cosmovisin hegemnica que surgi con la modernidad La conquista
de Amrica, inaugur la colonialidad, como sistema de domino. La colonialidad y
la modernidad, dos caras de una misma moneda, configuran un enfoque
eurocntrico de cultura, donde sta se contrapone a la naturaleza. El otro, el
no europeo, es el extico, cuyos saberes son supersticiones y su arte folklore.
Sin embargo, conceptos emergentes como la descolonizacin, la
interculturalidad y la plurinacionalidad interpelan estas concepciones y abren
espacio a nuevas perspectivas de comprensin de la cultura.
Palabras clave: Cultura, colonialidad, descolonizacin, interculturalidad,
plurinacionalidad

42

Cultura, colonialismo and colonialidad

La interpretacin generalizada de la relacin entre cultura y sociedad genera el
imaginario de que los sujetos sociales y culturales se construyen desde su posicin
frente a las relaciones de produccin. Esta interpretacin tiene su origen en una
cosmovisin del mundo que ha imperado sin variaciones esenciales desde los das
de la invasin europea a los territorios hoy conocidos como Amrica, que dieron
origen a la modernidad.
El dominio y la explotacin econmica del Norte sobre el Sur, se inicia en los
orgenes mismos de la modernidad, es decir, en el colonialismo y se extiende hasta
nuestros das (Quijano, 2007). Sin embargo, la estructura de poder colonial fue y
todava es el marco dentro del cual operan las otras relaciones sociales, de tipo
clasista o estamental (Quijano, 1992, p. 11). Quijano llama a este proceso
colonialidad, cuya matriz se basa en una estructura racial de larga duracin basada
en la dualidad europeo vs. no-europeo, dualidad que es un mbito constitutivo de
la acumulacin capitalista, que desde el siglo XVI se da a escala mundial.
Esta estructura de poder contina funcionando en las ex-colonias, no solo a travs
de las relaciones jurdicas o polticas, sino reproduciendo su dimensin epistmica
cultural (Castro-Gmez, Grosfoguel, 2005). Desde esta dimensin epistmica, se
considera al pensamiento de matriz europea-occidental como el nico vlido. Esta
hegemona eurocntrica, se ha construido tambin gracias a otros procesos tales
como la desculturacin, por el cual al esclavo se lo disminuye como persona
humana, para que el dominador pueda reprogramarlo a su voluntad (GuardiolaRivera, 2003). Entonces, la colonialidad cultural eurocntrica sigue dndose
principalmente debido a que la colonizacin del imaginario de los dominados
(Quijano, 1992, p. 12) contina, a pesar de los distintos matices que pueda haber
tomado en cinco siglos.
La modernidad configura una cosmovisin particular de la cultura, la sociedad e
incluso la naturaleza. De hecho, es la modernidad, desde su enfoque eurocntrico,
quin configura una separacin entre sociedad y naturaleza, mientras que la
cosmovisin indgena de varias latitudes del mudo no concibe esta fisura. Desde la
perspectiva moderna, se mira a los no europeos, como exticos, a sus
manifestaciones cientficas como supersticiones y a su arte como folklore. Se

43

impone entonces una cosmovisin dominante y hegemnica del mundo moderno,

denominada por algunos pensadores como colonialidad del saber, por la cual el
pensamiento eurocntrico se erige como paradigma nico de conocimiento que
descarta otras realidades epistmicas (Walsh, 2008b). Este conocimiento se funda
en una herencia cartesiana que establece dicotomas y segmentaciones:
mente/cuerpo, ciencias naturales/ciencias sociales (Castro-Gmez, Grosfoguel,
2005), donde el conocimiento es producto de una relacin sujeto/objeto, en el
cual, el primero es un individuo aislado que, a partir del cartesiano pienso
luego existo cartesiano, se constituye en s y ante s mismo como una entidad
diferente del sujeto y externa a l. Esta dicotoma niega la intersubjetividad y la
totalidad social (Quijano, 1992) y se contrapone con la visin de la casi totalidad de
culturas no occidentales, cuya cosmovisin tienen perspectivas holsticas en las
que todo se relaciona con todo, contrapuesta a la visin segmentada y dual del
occidente cartesiano.
Inicialmente, la primaca eurocntrica se fundaba en impedir la produccin
cultural de los dominados. El control social y cultural signific la reduccin de las
culturas primigenias de los territorios colonizados a la categora de subculturas. Al
ser stas despojadas de sus patrones propios de expresin, se da un apertura
parcial del conocimiento, dotando a la cultura europea de un carcter de
seduccin y de acceso a instancias de poder, con lo cual la europeizacin cultural
se convirti en una aspiracin de los dominados (Quijano, 1992). Una vez que la
colonizacin cultural despoj de los patrones de expresin cultural a los indios y
los negros, estos fueron obligados a la imitacin de los patrones europeos y a
sentir vergenza de sus propias manifestaciones culturales (Quijano, 1999).
De esta forma, la colonialidad cultural se expresa como un conflicto entre
tendencias que se dirigen hacia una reorganizacin cultural y otras de represin
contra ellas o de reabsorcin de sus productos dentro del poder dominante en la
sociedad (Quijano, 1999, p. 99). Por una parte, se genera una tendencia a la
subversin de ese orden, que surge a partir de la reorganizacin de los patrones
impuestos, y que la inician los dominados que una vez fueron obligados a la
imitacin y a la reproduccin del modelo europeo. Ellos dieron nuevos sentidos y
significados a los smbolos de los colonizadores, incorporando, en su
reproduccin, su propia simbologa ancestral. Por otra parte, los que decidieron
continuar y reproducir la herencia colonial, adoptaron dos vas: la una, como una
44

repeticin servil del modelo europeo, que fuera del contexto y la experiencia
sociocultural europea result en propuestas mediocres, como por ejemplo las
manifestaciones de arte visual y plstica que replican la propuesta europea
evitando el sincretismo cultural. La otra va vino por la imitacin e identificacin
del trabajo de los dominados como matriz propia para generar algo original
contrapuesto a lo eurocntrico. Este camino fue desarrollado por las capas medias,
al calor de las luchas contra la colonialidad del poder (Quijano, 1999) y se recre
en diversas propuestas culturales, que tenan como matriz la cultura indgena y
vinculaban aportes de sus similares negra y blanca (Oviedo, 2004).

La dimensin cultural en la sociedad

La dimensin cultural es una parte importante de la crtica que diversas escuelas
de pensamiento hacen de la organizacin social establecida por el eurocentrismo y
de la racionalidad occidental. Sin embargo, en su anlisis adoptan posiciones que
sobrestiman o subestiman la cultura y su influencia, en oposicin al rol de la
economa. Nuevamente se percibe la herencia cartesiana en su versin moderna:
discurso/economa, sujeto/estructura. De modo que aquellos que
sobredimensionan el anlisis de las ciencias humanas, tienden a caer en el
culturalismo vulgar5 y los que lo hacen desde las ciencias sociales, en el
economicismo vulgar; limitando la comprensin de los mbitos propios de los
procesos sociales. Castro-Gmez y Grosfoguel, develan cmo la dicotoma
cartesiana influye en la comprensin de procesos integrales y en el
posicionamiento de dos importantes escuelas de pensamiento: los estudios
poscoloniales, y la teora Sistema-mundo, desarrollada por Immanuel Wallerstein.
Los estudios poscoloniales conciben al mundo moderno/colonial como un sistema
de significaciones culturales, pero conciben que los discursos mass-mediticos y
los estudios sobre el otro son elementos sobre determinantes de las relaciones
econmico polticas del sistema capitalista. Han tenido dificultad en comprender
los procesos polticos econmicos y no saben cmo vincularlos al anlisis cultural.
En tanto que los segundos, consideran preeminente el anlisis econmico y a

Se denomina culturalismo vulgar a aquellos discursos que sobrevaluan categoras epistmicas

desde los estudios culturales al considerarlas suficientes para explicar fenmenos de la ciencia
econmica, tales como la desigualdad. Anlogamente, el economicismo vulgar resta importancia al
reconocimiento y la identidad, dando importancia exclusiva a las categoras econmicas.
5

45

pesar de comprender la importancia del lenguaje y de los discursos, no saben qu

hacer con ellos (Castro- Gmez y Grosfoguel, 2005).
Por otra parte, las escuelas postmodernas y los denominados estudios culturales
(cultural studies), son quienes han considerado la influencia cultural como
determinante en la configuracin social, pero desde una u otra perspectiva
reproducen la dicotomizacin cartesiana en sus diversas vertientes. As, la
argumentacin posmoderna se basa en la crtica a los sujetos, las identidades, lo
individual y la vida en comn, entre lo pblico y lo privado, el sentido de la
poltica y la accin colectiva (Lander, 2000: 93), como nodos de la crisis de la
modernidad. Al no particularizar en qu medida estos parmetros culturales han
estado histricamente subordinados bajo la articulacin jerrquica del orden
moderno/colonial, ni de qu manera se manifiestan en la colonialidad, ponen de
manifiesto sus lmites para el anlisis de la realidad en las ex colonias.
Ms cerca de nuestra realidad latinoamericana est la escuela dependentista, que
a pesar de los importantes avances en el anlisis del centro-periferia, reduce la
cultura a un instrumento en la compresin de los procesos de acumulacin
capitalista. Al considerar la economa como la esfera privilegiada del anlisis
social, se reproduca el reduccionismo economicista de muchos enfoques
marxistas, a la vez que categoras como gnero, raza y ecologa eran ignoradas o
incluidas como parte de la categora clase. La teora de la dependencia, entonces,
subestima el papel de lo simblico en la conformacin de las jerarquas
moderno/coloniales e incurre en un anlisis que no da cuenta de las
complejidades de las redes globales de poder que actan en el sistema (CastroGmez, Grosfoguel, 2005).

La cultura entre el neoliberalismo y la decolonialidad

Como anota Quijano, los debates sobre capitalismo y globalizacin llevaron a un
replanteamiento de las relaciones del conocimiento. Parte de este
replanteamiento signific un cambio en la intersubjetividad mundial, percibida
desde una extincin del horizonte de futuro, en particular despus de la cada del
socialismo real.

46

En esos das del fin de la historia, en que incluso se conceba al neoliberalismo

como el nico sistema al cual estaba condenado la humanidad, las gestas de
justicia social se perciban como lejanas e irrepetibles. Intempestivamente las
teoras crticas dejaron de posicionar su cuestionamiento al sistema imperante y
era difcil el reposicionamiento de alternativas tericas a la teora neoliberal
(Quijano, 2002). En los albores del neoliberalismo como un discurso hegemnico
de un modelo civilizatorio, este era visto no solo como una opcin deseable sino
como el nico posible, haciendo que la poltica se vea innecesaria, al carecerse de
alternativas (Lander, 2000b), ya que desde su posicin de poder, el neoliberalismo
vaci al discurso poltico de toda la posibilidad de transformar la realidad y la
sociedad (Dvalos 2013)
Es solamente desde fines de la dcada de los noventa que se posiciona una crtica
sostenida al neoliberalismo; entendida como un cuestionamiento de las
pretensiones de objetividad y neutralidad de los principales instrumentos de
naturalizacin y legitimacin de ese orden social (Lander, 2000b, p. 12); de donde
destacan principalmente las diversas posiciones del feminismo y el
cuestionamiento del Estado-nacin del EZLN, el resurgimiento de la teora crtica,
entre otras.
Por otra parte, la crtica proviene tambin del sur, tanto en el desentraamiento
de la naturaleza del orientalismo, desarrollado por Edward Said, desde los estudios
poscoloniales de la India y del Africa Subsahariana, as como del rescate y
enriquecimiento a los valiosos aportes del conocer no eurocntrico
latinomericano, en especial en el pensamiento desarrollado por Mart y
Maritegui (Lander, 2000b).
El (re)pensamiento crtico latinoamericano reciente, ha ido configurando la
descolonializacin y la decolonialidad,6 que colocan como centro del capitalismo y
por ende del neoliberalismo a la colonialidad. Su dualidad etnoracial europeo vs.
no-europeo, permite entender al capitalismo como un sistema que a su vez genera
Como explica Catherine Walsh: Suprimir la s y nombrar decolonial no es promover un anglicismo
[] es marcar una distincin con el significado castellano del des. No pretendemos desarmar,
deshacer o revertir lo colonial [] (sino) provocar un posicionamiento una postura y actitud continuade trasgredir, intervenir, in-surgir e incidir [] un camino de lucha continuo en el cual podemos
identificar, visibilizar y alentar lugares de exterioridad y construcciones alternativas (Walsh, 2009, p.
14).
6

47

otras dualidades de discursos raciales con profundas implicaciones econmicas. El

patrn de poder colonial gener los procesos de acumulacin capitalista
articulados en jerarquas: razas superiores destinadas a los trabajos mejor
remunerados y razas inferiores a los trabajos coercitivos, desarrollo y
subdesarrollo, brbaros y civilizados (Castro-Gmez, Grosfoguel, 2005).
El anlisis que hacen de la cultura, la descolonializacin y el pensamiento
decolonial,7 considera como punto de partida que la cultura no se deriva de los
procesos poltico-econmicos, ni tampoco sus epistemes son los que configuran
dichos procesos. La cultura es percibida como entrelazada con la poltica y la
economa de una sociedad, puesto que hay una estrecha relacin entre modos de
produccin y cultura, uno de cuyos nexos es el lenguaje. Tal y como lo demuestran
Mignolo y Escobar, el lenguaje determina no solo la economa sino la realidad
social en su conjunto (Castro-Gmez, Grosfoguel, 2005).
Partiendo de esta visin fundamental, la decolonialidad establece parmetros
especficos de la perspectiva cultural y del conocimiento, contrapuestos a la visin
occidental:
-

Frente a la divisin de la ciencia, que hace el eurocentrismo cartesiano,

proponen una visin holstica no occidental, desde una perspectiva de
totalidad.
En contraposicin a la negacin, inferiorizacin y avasallamiento del
eurocentrismo hacia las otras culturas y las identidades subalternas, la
decolonialidad plantea la construccin de un conocimiento que confluya
en varios lenguajes, que deben dar cuenta de la complejidad de las
jerarquas, de gnero, raza, clase, sexualidad, conocimiento y
espiritualidad.
La perspectiva cultural enfoca los procesos geopolticos, econmicos y
sociales desde varias vertientes. Es una perspectiva incluyente que, aun
cuando todava no se manifiesta como un giro decolonial en el nivel
institucional, ya se muestra en las nuevas visiones del derecho, la poltica,
el rol de la universidad y los intelectuales.

De ahora en adelante har referencia solo a la decolonialidad por considerarla que engloba procesos
de descolonizacin y en concordancia con Walsh (2009) trasciende lo crtico de la descolonizacin y
es ms propositivo.
7

48

Es necesaria la construccin de nuevas formas de conocimiento, donde se

incluyan aquellos no tomados en cuenta por el eurocentrismo desde su
visin de los especialistas y que mantiene la perspectiva elitista de
construccin del conocimiento bajo la hegemona del constructo
hombre/blanco/occidental/heterosexual sobre los no reconocidos como
productores de conocimiento. En ese sentido, la decolonialidad enfatiza el
rescate y la produccin del conocimiento prctico de los trabajadores,
las mujeres, los sujetos racializados coloniales, los gays y los movimientos
antisistmicos. (Castro-Gmez, Grosfoguel, 2005, p. 21).

Por su parte, Maritza Montero considera que es posible hablar de una forma
particular que tiene Amrica Latina de ver el mundo desde una perspectiva otra 8 y
que se constituye en un episteme. Montero considera a la Teologa de la
Liberacin, la Filosofa de la Liberacin y los trabajos de investigacin-accin de
Orlando Fals Borda, la Pedagoga del Oprimido de Paulo Freire y la Crtica a la
Ideologa burguesa realizada por Alejandro Moreno, como elementos tiles para la
articulacin de un proyecto de cultura y conocimiento otro:
-

Una concepcin de comunidad y de participacin as como del saber

popular, como formas de constitucin y a la vez como producto de un
episteme de relacin.
La idea de liberacin a travs de la praxis, que supone la movilizacin de la
conciencia y un sentido crtico que lleva a la desnaturalizacin de las
formas cannicas de aprehender-construir-ser en el mundo.
La redefinicin del rol de investigador social, el reconocimiento del Otro
como S Mismo y por lo tanto la del sujeto-objeto de la investigacin como
actor social y constructor de conocimiento.
El carcter histrico indeterminado, indefinido, no acabado y relativo del
conocimiento. La multiplicidad de voces, de mundos de vida, la pluralidad
epistmica.
La perspectiva de la dependencia y luego, la de la resistencia. La tensin entre
minoras y mayoras y los modos alternativos de hacer-conocer.

La nocin de otra/otra, se inscribe en el enfoque de pensamiento-otro, concebido por Khatibi y

retomado pro Mignolo: encontrar y construir algo radicalmente distinto desde la diferencia y hacia la
liberacin. Un proyecto no surgido ni desde la modernidad ni desde los colonizadores o liberadores,
sino desde principios polticos, econmicos, ticos y epistmicos distintos. (Mignolo en Walsh, 2009)
8

49

La revisin de mtodos, los aportes y las transformaciones provocadas por

ellos. (Montero en Lander, 2000b, p. 29)

El pensamiento decolonial tambin incorpora la transmodernidad, propuesta por

Enrique Dussel, como un proyecto para culminar el inacabado e incompleto
proceso de la decolonizacin. El proyecto transmoderno se contrapone al proyecto
desarrollado por Habermas9, que busca la culminacin del inacabado proyecto de
la modernidad (Grosfoguel, 2005). El espacio epistmico transmoderno desarrolla
la otredad epistmica como algo que se ubica en la interseccin entre lo
tradicional y lo moderno, con una matriz comn: el sentido de complicidad
subversiva contra el sistema, desde una resistencia semitica y desde las
subjetividades subalternas (Castro-Gmez, Grosfoguel, 2005).

La cultura y la descolonizacin
en el contexto intercultural-plurinacional ecuatoriano
La interculturalidad y la plurinacionalidad, sin ser conceptos descolonizadores en
s, se vinculan en diversos grados con una propuesta descolonizadora e incluso
decolonial. Es indudable que el ejercicio efectivo de la interculturalidad puede
proporcionar reflexiones y prcticas que se contrapongan a la colonialidad del
poder, manifiesta socialmente en el racismo y el elitismo. La interculturalidad
concebida como un proyecto poltico y de forma de vida de una sociedad apunta
tambin a la descolonizacin del saber, al visibilizar y recuperar el sustento de los
saberes populares, los que adquieren la misma importancia que el saber
occidental, al colocarlos a un mismo nivel de valoracin. Por otra parte, la
propuesta de un Estado plurinacional significa no solo contraponerse a la visin
liberal eurocntrica de un Estado-nacin, sino a la posibilidad de admitir otras
formas de organizacin y de reivindicar y reposicionar formas organizativas
comunales, colectivos y asociaciones que no necesariamente parten de la premisa
occidental del Estado de derecho.
Mientras Habermas sostiene que el proyecto de la modernidad est inacabado, puesto que una
sociedad moderna, fundada en la razn, no ha cumplido con sus fines; entre estos una racional
solucin de conflictos, Dussel considera que siendo la modernidad un proyecto eurocntrico, es
necesario generar un proyecto propio diferente esde la Filosofa de la Liberacin, que incorpore las
visiones del otro, del subalterno, desde un lugar propio frente a la modernidad occidental.
9

50

La interculturalidad y la plurinacionalidad se vienen debatiendo en la regin

desde hace ms de dos dcadas, y sus implicaciones en la organizacin de la
sociedad ecuatoriana hacen que stas adquieran cada vez ms importancia. De
hecho, la Nueva Constitucin Ecuatoriana del 2008, las considera entre los
principios fundamentales del Estado (Asamblea Nacional (AN), 2008, p. 25), pero
ambas tienen distintas interpretaciones y su ejercicio implica posiciones que
afectan o benefician a determinados sectores.

a) Interculturalidad, multiculturalismo y pluriculturalidad

La convivencia de culturas distintas en un mismo territorio determinado, nos
plantea una nocin descriptiva que se enmarca en los conceptos de
multiculturalidad y pluriculturalidad, el primero usado por los pases occidentales
y el segundo, es el trmino ms usado en Amrica del Sur (Walsh, 2008b). Sin
embargo, la descripcin de este relacionamiento entre culturas como tal es
limitado por cuanto pueden existir relaciones multi o pluriculturales signadas por
la exclusin, la discriminacin y la explotacin. Una sociedad puede ser
multicultural y a la vez racista (Schmelkes, 2005). El proyecto multicultural se
limita al reconocimiento de la diversidad cultural, sin buscar mecanismos para
lograr un mejor relacionamiento entre culturas. Tampoco cuestiona al Estado que
legitima esta desigualdad estructural y la opresin de la cultura mayoritaria sobre
otras (Schmelkes, 2005; Walsh, 2008). Desde esta perspectiva, una visin
multicultural donde se obvian las relaciones de poder calza perfectamente con los
proyectos neoliberales y transnacionales que mercatilizan la diferencia o que,
desde el discurso de la diversidad, buscan humanizar al neoliberalismo y la
globalizacin10 (Torres, 2009).
En ese sentido, se hace necesario trascender la multiculturalidad tomando
posicin y calificando la relacin entre culturas desde el establecimiento de
relaciones igualitarias; sin asimetras que beneficien a un grupo cultural sobre los
otros, como resultado de la mediacin del poder. Este es el mbito de la
interculturalidad.

La multiculturalidad estadounidense que se sustenta en la democracia liberal, enfoca la diferencia

como un valor agregado a la venta y mercantiliza la relacin intercultural. En tanto que el nuevo
humanismo de lo diverso es desarrollado por el denominado interculturalismo europeo (Walsh en
Torres, 2009).
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51

La interculturalidad se basa en la filosofa del otro y la democracia. La filosofa del

otro considera que no existen jerarquas de superioridad entre culturas; concibe al
otro, no como una amenaza, sino ms bien como la posibilidad de un mutuo
enriquecimiento. Esto es posible en un contexto de contacto entre culturas y
tomando en cuenta que stas estn en dinamia permanente. La democracia, como
sinnimo de tolerancia y opuesta totalmente al racismo, coincide con la
interculturalidad en la bsqueda de la justicia y se basa en ella para garantizar la
convivencia armnica en sociedades diversas y heterogneas (Schmelkes, 2005).
La interculturalidad trasciende el respeto, la tolerancia y el reconocimiento de la
diversidad cuando,
[] seala y alienta, ms bien, un proceso y proyecto social y poltico dirigido a
la construccin de sociedades, relaciones y condiciones de vida nuevas y
distintas [] no solo econmicas, sino a ellas que tienen que ver con la
cosmologa de la vida en general, incluyendo los saberes de la memoria
ancestral y la relacin con la madre naturaleza y al espiritualidad, entre otras
(Walsh, 2008b, p. 140).

Varios autores coinciden en que la interculturalidad no existe y que es

esencialmente una aspiracin, algo por construir y que debera ser pensada ms
como un verbo en accin que como un sustantivo (Schmelkes, 2005; Walsh, 2008b,
2009). La construccin de la interculturalidad implica actuar en los procesos
enraizados en las brechas culturales reales y actuales e influenciados por la
dinmica del poder y de las desigualdades sociales. Estos procesos han significado
disputar al poder, asuntos como: identificacin cultural, derecho, diferencia,
autonoma y nacin, educacin y en especial el territorio. Puesto que es en el
territorio donde la naturaleza y las relaciones de produccin, manifiestan sus
contradicciones y a la vez son el escenario de reproduccin de las matrices
culturales.
La interculturalidad constituye un avance cualitativo, contrapuesto al multi o
pluriculturalismo funcionales a la expansin del discurso neoliberal y a la
globalizacin, cuando se transforma en una herramienta poltica; en un
mecanismo de lucha poltica que remueve los fundamentos eurocentistas y
monoculturales de la teora poltica (Santos en Oviedo, 2013). Esto es posible si la
orientacin intercultural que busca cimentar nuevos valores, institucionalidad y
cosmovisin, va ms all de los enunciados jurdicos y se construye desde
52

premisas que incluyan a saberes-otros, desde una perspectiva decolonial. Es

entonces cuando toca la esencia misma del poder dominante y del sistema
econmico vigente (Macas en Walsh, 2009). Solamente en ese sentido se puede
generar una nueva hegemona que no solo desafa al Estado, pues cuestiona
tambin la subjetividad y la racionalidad de la sociedad.

b) La plurinacionalidad y el Estado plurinacional

La idea de nacin surge asociada a dos conceptos, uno que tiene un origen liberal y
ciudadano, por el cual nos asume como miembros de un pas, desde la visin
cvica, liberal y geopoltica, y el otro es un concepto tnico cultutal que
proporciona otro sentido de nacionalidad (Santos, 2010). La concepecin de
nacin que ha primado, no solo en el Ecuador, es la que idntica la visin liberal de
nacin que la identifica con el estado, siguiendo los proyectos de consolidacin del
estado desde visiones homogenizantes. El Estado moderno, de matriz colonial, no
ha tomado en cuenta las mltiples formas de concebir y construir identidades,
sistemas de vida y de distribuir territorios, que se han incluido o han sobrepasado
el carcter nacional.
Es entonces que la plurinacionalidad encuentra sustento en el otro concepto de
nacin aquel asociado a las races tnico culturales, al carcter plural de lo
nacional, que ntimamente ligada a una propuesta de interculturalizacin, son
conceptos que subrayan que lo plural-nacional no es una divisin del Estado, sino
que se constituye como una estructura ms adecuada para integrar y unificar al
Estado dentro del marco de una armnica convivencia de culturas (Walsh, 2009;
2008b). La visin plurinacional entra en contradiccin con ese concepto de Estado
moderno y colonial, que siguiendo la tradicin liberal, identifica un Estado con
una nacin (Santos, 2007; 2010). Esta premisa inicial nos permite comprender por
qu el Estado plurinacional ha sido importante en la agenda de lucha de los
movimientos indgenas, principalmente en Ecuador y Bolivia, por cuanto la idea
que compatibiliza Estado con una propuesta uninacional, no es funcional en una
poca en la que se deben combinar diferentes conceptos de nacin dentro de un
mismo Estado (Walsh, 2008; Santos, 2007).
Hay algunos elementos que podran efectivizar la plurinacionalidad y que parten
desde el rompimiento con procesos de origen colonial, tales como la
reconfiguracin del mapa poltico con la participacin de los pueblos originarios
53

en la distribucin territorial y que toman en cuenta las divisiones territoriales

creadas desde el Estado; la promocin de canales de expresin al interior de la
nacin o naciones, con igualdad de jerarquas jurdicas entre stas al interior del
Estado; las prcticas que gestan cohesin, desde una sociedad intercultural
(Walsh, 2008b).
La plurinacionalidad es una idea que busca alentar cambios estructurales
histricos que enfrenten los intereses internacionales y el poder nacional
dominante (Walsh, 2008b). Sin embargo, sta no desafa al Estado en su estructura
poltica ni tampoco a la democracia como su rgimen, reta al concepto de Estado
en la perspectiva de reorganizar sus estructuras e instituciones polticas sin
romper su carcter unitario. Desde esa perspectiva, el concepto plurinacionalidad
no pude inscribirse completamente dentro del mbito decolonial.
Si bien en trminos constitucionales, el Ecuador ha sido declarado como un Estado
intercultural y plurinacional, todava no se ha logrado desarrollar los elementos
que permitan el ejercicio pleno de la plurinacionalidad. Pues tanto sta como la
interculturalidad se ejercitan en territorios habitados y son demandas concretas
de amplios segmentos poblacionales que buscan su concrecin en la vida diaria.
Estas se efectivizan en el ejercicio soberano sobre el territorio, lo cual incluye el
ejercicio pleno de los derechos culturales tanto en el uso de la lengua, como en las
manifestaciones culturales y las polticas de expresin. Se expresa en la
administracin de justicia y la vinculacin en las consultas comunitarias y en las
definiciones de la estructura productiva y reproductiva del territorio, del agua y
de los ecosistemas. El ejercicio pleno de estas demandas entra en contradiccin
con los ejercicios de soberana y choca con un predominante concepto de nacin
colonial que sigue asociando dichas demandas al separtismo de la autonoma.
Concebir un estado plurinacional e intercultural significa asumir como pas el
reconocimiento de los derechos colectivos y la autodeterminacin y que no entra
en conflicto con la sobreana del Estado-nacin liberal (Santos, 2010). Por otra
parte, si bien la reflexin acadmica proporciona espacios para la comprensin de
dichos conceptos desde y para la Ciencia Social, y brinda aportes para orientar la
poltica pblica o para comprender la dinmica de los movimientos sociales; son
las voces desde los territorios, aquellas que plantean sus demandas desde su
vivencia y su subjetividad, las que siempre trascienden la conceptualizacin
intelectual.
54

Conclusiones
Descolonizacin, interculturalidad, plurinacionalidad aterrizan en la agenda de los
pueblos y nacionalidades indgenas en aspectos que van desde la educacin
intercultural bilinge, el ejercicio de sus derechos a la tierra, al agua y la soberana
alimentaria. A pesar de que en el caso ecuatoriano, siglos de resistencia indgena,
afroecuatoriana y popular, han ido posicionando esos temas en el debate social, y
a pesar de que se manifiestan como derechos garantizados en su Constitucin
(2008), son temas que no han podido concretarse en leyes que garanticen una
efectiva educacin intercultural y bilinge, como tampoco en una reforma agraria
que contemple derechos sobre la tierra y el agua, y que retribuya en algo a pagar
una deuda histrica con los campesinos indgenas, mestizos pobres o
afroecuatorianos. Tampoco se han concretado propuestas que garanticen la
soberana alimentaria.
En ese sentido, el cumplimiento del mandato constitucional de interculturalidad y
plurinacionalidad debe visibilizar y reforzar la valoracin cultural de las diversas
nacionalidades y de los conocimientos propios de cada una de ellas, desde su
prctica cotidiana, pero esencialmente acogiendo y respetando las propuestas del
proyecto poltico de dichos pueblos y nacionalidades para ir a procesos efectivos
de descolonizacin e incluso a la construccin de propuestas decoloniales. La
ejecucin de una perspectiva intercultural, que tome en cuenta estos proyectos
polticos, ir ms all del mero acercamiento y respeto por la cultura del otro,
para generar amplios encuentros espacio-temporales, donde todas las diversas
culturas que conforman el Estado plurinacional interacten, influyan, dinamicen y
transformen las culturas originarias de los individuos.
Si bien el enriquecimiento cultural parte de un posicionamiento y apropiacin de
las culturas desde los aspectos identitarios locales, son las diferencias culturales
las que incorporan potenciales positivos, permiten complementar a los individuos
unos con otros e imaginar soluciones para mejorar la convivencia social y natural
(UNESCO, 2010). Es por ello que el dilogo intercultural efectiviza y enriquece el
planteamiento intercultural y se constituye en una tarea que trasciende
cuestiones tnicas propias de indios, negros o mestizos, para constituirse en una
tarea de la sociedad en su conjunto. Lograr una interculturalidad efectiva es

55

posible, nicamente, eliminando el discrimen y la desigualdad entre las naciones

que actan dentro de un Estado (Saltos Coloma, 2009).
Este ejercicio efectivo es ms urgente en pases como el Ecuador, en los que la
exclusin, la discriminacin y el racismo, no solo se manifiestan a travs de
indicadores que demuestran cmo los afroecuatorianos e indios tienen el menor
acceso a educacin, al ejercicio pleno de sus derechos culturales y comparten los
lugares ms bajos en trminos de calidad de vida. La condicin socio racial sigue
determinando la exclusin de las nacionalidades, pueblos y culturas de su
condicin constitutiva en la ecuatorianidad (Ministerio Coordinador de
Patrimonio (MCP), 2009); el conocimiento ancestral sigue inferiorizado frente a la
ciencia occidental, y no se logra todava una produccin consistente de
conocimiento otro que busque salir de las matrices epistmicas occidentales.
En la diversa sociedad ecuatoriana, una propuesta cultural que trascienda la
colonialidad del saber y del poder, debe sustentarse en dilogos interculturales
donde las culturas que dialoguen lo hagan en condiciones de igualdad, y sobre
todo, sin que este proceso dialgico est mediado por el poder.

Bibliografa
Asamblea Nacional (AN). (2008). Constitucin de la Repblica del Ecuador. Asamblea Nacional, Comisin
Legislativa y de Fiscalizacin.
Castro-Gmez, Santiago & Grosfoguel, Ramn. (2005). Prlogo. En S. Castro-Gmez y R. Grosfoguel (edit.), El
Giro Decolonial, reflexiones para una diversidad epistmica ms all del capitalismo global. Siglo de Hombres
editores.
Dvalos Pablo. (2013). El Proyecto Poltico de la Sociedad Monte Pregrino: Distopia y Violencia neoliberal.
Documento no publicado.
Grosfoguel, Ramn. (2005). Descolonizando los Universalismos occidentales: El Pluri-versalismo Transmoderno
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Guardiola-Rivera, Oscar. (2003). Historia de un asesinato por ocurrir, contado a la manera de una novela policiaca
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Culturales Latinoamericanos, retos desde y sobre la regin andina. Universidad Andina Simn Bolvar, Abya /Yala.
Hidrovo Quinez, Tatiana; Sandoval Simba, Patricio, et al. (2009). Propuestas para la construccin de Polticas
culturales desde la visin de los ponentes. En Gestin de Polticas Culturales. Cuadernos, No.6. Fondo Editorial del
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57

Evaluation of low vision devices

used at Makkah Eye Complex
Enas Elsiddig Abd Alla & Mohammed Elhassan A. Alawad
University of Alneelain, Sudan

Abstract: This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of low vision devices that
had been prescribed to subjects attended the low vision department at Makka
Eye Complex, during the period from 2005 to 2006. 350 subjects were included
(254 males and 96 females). Their ages range between (6-90) years. Data was
collected from records. The information included: age, gender, causes of low
vision, visual requirements of subjects, vision of right and left eyes, and the type
of low vision devices used. Statistical analysis of data was done by using SPSS
11.5 for windows program. The results represented that 78.57% of subjects had
shown improvement by low vision devices. 62.5% of subjects were prescribed
glasses for distance. 35% of subjects were prescribed telescopes for distance.
And 60.61% were prescribed stand magnifiers for near. However, 21.43% of
subjects were not improved by low vision devices due to multiple impairment.
Keywords: Low vision, Visual requirements, Causes of low vision, Low vision
devices, Prescription.

Introduction
Statement of the problem
Low vision is defined as visual acuity of less than 6/18, but equal to or better than
3/60, or a corresponding visual field loss to less than 20 degrees in the better eye
with best possible correction.
The number of visual impairment in the world is estimated by the WHO to be 161
million person of whom 37 million blind and 124 million with low vision. In Africa
it is estimated that 6.8 million are blind and 20 million have significant low vision
(WHO, 2002). 80% of people with low vision might benefit from low vision services.

58

There is a lack of low vision centers and low vision services that might support
low vision patient's needs. There are only two centers at Khartoum state, one
established at Makka Eye Complex (March, 2005) and the other at EL Walidian Eye
Hospital (October, 2006). Therefore, this descriptive, retrospective and crosssectional study is aimed to evaluate low vision devices used at Makka Eye Complex
in the period from March 2005 to march 2006.

Aim of the study

The aim is to evaluate the efficiency of low vision devices used at Makka Eye
Complex during the period from March 2005 to March 2006.

Objectives of the study

-

To determine the optical low vision devices used.

To determine the non-optical low vision devices used.
To determine patients who did not benefit from low vision devices.
To determine other services that given to patients not improved by low vision
devices.

Subjects and Methods

Subjects
This study aimed to evaluate low vision devices used to assess and treat low vision
patients attending Makka Eye Complex during one year from March 2005 to
March 2006. 526 subjects were seen at the clinic only 350 of that number were
included. They were 254 males and 96 were females, their ages ranged between 690 years old.

Methods
A descriptive, cross-sectional, and retrospective study based on collection of data
from records. Data collected from records include the following information: age,

59

gender, causes of low vision, state of vision, visual requirements of subjects, vision
of right and left eyes, and type of low vision devices used.
The SPSS 11.5 statistical program for social studies was used to draw the results.
All obtained results were presented in tables and graphs.

Results
Figure (1) Distribution of subjects according to age group

30
25

0-15

20

1530
3045
4560

15
10

5
0
38 96 48 61 81 23 3

Table (2) Distribution of subjects according to cause of low vision

Cause of low vision

Frequency

Percentage

Age-related macular degeneration

Albinism
Cataract complication
Chorio retinal degeneration
Corneal dystrophies
Diabetic retinopathy
Glaucoma
Maculopathy
Myopic degeneration
Not specified
Nystagmus

26
6
35
28
15
28
45
47
6
7
8

7.43%
1.71%
10%
8%
4.29%
8%
12.86%
13.43%
1.71%
2%
2.29%

60

Optic atrophy
Refractive amblyopia
Retinitis pigmentosa

27
8
64

7.71%
2.29%
18.29%

Total

350

100%

Table (3) Distribution of subjects' vision

Vision

RE

0.0 0.2
0.2 0.4
0.4 0.6
0.6 0.8
0.8 1.00
1.00 1.2
1.2 1.4
1.4 1.6
1.6 1.8
1.8 2.00
2.00 2.2
2.2 2.4
2.4 2.6
2.6 2.8

3
3
10
26
36
64
52
25
35
16
1
29
32
18

0.86%
0.86%
2.89%
7.43%
10.29%
18.29%
14.86%
7.14%
10%
4.57%
0.29%
8.29%
9.14%
5.14%

3
3
8
23
45
50
54
32
29
17
1
26
35
24

0.86%
0.86%
2.29%
6.57%
12.89%
14.29%
15.43%
9.14%
8.29%
4.89%
0.29%
7.43%
10%
6.86%

Total

350

100%

350

100%

N. P:
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6

LE

= refer to C.F
= refer to H.M
= refer to P.L
Refer to no P.L

61

Table (4) Distribution of subjects according to types of management

Types of management

Frequency

Percentage

Correction for distance

Correction for near
Correction for distance + near
No improve with L.V.Ds

40
66
169
75

11.42%
18.86%
48.29%
21.43

Total

350

100%

Discussion
Age and Gender
Subjects included in this study were divided into seven age groups as follows:
From 0-15 yrs old represent 10.86%, 15-30 yrs old 27.43%, 30-45 yrs old 13.71%, 4560 yrs old 17.43%, 60-75 yrs old 23.14%, 75-90 yrs old 6.57%, 90-105 yrs old 0.86%.
With Minimum 6 years, Maximum 90 years, Range 84, Mean of 42.1457, and
Standard Deviation of 22.4679. It appears that subjects from age 15-30 yrs old
represent the highest range for the included subjects with percentage of 27.43%,
so it indicated that most of low vision patients are young people (figure 1).
This study included 254 males with percentage 72.57% and 96 females with
percentage 27.43%. Therefore, most of low vision patient are males and this result
is not significant due to unequal subjects attending the low vision clinic.

Causes of Low Vision

It appears that the main cause of low vision is retinitis pigmentosa with
percentage 18.29% (table 2), and its more common in males (Appendix D) between
the age from (16-30) years old (Appendix E). This result is agreed with Brilliant
(1999), who stated that 60-80% of the population affected by retinitis pigmentosa
has inherited it autosomal recessively and it's occurrence reported to be between
1 in 2000 to 1 in 7000 and its more common in males.
This result is agreed also with the result that obtained by Mohamed Ali (2007) who
stated that the main cause of low vision in Sudan was Retinitis pigmentosa 16.16%
62

Vision
Vision in right eyes vary from Minimum 0.1 to Maximum 2.6 with Mean of 1.4336,
Standard Deviation of 0.6321, and range of 2.5.
Vision in left eyes also vary from Minimum 0.1 to Maximum 2.6 with Mean of
1.4659, Standard Deviation of 0.6438, and range of 2.5.(table 3).
From these results it appears that, there was no significant difference between the
two eyes with t=-0.773 and P=0.440 (Appendix C).

Types of Management:
Types of management vary according to the visual requirement of subjects, some
of them had correction for distance (40) 11.42%, others (66) 18.86% had correction
for near, most of them had correction for distance and near simultaneously (169)
48.29%, and some of them were not improved by low vision devices (75) 21.43% .
From these results we can see that most of subjects improved with low vision
devices (275) with percentage 78.57% and those who did not improved only (75)
with percentage 21.43% (table 4.4).
These results are agreed with the results found by Fein bloom (1935) that
presented prior studies in the low vision field and described the results achieved
on 500 low vision patients, 59.5% of whom were aided, 21% of whom aided but the
aid was found to be impractical, and 19.4% of whom could not be benefited. Fonda
(1955) in a report of 500 patients examined reported that 48% benefited from the
low vision aids. A report published by the Industrial Home for the Blind (1957)
stated that 68% of a group of 500 patients had been successful in using low vision
aids. Kaine (1963) in reporting an analysis of 365 patients indicated that 65% of the
patients were fitted successfully with low vision aids (Borish, 1970).

Conclusions
-

Most of the subjects were within the age group 15-30 years old.
Most of patients included in this study were males.
The main cause of low vision was retinitis pigmentosa.
The highest range of vision for right eyes was 1.0-1.2, and 1.2-1.4 for left eye.

63

Most of the patients had been given corrections for distance and near.
Glasses were the main type of correction for distance.
Stand magnifiers are the main type of correction for near.
From this study it was found that most of low vision patients had been aided
benefited from low vision devices.
Patients who were not improved by low vision devices had profound low
vision.

References
Bennet, A.G. and Rabbetts, R.B. (1997). Clinical Visual Optics, 2ed edition, pp. 23-32. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Borish I M. (1970). Clinical Refraction, Volume (2), 3rd edition, pp. 1007-1034. Professional Press Books.
Brilliant R L. (1999). Essentials of Low Vision Practice, pp. 6-11. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Christine Dickinson (1998). Low Vision Principles and Practices, pp. 1-7, 17-22, 31-36. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Elliot D B (2001). Clinical Procedures in Primary Eye Care. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Eskridge J.B, Amos J.F, Bartlett J.D. (1991). Clinical Procedures in Optometry, pp. 155-156. J.B.Lippincott
Company.
Faye E.E. (1984). Clinical Low Vision, 2ed edition, pp. 6-11. Little, Brown and Company.
Kanski J.J. (2007). Clinical Ophthalmology, 6th edition, pp. 15-20. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Mohamed Ali A.B. (2007). Causes of Low Vision and Vision Enhancement of Patients attending the Low Vision
Department at Makka Eye Complex. Paper presented in XV congress of Ophthalmology in Sudan, Khartoum.
Rensikoff S., Pascolini D., et al. (2004). Global Data on Visual Impairment the year. In Bulletin of WHO, 82(4), 844851.

64

Developing depth of knowledge in ESL through

experiential learning
Jacques Mostert
American University of the Middle East

Margarita Georgieva
American University of the Middle East

Abstract: Education is placed under pressure to provide graduates that are

immediately competitive in demanding technologically advanced economic
environments. Depth of knowledge and self-efficacy are an essential component
in providing the workplace with instantly operative graduates. A learnercentred approach is paramount in establishing depth of knowledge in ESL and
includes authentic experience, development of self-efficacy and emotional wellbeing. A process of planning, researching, drawing conclusions and deriving
new knowledge helps to articulate learners depth of knowledge which is best
developed through experiential learning. Experiential learning is an
uninterrupted process that comprises interactions between the learner and the
environment, through which knowledge, understanding and skills are
generated. In three case studies from a Bulgarian high school, we explored four
methods of experiential learning: concrete experience, abstract shared
attributes, reflective observation and active experimentation that showed the
improved efficacy and increased depth of knowledge in English language
teaching through experiential learning. In this chapter we provide the reader
with clarity of three core components that are contributory to developing depth
of knowledge. The first is a clarification of what depth of knowledge is, the
second are the characteristics of experiential learning and the third is the
experiential learning cycle. The purpose of our enquiry is to champion
experiential learning as an essential feature in developing depth of knowledge
and positive academic efficacy through analyzing three case studies at the hand
of our understanding of the above mentioned core components.

65

Introduction
Education is increasingly being placed under pressure to provide well-rounded
high school, college and university graduates that can be immediately competitive
in ever more demanding environments. This is especially true when it comes to
graduates with English proficiency. In order to fulfil such expectations, learners
require a combination of knowledge developed from a disciplinary perspective as
well as experience-based learning, thus creating the conditions for a shift towards
authentic real world experiences embedded into the curriculum (Clemens & Cord,
2013). However, learners regularly lack opportunity to implement their skills and
knowledge in an authentic environment, causing them to neglect the underlying
principles and interrelated concepts that are central to education in the 21 st
century (Chen, et al., 2013). An authentic learning experience necessitates that
our emphasis alters from subject-centred teaching and learning designs to that
which will primarily focus on the experience gained during the learning process
through a student-centred teaching and learning approach.
The genesis of experiential learning was decidedly ideologically driven with an
emphasis on democratising the curriculum as an opposition to an elitist academic
establishment. The concept of transforming education to empower the vocational
classes was explicitly egalitarian in approach. Luckily experiential learning is no
longer the sole standard bearer of equality in education insofar as the 1994
Salamanca Statement and the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities of 2008 have forged forward to provide education to all (Terzi,
2008). Furthermore, industry requires educational institutions to produce
individuals that are skilled in attitudes and competencies, flexibility and
[openness] to change [enabling them to be] ready to take their place in the
market (Usher, 2009).
In this chapter we will expand on our understanding of depth of knowledge and
argue that a learner-centered approach is the key to developing depth of learning,
which in turn is at the heart of experiential learning. We will explore what our
understanding of experiential learning is and provide an exposition of the
characteristics of experiential learning. We further explore the cycle of
experiential learning as a reoccurring sequence of concrete experiences that give
lead to developing knowledge and understanding. We briefly refer to teaching
66

activities that support experiential learning before we pay greater attention to

experiential learning in action.

Depth of Knowledge
The most comprehensive taxonomy of learning was framed by Benjamin Bloom in
the mid-twentieth century and still provides the widest-ranging way to identify
student behavior and assessment construction (Holmes, 2012). However, to
establish a sufficient understanding of higher order learning within the context of
experiential learning the depth of understanding and implementation of
knowledge need to be measured. Depth of knowledge refers to the complexity of
knowledge required from learners as proof of a cognitively demanding and
rigorous curriculum. The consistency between required standards and assessment
criteria contributes to the application of such complex knowledge (Holmes, 2012).
According to Webbs taxonomy of Depth of Knowledge (Webb, 2002), there are
four levels that contribute to the depth of learning experienced by learners. Level
One assesses student recall through learning activities such as listing, labelling,
calculating and matching. Level Two assesses conceptual skills such as identifying
patterns, predicting outcome and recognizing cause and effect. Level Three
assesses strategic reasoning utilizing evidence beyond describing and explaining
such as exploring a phenomenon in terms of concepts and developing a logical
argument. Level Four assesses the students ability to engage in extended
reasoning. Learners are expected to design and create new systems or products
through applying higher order and significant conceptual knowledge; critique or
critically evaluate existing concepts or constructs and amalgamate existing
knowledge to develop a deeper understanding on existing constructs (Webb,
2006). Blooms taxonomy and Webbs Depth of Knowledge framework are related
through their consideration of complexity of thought. However, whereas Blooms
Taxonomy categorizes cognitive skills, thus describing the thinking process, the
Depth of Knowledge framework relates more closely to the depth of content
understanding and scope of a learning activity relevant to the completion of a
task from inception to finale (Hess, Jones, Carlock, & Walkup, 2009). This process
of planning, researching, drawing conclusion and deriving new knowledge helps
to articulate learners depth of knowledge developed during experiential learning.

67

There is a range of alternative approaches to Webbs Depth of Knowledge

framework that could be considered. Firstly, concomitantly to the Depth of
Knowledge framework, Porter and Chester suggests a framework of cognitive
complexity which includes memorization at the base following through to
performing procedures, communicating understanding, solving routine problems
culminating in proving a hypothesis (Porter & Chester, 2002). However, the higher
end of Porter and Chesters framework does not assess learners ability to
generate new meaning, reflective learning and associated task ability. Secondly,
Hiebert and Carpenter (Hiebert & Carpenter, 1992) proposes a framework for
procedural and conceptual understanding. Whereas, procedural knowledge is
gained from understanding the linguistic and symbolic representation of scientific
laws and procedures, conceptual knowledge includes understanding the
relationships amid concepts and the schema ancillary to such concepts.
Combined, procedural and conceptual knowledge culminates in a deeper
understanding of the subject matter. However, as with the cognitive complexity
framework, there is a dearth in assessing the learners ability to generate of new
meaning, reflective learning and associated task ability. Finally, Instrumental and
Relational Understanding framework (Skemp, 1976) aims to describe the
difference between learners knowledge of jargon and laws (instrumental
understanding) and a deep conceptual understanding that encompasses
application analysis, synthesis and critical evaluation (relational understanding).
Albeit Skemps framework provides a basis from which experiential learning can
be evaluated, its lack of a clearly defined taxonomy as in the case of Webbs Depth
of Knowledge framework, makes it less useful in the current enquiry.

The Learner-Centered Approach

as key to Depth of Knowledge
A learner-centred approach carries a considerable responsibility insofar as
enhancing employability of learners by creating an authentic leaning experience
and facilitating learning through market-relevant problem solving experience as
an integral part of the pedagogical methods employed (Brennan, 2014). In order to
ensure that education answers the call to prepare young people for the work
environment it is important to place that young person at the heart of how
68

learning takes place. In the 21st century, it is becoming obsolete to place emphasis
on what is being learned: with the Internet becoming ubiquitous even in the
developing world, depth of learning is more significant than the breath or scope
of what is being learned. We propose that a learn-centred approach to develop
depth of learning is the answer to preparing young people to be employment
ready when they step into the world of work. It is rare to find schools in any part
of the world, where the learner is not at the heart of all activities, however we
suggest that a learner-centred approach that also drives depth of knowledge
should include three key aspects: authentic experience, development of selfefficacy and emotional well-being.

Authentic experiences
Experience leads to development of knowledge, meaning and understanding
(Piaget, 1964). However, to ensure that the knowledge and understanding has
meaning the experience needs to be authentic and incorporate the cultural and
social context of the young person. For instance, it is difficult to try and explain
the cultural significance of the celebration of Thanks Giving to young people in
Africa or the Middle-East through a text where deductive skills are being
developed. The cultural significant of the context therefor is indivisibly linked to
the everyday, authentic experiences of the learner.

Development of self-efficacy
It is the responsibility of educational institutions to prepare learners for a
technologically advanced global economy and workplace. In order to achieve such
an objective, emphasis on learning behaviour needs to constructively focus on
developing learning (Ernst, 2013). Self-efficacy plays an important role in getting
young people work-ready. The emphasis on learning behaviour therefor cannot
take a back seat to the content or the context of the learning.

Emotional well-being
Emotion is always with us and not all emotional experiences are alike (Yik, Russell,
& Steiger, 2011). We may think of emotions as an internal state, however,
emotions are actually experiences linked to a causal object. Learning is
inextricably linked with emotion and therefore, learning forms a cohesive part of

69

the students social reality, rather than being a scenario-based simulation thereof.
With an emphasis on meaning generation, authentic learning environment and
reflective learning, experiential leaning strongly relates to the principles of the
student-centred teaching and learning. If the learning environment causes a
feeling of concern and dread, the learned experiences will be directly linked to
similar emotions. The impact of emotions on the learning experience can either
be pleasant activating, unpleasant activating, or pleasant deactivating and
unpleasant deactivating. If a learning experience is associated with enthusiasm or
excitement the corresponding emotion will be pleasant activating, thus directing
the learners motivation towards further engagement, deeper investigation and
strengthened self-efficacy. Antithetically, where the learning experience evokes
emotions of frenzy and distress, the emotions the learners will experience will be
unpleasant activating. These emotions, despite activating the learners to learn,
do not encourage further exploration and self-efficacy; leaving the learners with a
feeling of dread rather than excitement. Both experiences result in learning,
however only the pleasant activating emotions encourages depth of knowledge.
At this point it is worth exploring our understanding of what experiential
learning is and to look at the characteristics of experiential learning.

Experiential Learning
Learning is the processing of knowledge and understanding of concepts that arise
as the consequence of the transformation of experience, the subsequent
reorganization of cognitive structures based on that new knowledge, and finally
the preparation for new concrete and abstract experiences (Kolb D. A., 1984).
Experiential learning is an uninterrupted process that includes interactions
between the learner and the environment through which knowledge,
understanding and skills are generated. In an era where tacit learning competes
directly with the accessibility of social media, experiential learning provides realworld projects that are interesting and engaging. Research in technology and
Engineer teaching has shown that experiential learning enhances the course
offering through authentic future-based learning and that learners find
experiential learning to be enjoyable (Ernst, 2013). However, with employability
high on the agenda of higher education, practical fields require practical and
active learning, turning theory into application more than mere pleasure. In the
70

real world, knowledge, skill and attitude play an important role in everyday
employment. Moreover, graduates risk criticism from employers if they leave
university with underdeveloped skills or skills that have a low potential of
transference to employability (Cavanagh, Burston, Southcombe, & Bartram,
2015). Learners experience that the increasingly competitive recruitment
environment seeks graduates that can differentiate themselves from their peers
through immediate engagement with the organization, provide high performance
with minimum mentoring, and that are proficient in interactive and creative
capabilities (Clemens & Cord, 2013). To contribute to the employability of
learners, the curriculum should include teaching and learning methodologies that
develop depth of knowledge and self-efficacy. Experiential learning, as an
integrated part of the curriculum, is a holistic, student-centered (Cornell, Johnson,
& Schwartz, 2013) and process-driven approach. It results from an active student
involvement with an experience and subsequent reflection on that experience
(Brennan, 2014).
As early as 1938, John Dewey presents experience as an integrated part of
learning. His work has linked experience with engagement in learners and the
cultivation of their curiosity (Weinstein, 2008). Moreover, the social
constructivism of Vygotsky and the developmental theories of Piaget lend
credence to experiential approaches that relies on the construction of individual
meaning, building on prior experience and values active involvement in the
learning process (Furman & Sibthorp, 2013). Later Kolb describes experiential
learning as a four-part cycle of observation within an authentic setting, reflection
upon observation, abstract concept formation and transference to other authentic
situations (Weinstein, 2008). The learning cycle includes concrete experience
during which learners are given experiences linked with academic tasks;
reflection observation that provides the opportunity for feedback; abstract
conceptualization that allows learners to develop new strategies and finally active
experimentation where similar task is completed more expertly (Groves, Leflay,
Smith, Bowd, & Barber, 2013). Building on Kolbs learning cycle elements, Fenwick
proposes that experiential learning is both generating meaning from theoretical
knowledge as well as learning through informal life experiences (Fenwick, 2000)
which in turn leads to one of the cornerstones of experiential learning: the
transfer of skills and knowledge or associated task ability. The transformation of

71

experience into knowledge is based on learning as part of a process that includes

integrating new information into old constructs, adaptation to the real world,
considering and finally incorporating cognition, emotions, perceptions and
behavior (Brennan, 2014). Moreover, the importance of reflection and
reconceptualization following the experiential project should not be
underestimated considering that experience in isolation does not contribute to
depth of knowledge and understanding.
Finally, the real world is made up of people and the interaction with peers as well
as experienced professionals helps to expand the authentic experience the real
world setting provides (Cornell, Johnson, & Schwartz, 2013). Authentic experience
makes an essential part of the learning process not only because we learn what
we experience in our natural (authentic) environment (Mostert, 2011), but also
because the process of constructing knowledge and understanding of the world
we exist is essentially human.
Thus, we can expound the characteristics of experiential learning as an active
learning process over time that takes place in an authentic real-world setting,
which depends on learners involvement through cooperative interaction with
peers and professionals within the field of study, that engage in reflection on
prior experience and theoretically-founded prior knowledge with the aim of
generating new knowledge which ultimately results in associated task ability
(Table 1).
Table 1: Exposition of the Characteristics of Experiential Learning
Characteristics of
Experiential Learning

Exposition

Active Process Over Time

1.

Experiential learning means learners are engaging in

real world situations over an extended period of time
through active interaction and engagement within an
authentic environment, including interaction and
networking with professionals in the setting as well as
application of theoretical constructs in the real world.

2.

Experiential learning contributes a realistic extension to

formal class-based learning and enhances student ability
to develop in-depth and meaningful content.

Case Study 1 (p. 17)

Case Study 2 (p. 18)

Authentic Setting
Case Study 2 (p. 18)
Case Study 3 (p. 19)

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Cooperation and
Interaction

3.

Experiential learning develops inter-personal

relationships and advances Self-efficacy in knowledge
and skills.

4.

Experiential learning develops self-awareness and Selfefficacy during the learning process and contributes to
learners awareness and ability to gain insight into
career prospects.

5.

Experiential learning provides concrete experience

merged with conceptual application to develop depth of
understanding.

6.

Experiential learning provides an opportunity for the

application of concepts and facilitates a deeper
understanding of the subject across a range of
disciplines and authentic problems to construct new
meaning.

7.

Experiential learning cultivates inter-disciplinary

thinking in technologically advanced societies through
implementing skills developed through experiences in a
variety of disciplines within an authentic setting.

Case Study 1 (p. 17)

Caste Study 2 (p. 18)
Reflective Learning
Case Study 2 (p. 18)
Case Study 3 (p. 19)
Theoretically Founded
Case Study 1 (p. 17)
Case Study 2 (p. 18)
Meaning Generating
Case Study 2 (p. 18)
Case Study 3 (p. 19)

Associated Task Ability

Case Study 2 (p. 18)

In addition, Usher (2009), explicates that experiential learning is based on four

pillars: autonomy, adaptation, application and expression. The ability to selfregulate learning, in other words, the autonomy to follow ones curiosity while
learning is vitally important in experiential learning. Paradoxically, well-designed
experiential learning opportunities often neglect to provide for the type of
autonomy needed to follow the links of integrated learning that is actually at the
heart of experiential learning. In order to manage the variables that are part of
learning in an authentic setting, facilitators of learning often provide very strict
guidelines for learners, which in turn restrict their freedom to explore and
experiment. In other words, the thrill of what if I do this is removed from the
learning process. The second pillar requires adaptation by both the learner and
the facilitator. Life is malleable; group dynamics change; expectancy value of

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industry depends on the ebb and flow of markets and politics; and all of these
variables expect that the learner should be adaptable during the learning process.
In addition to the irregularity of the authentic setting required by experiential
learning, we also expect from the learners to be able to adapt and adopt ideas
from across various disciplines to imagine new knowledge. It is through such
adaptation that we could use our curiosity to imagine new solutions to
technological problems. If experiential learning aims to answer the call by
industry to provide workers that are immediately fully contributing members of
the workforce, application is one of the most significant pillars of experiential
learning. Thus, the third pillar requires that learners can apply their new
understanding, knowledge or skills within an authentic setting; eliminating rote
learning completely from the learning lexicon. Finally, expression, as the fourth
pillar of experiential learning allows for the development of self-confidence
though communicating newly learned knowledge, understanding and skill, be it
through written/oral presentation or artistic expression.

Cycle of Experiential Learning

Experiential learning takes place in a reoccurring cycle (Figure 1). When
implemented correctly, it allows learners to assimilate formal classroom learning
with real world experience, gain insight into possible careers, develop supporting
relationships with professionals, and advance Self-efficacy with respect to their
own knowledge and skills (Cornell, Johnson, & Schwartz, 2013). The most
challenging aspect of implementing experiential learning is to fully incorporate
all the characteristics that make the process successful (Groves, Leflay, Smith,
Bowd, & Barber, 2013). I addition to the characteristics of experiential learning
there are four stages in Kolbs learning cycle (Kolb D. , n.d.). These stages facilitate
the development of understanding and contribute to depth of knowledge during
the learning process: concrete experiences, identification of shared attributes,
reflective observation opportunities and active experimentation.

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Figure 1. Cycle of Experiential Learning: The Kolb Learning Cycle

Concrete
Experience

Active
Experimentation

Reflective
Observation

Abstract
Conceptualisation

Concrete Experiences
Concrete experience denotes what we can metaphorically refer to as getting your
hands dirty. The experiences are physically active and meaning-generating
through direct interaction with the environment in an authentic setting.
Examples can range from elementary school learners raising gerbils to facilitate a
deeper understanding of ecosystems to university learners constructing smartphone chargers that enable rescue workers to communicate during simulated
natural disasters.
Instructor and student roles, as well as the method of introducing the activity,
may vary depending on learners needs and abilities. The most effective learning
is when learners are actively involved in and subsequently reflect on constructing
new knowledge and skills (Camarero, Rodriguez, & San Jos, 2010). An emphasis
on the temporary de-emphasis on absolute teacher intellectual authority
(Weinstein, 2008) is essential to actualize the learning process and learners
reflection. In addition, experiential learning may or may not include direct
instruction, however, minimal guidance methods have come under criticism for
being relatively ineffective (Brennan, 2014).

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Reflective Observation
Reflective observation rests on establishing connection between theory and
practice and allows for the theoretical knowledge gained in formulaic learning to
be practically implemented in an authentic setting. The emphasis of reflective
observation falls on constructing new knowledge and a deeper understanding of
the theory through reflecting on existing knowledge, skills and attitudes after
observing the implementation thereof. Reflective observation can focus on two
different aspects of learning. The first is identifying best practice in a real-world
situation such as observing an experienced nurse or medical practitioner in an
authentic setting. Observing actions, attitudes and procedures allows the learners
to make a connection between theory and practice. The second form of reflective
observation places emphasis on observing an experienced practitioner and aiming
the reflection inwards. Through observing how situational factors and generalized
expectations influence the outcome of an authentic learning experience,
reflective observation allows for learners to internalize the situational outcomes
and thus draw a conclusion of how they would react in a similar, real world
experience, thus allow for self-efficacy to develop. The learners clarification of
meaning in terms of self, results in a changed conceptual perspective on the issue
of concern. In addition, developing Self-efficacy through the process of reflective
writing or essay-based assessment contributes to the personal growth of the
student during the experiential learning process. Furthermore, reflecting on past
experiences as alternative solutions to real world problems enhances the
experiential learning process (Petrocelli, Seta, & Seta, 2013). An example could
include study journals kept during work experience or learning of a new skill.
There is, however, a warning about the efficiency of reflective observation.
Instructors may consider journal writing as a lazy way of incorporating selfevaluation into a learning opportunity. If learners are not guided towards how to
reflect on their own attitudes, skills and knowledge, the efficiency of journal
writing can be lost. In addition, learners consider journal writing as an
afterthought that is rushed in an attempt to meet all the outcomes of the learning
experience. Finally, if learners are not adept at recognizing their own self-serving
bias, though self-reflection and self-awareness the learning opportunity will not
yield the fruits expected from experiential learning.

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One aspect from self-reflection that does not receive much attention from
pedagogues and researchers is the impact of learning through failing. The entire
concept of failure as a tool of learning is contravention and would get the many a
parent up in arms about their children. Anecdotally, however, we all have a story
where we failed at some significant test and will never forget the correct answer
to the question. It is true that the emotion of shame and self-disappointment is
what reminds us of the correct answer. However, if failing in an emotionally safe
environment is allowed to happen, learning through try-and-try-again method
does allow learners to learn from their mistakes. However, in a grading system
where failure is used as punishment or a measure of self-worth, it becomes an
emotional block and no matter how well designed the reflective observation
strategy is planned, the lesson will not be remembered.

Abstract Conceptualization
According to Kolb, abstract conceptualization is the process of making sense of
what has happened and involves interpreting the events and understanding the
relationships between them (Kolb D. , n.d.). At this point the learners compares
what they already know, (from textbooks and other sources), what they have done
(active engagement within an authentic setting) and what they have reflected
upon. Through connotation, learners are required to identify, analyze and
evaluate central attributes of a system, design or product and then superimpose
those shared attributes on a new unknown system, design or product. An example
of this is determining the atmosphere of a planet based on the understanding of
light waves observed at a distance. In this case learners may be given a chart with
the colors emitted when the elements on the periodic table are exposed to a
specific temperature. They are also then given a series of known stars and a
spectrum of colors that have been observed when we look at these stars. From the
known information, learners are expected to recognize the shared attribute of the
elements and the stars (color and temperature at which the colors are emitted)
and then they have to make relevant connotations.

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Active Experimentation
Active experimentation aims to allow learners to think about how they are going
to put their knowledge and skill into practice. The process of active
experimentation requires that the learners plan how they will use the new
understanding and transform it into predictions or hypotheses of what will
happen next or what actions should be taken to refine or revise the way a task is
to be handled (Kolb D. , n.d.). Thus we ensure that the learning is relevant and
that it is important to place the experiment into a context that is authentic to the
learner, in other words, to frame the experiment in a way that the learner is
familiar with. In addition, planning the experiment the learner implements the
plan which in turn brings the learner back to the first step of the experiential
learning cycle: concrete experience.

Teaching activities that support experiential learning

Some examples of experiential learning teaching activities include problem-based
leaning, project-based learning, cooperative learning, service learning and
reflective learning (Furman & Sibthorp, 2013). Firstly, problem-based learning
makes use of learners interest in a specific real-world problem. Learners may
respond to the problem through either creating an experiment to answer the
question or to develop a course of action to resolve the problem. Topics such as
sustainable energy, inclusive social mobility and geo-political migration are
themes that currently enjoy emphasis.
Project-based learning may consider the interest of learners and build a project,
rich in inter-disciplinary educational content around the central theme. A wide
variety of disciplines such as leadership, self-development, physics, sociology and
statistics may be amalgamated into a single portfolio that explores an authentic
setting. Topics such as geo-political leadership on climate change or developing
the tourism potential in the developing world could provide scope for projectbased experiential learning.
Cooperative learning rests on an environment where a wide range of diverse
learners learn from each others perspectives, experiences and knowledge.
Discourse, observation and interaction are encouraged in conjunction with other
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methods or as a standalone method of learning. Within the field of education

training and the social services sector, cooperative learning groups often share
best practice in pedagogy and/or child protection.
Service learning is an amalgamation of educational objectives and community
service where the objectives of the experiential learning are aligned with the
community needs. Service learning may be well suited in conjunction with
project-based learning to link knowledge with the lived experience of members of
the community. One might instinctively consider medicine, clinical practices and
social services to be most suited to service learning, however I would like to
propose that traditionally laboratory and theoretically based disciplines such as
physics, biology, engineering, mathematics, accountancy and information
technology might benefit even more from experiencing the real world, lived
experiences of members of the community to enrich learners understanding of
the holistic scope of their learning and research.
Project-based learning, reflective learning and cooperative learning provide a
real-world foundation for developing a rich learning experience, thus
encouragement a depth of learning that is necessary for transfer of skills and
knowledge across a range of disciplines (Furman & Sibthorp, 2013).

Experiential Learning in Action: Three Case Studies

Drawing from the research and knowledge in the field of experiential learning, we
aimed to verify the impact of the characteristics of the Kolb Learning Cycle in a
series of activities. These were to take place instead of traditional teaching and
learning through the alternation of experience, observation and experimentation.

Methodology
A study was carried out in a Bulgarian high school which aimed to verify the
usefulness of experiential learning in English language teaching. The institution
provided 5 classes that ranged between 20 to 30 learners with various mother
tongues, including Bulgarian, Roma and Arabic. The learners English language
level ranged between B1 and B2. The learners were mixed and randomly divided
into two groups of 60 learners and each group was then divided into 3 classes.

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Sets of activities were created by their instructors and these were divided into
three half-day language-teaching events. These events were planned as nonstandard, innovative, and student-oriented, and came in contrast to the usual,
classical classroom-based language teaching at the school. A total of 120 learners
participated. Learners were asked to volunteer to participate in the three half-day
events in addition to regularly attending their standard classes in the afternoons.
A group of 60 learners was established. The other group of 60 learners who did not
volunteer acted as a control group which had regular classes in the mornings and
afternoons. Volunteering was deiced upon based on the reasoning that the
students should have ownership and the possibility to choose the methods
employed to teach them. (Weinstein, 2008)
At the outset of the study, the distribution of the learners and their class averages
before the study were evaluated by a comprehensive test which included as
follows:
Table 2 Distribution of Learners and Class Averages

Reading
Writing
Listening
Speaking
Grammar
General
Knowledge

Class 10 A
(20 learners)

Class 10 B
(20 learners)

Class 10 C
(20 learners)

Class 10 D
(20 learners)

Class 10 E
(20 learners)

Class 10 F
(20 learners)

4.52/6

3.50/6

4/6

3.80/6

5/6

5/6

5/6

3.20/6

4.15/6

4/6

5.25/6

4.25/6

5.10/6

2.96/6

4.69/6

3.25/6

4.85/6

4/6

4.25/6

4/6

5/6

3.60/6

5.30/6

5.50/6

The maximum grade is 6 and the minimum grade is 2. A student needs to have at
least 2.50 in order to pass a given module.
Reading/Writing, Listening/Speaking and Grammar classes are all English
language classes that are taught with Pathways (full set from Foundations to Level
4) and Focus on Grammar (Part 1 to Part 5). General Knowledge classes include a
choice of Geography, History, Sociology, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology
and various Arts. General Knowledge classes are usually held in Bulgarian
language but learners also encounter vocabulary from these classes during their
English classes.
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Classes 10 A, 10 B and 10 C were selected as test groups as they represent a wide

range of learners with both weaker and stronger results. Classes 10 D, 10 E and 10
F were the control groups. In a 5-day week, the classes of the test groups were
adapted to fit the requirements of experiential-based learning. Instead of regular
classes, learners held half-day events. These classes were not made up but came
instead of their regular morning classes. The schedules of both test and control
groups were as follows:
Table 3 Test Groups
Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday
General
Knowledge

89
9 10
10
11

11
12

Half-day
Our Language
event

Half-day
Wellness Day
event

Reading
Writing
Reading
Writing
General
Knowledge

12

Listening
Speaking

Thursday
Half-day
English
Across the
World
event

Grammar

Listening
Speaking

General
Knowledge

23

Listening
Speaking

Grammar

Listening
Speaking

General
Knowledge

34

Grammar

Reading
Writing

Grammar

General
Knowledge

45

Grammar

Reading
Writing

Grammar

General
Knowledge

Friday
Listening
Speaking
Listening
Speaking
Reading
Writing
Reading
Writing
Sports and
other extracurricular
activities,
Clubs

Table 4 Control Groups

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

89

Grammar

General
Knowledge

General
Knowledge

Listening
Speaking

Listening
Speaking

9 10

Grammar

General
Knowledge

Reading
Writing

Listening
Speaking

Listening
Speaking

10
11

Reading
Writing

General
Knowledge

Reading
Writing

Second
Foreign
Language

Reading
Writing

11
12

Reading
Writing

General
Knowledge

General
Knowledge

Second
Foreign

Reading
Writing

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Language
12

Listening
Speaking

Grammar

Listening
Speaking

General
Knowledge

23

Listening
Speaking

Grammar

Listening
Speaking

General
Knowledge

34

Grammar

Reading
Writing

Grammar

General
Knowledge

45

Grammar

Reading
Writing

Grammar

General
Knowledge

Sports and
other extracurricular
activities,
Clubs

All half-day events were held in English language exclusively. The hypothesis was
that Test Groups learners English language level will be improved after this week.
In addition, we can suppose that weaker learners will perform better in nonacademic tasks, or will at least demonstrate more engagement in doing rather
than in passive acquisition. The exit test was the same as the entry test. An
additional self-reflective essay (Step 2 of the Kolb Cycle) was asked from students,
detailing their experience and their view on the events, whether positive or
negative.

Case Study 1: Our Language Activities Event

The Grammar and Reading/Writing modules on Monday were replaced with a
series of linguistic competitions which included: a spelling bee, a speech
competition, a debate and a grammar competition. These competitions ran
continuously from 8 am to 12 pm so that each class participated in each
competition. The level of the competitions was similar to that of the learners and
ranged between B1 and B2. For stronger competitors, a set of five C1 level
questions was included. Vocabulary for the spelling bee and grammar competition
was taken from learners English language textbooks but also from their General
Knowledge classes. Topics for the speech competition and the debate were
selected from learners General Knowledge classes.
The competitions were run by teams of five instructors who oversaw the process.
In terms of organization for this event, cooperation and interaction of
professionals in education was absolutely necessary. Instructors from different
disciplines had to come together and set the questions and criteria for selection of
the winners. The activities were mostly centered on steps 2, 3 and 4 of the Kolb
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Learning Cycle (Figure 1) with step 4 being the direct outcome of these. Active
experimentation was ensured by decision-making about how to tackle problems
and the best strategy to adopt for the competitions. Students engaged in reflective
observation, especially during debates, and had to provide written accounts of
their reasoning and impressions. The speeches were usually followed by
discussion sessions, which entails abstract conceptualization.
The outcomes of this event for learners were the development of self-awareness
and self-confidence (Ernst, 2013). In addition, this event employed three of the
experiential learning characteristics by showing students how their learning is an
active process over time, that it is necessary to cooperate and interact, and that
theoretically founded learning can also have real-life applications. (Table 1) The
material was theoretically grounded in material that learners had covered in class
but the speech competition and debate intended to add to this a dimension of
associated task ability, where they cultivated interdisciplinary application of
knowledge and showed learners how their skills can be applied in authentic,
sometimes even stressful, situations. It is important to note that some experiential
learning characteristics may take a prominent role in a certain task, while others
remain on a secondary plan. The balance of the 7 characteristics is adjustable to
the particularity of an event.
Feedback was gathered after the event from both learners and instructors. While
only 45% of learners were enthusiastic about the event at the beginning, after the
event was over 96% of learners stated that they enjoyed the event and would do it
again after. According to the students, the motivational boost came from the
unexpected attribution of medals and cups among winners. Initially, 68% of
instructors were in favor of holding the event and 32% were in favor of regular
class sessions. Most instructors declared that they were unsure of the impact of
this event on learners performance. However, 87% of instructors stated that they
enjoyed the event and would do it again if given the chance.

Case Study 2: Wellness Day Event

The General Knowledge classes on Tuesday morning were replaced by an event
which challenged learners process skills. In terms of language teaching, both
input (Reading and Listening) and output (Writing and Speaking) were involved.
Grammar was practiced only indirectly without any reference to grammatical
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terminology. The event was developed so as to have a maximum balance among

the 7 experiential learning characteristics with a slight prominence given to
meaning generation and associated task ability. (Table 1)
Learners were divided into small groups and were given a series of tasks in order
to conduct a full Wellness Awareness Campaign. They produced videos, posters,
leaflets, presented slides and surveys, and engaged with other learners during
breaks. Some students interviewed the school nurse and teachers. At a first stage
learners researched various topics in the fields of well-being, biology, health and
fitness, as well as their history and evolution. Based on their findings and personal
experience from their own lives, they would choose sets of production and
interaction activities. This event involved a combination of problem-based and
project-based learning. Learners were discovering various wellness problems and
providing solutions to them through their campaign. Some learners faced
research problems, e.g. finding reliable data and articles.
Overall, the feedback from instructors was positive as learners demonstrated
strong engagement in real world situations and tried to apply as professionally as
they could knowledge that had acquired in General Knowledge classes. The event
was academically successful because learners were able to link English language
learning to its real life applications and to integrate English as a subject with
Biology, Fitness and Sports.
Weaker learners from Class 10 B were very successful with their poster campaign.
Feedback from them was 100% positive. While only 30% of them thought they
were good at English, after the event the majority believed that even with their
low skills they will still be able to work. 18 out of 20 learners stated that despite
their low level in English, they felt confident in using their knowledge to persuade
others and raise awareness among their peers. While at the onset of the event
only 2 learners believed that grammar mistakes are secondary only to getting the
message across, at the end of the event the entire class agreed that making
mistakes was secondary to getting their message across. 19 learners believed that
they were successful. 5 out of 20 learners classified themselves as weak before the
event. Sixteen out of 20 learners classified themselves as average after the event
was over.

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Case Study 3: English Across the World Event

Thursdays Listening/Speaking and Second Foreign Language classes were
replaced by an event that learners had to prepare for the previous day. While the
previous two events were entirely spontaneous but well monitored by instructors,
this event supposed some preparation at home. This event combined an authentic
artistic setting with reflective learning to develop students self-awareness and
provide some insight into the importance of language at all professional levels.
The event also intended to generate meaning and facilitate a deeper
understanding of how language functions across a variety of disciplines, settings
and cultures. (Table 1)
Learners were asked to think of their mother tongue, other languages in the world
and link them in some way to English. They were let free to choose their activities
but were oriented towards the following domains: literature, poetry, acting,
cinema, art. Many learners prepared role plays, riddle guessing, poetry recitations
and other creative activities. They were allowed to present this in front of an
audience from their classes. Learners were less controlled by instructors and were
let free to organize themselves.
Only 56% of instructors believed that this event was successful. Most instructors
qualified it as chaotic, noisy and disorderly. Interestingly, 100% of learners from
all 3 classes declared the event as a success. They believed that they have learned
from it. Student presence during the event was constant but it was noted that
some learners who had prepared role plays and recitals did not perform them.
Instructors believed that this happened because of lack of encouragement on their
side. Learners, however, explained that they had withheld from performing based
on their own decision that they were less good than other learners. These learners
still believed that the event helped them in their learning.

Conclusion
We explored four methods of experiential learning: concrete experience, abstract
shared attributes, reflective observation and active experimentation. We found
that depth of knowledge is developed through recalling information, developing
skills and understanding concepts, including strategic thinking and finally
85

developing extended thinking. Moreover, we saw that the role of the instructor
seems essential in experiential learning. The self-regulated activities based on
home work and working alone proved less effective and were declared as less
enjoyable by the learners. That is why the instructor should be a mentor,
encouraging and boosting student confidence. Less a teacher and more of a
counselor and guide, the successful experiential-based instructor will present
learners with a problem or an activity and provide support and guidance.
Learners motivation grows with time. Experiential-based models of education
empower them and reinforce their confidence and self-esteem. In fact, the rise in
scores on the final test happens for both the control and the test group. The
difference lies in that test group learners self-esteem is higher and they seem to
place more value in the learning process after experiential-based learning has
happened. Through the final self-evaluation, participants in the program indicate
that they feel more confident with their language skills and are more likely to use
them in the future. There is evidence that the test group is able to make the link
between what is studied in theory to practical applications. The more learners see
themselves in authentic real-life situations, the more intense their belief that they
will do well in the future. This remains true even among weak classes.
The three events stimulated learners capacity to link theory to practical
knowledge and to their own lives. Overall, there was a clean rise in confidence
among these classes as compared to the control group.
The exit test was given to all groups. The results are listed below.
Table 5: Distribution of Learners and Class Averages

Reading
Writing
Listening
Speaking
Grammar
General
Knowledge

Class 10 A
(20 learners)

Class 10 B
(20 learners)

Class 10 C
(20 learners)

Class 10 D
(20 learners)

Class 10 E
(20 learners)

Class 10 F
(20 learners)

4.6/6

4/6

4.13/6

3.90/6

5.11/6

5/6

5.30/6

3.98/6

4.11/6

4/6

5.50/6

4.50/6

5/6

3/6

4.75/6

3.50/6

4.32/6

4.05/6

5.50/6

5/6

5.50/6

3.60/6

5.35/6

5.12/6

A rise in scores for the test groups is noticeable. However, this rise is also
noticeable after one week of teaching in the control groups. This increase is lower
86

for the groups on traditional teaching methods than for the groups that engaged
in experiential-based learning. While test groups were able to only write
fragments or merely answer with an I dont know. on the initial test, they were
subsequently able to refer to their experiential-based learning experience and
include that experience in the form of examples. As a result, they provided
paragraphs instead of fragments and their grades rose. Class 10 B is the one that
profited the most from the experience. This leads to the conclusion that
experiential-based learning is indeed useful to less successful, less academically
prepared ESL learners or learners with learning disabilities.
More importantly, the boost in self-confidence was notable in the first two
groups, while it remained constant in the rest. What this demonstrates is that
active reflection and abstract conceptualization can actually alert learners to the
relationships between what they learn and how they perform (Kolb D. , n.d.).
Hence, the belief that they will do well in the future was more prominent for
learners from the test groups. Undoubtedly, experiential-based learning
empowers learners and enhances their performance at all levels.
Education is the driving force of economically and technologically advanced
societies. In the case of which comes first, economic development or education,
the answer is easy: without education there is no chance for economic
development. It is therefore staggering that year after year headlines across the
front pages of broadsheet cry out that the state of education is in dire need of
reform, better funding and that standards should rise. Industry, as the main client
of the education sector is adamant that in a technologically advanced era,
graduates must hit the ground running. There is just not enough time or money to
train new employees.
Experiential learning is not limited to the primary, secondary or high school
curricula either. As a matter of fact, one might be able to argue that it is in higher
education where learning from authentic experiences benefits the learner more
than mere representation of facts. An aspect that can be explored in more depth
would be the emotional impact of experiential learning in education. How do
learners cope with increased stress of a tightly packed curriculum including
learning from experience? How do learners cope with the uncertainty of learning
that goes hand in hand with learning through self-reflection? How do learners

87

develop their self-esteem and self-efficacy to be successful in learning by

reflecting on their own failures?
Experiential learning has once again become the flag bearer of a new wave of
educational thinking. After it first emerged in the work of David Kolb in the 1980s,
experiential learning experienced ups and downs as a favored method of learning,
however it has survived the test of time, and we feel that now, because its efficacy
has been backed up by data that demonstrates its beneficial effect on learner
perception, the inclusion of experiential learning as a leading tool in pedagogy is
vital.

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Classroom Projects. International Journal of Management education, 8(3), 83-94. doi:10.3794/ijme.83.254
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of work readiness: An exploratory study of Australian undergraduate students' perceptions of their employability. (E.
Ltd, Ed.) International Journal of Management Education, 13(3), 278-288. doi:10.1016/j.ijme.2015.07.002
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supporting authentic learning experiences in the class room. Interactive Learning Environments, 21(2), pp. 172-183.
Clemens, M. D., & Cord, B. A. (2013). Assessment Guiding Learning: Developing Graduate Qualities in an
Experiential Learning Programme. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 38(1), pp. 114-124.
Cornell, R. M., Johnson, C. B., & Schwartz, W. C. (2013). Enhancing Student Experiential Learning with Structured
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University.
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Identity (2nd ed., pp. 204-208). New York: The Guilford Press.
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Verlag.
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89

Developing a Conversation Class from Scratch:

Lessons learned in Kandahar
John Richard ONeil
American University of Afghanistan, Afghanistan

Abstract: The demise of Afghan society at the hands of the Taliban in 2001
destroyed all such presumed liberties and opportunities and set the country
back according to educators I spoke with a half millennium. In the development
of this conversation class my intentions were plain: I wished not to offer hope
when there was no hope, I encouraged optimism to replace pessimism, for
encouraging such hope in a nation where 75% of the population is under the age
of 35 and who believe a great injustice has been handed to them is greatly
needed.
Keywords: Afghanistan, education, conversation class, syllabus, curriculum

Introduction
For eight months I worked in Kandahar Afghanistan for the American University
of Afghanistans (AUAF) Professional Development Institute (PDI). I taught the
computer-based TOEFL preparation course, integrated courses using Oxfords
American English File for intermediate and advanced students, and conversation
classes for intermediate and advanced students (for which I developed the
curriculum and syllabus).
In this article, I will review the process of developing a syllabus and curriculum
for an advanced conversation class and describe its successes and failures. I will
also discuss current attitudes towards education among the students who were in
the classes. I will conclude with my observations on the practicalities of revising a
curriculum.

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Preface
One year in Afghanistan is hardly enough to assess the countrys educational
institution. The Soviet invasion in 1979 decimated the countrys educational
infrastructure. The subsequent decades that followed forced generations of its
citizens to flee the country. Every young man and woman I had the privilege of
meeting told me he or she had been in a refugee camp in Pakistan or Iran. Several
even explained they were born in camps and received their elementary and
secondary education in tents.
In 2006 the American University of Afghanistan was opened in Kabul. In the last
two years, four satellite branches, one of which I worked with, opened in
Kandahar.
In my brief experience, I reluctantly realized that the goal of education, and more
specifically the motivation for learning English among students in Kandahar, is to
flee the country. Economic refugees, educated Afghans fortunate to find work for
NGOs or schools that pay $300 a month, live in the shadow of prevailing threats
from the Taliban and from a government who since 2001 cannot account for
hundreds of billions of dollars in international aid. Corruption is a transparent
cancer at every level of society. People are forced to cheat, steal and lie because
there is no accountability in a system which cannot support itself. The
coordinator for the PDI Jalalabad branch, who prior to this appointment managed
the PDI branch in Kandahar, was fired for falsifying attendance numbers and
financial ledgers so aid would continue to come to its offices.
Dependence on USAID and non-governmental organizations is a dangerous trend
and the inability to establish independent resources is a result of almost forty
years of instability. World politics, changing attitudes and a growing presence of
the Taliban are currently forcing NGOs to reduce their efforts (and one year
contracts) to promote and train self-sufficient Afghans. There is also this constant
aura of uncertainty among the populace once American and remaining
international peacekeepers pull out of the country for all the work that has been
done in the last ten years will have been done in vain.
In the light of these circumstances I was asked to teach a 36 hour advanced
conversation class. The first and previous instructor six months before I arrived
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in Kandahar used a textbook of Idioms, and students of his whom I met told me
how much they hated the class. Idioms are culturally contextual, so the students
quickly understood that learning 150 idioms outside a native English speaking
country can be a fruitless exercise. On the first day of class, I gave students a
questionnaire and asked them what they wanted to talk about. From this
information gathered, I began to develop the course.
Students asked me what I thought of Kandahar, and I always gave them the same
reply: I dont know. I lived and worked in a recently developed neighborhood
called Aino Meena. Designed by members of former President Hamid Karzais
family, it is described by the locals as something one would find in California:
immense homes with gardens and swimming pools, parks, schools and a huge
commercial center which unfortunately sits mostly empty. The provinces
wealthy live here with reliable security keeping out the undesirable terrorist, and
I felt completely safe yet detached from the grim reality outside the
neighborhoods guarded perimeters. The majority of my students came from
well-to-do families or worked for an NGO or a ministry. I explained that what I
knew of the city came from my own learning and from the students who
enlightened me on the machinations I hoped to engage them in.
Most disconcerting of all was that every student of mine expressed the same
sentiments, a desire to leave. Lack of opportunity, the unsettled fear and a
lifetime of never knowing peace profoundly influenced my students and, as I
developed my syllabus, I kept these ideas in mind.
Liberty is not an exclusive right for the wealthy and the nobles. Every human is
entitled by the laws of nature and God the right to pursue knowledge, whether
that liberty to learn and be educated is used for the benefit of family or
community, the restraints of ancient civil codes, tribal loyalties, the varying
interpretations of faith, embedded corruption, all inhibit Afghanistans people
from advancing their institutions with education.
The demise of Afghan society at the hands of the Taliban in 2001 destroyed all
such presumed liberties and opportunities and set the country back a half
millennium according to educators I spoke with. In the development of this
conversation class my intentions were plain: I wished not to offer hope when
there was no hope. I encouraged optimism to replace pessimism, for encouraging
92

such hope in a nation where 75% of the population is under the age of 35 and who
believe a great injustice has been handed to them is greatly needed.

Student Profiles
The class was designed for an advanced L2 student. All the students, except for
two still in high school, were graduates from a college or university.
The suggestions for topics given to me by the students on the first day
demonstrated a clear desire to discuss the relevant issues facing them today: a
society in Kandahar that wanted change but did not know how to proceed to
introduce change. Topics such as relationships, traditions, education, sports and
politics were suggested, though I refrained from the topic of politics itself because
of its vitriolic nature (although, in hindsight, politics was inescapable for it
weaves its way into the very fabric of culture). The students also understood the
class would not focus on grammar or public speaking. Assessment would come
from a students ability to communicate effectively on the topics in each class.
Error correction and concerns for pronunciation would be addressed at the
moment. Feedback therefore would come from the teacher as well as from a
students peers.
In the development of the topics, I also avoided sports in general because like
cricket, which is the most favored sport in Afghanistan, requires a specific
language independent from the basic forms and functions of conversational
English. Students could discuss statistics and averages of a bowler and when we
could conclude that player A was better than player B. Instead, discussion on
sports as a mechanism for establishing ones identity in society revealed that
every elementary and secondary school in the city had no sports whatsoever due
to a ban enacted by the Taliban, even though the ban itself had been lifted ten
years ago. Students said schools had no coaches, no balls, no proper fields, and no
budget. Boys who did play the game did so in fields with friends.
I also avoided the subject of sports because there were five female students who
would have been completely left out of the conversations. Topics dealing with
politics were limited as well, although men could talk about politics all day. While
it is obvious to note that Kandahars culture is nothing but political, the issues like
93

womens rights and ones personal experience and their relation to cultural norms
and tradition gave everyone in the class something to share.
Once I had a working outline to plan the 18 classes (we met three times a week for
two-hour classes), I needed to consider how an open class of advanced students
would be assessed without testing. Simple two-three minute presentations with
immediate feedback and a question time afterwards was used and appreciated. I
also tried to direct their energies into group work, where most of the students
could participate in the discussion. While I found these lessons rewarding, I didnt
produce enough creative ideas to keep them engaged in small group work and, as
a result, most of the lessons were done as a whole.
Finally, I also wanted to keep the idiom within a framework (and without a
textbook), so I used movie clips which contained idioms in an authentic context.
In several lessons, which will be examined in this article, students were very
receptive to this context because they believed such a context was believable.

Making a syllabus
A syllabus requires the following components: objectives and course outcomes. It
is also necessary to have some basic understanding of who the students are and
what motivates them. The Kandahari students at PDI ranged from high school to
their upper 20s, most had graduated from secondary school or had earned an
undergraduate degree from India or from Kandahar University. Most of the
conversation students worked in NGOs, or they were at present studying in a
university. Most, if not all, scored above 120 on the Oxford Placement Test in
grammar and listening.
Stephen Krashen (1985) wrote that attitudes can motivate or distract the language
learner, and I understood that the Afghan has faced obstacles I could never
fathom. In twenty years of teaching, empathy came more from listening and
accepting, for I could never walk in their shoes. High unemployment, the
pervasive presence of dangerous conflict, cultural barriers for women, these alone
created a pessimistic student, but also one hungry for knowledge and for
opportunities to leave the country.

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With this in mind, I approached the creation of a working and malleable syllabus
that was being produced with minimal time (I was given one week to be ready to
teach the class). There would need to be a lot of flexibility in the process.
Naturally, I used a blend of theoretical models (Stern, 1992), such as the cultural
syllabus, which emphasizes intellectual curiosity and empathy; the task-based
syllabus which (Nunan, 1988) aims at communicative language11 where learners
comprehend, produce and interact focusing on the meaning of the language
instead of the form; the process syllabus (Shaw, 1993), which favors activities and
tasks that focus on interrelationships with the subjects and the learners
knowledge of the subject and requires reasoning and opinions based on
information; and, finally, what is called the notational-functional syllabus, where
the communicative expressions (notions) are concerned with agreeing, denying,
persuasive points of discussion (Ellis, 1993).
Once I had established the objectives for the syllabus, I was ready to produce the
curriculum, a completely different animal and a much more difficult task on the
same pedagogical arc. Below are the course objectives which I used in this
advanced conversation class:

to encourage students in a fear-free environment to use their English language

skills most helpful for personal discourse
to provide guidance and practice in basic general and classroom conversation
to learn idioms in a cinematic context and use in personal discourse
to practice and improve general listening skills to strengthen students' abilities
to monitor and evaluate their own English language progress, to initiate and
encourage self-improvement
to provide students with a self-reflective and realistic assessment of
speaking/listening language demands
to foster self-confidence and a positive attitude toward language learning
generally

I made it clear to students from the beginning we werent going to focus on grammar in our
discussions but if a students language interfered with communicative competence I would provide
specific feedback.
11

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The Curriculum
Any analysis of discourse begins with a practical and relevant communication
and, given less than a week to prepare the curriculum, I had to concede my
knowledge and understanding of the population would be on a similar yet
different learning curve. I was also working with no textbooks and no physical
resources and, while I found reasonable exercises on the Internet, they were
greatly modified. I generally assumed prior to my first class that subjects for
discussion would be local, that is, topics that were relevant and in which students
had firsthand experience. I also wished to introduce idioms within contexts that
students could grasp and find useful in their own lives.
The first day of class students gave me suggestions on topics which they wished to
discuss. Below are their suggestions:

I want to discuss about security and young addicted people (they have
problems and they skype out of country)
How can we get our hope, what should people do to get hope soon
Talk about life, talk about society
Sports, technology, life in Afghanistan, social life in Afghanistan
In the class, we should discuss local subjects that everyone has information
about
I have problems when we (I) talking on the phone, if that is possible to
improve our (my) conversation, for that just use the verb during daily
activities
About sports
Sports, technology, the influences of technology
Todays weather, topics about education, topics about support
Any topic about life, topics that discuss different relations and its ups and
downs, any topic that covers mankind and its characteristics
Improving the current situation of Afghanistan, social, educational, and
economical issues
Society, what kind of society do we have?

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Class #2
With the students suggestions and introductions out of the way, we began with
the following discussion topics. In this class, I also arranged the chairs so theyd
be in a circle, an arrangement all the students accepted immediately and one I
used for the course.
As a teacher it was my job to keep the discussion from falling to two or three
students who could dominate the floor. Sitting in a circle made it easy to go
around the room to give everyone the opportunity to speak. On some topics this
inclusive effort succeeded, but on topics that a student knew a little bit more
about, he needed to understand that in a conversation class, speaking for five
minutes tended to leave the others astray. One way of dealing with the dominant
individual was by breaking the group up into smaller groups. This allowed more
students to talk and, because of its natural intimacy, the outspoken student was
usually challenged and thus he or she allowed others to speak.
Discussion #1

Identify every part of a society: Health care, employment, security,

infrastructure
Identify each aspect of societys weaknesses, strengths

How do we know if it is safe to travel unless we travel ourselves?

Where do we find the hope to keep hoping for a better life?
How does living in fear prevent you from fulfilling your dreams?
How big an issue is security if there is no fear?
Tomorrow the temperature is expected to be the coldest of the season.
How do you stay warm? How do poor people stay warm?
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Homework
The status of women serves as a barometer by which to measure Afghan society.
For many westerners, nothing demonstrates the essentially backward or
medieval nature of Afghan society more than its treatment of women. For many
Afghans, nothing represents the perils of encroaching westernization more than
the movement for women's rights.
For homework, I gave each student information from a website12 about the
historical role of women in Afghanistan and asked them to read it for the next
class. I understand a conversation on any given topic is supported when a student
knows what he or she is talking about. Given personal experience, an
understanding of history provided a more academic and intelligent discourse.

Class #3
Discussion #2
Students received these notes prior to the class. I called this lesson the art of
conversation. Whatever the context, old friends or new, it is best if speakers
respect five principles:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Put others at ease

Put yourself at ease
Weave in all parties
Establish shared interests
Actively pursue your own

Questions:

12

What do people do that drives you crazy in a conversation?

Do you think that some conversations are easier to have on the phone?
What are some topics that you can't stand talking about? Why?
Have you ever said something to someone that you wish you hadn't said?
What was it? Explain.
Is there such a thing as being too honest? Explain.
What kinds of people are difficult to talk to? Explain.

http://origins.osu.edu/article/long-long-struggle-women-s-rights-afghanistan

98

How do you feel about conversations with people older than yourself?
Are there any older people who you have conversations with regularly?
If you could have a conversation with any famous living person, who would
you talk to? What would you talk about? Why would you want to talk
about that? Explain.
If you could have a conversation with a famous deceased person, who
would you talk to? What would you talk about, and why?
What was a difficult conversation you had to have in your life? How did it
turn out? What made it hard?
Would you like to have a career that requires you to talk to a lot of people?
Why?

A students greatest resource is his/her own experience. The topic questions

given in this lesson could be answered by anyone, but the rules of conversation
had to be understood, and having four women in the class required everyone to
show respect. It was made clear rules for civil behavior had to be observed. This
might seem a bit obvious to anyone in the West, but in Kandahar, men and women
are kept separate in the classrooms until university and, much to my surprise, are
also kept separate within the home. With this in mind, I made sure that anyone
who spoke would be completely free to share their opinions without rebuke or
disdain. I am happy to note this was achieved.

Class #4
Discussion #3

What makes it easy to talk to someone?

What are your favorite types of conversations to have?
Who is the best conversationalist that you have ever met?
Why are they such a great conversationalist?
Have you ever had a great conversation with a complete stranger?
What made it so great?
What did you talk about?
Where were you?
What are some good habits you have in conversation?
What are some bad traits you have in conversations?
Who communicates better: men or women?
99

What makes their style better?

What makes it worse?
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your conversational skills with the
opposite gender? Explain.
How do conversations between men and women differ?
Do you like to argue? What do you like to argue about?
Do you always want to be right? What types of arguments do you hate to
lose?
What topics should a foreigner avoid when talking to an Afghani?
What topics are taboo for your culture?
What topics are taboo for you personally?

Class #5
Discussion #4
Once I had an opportunity to observe the students and I could assess their levels
(this was an open enrollment course) and see how they interacted with each other
in a group or in small groups, I introduced cinema into the class. Each student
received the notes below with idioms and their meanings followed by questions
which I called roundtable discussion.
From this lesson, I tapped into the resource that permeates in Kandahar society,
Pashtunwali a pre-Islamic code of civil law. Using Pashtunwali as a springboard for
future topics, I was able to easily activate student schemas. The challenge for me
for the rest of the course was to create lessons that were relevant and meaningful
for every student.
Fiddler on the Roof
1:05 movie:

Zeitel is getting married

Setting:

Rural Imperial Russia, 1905

Scene:

Zeitel, 18, is informed that she is going to marry Lazar Wolf, a

wealthy 63 year old butcher

Idioms and phrases

He has asked for your hand

100

money is the worlds curse

A perfect fit
made to measure
out of your mind
Times are changing
on the other hand

Vocabulary
pledge (n)
absurd (adj)
tailor (n)
starve (v)
May the Lord smite me with it and may I never recover. (Smite is to kill.
A plague, something bad to you, smites you.)

Roundtable Discussion Questions: Tradition

Definition of Tradition
a way of thinking, behaving, or doing something that has been used by
the people in a particular group, family, society, etc., for a long time
the stories, beliefs, etc., that have been part of the culture of a group of
people for a long time

Questions

Where do your traditions come from?

What is the oldest tradition you know?
Are there any traditions only you and your family practice?
In the movie Modal the Tailor says Times are changing Have your
traditions changed over time?
Have you adapted the way you practice any traditions? or Have your
traditions changed because you practice them differently?
How do traditions end?
Describe a tradition that no longer exists.
Are there any traditions you would change if you could?
If you could start your own tradition what would it be?

101

Group exercise
In small groups make lists for each. Everyone in the group should agree.
List the five most meaningful traditions
List five traditions that you believe are not as important or are open to
interpretation.
List five traditions that could or should change.

meaningful

not as important

change can be good

Lesson #6-7
Discussions #5-6
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
The main goal was to introduce idioms in conversation.
SynopsisWalter Mitty works for a magazine as a negative assets manager and
he cannot find an important photograph a man called Sean OConnell sent him.
Walter has no means to contact Sean and finds a clue that he might be in
Greenland. He decides to travel to Greenland to track Sean down in the beginning
of an unbelievable adventure. We join the story as Walter visits his mother and
his sister.
Notes

Negative (used in film) negative #25

Wallet
They call the snow leopard a ghost cat, it never lets itself be seen
Whats up?
Beautiful things dont ask for attention

Below is a list of idioms used in the 15 minute video.

102

1:14 in the apartment

Walters sister is in the kitchen with their mother. The sister is describing a yoga
class she attends. The idioms she uses are listed below. They might be difficult to
hear.

Im just really wiped out

I think I need to go to yoga and then just crash.
Referring to yoga: You get it all out of your system.
What is it you call it when he goes to one of his places zoned out

1:21 the phone call

A phone call with Todd who works at an on-line dating agency

1:22

your profile really rounded out, man

that volcano-shark combo that is money in the bank
I love it, that is a kick-ass been there
Im gonna keep this short
I get it
You know what? Would you take me off?
I cant really swing that $500 yearly
I think were on to something
a meeting with Sean OConnell
How the hell did you get up here?
Take your time, settle in
Im taking a lot of heat at work
I see what youre saying, the cover issue should be more straight
forward
What did you do with the wallet? Chucked it
You have no idea
If I like a moment, I mean me, personally, I dont like to have the
distraction of the camera, I just wanna stay in it. yeah, Right there
Right here
That looks like fun, Im gonna jump in

103

Questions (in groups)

Number from 1-10 the most desirable traits in human beings. 13 Everyone in the
group must agree. 1 is the most important, 10 is the least important.
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____

integrity
courageousness
sense of humor
intelligence, education, common sense
emotionally open
kindness
self-confidence
discipline
generosity
self-awareness

Part two of this conversation topic was to give each student a strip of paper with
one of the following questions on it. The student would begin and, from there,
conversations would ensue or they wouldnt. By this time, the class had become
comfortable, and everyone could contribute if he or she so wished.

Review: Idioms
Part Two: Give everyone a question

13

What wipes you out?

What do you do to get all the days problems out of your system?
Have you taken a lot of heat at work for an assignment youve done?
Describe a time when you wanted to stay in the moment.
Describe someone you know who is old-school.
Do you sometimes zone out?
What does your boss do that gets on your nerves?
Is there anyone you know you wish would lighten up?
When is the last time someone or something left you blown away?
Describe the last time you lent someone a hand.

http://blog.californiapsychics.com/blog/2011/01/10-most-desirable-traits-in-human-beings.html

104

Describe that one place you believe is a kick ass been there kind of place.
Does your employer expect you to jump in and help when there is a
problem?
Where is your favorite place to crash?
What kinds of decisions require a lot of on the other hands?
Do you know anyone at work who is always fooling around?

Citing the length of this paper, the topics below completed the course:
Lesson 8 Discussion topic:

Money and the movie Waking Ned Devine

Lesson 9 Discussion topic:

Gender roles at home and at work

Lesson 10 Discussion topic:

All about Aino Meena

Lesson 11 Discussion topic:

Body Language

Lesson 12 Discussion topic:

Current events

Lesson 13 Discussion topic:

Defining Happiness using the movie The

Pursuit of Happyness

Lesson 14 Discussion topic:

Language learning strategies: success in the

workforce

Lesson 15 Discussion topic:

Generalizations and Stereotypes

Lesson 16 Discussion topic:

Pashtunwali in the 21st century

Lesson 17 Discussion topic:

Race and ethnic identity

Lesson 18 Discussion topic:

Pie in the Sky solutions to impossible

problems in Afghanistan

Conclusion
By the conclusion of this class, I was not sure who had learned more, the students
or myself. Students needed stimulus and, in an advanced conversation class, I
could have, or perhaps I should have, provided more interesting activities in
which the topics which we were being discussed were fleshed out. Some students
also wished that they had been tested more, but I objected to this because that
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kind of assessment would not have been authentic. A student who can respond to
a variety of questions on a variety of issues in a clear communicative manner was
good enough to be considered a pass.
Finally, if I had to do this again, I would seriously demand a textbook from which I
could draw conversation topics and ideas. For the two other intermediate
conversation classes which I taught, I did have the American English File textbook.
From that book, I used the pronunciation and speaking activities and simply
expanded on those topics. I relied more on movies toward the latter part of the
syllabus because I believe cinema offers a rich resource about which we can talk. I
told my students that when I was in high school and later in college, going to the
movies and talking about what we had seen was a natural and binding exercise in
civil discourse. It is unfortunate that there is no movie theater in Kandahar, and
the only movies my students have seen were on laptops. They certainly enjoyed
seeing my selections on a big screen, and for the last two classes we brought in
popcorn and sodas and enjoyed the experience that I hope will remain with them
and encourage them somehow to use their English again, somewhere.

References
Amato, J. (2010). Tribes, Pashtunwali and How they Impact Reconciliation and Reintegration Efforts in Afghanistan.
MA Thesis, Georgetown University.
Carducci, B. (2012). The Art of Small Talk: How to Get the Conversation Rolling with Practically Anyone. Louisville
Free Public Library How to Festival.
Ellis, R. (1993) The Structural Syllabus and Second Language Acquisition. TESOL Quarterly, 27(1).
Honacker, C. (2011, 23 January 2011). The 10 Most Desirable Traits in Human Beings. [Weblog]. Retrieved 30
October 2015, from https://www.californiapsychics.com/blog/mind-body-spirit/10-most-desirable-traits-in-humanbeings.html
Krashen, Stephen D. (1984). Writing: Research, Theory, and Applications. Oxford: Pergamon Institute of English.
Levi, S. (2009). Origins. Retrieved 1 November, 2015, from http://origins.osu.edu/article/long-long-struggle-womens-rights-afghanistan
Nunan, D. (1993). Syllabus Design. Oxford University Press.
Roberts, R. (2016, April 21). What does Afghanistan Need? Some major rebranding, says its 32 year old
ambassador. Washington Post.
Shaw, AM. (1975). Approaches to a communicative syllabus in foreign language curriculum development. Ph.D.
Dissertation, University of Essex.
Stern, H.H. (1981). Communicative language teaching and learning: Toward a synthesis. In J.E. Alatis, H.B. Altman,
& P. M. Alatis (Eds), The second language classroom (pp. 133-148). New York: Oxford University Press.

106

Effective Classroom Management Strategies

for Educational Practice
Mehmet zcan
Nevehir Hac Bekta Veli University, Turkey

Abstract: Classroom management is one of the critical phases of education in

many areas. The ability to manage the classroom environment and bolster
positive outcomes mostly depends on teachers ability. Teachers teaching
ability is not the only dimension of teacher success. Education specialists have
known this for some time and have included classroom management issues
within teacher education, too. As an education system improves, thanks to new
technologies, parents education, social and economic factorsetc., classroom
management retains its importance. This paper deals with new classroom
management theories and styles for both education specialists and teachers
during their career.
Keywords: Classroom management, effective classroom strategies, classroom
organization

Introduction
Effective education refers to the degree to which schools are successful in
accomplishing their educational objectives. The differences in achievement
between students who spend a year in a class with a highly effective teacher as
opposed to a highly ineffective teacher are startling. Marzano (2003) carried out
35 years of research on effective schools and arrived at the following results. A
student attends an average school and has an average teacher for two years. At
the end of these two years, the students achievement will be at the 50th
percentile. If the same student attends an ineffective school and has an ineffective
teacher, the students achievement will have dropped to the 3rd percentile after
two years. An individual teacher can produce powerful gains in student learning.
If the student attends an effective school but has an ineffective teacher, his or her
achievement after two years will have dropped to the 37th percentile. Effective
107

teaching and learning cannot take place in poorly managed classrooms (Jones &
Jones, 2012; Marzano, Marzano, & Pickering, 2003; Van de Grift, Van der Wal, &
Torenbeek, 2011). In addiction effective classroom management strategies support
and facilitate effective teaching and learning. It is generally based on the principle
of establishing a positive classroom environment encompassing effective teacherstudent relationships (Wubbels, Brekelmans, Van Tartwijk, & Admiraal, 1999).
Evertson and Weinstein (2006) define classroom management as "the actions
teachers take to create an environment that supports and facilitates both
academic and social-emotional learning". This definition concentrates on the
responsibility of the teacher and relates the use of classroom management
strategies to multiple learning goals for students. Following this definition,
effective CMS seem to focus on preventive rather than reactive classroom
management procedures (Lewis & Sugai, 1999). An example of a widely used and
generally effective preventive strategy among teachers in primary education is
that classroom rules are negotiated instead of imposed (Marzano, Marzano, &
Pickering,, 2003). Teachers, however, also frequently use reactive strategies (e.g.
punishing disruptive students; Rydell & Henricsson, 2004; Shook, 2012), whereas it
is unclear whether these strategies effectively change students behavior. This
may be caused by a lack of knowledge about the effectiveness of preventive
strategies (Peters, 2012) or by a lack of belief in their effectiveness. Teachers do
not always believe in the effectiveness of particular strategies despite ample
empirical evidence that the strategy has been implemented successfully in many
classrooms (Smart & Brent, 2010). For example is that beginning teachers are
generally advised to be as strict as possible in the first week of their internship
and then slowly to become less authoritarian, whereas the first establishing
positive teacher-student relationships has been proven far more effective in
regulating student behavior (Bohn, Roehrig, & Pressley, 2004). According to
ONeill and Stephenson (2012) completing focused coursework units on classroom
management in teacher training programs leads to increased feelings of
preparedness, familiarity, and confidence in using CMS among student teachers.
However, they stress that student teachers reported that they were confident in
using only half of the strategies they were familiar with, and that they only felt
partially prepared to manage the misbehavior of students. When teachers feel
uncertain about using preventive strategies, (for instance, negotiating about
classroom rules), they often keep using the (presumably less effective) reactive
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strategies (Rydell & Henricsson, 2004; Woodcock & Reupert, 2012). Evidently,
mastering effective CMS is a basic competence for all teachers. Klamer-Hoogma
(2012) stresses that good teachers need to master a broad range of CMS, and that
teacher training programs should provide student teachers with a large toolbox
of CMS from which they can pick and apply particular strategies when necessary.
The strategies should be part of this so-called toolbox in current educational
settings is still unclear. The reason for this is that the books that are used in
teacher training programs (e.g. Jones & Jones, 2012; Klamer-Hoogma, 2012; Teitler
& Van Brussel, 2012) generally refer to studies that were conducted decades ago
or used anecdotal evidence rather than empirical evidence. However, daily
practice in education has changed rapidly. It is increasingly characterized by
student-centered approaches to learning (as opposed to teacher-centred) with a
large emphasis on students metacognitive skills (e.g. self-regulated learning
strategies; Dignath, Bttner, & Langfeldt, 2008) and cooperative learning (e.g.
Kagan, 2005; Wubbels, Den Brok, Veldman, & Van Tartwijk, 2006). Further more
and more technology is finding its way into classrooms, for example, the use of
interactive whiteboards, tablets, and laptops (Schussler, Poole, Whitlock, &
Evertson, 2007). These changes presumably have had a large impact on the
demands placed on teachers classroom management skills (e.g. rules and
procedures to facilitate cooperative learning). There are many studies which have
been conducted to explicitly compare the effectiveness of particular CMS in more
traditional versus more modern classrooms. An up-to-date overview of studies
conducted in the last decade is expected to provide insight into which CMS have
been proven (still) to be effective in modern classrooms.

Definition of classroom management

Evertson and Weinstein (2006) refer in their definition of classroom management
to the actions teachers take to create a supportive environment for the academic
and social emotional learning of students. They describe five types of actions. In
order to attain a high quality of classroom management, teachers must (1)
develop caring, supportive relationships with and among students and (2)
organize and implement instruction in ways that optimize students access to
learning. The importance of developing favorable teacher-student relationships is

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also expressed by Marzano, Marzano, & Pickering (2003). Additionally, Evertson

and Weinstein (2006) state that teachers should (3) encourage students
engagement in academic tasks, which can be done by using group management
methods (e.g. by establishing rules and classroom procedures, see Marzano,
Marzano, & Pickering, 2003). Teachers must (4) promote the development of
students social skills and self-regulation. Marzano, Marzano, & Pickering, (2003)
refer to this as making students responsible for their behavior. Finally, Evertson
and Weinstein (2006) indicate that teachers should be able to (5) use appropriate
interventions to assist students with behavior problems. The last two actions
proposed by Evertson and Weinstein (2006) indicate that effective classroom
management improves student behavior. Hence, classroom management is an
ongoing interaction between teachers and their students. Brophy (2006) presents
a similar definition: Classroom management refers to actions taken to create and
maintain a learning environment conducive to successful instruction (arranging
the physical environment, establishing rules and procedures, maintaining
students' attention to lessons and engagement in activities) (p. 17). Both
definitions emphasize the importance of actions taken by the teacher to facilitate
learning among the students.
Improving the students behavior (e.g. self-control) is an important goal in many
classroom management programs nowadays, while this student component is
underrepresented in the different classifications mentioned above. Moreover, in
many interventions, both preventive and reactive strategies are used. Therefore,
proposals the following classification (types) of classroom management
interventions, based on primary focus:
1) Teachers behavior-focused interventions. The focus of the intervention is on
improving teachers classroom management (e.g. keeping order, introducing rules
and procedures, disciplinary interventions) and thus on changing the teachers
behavior. This type is a representation of the group management methods
referred to by Evertson and Weinstein (2006). Both preventive and reactive
interventions are included in this category.
2) Teacher-student relationship-focused interventions. The focus of the
intervention is on improving the interaction between teachers and students
(teacher-student interactions), thus on developing caring, supportive
relationships. Only preventive interventions are included in this category. This
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type is a representation of the supportive teacher-student relation is referred to

by Evertson and Weinstein (2006).
3) Students behavior-focused interventions. The focus of the intervention is on
improving student behavior, for example, via group contingencies or by
improving self-control among all students. Both preventive and reactive
interventions are included in this category. This type is a representation of the
students self-regulation referred to by Evertson and Weinstein (2006), as well as
Marzano, Marzano, & Pickering (2003), who refer to students responsibility for
their own behavior.
4) Students social-emotional development-focused interventions. The focus of
the intervention is on improving students social-emotional development, such as
enhancing their feelings of empathy for other children. Both preventive and
reactive interventions are included in this category. This type is a representation
of the students social skills referred to by Evertson and Weinstein (2006).
Evidently, some classroom management programs may fit into more than one of
these categories and the types are not considered to be mutually exclusive. The
proposed classification was used in the meta-analysis to identify the differential
effects of different types of interventions. One particular type of intervention
might be more effective than other types. Moreover, it is possible that broader
interventions which have multiple foci may establish stronger effects than
interventions that have one primary focus, or that a particular combination of
foci may be more effective than other combinations.

Effective classroom management

1. Planned not improvisational.
2. Preventative rather than simply reactive.
3. Controlled and organized rather than chaotic.

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4. An opportunity for all students and teachers to experience success. 14

3.1. Tips for Arranging the Classroom

1.

2.
3.

4.

5.
6.
7.

Have extra supplies available at a location in the classroom where

students who have forgotten supplies will be able to go without
disrupting other students (i.e. a cup of pencils at the center of each table
or the back of the classroom).
Set a good example to your students by providing a neat and organized
classroom.
Make your classroom look attractive. Use plants, bulletin boards,
banners, warm colors, or anything to help make your classroom look
aesthetically pleasing.
Structure your classroom as to avoid chaos and promote learning. For
instance, do not place a talkative student next to the pencil sharpener
because this creates many opportunities for disruptive behavior.
The teacher should be able to observe all students at all times and be able
to see the door from his/her desk.
Students should be able to see the teacher/presentation area without
having to move or turn around.
Arrange the room as to allow easy movement.

In short, make your classroom fun, attractive, motivating, & functional.15

3.2. Tips for Building Positive Student/Teacher Relationships

1.
2.

Follow the Golden Rule Treat each student with respect and kindness.
Identify a few students each class period and find ways to individually
praise them so that by the end of the week every student in your class
has been praised.

14

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nt.pdf (2016).
15

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nt.pdf

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3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Be available before and after school in case a student needs help or

simply needs to talk to you.
Praise students for good work.
Praise students for effort.
Establish appropriate levels of dominance and cooperation.
Create one-to-one interactions with students.
Display students successful work in the classroom.
Disclose appropriate personal information that your students might find
helpful (i.e. share a personal story that helps you describe a particular
point of the lesson).16

3.3. Time Saving Strategies

1.

2.
3.
4.

5.

6.
7.

Establish time-saving, efficient routines for collecting papers and

distributing materials and supplies (i.e. bins for each subject or class,
mailboxes for each student or class).
Organize well.
Establish daily routines.
Make a To Do List at the end of each day so that when you arrive the
next morning you know exactly what needs to be done. Prioritize it and
list the things that must be done first.
Create classroom jobs. This will help save you time and teach them
responsibility. 6. Create a system for monitoring unfinished assignments.
(i.e. Keep a clipboard with a list of student names with several boxes for
each class next to each name. When you have finished grading the
assignments, check off the boxes next to the students who have handed
in the assignment.)
Teach your students how to be organized. Encourage them to have
separate folders for each class and a home folder for assignments/notes.
Create your own filing system. Assign each class a color and keep
important lesson materials in each folder.17

16

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nt.pdf (2016).

113

3.4. Instructional Tips

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Give directions one step at a time and avoid long and detailed directions.
Use visual aids to help present and review concepts and directions.
Provide a variety of learning experiences, including peer teaching,
cooperative learning, small group instruction, and lecture.
Provide homework assignments and activities that are meaningful,
relevant, and instructional.
Teach students good study habits and provide a variety of different study
suggestions.
Have your class summarize the lesson or activity at the end of each class.
Provide students with feedback (about what they did right and wrong).
Help your students set realistic goals.18

3.5. Tips for Creating a Positive Classroom Environment

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Use humor.
Greet students at the doorway and in the halls.
Show enthusiasm and be animated.
Provide opportunities for every student to succeed.
Model good listening skills by paying attention when student speak.
Create anticipation for lessons or tasks.
If a particular student is struggling, provide the student with a classroom
buddy who is mature and responsible.
Create classroom rituals and traditions which build a sense of
community.
Encourage parental and community involvement.19

17

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nt.pdf (2016).
18

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nt.pdf (2016).
19

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nt.pdf (2016)

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3.6. Tips for Preventing Misbehavior

1.
2.

Establish realistic and age appropriate rules and procedures.

Have discussions with your students about the rationale and purpose of
each rule. When appropriate, incorporate student opinions and thoughts
into your classroom rules and procedures.
3. Walk throughout the classroom during lectures and seat work to provide
assistance and monitor behavior.
4. Keep class work and assignments separate from behavior issues.
5. Carefully plan each class time and have extra plans in case you finish
early.
6. Have extra activities available for students to do when they are bored or
finished with all their work.
7. Establish routines for transitions (leaving the room, using the bathroom,
etc.) and prepare students for transitions by warning them ahead of time.
8. Reinforce and praise appropriate behavior.
9. When deciding whether or not to intervene with a behavior, determine if
the problem is solely teacher-owned. Does the behavior simply annoy
you or is it harmful to other students?
10. Establish a program that teaches self-discipline and responsibility to
students. When appropriate, give students extra duties that will help save
you time and teach them responsibility.20

3.7. Tips for handling student discipline situations

1.
2.
3.
4.

Remain calm and composed

When correcting misbehavior, communicate in the most private,
respectful, and positive manner.
Make all discipline decisions after the heat of the moment.
Use appropriate humor to de-escalate conflict situations.

20

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nt.pdf (2016).

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5.

When you feel as if you or your student is too emotional to handle a

particular situation, suggest postponing the discussion until both are
prepared to talk it out.
6. Instead of blaming, use I-messages to explain why the behavior was
disruptive. Instead of saying Youre disruptive try saying I lose my
concentration when you are talking in class. This helps to avoid an
angry retaliation.
7. Use positive self-talk to reduce stress and help to remain control.
Mentally say things such as remain calm, Im doing a good job at
handling this situation.
8. Attempt to de-escalate situation by providing distractions. These
distractions give people the opportunity to cool off.
9. Exaggerate issues to help students put the situation in perspective.
10. Use stress management techniques such as deep breathing or repeatedly
tensing and relaxing your muscles.
11. Address only student behavior rather than personal traits.21

References
Bohn, C. M., Roehrig, A. D., & Pressley, M. (2004). The first days of school in effective and less effective primarygrades classrooms. Elementary School Journal, 104, 269-287.
Brophy, J. (2006). History of Research on Classroom Management. In C. M. Evertson & C. S. Weinstein (Eds.),
Handbook of classroom management. Research, practice, and contemporary issues (pp.17-43). Malwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Dignath, C., Buettner, G., & Langfeldt, H. (2008). How can primary school students learn self-regulated learning
strategies most effectively?: A meta-analysis on self-regulation training programmes. Educational Research Review,
3, 101-129.
Evertson, C. M. & Weinstein, C. S. (Eds.) (2006). Handbook of classroom management. Research, practice, and
contemporary issues. Mahwah, NJ: Larence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Jones, V.F. & Jones, L. S. (2012). Comprehensive classroom management, creating communities of support and
solving problems (10th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Kagan, S. (2005). Structureel coperatief leren [Structural cooperative learning]. Vlissingen, the Netherlands: Bazalt.
Klamer-Hoogma, M. (2012). Klassenmanagement [Classroom management]. Groningen/Houten, the Netherlands:
Noordhoff Uitgevers.

21

http://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/Resources/Educ/CAMHPS/Effective%20Classroom%20Manageme
nt.pdf (2016).

116

Lewis, T. J. & Sugai, G. (1999). Effective behavior support: A systems approach to proactive schoolwide
management. Focus on Exceptional Children, 31, 1-24.
Marzano, R. J. (2003). What works in schools. Translating research into action. Alexandria, VA: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).
Marzano, R. J., Marzano, J. S., & Pickering, D. J. (2003). Classroom management that works. Research-based
strategies for every teacher. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD
ONeill, S., & Stephenson, J. (2012). Does classroom management coursework influence pre-service teachers
perceived preparedness or confidence? Teaching and Teacher Education, 28, 1131-1143.
Peters, J. H. (2012). Are they ready? Final year pre-service teachers learning about managing student behaviour.
Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 37, 18-42.
Rydell, A. M., & Henricsson, L. (2004). Elementary school teachers strategies to handle externalizing classroom
behaviour: a study of relations between perceived control, teacher orientation and strategy preferences.
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 45, 93-102.
Schussler, D. L., Poole, I. R., Whitlock, T. W., & Evertson, C. M. (2007). Layers and links: Learning to juggle one
more thing in the classroom. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 572-585.
Smart, J. B., & Brent, I. L. (2010). A grounded theory of behavior management strategy selection, implementation,
and perceived effectiveness reported by first-year elementary teachers. Elementary School Journal, 110, 567-584.
Teitler, P., & Brussel, A. van. (2012). Lessen in orde op de basisschool. Handboek voor de onderwijspraktijk
[Lessons in control in primary education]. Bussum, the Netherlands: Coutinho bv.
Van de Grift, W., Van der Wal, M., & Torenbeek, M. (2011). Ontwikkeling in de pedagogisch didactische vaardigheid
van leraren in het basisonderwijs [Development in teaching skills]. Pedagogische Studin, 88, 416-432.
Woodcock, S. & Reupert, A. (2012). A cross-sectional study of student teachers behaviour management strategies
throughout their training years. Australian Educational Researcher, 39, 159-172.
Wubbels, T., Brekelmans, M., Van Tartwijk, J., & Admiraal, W. (1999). Interpersonal relationships between teachers
and students in the classroom. In H.C. Waxman & H.J. Walberg (Eds.), New directions for teaching practice and
research (pp. 151-170). Berkeley, CA: McCutchan.
Wubbels, T., Den Brok, P., Veldman, I., & Van Tartwijk, J. (2006). Leraar-leerlingrelaties en klassenmanagement in
het hedendaagse onderwijs [Teacher-student relationships and classroom management in present-day education].
In R. Klarus & W. Wardekker (Eds.), Wat is goed onderwijs: Bijdragen vanuit de pedagogiek (pp. 121-141). Den
Haag: Boom Lemma Uitgevers.
http://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/Resources/Educ/CAMHPS/Effective%20Classroom%20Management.pdf (2016).

117

Barriers to Girl Education

in Walled City, Lahore
Saima Ali
Meezan Zahra Khawaja

Abstract: It is education that increases the know-how and productivity of

individuals in order to produce skilled manpower necessary to direct an
economy towards sustainable economic development. This study looks upon the
education sector of Pakistan, with emphasis on girl education, through the lens
of Article 37- B of the Constitution of Pakistan, the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (1948), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In terms of
education, womens position is vulnerable in Pakistani society, especially in the
tribal and rural areas of the country. The reasons vary from social, religious and
cultural obstacles. For the purpose of this paper, we have narrowed down our
research to Walled City of Lahore. The objective of this research is to
understand the barriers faced by poor people as they attempt to provide their
girl-child with basic primary education. It was concluded that the State has
failed to respect and protect the Rights of the Child to Education and to
adequately honor its commitment to national and international treaties and
projects.
Key-words: Education, education sector of Pakistan, girls education,
Government Model School, Al- Asad School, Khwaja Model School, Barkat Jan
School, NGO, Constitution of Pakistan Article 37-B, Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, Convention on the Rights of the Child, National Action Policy,
Millennium Development Goals, Talibanization, UNESCO, Article 28, Article 29.

Introduction
Education is a key player in human capital formation. It is education that
increases the competence and productivity of individuals in order to produce the
skilled manpower necessary to direct an economy towards sustainable economic
118

development. As in the case of most developing countries, the situation of the

education sector in Pakistan is not very promising.
According to the Constitution of Pakistan, the state shall: remove illiteracy and
provide free and compulsory secondary education within minimum possible
period (Article 37-B, Constitution of Pakistan, 1973). In addition, Article 25 of the
Constitution (1973) states: All citizens are equal before the law and entitled to
protection of law, and that nothing in the article shall prevent the State from
making any special provision for the protection of women and children. The
Constitution thus supports efforts towards ensuring gender equality and equity in
education.
In addition, Pakistan is signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(1948) as well as Convention on the Rights of the Child. Therefore, it is for the
state to implement on the Human Rights Article 26 which states, Everyone has
the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and
fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory...
Furthermore, Article 28(1), states Parties recognize the right of the child to
education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis
of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular: (a) Make primary education
compulsory and available free to all; (b) Encourage the development of different
forms of secondary education, including general and vocational education, make
them available and accessible to every child, and take appropriate measures such
as the introduction of free education and offering financial assistance in case of
need; (c) Make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every
appropriate means; (d) Make educational and vocational information and
guidance available and accessible to all children; (e) Take measures to encourage
regular attendance at schools and the reduction of drop-out rates.
The education sector of Pakistan has been a victim of neglect for far too long, with
the problems becoming graver over time. In a world where the countries are
moving quickly ahead in terms of their economic and social development,
Pakistan risks failing and falling behind if it does not address the issue of
educating its young people effectively. According to UNESCOs Policy Paper (2015),
5.5 million children of primary school age are out of schools in the country.
Furthermore, according to a report published by UNICEF (2013) provided statistics
119

on children in Pakistan, the majority of children who did not receive an education
were prone to child labor, poverty and gender biases to name a few amongst many
other deep rooted concerns. Therefore, it isnt a stretch to presume that the
challenges with Pakistans education system will unfortunately multiply in the
future, given that the number of young people is predicted to rise significantly in
the coming decades.

States National and International Commitment to Education

Government of Pakistan has policies, both at federal and provincial level, which
ensures the educational rights of all children up to the age of 16. But according to
Ahmad Benson (2014), besides the educational rights being stressed upon in
policies, Pakistan is still ranked the second on the list of most out of school
children with majority of children aged between 5-16 years were reported out of
school. It is evident that in order to improve literacy rates, Pakistan needs to
implement the educational reform policies introduced in the National Education
Policy 2009. While the privileged and wealthy echelons of society enjoy high
quality private education, the situation is grim when we look at the rural areas or
the poverty ridden urban centers.
In the past decade, two major educational policies were introduced; namely
National Education Policy 1998 -2010, and the National Action Policy 2009. The
wide group of stakeholders who developed these policies included education
experts, academia, private organization, non government organizations,
international development partners and education officials from federal and
provincial governments. (National Action Plan, 2013)
The National Educational Policy 1998-2010 stresses upon improving the quality of
education, increased enrolments, and removing gender imbalance in urban and
rural areas. The solution is suggested to be curriculum reform, using legal means
to enforce compulsory primary education, employing more female teachers at
primary level and introducing compensatory programs which include stipends,
free text books etc. On the other hand, National Education Policy 2009
acknowledges that equity in educational opportunities and equitable income
distribution and income growth are interlinked. Therefore, if the structure of the
education system is on a divisive basis, i.e. different educational priorities and
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methods in public, private and NGO funded schools, then in a long run it can have
unrepairable consequences on economic growth and stability of society.
The Education Sector Reforms Action Plan 20012004 focused on working with
gender desegregated data, gender sensitive curricula, and inclusion of women
in school councils as measures to correct the gender imbalance. On the other
hand, National Action Plan 2013 focuses on accelerating the process of education
related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through years 2013 - 2016. How
much of the Action Plan 2001 2004 or the 2013 have been implemented is yet to
be seen.
In addition to the national policies, Pakistans commitment to international
treaties and programs can be determined by its involvement in the National
Education for All (EFA) Plan 2000 2015 and MDGs. According to The National
Education for All (EFA) Plan 20002015 its target was to provide gender-specific
targets for the poor including achieving the universal primary education (UPE)
target for boys by 2010 and for girls by 2015. In reality, however, Pakistan failed to
meet its goal for either boys or girls in terms of targeted time of education. The
Ministry of Education produced a Ministerial Review Meeting in which they
acknowledge that they have not been able to achieve the EFA goal for 2015. It
includes the following points that the government, both at the federal and
provincial level, will be focusing on in order to achieve EFA 2030 goal: Ensuring
equitable and inclusive access to quality education, quality of teaching and
learning, lifelong learning for all, skills for work and competencies for citizenship
and social cohesion, governance and management of education systems, and
financing of education.
The Government of Pakistan, along with stakeholders, has also put together a
national poverty reduction scheme and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to
provide a framework for addressing poverty with time-bound targets. The
Pakistan Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper identified two main challenges in the
education sector: a lack of infrastructure and facilities; and a shortage of
qualified and trained teachers. Other issues recognized in the PRSP include
teacher absenteeism, high dropout rates and gender inequalities. The MDGs
provided a common vision of a much better world by 2015: where severe poverty
was cut in half; child mortality was greatly decreased; gender differences in
primary and secondary education were removed; and women were greatly
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empowered. Unfortunately, none of the issues were met in 2015. Gender issues
are seen as being highly relevant to achieving all the MDGs, however in the case of
Pakistan, the present rate of progress is the reason that none of these goals have
been achieved.

Research Rationale and Objective

In terms of education, womens position is vulnerable in Pakistani society
especially in the tribal and rural areas of the country. The reasons vary from
social, religious and cultural obstacles. In some areas education of girls is
prohibited and herein, the majority of the decision making power for the girl child is in hands of the parents or elders of the household whether its for
education, marriage or work purpose. In addition to no decision making power,
girls are linked to honor of the family and therefore, in some rural areas the
reason for girls not being educated is linked directly to the honor of the family.
On a social and political level, with the rise of Talibanization in Pakistani society,
the education system is under constant threats and in recent past has experienced
violent attacks by militants on schools and universities resulting in hundreds of
innocent students deaths. This dimension has further weakened the status and
problems of women in the Pakistani society.
For the purpose of this paper we have narrowed our research to Walled City of
Lahore. Lahore is a capital of the province Punjab which is the hub of all the
political action of the country and home to over half of the population of Pakistan.
Though, various researches are done on the structural disparity and divisive
education systems in the city, there is a lack of research on the barriers faced by
the parents/guardians of girls and the girls themselves in the poorest areas of the
city.
The reason we chose Walled City is because it inhabits the most concentrated
poverty ridden class of the Lahore City. Walled City or the Old City once housed
the Mughal Emperors and was guarded by thirteen different gates. When the
British took over the Mughal Empire, they demolished all of the gates except one.
Later, simple structures were created as gates for representation of the era the
Walled city had endured.
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The objective of this research is to understand the barriers faced by poor people
to provide their girl-child with basic primary education. For this research, we
chose Barkat Jan School for girls, which is a non - profit organization and provides
free education to girls of the walled city. This objective and the data gathered in
this research will be analyzed through the lens of federal and provincial level
policies put together by the State. In addition to the policies, it will be analyzed
through the Human Rights Declaration Article 26 and Convention on the Rights of
Child Article 28 (1).

Barriers to Girl Education: Literature Review

According to Pirzado (2006), Pakistan faces significant barriers towards girl
education, grounded in both social and cultural reasoning. These barriers vary
from lack of educational facilities for girls, to poverty and child labor. However,
the most acute problem exists in the high dropout rate of children before
reaching grade five, which is the minimum education requirement stated by the
Government of Pakistan.
UNICEF (2015) further elaborates on supply side constraints and negative social
norms. These include school fees, strong cultural norms where boys education is
given preference over girls, lack of separate latrines for girls, negative classroom
environments such as violence, exploitation and corporal punishments in school.
In Pakistan as well as many developing countries, women are given a subordinate
status in the society and thus, result in denying girls equal access to education.
With the rise of extremism, social and religious strictures are often quoted out of
context to undervalue the power of education for girls and stressing on the
provision of religious education or limiting the time of education for girls
crediting it as sufficient for them. Therefore, in most rural communities girls can
be taken out of school at any time and as early as their primary education years.
Attending school during their primary years is very crucial as in most rural areas
when girls reach adolescence they are cut off from education due to the fact that
they have reached puberty. This is also a reason that not many girls are enrolled
in coeducational schools. (Zafar, 2007)

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Zafar (2007) further emphasizes that the restriction on the commute of girls to
school is a means deployed by the society, which places honor as its top, most
priority to tackle the issue of sexual security. Hence, the preference for schools to
be located near girl students homes is directly related to safety issues and to the
acceptance of informal institutions of learning.
According to UNESCO report (2010), the cultural restriction that limits the girls
mobilization to school is now changing as more male members are being
educated, increase in contact with outside world, and impact of media. However,
there are still sectors in society who do not believe in girl education, resulting in
parents refusal to allow their daughters to continue education based on the
distance of the school from their homes. Furthermore, research showed that
Girls enrolment drops off sharply with each 500-metre increase in distance from
the closest school admitting girls and this distance penalty accounts for 60% of
the gender gap in enrolments.
In addition, issue of poverty intersects across socio-economic class and other
distinctions. This intersection asserts the patriarchal control that corresponds
with the political and structural formation of Pakistani society. With more than
one third of the population living under the poverty line, the mere existence of
women is brought down to the stereotypical expectation of their families and
social settings. This stereotypical role of women is another reason, which
contributes in the higher dropout rate of school and lower retention rate among
girls. In poor households, girls are usually seen as a liability whose education does
not hold any value for the family. Therefore, in poor areas issues of low
participation, poor school attendance and a high dropout rate of girls is more
evident. With natural disasters, political conflicts, and Talibanization there has
been a rise from rural to urban areas in migration, which has caused negative
impact on both girls, and boys in schools. (UNESCO, 2010)
To compound these circumstantial problems, the condition of public schools in
Pakistan is also deteriorating. Several researches show that public schools in
Pakistan lack basic facilities and suffer from high rates of teacher absenteeism.
According to Rehan (2012), in rural areas most of the schools exist only on paper
and not in reality. In other cases the school buildings are used for cattle rearing or
as guest rooms by the landowners in rural areas while the children are taught
outside under the shade of the trees or in open yards. Moreover, public schools
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have at times failed to provide clean drinking water for students due to a lack of
water tanks installments.
Further research showed that availability of facilities including clean drinking
water, electricity, boundary wall, toilets, furniture, playgrounds, libraries, and
dispensaries all play a positive influence on the performance of the students and
their achievement. The study undertaken by Shami and Hussain (2005) revealed
that the availability of physical facilities in a school had a significant impact on
students performance. The environment in which the students learn is very
crucial and without the suitable environment effective learning cannot take place.
Bruce (2006) has rightly called the learning environment as the third teacher but
it is important that the environment is not an end in itself; we have to look at the
settings. Space is an important factor in providing a rich environment for
learning, but it is only significant to the degree that it assists in providing a
suitable climate for learning.
According to UNDP report on School Facilities and Education Outcomes (2014)
stated that these missing facilities and teacher absenteeism in public schools are
the main concerns of parents. In addition, the lack of facilities including proper
sanitation facilities for girls and boys were found directly correlated to girls lack
of enrollment in schools. Hence, it was concluded in the report that the low
enrolment rates at the primary level, lack of basic facilities in schools, teacher
absenteeism, deficiency of proper text books and teaching materials, wide gap
between regions and gender, and the poor management and physical
infrastructure of schools all play a role in resulting poor performance of the
education sector in Pakistan.
Cash (1993) in their study on 24 elementary schools in Georgia, found that
physical conditions of school buildings had direct positive and negative effects on
teacher morale, sense of personal safety, feelings of effectiveness in the
classroom, and on the general learning environment. It was observed in the
research that building renovations led teachers to feel a renewed sense of hope, of
commitment, a belief that the district cared about what went on that building. In
dilapidated buildings in another district, the atmosphere was punctuated more by
despair and frustration, with teachers reporting that leaking roofs, burned out
lights, and broken toilets were the typical backdrop for teaching and learning.

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According to UNESCO 2010 report, Pakistan has been allocating insufficient funds
for education sector. The state has on various occasions committed to spending
4% of its GDP on education budget but has only spent around 2% of its GDP in last
20 years. Due to insufficient financial resources, the efforts of education
departments have failed to open more schools, provision of missing facilities and
infrastructure, and to offer incentives to girls from poor families to achieve
primary education. Therefore, a low education budget is another factor that has
deprived children from poor families and marginalized groups of their right to
education, in particular girls from rural areas and poor pockets of society.
The current education system in Pakistan is for the most part unable to educate
the existing and upcoming large numbers of students so that they are fully
functionally literate, are able to contribute productively to the economy, and are
fully aware citizens who can assist in overcoming the countrys vast development
challenges.

Barriers to Girl Education in Walled City, Lahore:

A Case Study of Barkat Jan Girls School
Considering the current circumstances of education in Pakistan it is apt that the
following data be analyzed through the two articles of Convention of the rights
of the Child namely;
Article 28: (Right to education): All children have the right to a primary education,
which should be free. Wealthy countries should help poorer countries achieve this
right. Discipline in schools should respect childrens dignity. For children to
benefit from education, schools must be run in an orderly way without the use
of violence. Any form of school discipline should take into account the child's
human dignity. Therefore, governments must ensure that school administrators
review their discipline policies and eliminate any discipline practices involving
physical or mental violence, abuse or neglect. The Convention places a high value
on education. Young people should be encouraged to reach the highest level of
education of which they are capable.
Article 29 (Goals of education): Childrens education should develop each childs
personality, talents and abilities to the fullest. It should encourage children to
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respect others, human rights and their own and other cultures. It should also help
them learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.
Children have a particular responsibility to respect the rights their parents, and
education should aim to develop respect for the values and culture of their
parents. The Convention does not address such issues as school uniforms, dress
codes, the singing of the national anthem or prayer in schools. It is up to
governments and school officials in each country to determine whether, in the
context of their society and existing laws, such matters infringe upon other rights
protected by the Convention22
Furthermore, the data will be analyzed keeping in view the Constitution,
according to which the state shall: remove illiteracy and provide free and
compulsory secondary education within minimum possible period (Article 37-B,
Constitution of Pakistan, 1973). In addition, Article 25 of the Constitution states:
All citizens are equal before the law and entitled to protection of law, and that
nothing in the article shall prevent the State from making any special provision
for the protection of women and children. The Constitution thus supports efforts
towards ensuring gender equality and equity in education.
For the purpose of this research we conducted interviews with parents from
Government Model School, Khawaja Model School and Barkat Jan Girls School
situated in the heart of Walled City of Lahore. The research methods used for this
research comprised of semi formal interviews, focus group interviews,
participatory observation and secondary data from desk research.
The data from the interviews has been analyzed according to three categories:
government run schools, NGO run schools and Barkat Jan School for Girls. We
have interviewed parents of students from these school categories in the Walled
City of Lahore.

Government Run Schools

Parents of girls enrolled in Government Model School initially gave a positive
response on the education system being provided to the girls. In one interview, a

Factsheet: A summary of the rights under the Convention of the Rights of the Child, Accessed on
May 29, 2016.
22

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father, showed concern over the cost of books and school fees, which he could not
commit to submit monthly. A mother who was by profession a janitor and earned
less than PKR 5000, relied on her employer to pay for her daughters education
and books.
Moreover, teacher absenteeism and abusive language were issues, which forced a
mother to not send her daughter to school anymore. Abusive language concern
was shown by two other parents who stated; abusive language used by teachers
has affected the confidence and morale of their daughters and they do not want to
continue with their studies.
Another father complained about the lack of interest in teaching shown by some
teachers in school. He too earned around PKR 5000 (approximately $47) per
month and would appreciate if his money was spent on reasons worth it as he and
his household fell under the poverty line. He further stated that they belonged to
a household of five people with the father being the only breadwinner and
earning approximately $1.5 a day. This might not put their family as the poorest
according to the World Banks criteria of poverty under $1 but with the Pakistani
economy at its all-time low and inflation at its peak, $1.5 a day is not enough to
put food on everyones plate three times a day. This contradicts and shows failure
of the Governments current educational policies toward providing free and
subsidized books, education and incentives to girl students of the poor
households.
The issue of abusive language and teacher absenteeism contradicts the Article 28
(Right to child) of CRC, as use of abusive language is clearly against the dignity of
the girl child and is not to be tolerated by any means. Even according to the
Constitution, all students are equal before the law; hence none should be at the
forefront of abusive language, especially by teachers themselves. Another mother
also pointed out the same cause of abusive language as to why she had pulled
her child out of government school.
One of the fathers mentioned that for fifteen days his childs school agenda
remained empty in the government school and no homework or assignments
were assigned to the students, which showed to him the non-serious attitude in
the government school. Since he couldnt afford to send his daughter to private
school due to high fees and cost of books and materials he opted to find another
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good school close by and enroll her there. 23 In addition, parents mentioned the
teachers absenteeism and inadequate attention to the students and their
wellbeing as deciding factors for removing their children from Government run
schools. The Article 29 of CRC stresses upon the development of the childs
personality to its fullest which unfortunately in these cases depicts the States
failure at providing its children the development required to be economically
viable members of the society.

NGO Run Schools

The two most well-known NGO run schools in the Walled City of Lahore are
Khawaja Model School and Al Asad School. Both of these schools offer quality
based education but unfortunately the fees and cost of books and materials is too
high for some parents if not all. Most of the parents of students were earning
below the income bracket of PKR 10,000 (approximately $96 a month) so they
couldnt even afford the subsidized education at Khawaja Model School. Omer
Daraz, father of a student, was of the opinion that Khawaja Model School puts too
much financial burden on the parents by having events such as Animal Day and
Color Day and Fruit Day, they dont realize that not all the families can afford such
things to be brought to school.24
Furthermore, Nusrat Zaidi claimed that Khawaja Model School put too much
pressure on her child to study all the time and there were too many books and too
much homework assigned. When she used to come home her homework never
used to finish and she had no time to spend with her family. Also Khawaja Model
School charged PKR 1, 200 fee, even though they had given me a concession and I
only gave PKR 500, still with all the books and events it was hard for the family to
manage.25

23

Interview with Omer Daraz, father of student, 2.15 p.m., 28 May, 2016.

24

Ibid.

25

Interview with Nusrat Zaidi, mother of student at Barkat Jan, 12.45 p.m., 28 May, 2016.

129

Shehzadi Bano states that Al-Asad had good quality of education but was too
expensive for her and so she had moved her daughter to another school in the
neighborhood.26
Again, it can be seen from this case study that Khawaja Model school that in the
process of trying to replicate the pattern of the upper-class or so-called elite
private schools of the country by having various activities and putting emphasis
on studies they are losing out on students who just cannot cope with the financial
and emotional burden these schools imply. A balance between the corporate
needs and the financial reality of the parents is not being adequately reached.
Again, Article 29 applies here since where students personalities need to be
developed according to their circumstances and schools in these brackets are
failing to provide an accessible solution.

Barkat Jan School for Girls

Barkat Jan School for Girls is a completely free of cost school started by an NGO,
The Ali Faateh Foundation in 2011. It was started as a primary school but as the
gap for education for graduating students was witnessed, the school started to
enroll girls till Grade 8. It provides students with a mixture of education with
books from the Punjab Text Book Board and the Oxford University Press. The
school is well equipped with a library, a computer lab and ensures that all
materials i.e. books, stationary etc. are provided by the school to its students. Like
Khawaja Model School they do also engage students in activities related to art,
computer and hobbies however, these are sponsored by the school. The current
teachers have been with the school for three years and are committed to their
work. As with other NGO run schools, Barkat Jan has implemented rules against
corporal punishment and strict actions are taken against teachers.
According to the research conducted, it is clear that one of the main reasons of
the parents to enroll their daughters in Barkat Jan School is provision of free
education for girls. Most of those interviewed reported their total family income
as less than PKR 10,000 per month. With such income levels, it is hard for parents
to afford the books, fees and uniform etc. at other schools.

26

Interview with Shehzadi Bano, mother of student, 1.35 p.m., 28 May, 2016.

130

Secondly, the parents appreciated the atmosphere of the school and the attention
which the students received in the school. Most of the mothers were quoted as
stating that teachers proactive approach and individual attention to the students
was another reason for their enrolling their daughters in Barkat Jan School.
Parents claimed that the standard of Barkat Jan School was higher than that of
schools around it, and yet another one of the reasons that they were sending their
daughters to Barkat Jan School.
When most parents asked about their expectations from Barkat Jan School
answered that they liked the school, however, some were off the opinion that
there should be some sports or physical activity of the children and there should
also be Color Day like in Khawaja Model School.
Hence, it can be seen from the above analysis that Barkat Jan School has protected
and respected Article 28 and Article 29 of the CRC as well as shown that the
Government policies for achieving quality education, increasing enrolment and
closing the gender gap in education can be met slowly but reliably. However, this
requires time and resources to be invested in the education sector, at Government
and NGO-run schools, as well as private schools and religious centers. Such
commitment will be necessary to produce the results suggested in National Action
Plan 2013-2016.

Cultural Norms and other inhibiting factors

for Girl Education
As stated in UNESCO (2010) report that there is a cultural shift currently
happening in that more and more people are encouraging their daughters to
achieve education as a means of economic and social progress. During our
interviews, most of the mothers were of the opinion that education is a must in
todays world and that they would educate their daughters as far as their child
desired because in todays day and age education was all that matters and that
their lives would be made if they were better educated. Umme-Farwa Mir stated
very sharply that: No, I feel daughters should be educated as well, its very

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essential. I dont agree with those people who dont give girls education. Female
education is very important.27
When asked about people who still do not wish to educate their daughters in
todays world some parents demonstrated indignation, as expressed by Sadia
Waqar: This is totally wrong, we want girls to learn, to go ahead in life, education
is necessary for todays world. I dont agree with people who think otherwise. 28 In
the same manner Farzana Abbas stated: My elder daughter is in College, my son
is in 9th Grade, and my third child studies at Barkat Jan School. I place a great deal
of emphasis on education. Even though I cant afford it I feel as much education as
you give to the kids is less these days. 29 Nusrat Ziadi was also of the same opinion
as she stated that: No, you have to educate daughters, because there is a big
difference between an educated and an uneducated girl there is a difference in
presentation, in the way they deal with guests and the way they deal with their
kids. Everything is different.30
However, it was interesting to note that this pattern was broken when it came to
the Sheikh Beradari who all claimed that it was best to educate the girl child till
metric only and then she should be married off. One mother was very honest and
said: In the Sheikh Beradari they get the girls married after tenth Grade. This is
what the elders think is right. They say that if the girl is too old then her chances
of getting married will diminish and she probably wont get married. 31 This
seemed to be a trend with all the mothers of the Sheikh Beradari who were
questioned.
Distance was also a factor in sending girls to school with half of those interviewed
stating that if the school was too far away they would not send their girl child to
school, that one of the reasons for sending their child to school was that it was
located at a walking distance or in the neighborhood.

27

Umme-Farwa Mir, Interview with mother of student at Barkat Jan School, 10.55 a.m., 28 May, 2016.

28

Sadia Waqar, Interview with mother of student at Barkat Jan School, 11.45 p.m., May 28, 2016.

29

Farzana Abbas, Interview with mother of student at Barkat Jan School, 12.05 p.m., 28 May, 2016.

30

Nusrat Zaidi, Interview with mother of student at Barkat Jan School, 12.45 p.m., 28 May, 2016.

31

Kiran Shehzadi, Interview with mother of student at Barkat Jan School, 12.30 p.m., May 28, 2016.

132

Most of the parents interviewed had either not studied at all, or studied till
primary school. The highest education a mother had received was metric level i.e.
grade ten. The most common excuse for not studying further among women was
poor family circumstances and among men was lack of interest or poor family
circumstances once again. Most parents regretted not studying further and
claimed that they did not want the same future for their children. They claimed
that they wanted their child to study as far ahead as the child could because in
todays world education was the tool to get ahead, and they wanted their daughter
to have that tool in hand.

Conclusion
This paper has looked into Government of Pakistans commitment to the
education sector, with a specific focus on the options available to the girl child
coming from a low-income background. Unfortunately, the education sector in
Pakistan has been neglected for reasons varying from corruption to cultural and
religious norms. The State has failed to protect and respect Childs Right to
Education (Article 28) and Goals of Education (Article 29). The policies and
National Action Plan all primarily exist on paper and not much implementation
can be seen on the ground.
The data on the girls education is always high in well-developed urban areas
because of private schools which can be afforded by the rich and the upper middle
class. Unfortunately, in rural areas and poverty-ridden parts of big cities the
results are very different. Therefore, we selected the Walled City of Lahore for this
study because of the high rate of poverty and the lack of development. Research
was conducted by interviewing parents who have sent their daughters to
Government school, NGO run Schools, Khawaja Model School and Al-Asad School,
and Barkat Jan School.
The parents showed positive attitude and appreciation towards Barkat Jan and its
strict policies against corporal punishment, free education and proactive staff. On
the other hand, Government school was criticized for teacher absenteeism, lack of
teaching materials, and abusive language towards students.

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The State has failed to respect and protect the Rights of the Child to Education and
its commitment to national and international treaties and projects. It is time that
the ruling Government and opposition acknowledge education as the first priority
of the State. New legislations need to be introduced in federal areas and all the
provinces, which specifically address the issues of access, equity and quality of
education for all the children of Pakistan. The legislation must clearly state
standards for superior education skills and obligations, and how the
implementation method will come to being. This method must be allencompassing and carry with it a local and well as national debate and discussion
process. The attitudes in the country towards female education are currently in
flux and the law must follow the trends set by NGOs and development workers
alike to make sure a change does take place.

References
Bruce, T. (2006). Early Childhood Education: A guide for students. London: SAGE Publications
Cash, C. (1993). A Study of the Relationship between School Building Condition and Student Achievement and
Behavior. Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Government of Pakistan (2013). National Plan of Action to Accelerate Education Related MDGs 2013 2016.
Ministry of Education, Training and standards in Higher Education. Islamabad.
Pirzado, P. (2006). Exclusion of Girls from Education in Rural Pakistan. EENET Asia Newsletter,2, 24 - 25
Rehan, S. (2012, March 20). Poor condition of public school. Pakistan Today. Retrieved May 10, 2016 from
http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/03/20/comment/editors-mail/poor-condition-of-public-school/
Shami, P. A., & Hussain, K. S. (2005). Quality of Education. Islamabad: Ministry of Education, Academy of
Education Planning and Management
UNESCO. (2010). Why Gender Equality in Basic Education in Pakistan. Retrieved
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002151/215106e.pdf

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UNESCO. (2015). A Growing Number of Children and Adolescents are out of School as Aid fails to meet the mark.
Policy Paper 22. Fact sheet 31. 1-12
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Pakistan, 1:2
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http://www.unicef.org/education/bege_70640.html

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Nativeness: Social, cognitive or evaluative fallacy?

A.S.M. Shamim Miah
University of Buraimi, Oman

Abstract: This essay will critically explore the notion of nativeness with
particular reference to Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theories. It will begin
with defining the terms native and non-native, and then it will proceed to
evaluate various set criteria to identify a native or non-native speaker. At the
same time, it will examine the correlation, if any, between the native and nonnative speaker in order to reach a conclusion as to whether or not a second
language (L2) learner can attain the level of proficiency that can be termed as
being native or near native. Hence, the issue of identity becomes the key for
fixing how linguistically near native a person can be and what linguistic,
cultural, ethnic, political or etymological aspects are requisite to declare one
native or near native. Also, this essay will consider the social and cognitive
implications of the question, while evaluating the probability of the existence of
native speakers.

Introduction
In the globalized economic world with its complex global environmental context
and social and economic interdependence, especially after the post-colonial
regrouping of the world communities, many languages have become second
languages, for instance, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, and English, etc.
Hence, the terms native or non-native speaker have become vague, imprecise,
and equivocal in the 21st century. It has developed into a stock of indefensible
subject in the world of applied linguistics. But, what makes a language pervasive,
ubiquitous and global is not the concept of its origin, rather the concept of its
being international (Fahim, Nili, & Shakouri, 2012). In view of that, the myth of
nativity in the contemporary social order is indisputably the outcome of
globalization. As to Crystal (2005), the declaration that English is an international

135

language gives a reason to L1 speakers of English to refrain from learning another

language. Mainly after decades of linguistic research, the term native or
nativeness has gained the reputation of being abstract and surreal. As, Davies
(2006) concludes, the native speaker remains ambiguous, and necessarily so since
it is both myth and reality (p. 431). It seems to give way to a number of concerns
that are less linguistic and more cultural, political, and etymological in nature,
particularly in the case of English as second language (ESL). The concept has been
emphatically used as a symbol of authority, prestige and dignity while,
conversely, under the cover of non-nativeness other speakers (and Englishes)
have been excluded on the basis of race, culture or ethnicity. For example, can
Indian, Singaporean or Philippine English ever be seen as native Englishes with
native speakers? (Khubchandani and Hosali, 1999). However, the mythical
(Paikeday, 1985, p. 95-96) and, at times, quasi mystical concept of native speaker
cannot be completely circumvented because it occupies a curious position in
applied linguistics (Davis, 2006, p. 431). However, in formal linguistics, the notion
of the non-native speaker is quite straightforward and does not necessarily signify
non-native speaker as an antonym. Research has revealed a connection between
both terms as they are related to each other in more ways than known.
In recent research in the areas of SLA and language teaching across the world, the
concept of nativeness (or the native speaker) has been the center of attention for
innumerable scholars (e.g. Davis, 1991; Medgyes, 1992; Philipson, 1992) who have
sought to arrive at a better perceptive cognition of the terms native or nonnative speaker.
Generally speaking, native speaker refers to someone who has the language in
question as their mother tongue, i.e. it is the first language that they acquired as
infants (of course, someone may have multiple mother tongues and so be a native
speaker of multiple languages). According to this definition, it would not be
possible to become a native speaker of a language later in life, after acquiring a
different language as ones mother tongue. Nonetheless, it would still be possible
to reach a native-like level of proficiency in a language which is not ones mother
tongue, and this is how the highest level of skill in a language is commonly
described in linguistics. Moreover, there are some individuals who are seemingly
able to attain high levels of skillfulness in a new language with ease. They are
sometimes referred to as fast learners.
136

As a rule, the term native speaker is inferred as an individual, irrespective of his

or her sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or political affiliation. He or she is one
who was born in a country that has a state language which is spoken by every one
of its nationals. Davies (1991) points out that the individual attains the language
from birth. However, it might so happen that the individual has migrated to
another area, nation, state or region that has its very own language. Lee (2005)
questions whether or not the reality of the individuals being born in a country
that has a state language which is spoken by everyone since birth is enough proof
to pass as a native speaker of that language. Hence, it is questions like this that
make the idea of nativity more complex as they require that the social and
cultural elements be taken into account.

On the definition of Native speaker

As seen above, the term native speaker is not as clearly definable as it might
seem. In fact, Davies (2003) claims that it can be explained from various
perspectives, e.g. from psycholinguistics, linguistics, and sociolinguistics. Some
might argue that native and non-native speakers utilize different mental
frameworks. Others would use phonetics to distinguish native from non-native
speakers. Furthermore, from a sociolinguistic point of view, social recognition,
rather than cognition, could be adduced as a factor signaling nativeness versus
non-nativeness; in other words, a native speaker is whoever native speakers
acknowledge as such.
Davies (2003) referring to Hymes (1970) contends that native speakers possess
more than mere semantic abilities. Parallel to this contention, Stern (1983) states
that native speakers have (a) a subconscious knowledge of the rules, (b) an
intuitive grasp of meanings, (c) the ability to communicate within social settings,
(d) a range of language skills, and (e) creativity of language use.
In similar manner, to Chomsky (1965), native speakers give off the impression of
being the authority in linguistic use of their native language; however, if this is
correct, it must be added that native speakers became such only gradually (i.e. as
they grew in their own dominion of their L1). However, two points must be made
here. Native speech is not necessarily correct speech. Some native speakers are
not able to communicate correctly in different registers. Moreover, the idea that
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native speakers in general can be the referees of linguistically correct utterances

has long been regarded as misleading (e.g. Nayar, 1994; Paikeday, 2003). As Nayar
(1994) maintains, native speakers are not ipso facto knowledge, correct and
infallible in their competence (p. 4).
In due course, native speakers will gradually exploit different components of their
language (Davies, 2003) and be able to choose from a wide variety of options and
repeat a message in another form for the sake of clarity or to disambiguate (p.
200). Furthermore, they will be able to more easily encode their ideas
linguistically and, hence, less prone to speechlessness for lack of repertoire
(Davies, 2003, p. 201).
In general, as it can be anticipated from the etymological point of view, native
speaker refers to somebody skilled with extraordinary and regularly reliable
syntactic bits of knowledge in a given language. Correspondingly, Cook (1999)
characterizes native speakers as a monolingual individual who still speaks the
language which they learned after birth. Similarly, Chomsky (1965) declares that a
native speaker is fit for recognizing badly shaped linguistic expressions in their
language, despite the fact that they will most likely be unable to clarify precisely
why they are badly framed. Aptly, in Chomskys generative linguistic use, native
speakers are the foundation of Chomskys (1965) perfect speaker-listeners
(Anchimbe, 2006). To Hymes (1972), Chomskys solid, glorified thought of phonetic
fitness is insufficient. In view of that, he maintains that native speakers must
incorporate the ability to handle semantic variety and the different employments
of the language. That is why, to Hymes (1970), native speakers are people who are
proficient in their L1.
From a sociological viewpoint, native speakers often come along with certain
phenotypes. For a long time, native speakers of English were mostly white and
hailed from the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. For example, in the
past, English-speaking (white) South African teachers were occasionally classed
and paid as non-native speakers in Oman. African English was presumably a nonnative variety. This phenomenon is not peculiar to English alone. Would a black
person born in China or a white one born in Tanzania be promptly thought of as a
native speaker of Mandarin or Swahili, respectively? However, nowadays there is
an expanding number of individuals who are not white, do not live or work in the
USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand and who might still passed off as
138

native speakers of English because of their impeccable and proficient use of

English. For example, Fareed Zakaria, who has his own particular television show
GPS on CNN. His visitors include powerful American dignitaries. Another case is
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who is currently the chief medical correspondent on CNN. Both
are of Indian origin, but utilize English easily and effortlessly keep pace with the
well-educated native speakers (in the traditional sense) who are invited to their
programs. This, as Davies (1991) claims, is vital for the requirement for models,
standards, and objectives.
Nobody denies that a native speaker has a unique control over the language
spoken. Yet, what remains an issue is whether non-native speakers can become
equally proficient in a second language (L2). De Houwer (2009) cites the example
of Carlo whose father was American and his mother was Italian, but resided in
Scotland. He grew up being exposed to English and Italian languages and speaking
both practically as L1s. Carlos language background is not uncommon these days
in many countries due to an increasingly multicultural environment. Such cases
would indicate that nativeness cannot be defined by monolingualism.

What makes a native speaker native?

Birth and circumstances are deciding elements in defining who is a native
speaker. However, from an instructive point of view, Paikeday (2003) asserted
that the concepts of native or non-native speakers are not altogether credible, and
that the idea of the native speaker is dead. These terms are increasingly
becoming hollow, part of a myth and supposition rather than a universal,
measurable category (Davies, 2003). In the field of English, there is the added
factor that the quantity of second and foreign language speakers of English far
surpasses the quantity of first language speakers. Furthermore, the traditional
native speakers of Standard British and American English are experiencing their
variant of English as an obstacle to communication in places where International
English is used as lingua franca. In the post-colonial world, the objective seems to
be becoming an English-knowing bilingual rather than a native English
monolingual.

139

Theoretical perspective into native-like attainment

through SLA
Research on SLA has conventionally been focused on beginning or intermediate
learners rather than on advanced learners (Spolsky 2000, p.159). This has been a
result of the general notion of Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) (Bialystok 1997, p.
116). In contrast, research on late learners has zoomed in on a range of
phonological and morphosyntactic measures whereby L2 learners could attain
indistinguishable native-like language proficiency (Piller, 2002, p. 180).
In theory, the ability to learn grammar is hardwired into the brain of a child
(Chomsky, 1986a, p. 146): what we know innately are the principles of the
various subsystems. These consist of X-bar theory, binding theory, Case theory,
theta theory, bounding theory and so forth, but not without limited degree of
parametric dissimilarity, as Chomsky (1986) sees it, an intricate and highly
constrained structure (p. 148).
In addition, there are certain overriding principles such as the view of
dependency on structure, which claims that all human languages rely on
structure (Cook, 1993, p. 205). If they do, this ability must be innate to their own
minds rather than transferred from the L1. White (1989) cites research by Otsu
and Naoi (1986) as providing some evidence of the use of structural dependency
by L2 learners. Otsu and Naoi (1986) tested 11 teenager Japanese schoolgirls who
had just been taught English relative clauses, and they were asked to change
sentences with relative clauses into questions. All of them succeeded without
breaking structure dependency. However, some evidence of parameters theory
shows that there are documented languages that break it occasionally. Comrie
(1990) points out Serbo-Croatian as proof and that it also does not apply to
phonology (for instance, to stress assignment rules).
Moreover, Cook (1985b) and White (1989) cite that other principles are present in
L2, and Felix (1988) tested several Universal Grammar principles with German
learners of English and concluded that adult L2 learners are intuitively steady
about the grammaticality that involves UG (p.285). Conversely, research with
classroom learners conducted by Felix and Weigl (1991) reflected no effects linked
with UG, and they were of the view that whatever the basis for their judgments
140

was, it was almost certainly not UG (Felix and Weigl, 1991, p. 176). Therefore, it
remains unclear as to whether or not L2 learners breach principles and
parameters settings of UG.
In the past few decades, the critical period hypothesis (CPH) and optimal age to
attain a native-like accent became a burning topic. Accordingly, much of the
research followed in order to identify links between acquisition and age among
learners of a second language. The outcomes showed that adults fail to reproduce
some significant characteristics of speech-learning skills that children still
possess. CPH for language acquisition alludes to a timeframe when a language is
moderately easy for L2 learners to successfully acquire it. The idea of a critical
period (CP) was initially present by Penfield and Roberts (1959), who contended
that language acquisition was most proficient before the age of nine, when the
human brain becomes stiff and rigid (p. 236). Later, Lenneberg (1967) created it
and proposed that regular language acquisition could just happen within CP by
mere exposure, while continuing from about age two to pubescence. He further
suggested that automatic acquisition from mere exposure to a given language
seems to disappear after this age (puberty) and foreign accents cannot be
overcome easily after puberty (Lenneberg, 1967, p. 176). Supporters of CP most
frequently quoted the case of Genie at the age of about 14 (Curtiss, Fromkin,
Krashen, Rigler, & Rigler, 1974). Her CP had passed already as she had started
learning a language after she was already pubescent. It took her quite a long time
to acquire the language. However, in another case, Chelsea, who started to learn
another language in her early thirties (Curtiss, 1980), showed poor grammatical
ability, yet her vocabulary was better. These cases revealed that language learning
after CP is not as easy as it is before reaching the CP.
Davis (2006) concluded that native speakers describe themselves negatively as not
being non-native speakers. However, as Davis (2006) suggested, everyone is a
native speaker of at least a language. What non-native speakers may lack is the
early exposure to the cultural aspects of a language. The post-puberty, second
language learner is bereft of experiences that L1 children normally receive during
childhood by immersion. The cultural immersion that frames language learning is
also vital for the formation of the different variants of a language. For instance,
Zimbabwean and New Zealand children learn the same (or a very similar)

141

Standard English, but they use it in dissimilar cultural settings and color it in ways
that are peculiar to them.
However, there have been post-pubertal second language learners who became
native speakers (Davis, 2006). The contributing factors are likely to be
psycholinguistic rather than sociolinguistic (p. 437). Such learners acquire the
communicative competence of native speakers, the confidence to pass as native
speakers, and the matching accent, fluency, and grammar. However, not all native
speakers are the same opinion regarding the grammar. The question, therefore,
arises as to what extent grammaticality becomes a pre-requisite for qualifying as
native speakers.
The term Universal Grammar (UG) is considered as one of the most discussed and
controversial issues. UG is often associated with Noam Chomsky, a famous
American linguist and philosopher. Ellis (1997) contends that UG states that all
languages are based on the same principles and therefore are connected with each
other. The principle-and-parameter explanation means that the principles are the
basis for all languages, while the parameters are triggered differently from
language to language. Moreover, universal language principles are declared to be
innate, which means that they are supposed to be specific to human beings and
wired in the human brain. The UG theory indicates that language acquisition is
completely dissimilar to other kinds of learning or acquisition (e.g. learning to
play a game, or learning mathematics). UG can be acquired even without specific
teaching, whereby the principal features are often described as core grammar and
the supplementary characteristics are peripheral. Core grammar is distinguished
as already present in the human brain, whereas the parts of the periphery can be
learned, acquired or triggered by the language input (Cook 1993, p.201). Second
language learners develop differently from first language learners. First language
speakers (or native speakers) acquire their knowledge of language resulting in a
mental grammar, an abstract system of principles and rules, which is
completed at some point of time (White 1989, p. 35).
In SLA, there is also access to UG, but through the L1. Gradually, the Foreign
Language (FL) will become Second Language (L2) if the speakers are in an
environment where it is the main vehicle of communication. Therefore, if
something is not available in the UG, it will also not be available in the L1 and the
L2.
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On the Contrary, Epstein, Flynn and Martohardjono (1996) propose that the
starting point of SLA is UG. Both FLA and SLA proceed in the same way. L1
Japanese ESL learners did not find preposed sentences significantly easier than
postposed sentences, and more advanced learners showed a significant preference
for postposed over preposed sentences. Accordingly, UG was available to all of
these learners both in their L1 and L2 (Flynn, 1987). However, as different
properties are available to L2 learners through the UG and L1, partial transfer or
partial access is possible.
Also, since 1990, several researchers have begun attesting native-likeness among
their late learners. However, few of Birdsongs second language success stories
provide counterevidence that favor CPH in L2 acquisition after pubescence. The
first case of study included 20 native speakers of English who began to learn
French as adults. A total of 15 learners passed as native speakers of the target
language after their performance on grammaticality judgment tasks indicated no
deviation from the native norms. In this, the performance was predicted by age of
arrival (AOA) in France, even though the participants had moved to France as
adults. However, after the window of opportunity closed, at AOA the distribution
of acquisition was essentially random. This implies that post-maturational AOA is
not predictive of ultimate acquisition. In other words, L2 acquisition is
determined not by a general age effect, but by one that operates within a defined
developmental span. Hence, the role of age manifested in Johnson and Newport
(1989) is a basis in the CPH-L2 acquisition construction.
Other researchers have shown age effects for both early and late AOA. The
Johnson and Newport (1989) results have been subjected to considerable scrutiny.
For instance, Bialystok and Hakuta (1994) reanalyzed the data from Johnson and
Newport (1989) and found significant correlations of scores with age for both
groups if the cutoff point was set at 20 years instead of 17. Following this,
Birdsong and Molis (1998) conducted a replication of Johnson and Newport (1989).
But the result was in strong contrast to Johnson and Newports (1989). It revealed
a strong age effect among the 32 late arrivals. The results further suggested that
earlier is better across the lifespan. On the other hand, Pulvermuller & Schumann
(1994) maintained that there is no clear evidence that after puberty the age of
learning onset influences either mean of variance of grammaticality judgment
scores (p. 684). Despite this, results are not constant; hence, they cannot be
143

interpreted as suggesting that maturational factors are not at play in CPH-L2

acquisition. Voicing the same, Birdsong & Molis (1998) pointed out that early
arrivals, and age effects cannot be dissociated from maturational effects. For
example, in Van Wuijswinkel (1994), Dutch native speakers who had begun
learning English after 12 years of age attested native-like proficiency in 8 out 26
cases in one group and in 7 out of 8 cases in another group. The task was to judge
the grammaticality of the Johnson and Newports (1989) items. Also, White and
Genesee (1996) studied the acquisition of English by French native speakers in
Montreal. Some 16 out of 45 learners appeared native-like. Birdsongs (1992) study
of French language acquisition by 20 native speakers of English who were exposed
to French after puberty resulted that 6 out of 20 participants were well within the
range of proficiency that could pass as native-like. In addition, Cranshaws (1997)
investigation of acquisition of English tenses by 20 Francophone and 20 Sinophone
participants who had begun to study English after 12 years of age resulted in 3 out
of 20 Francophones being indistinguishable from native English speakers; and the
same outcome was achieved with 1 out of 20 Sinophones. Hence, it is safe to say
that one exception suffices to reject the CPH in L2 acquisition (Long, 1990). Even
though, some observers, to be more specific a 10% or 15% success rate in L2
acquisition, may not constitute adequate evidence for falsifying the CPH in L2
acquisition. Yet, it is nonetheless ambivalent as to whether or not native-like
learners can completely be dismissed.

Against the notion of native speaker

The terms native and native speaker are utilized as a part of distinctive
faculties by diverse researchers. This is evident in the whirlwind of articles on the
subject (cf. Singh et al. 1995; Afendras et al. 1995; Singh 1995; and Rajagopalan
1997). Furthermore, a provisional working typology of the native speakers could
be made.
1.

The first significant factor is the period when one becomes native, i.e. the
early age stages either before or while another language was being learned.
Among them are the loyalty natives who bear dependability on a particular
language. However, there may be people who have lost their fluency and
proficiency in their L1, but still claim steadfastness to them.
144

2.

3.

4.
5.

6.

There are also target capability natives, who can use the language with
certainty, consistency, and automaticity in an assortment of circumstances.
In such cases, the learners have acquired complete control of the particular
language framework and are capable of stable well-formed judgments
(Preisler, in Afendras et al. 1995).
The corresponding match for the ones above are the subjective capability
natives, i.e. those who trust that they can use a particular language with full
replication and stable well-formedness judgments (Preisler, 312).
Another use of the term is in the perfect native speaker proposed by
Chomsky and his supporters.
The fifth category is that of the blood native, namely those who base their
native speaker status on race, nationality, or ethnicity. This is a risky and
spurious utilization of the term; for nativeness has nothing to do with race or
ethnicity. In this situation, nativeness depends on ethnicity. In some case,
blood natives are time of securing natives; in other words, they are native
speakers of the language of the country where they were born but of which
they are not or cannot be nationals (e.g. Egyptian children born and educated
in Oman will be, linguistically speaking but not politically, native-speakers of
Omani Arabic).
The 6th use of the term includes speakers who originate from a nation where
most of the general population are age of acquisition natives of high-status
variants of the language. This would bar other speakers who happen to use a
low-status assortment of the language.

Rajagopalan (1997) alludes to speakers of English in the external circle of nations

in South-East Asia who are described as non-native speakers of the language.
Furthermore, Rajagopalan rejects the dichotomy native/non-native speaker. He
censures hypothetical etymologists for the phantasmagoria and dream world
(Rajagopalan, 1997; quoted in John, 2013, p. 3) which have built the very idea of
linguistic nativeness. The issue here is that three distinct faculties of native
speakers are being conflated: the age acquisition native, the suspicious blood
native, and the Chomskyan perfect native speaker.
Rajagopalan (1997) resumes the primary hypotheses which are often presupposed
by the term native speakers: (i) the native speaker never blunders; (ii) nativity
is a logically respectable myth and the quest for native speakers and non-native
145

ones is a wild goose chase; and (iii) hypothetical etymologists, loving the native
speaker, hold him or her in cunningness.
We are at a time when native speakers are no longer seen as demigods. In fact, the
native speakers were often part of a colonial mindset, where some native speakers
were really native speakers, the others were not representative of the Standard,
and the rest were natives to be uplifted. For Fromkin (1980), (native) speakers
blunder, too. Besides, mistakes and blunders are not completely arbitrary or
unexplainable (p. 239).
In short, linguistic nativeness (or nativity), where it be a respectable myth
(Rajagopalan, 1997) or a persona (Ferguson), has suffered badly in the postcolonial and post-modern era.

Sociolinguistic and Psycholinguistic Implications

There are five inter-disciplinary perspectives on the acquisition of L2, namely
psycholinguistic, socio-linguistic, neuro-linguistic, classroom research, and
bilingual education. On the other hand, Davies (2003) claims the concept of native
speaker can be elaborated from several aspects: psycholinguistic, linguistic, and
sociolinguistic. The sociolinguistic perspective deals with the extent to which
being a native speaker is a social construct resulting from a choice or an identity,
and something symbolical of a type of language knowledge and use.
In sociolinguistics, the idea of a standard language is just like the idea of a
language itself a reification. Lippi-Green (1997) lists the following features of
standard US English speakers as they emerge from various sociolinguistic surveys:

With no regional accent

Who reside in the midwest, far west or perhaps some part of the north-east
(but never in the south)
With more than average or superior education
Who are themselves educators or broadcasters
Who pay attention to speech, and are not sloppy in terms of pronunciation or
grammar
Who are easily understood by all
Who enter into a consensus with other individuals like themselves about
what is proper language

146

In her reviews on both sociolinguistic and social psychological issues related to

SLA, Beebe (1985) points out that the influence of social factors such as age, class
and sex on linguistic performance has been felt even by non-specialists. There is a
relationship between linguistic variation and the social characteristics of the
speakers. For example, the knowledge and skills of non-native speakers in their L2
is often underdeveloped in relation to native speakers, especially in terms of
linguistic repertoire. Whereas adult native speakers have a comfortable command
of their mother tongue, L2 learners are still somewhat incompetent. Since
repertoire encompasses more than just pronunciation or grammar, linguistic
nativeness ought to be seen from a socio-cultural standpoint as well (Beebe, 1985,
p. 43; Beebe and Giles, 1984; Beebe, 1988).

Conclusion
Dying languages drive one point home: there is such a thing as native speakers
of a language. Furthermore, they show that native speakers do matter because
their relationship with their own L1 is at a different level from that of non-native
learners of it. Native speakers are real, although difficult to define. In fact, the
question is who qualifies as such, and what makes them be native speakers.
English is a particular case. Comparably to Aramaic, Greek, Latin, and Arabic,
English has become the language of a growing mass of people who do not share
the same geographical space or a common cultural background. This is why
scholars now speak not only of English, but also of English as an International
Language, and even of World Englishes. The traditional English-speaking inner
circle (the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) is no longer crucial or
normative in the spread and survival of English. Furthermore, traditional native
speakers are often the worst at communicating in English in contexts where
English functions as the lingua franca. In the English-speaking global village,
British native speakers of Standard English are no longer automatically a native
speaker of global English. They speak a dialect, or dialects of World Englishes.
It may also not be denied that, based on the studies thus far and despite some
success stories of native-like or near native proficiency, not all learners will ever
attain native speakers proficiency once they have gone past the critical period
(Scovel, 1988).
147

On the other hand, there are many people in the outer circle countries, such as
those in South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and many countries in Africa
(Kachru 1985), who are proficient in English as L2. The native language they grew
up with has been gradually replaced by native varieties of English (Holmes 2008).
Most of these varieties are informal ones, for instance, Manglish in Malaysia and
Singlish in Singapore. Varieties of Indian English with native color are well
established in India. In fact, as Thirumalai (2002) suggests, English is a dominant
language of communication among the educated classes in the Indian
subcontinent. The speakers of these native varieties are also native speakers of
these Englishes. However, for teaching purposes and international contacts, these
varieties are less desirable. The Standard ~which means semi-formal, written
English~ is then preferable. However, there English speakers in the outer circle
who are able to speak and write impeccable Standard English due in part to their
early learning and use of the language coupled with experience in, exposure to,
and attitude towards the language. They feel at home in English. It is not an alien
language, but rather the language in which they feel at home.

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An assessment of coherence in the translation of

prophetic traditions (adth) with pedagogical
implications
Yasmin Hikmat Hannouna
Al-Isra University, Jordan

Abstract: In general, next in importance to the glorious Qurn as a source of

Muslim belief and practice comes the corpus of Traditions (i.e. Prophetic
Traditions, or adth). In this study, the emphasis is placed on coherence as the
most crucial property of text. Thus, coherence in the source text was examined
first and compared with the target text. The analysis is mainly based on the
theoretical framework of coherence introduced by De Beaugrande (1980). This is
the most comprehensive and applicable among other models in exploring and
describing the various aspects of coherence in different types of texts and their
realization in translation. The translation chosen for the purpose of evaluation
is Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies (1977).This model was tried out to arrive at a
better understanding and appreciation of the translation of the text under
analysis. It was applied to the translation of Hadth no. 36 to assess the quality
of the translation of the STs aspects of coherence. By doing so, good renderings
or poor renderings of these aspects were pointed out and discussed. The
semantic relations between the ST and TT were observed and compared too. In
this study, pedagogical implications are also provided.
Keywords: Coherence, Prophetic Traditions, religious translation, contentfocused text, quality assessment, teaching translation.

Introduction
Islamic religious non-Qurnic texts including the adth literature (i.e. the
Prophetic Traditions or the Words of the Prophet upon whom be Allahs blessing
and peace as supplement to the Words of Allah) are texts that deal with all

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aspects of the religion of Islam expressed in the human composition of the

Prophet, his Companions, or the Muslim religious scholars after them.
It is the intention of this chapter to focus on coherence as the most crucial
property of text. For any communication to be successful, it is an indisputable fact
that coherence needs to be consistently maintained. In translation, coherence
should be established as a criterion for adequacy (Neubert & Shreve 1992). A
translator, as a reader and a rewriter, is constantly making choices on various
linguistic levels, namely words, collocations, fixed expressions, clauses and
structures. This is a primary responsibility to the readership to provide a target
text (henceforth TT) that reads naturally and with lucidity of meaning. Therefore,
a translator has to establish a functionally parallel coherent TT to that of the
source text (henceforth ST). In this respect, Baker (1992) maintains the translator
must make sure that he/she understands how the individual words, phrases, and
grammatical structures control and shape the overall meaning of the text and
produce a text which is cohesive and coherent.
In this study, a number of views on coherence will be examined first in an effort to
choose a valid theoretical framework to analyse the model text. The sample text
represents the Thirty-Sixth Prophetic Tradition as a religious non-Qurnic
content-focused text. According to Reiss (2000), in translating this type of text the
effective communication and accuracy of information, i.e. the topic and its
discussion must be fully represented in the translation. This is important for the
translation to be considered satisfactory. It is worth mentioning that the analysis
is mainly based on the suitable analytical framework of coherence introduced by De
Beaugrande (1980). This theoretical model is the most comprehensive and
applicable among other models in exploring and describing the various aspects of
coherence in different types of texts and their realization in translation. Further,
De Beaugrandes model will be tried out to arrive at a better understanding and
appreciation of the translation of the text under analysis. The translation chosen
for the purpose of evaluation is Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies (1977). It will also be
compared with another translation done by Jeffery (1962) of the same text to see
which one is more adequate.
The method of textual analysis involves identifying and examining the various
aspects of coherence prevailing in the ST. Then, the TT will also be analysed in
terms of these elements. Like the ST readers, TT readers should perceive
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connections within and among sentences in a text which makes it a unit rather
than a random collection of unrelated sentences.
By conducting a comparison between the Arabic ST and its translation in English,
this study aims at: (1) investigating the effective exploration of the various aspects
of coherence in the ST, (2) illustrating the importance of re-establishing coherence
at different levels in the TT, (3) demonstrating how the compositional plan or the
text structure provides patterns which contribute to the overall coherence of the
text and (4) showing that students in a course of translating Arabic texts into
English can benefit from the model of coherence analysis to assess the overall
quality of the texts they produce. Therefore, the study entails the extent to which
it is possible to replace a coherent SL text by an equivalent coherent text in the
TL. This is to show whether the translation of the model text will be said to be
successful or not.
In brief, this chapter focuses on how re-establishing coherence in the TT enables
the TL readers to understand and appreciate that the text put forward by a writer
is reasonable and well-structured (For more information, see Celcia Murcia &
Olsthain 2000). By doing so, good renderings or poor renderings of these aspects
will be identified and discussed. The semantic relations between the ST and TT
will also be observed and compared. Examples of distortion of meaning, if any,
will also be investigated for judgment of good or bad translation.
Finally, conclusions are drawn regarding the assessment of the overall quality of
the translation and the extent to which it matches the ST with respect to the
invariance in the transfer of its content to meet the requirements of the TL.

Religious text: adth

The field of religious discourse is heterogeneous, i.e. it deals with a variety of
subjects and material that are spiritual, ritual, legal, social, etc. According to
Sirriyya (1998), it shows the recurrence of words like Allah, God, Prophet, Messenger,
belief, disbelief, sin, Paradise, Heaven, Hell, etc. There are even certain collocations
that are frequently used in this field, e.g. Al-Qurn (The Glorious
Qurn), Rasl Allh (the Messenger of Allah), Arkn al-islm
(the Pillars of Islam), Kalimat al-shahda (Profession of Faith) and
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( ala Allh alayhi wa-sallam, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him; henceforth, peace be upon him, PBUH).
Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies (1977) maintain that there are two main sources for
an understanding of Islam: (a) the Glorious Qurn and (b) the collections of the
recorded words, actions and sanctions of the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.)
which make up the Sunna and which are normally referred to as adth.
Thus, the Sunna in the form of adth is complementary to the Glorious Qurn
itself. It helps to explain and clarify the Glorious Qurn and to present practical
applications of its teachings. In fact, without a study of adth, a Muslims
knowledge of his faith remains incomplete. Moreover, without it the non-Muslim
is unable to form a true picture of the Islamic faith and its fundamental spiritual,
moral, legislative and cultural principles (Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies, 1977;
Jeffery, 1962).

Previous translations of Hadth into English

According to Sirriyya (1998), religious texts are peculiar. In addition to having a
sacred, as well as legal nature, they address the minds together with the hearts of
their audience.
While many attempts have been made to render the meanings of the Glorious
Qurn into English, less attention has been given to the adth of the Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH). Only rarely, this body of literature has been considered by
Muslims or non-Muslims for translation into Modern Western Languages (Daud,
1963).
However, Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies (1977) confirm that important attempts of
adth translation have appeared in English translation in various parts of the
Islamic world, notably in Pakistan and India. They indicate that these translations
provide satisfactory renderings in English of the Prophets Sunna. However, they
inevitably contain the occasional shortcomings both in the proper understanding
of the Arabic text and in providing English rendering that is faithful to the
original and linguistically acceptable.

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Ibrahim and Jonson-Davies' translation

Ibrahim and Jonson-Davies (ibid.) confirm that translation is at best a difficult
task, especially from languages as different in grammar, syntax and cultural
background as Arabic and English (p. 8). The difficulties are further increased
when the rendering into English is a religious text such as the present one.
Generally speaking, in translating the Traditions of the Prophet (PBUH), it is
clearly necessary that the translator should be possessed with the breadth and
depth of knowledge of Arabic and English and the full understanding of the
Islamic faith in all its aspects.
Accordingly, the translators (ibid.) believe that the above-mentioned
requirements are mostly not found in a single person. Recognizing this fact, they
felt that such translations were better undertaken by two persons working in
close collaboration, i.e. two persons whose academic backgrounds would both
overlap and complement each other. In fact, the translation offered by Ibrahim
and Johnson-Davies (1977) of the Prophets Forty adths was undertaken by a
procedure of work in which each translator had his own particular role and at the
same time he checked the other's translation.

The concept of coherence

Preliminaries
Both world knowledge and cohesion, and to a large extent the more basic and
wide-ranging notion of coherence are necessary criteria when tackling translation
task.
According to Crystal (1985), Yule (1996), Brinker (2005) and Sanders & Maat (2006),
coherence involves the study of such factors as the language users knowledge of
the world, the inferences they make and the assumptions they hold, and in
particular the way in which communication is mediated through the use of speech
acts.
Brown and Yule (1988) state that in understanding a linguistic message, sociocultural information in addition to our knowledge of syntactic structures is
needed. This point is related to coherence which is crucial for the interpretation of
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that message. Coherence produces a particular interpretation of the message with

or without the existence of overt linguistic connection.
Several theorists in the fields of text linguistics and discourse analysis distinguish
between cohesion and coherence. They limit cohesion to explicit mechanisms in the
text, both the types of cohesive ties that Halliday and Hasan (1976) describe and
other elements that bind texts such as parallelism, consistency of verb tense, and
what literary scholars call 'point of view'. Coherence conditions, on the other hand,
allow a text to be understood in a real-world setting (Widdowson, 1978; Brumfil &
Johnson, 1979; Witte & Faigley, 1981 ; Carroll, 1982; Mosenthal & Tierney, 1984;
Harris, 1988 ; & Baker, 1992) .
In short, coherence is a property of text which is related to its content
organization, the semantic relations among the sentences and the connectivity
that obtains among various text components.

Cohesion and Coherence in Translation

Campbell (1998) recognizes the importance of coherence as it establishes continuity
relationships that correspond to cognitive processes taking place in the mind and
produce texts. In addition, text coherence is a multi-level and inter-level
procedural phenomenon that constructs the texture of any text. It is, therefore,
clear that coherence is a primary requirement in translation. According to Darwish
(2010), the level of coherence in translation is a measure of its quality. The
coherence of a sentence depends on cohesion between the interdependent
elements within the sentence. Words, phrases, clauses and paragraphs cohere and
become so carefully entwined together that the reader is never confused about
the relationship of ideas.
Following De Beaugrande (1980), Hatim and Mason (1990) define coherence as the
procedures which ensure conceptual connectivity including: (a) logical relations,
(b) organization of events, objects and situations and (c) continuity in human
experience. Basic relations such as cause-effect, problem-solution, temporal sequence
and so on are universally fundamental to meaning and the way it is structured
within a text.

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In the processing of written discourse, the translator responds to signals in the ST

in an attempt to maintain the same logical relations between propositions in the
TT. Yet, whereas translators seek to preserve the same coherent interpretation by
relaying a universal binary value (such as cause-effect, condition-consequence, etc.),
they will be aware of the difference in the range of cohesive devices available in
the source language (henceforth SL) and TL for signalling that value (ibid.).
Moreover, House and Blum-Kulka (1986) point out to the shifts of cohesion and
coherence in translation .They emphasize that shifts of cohesion in translation
require the examination of the effects of cohesive features in translation on the
TL text's level of explicitness and on the TL text's overt meaning(s) as compared
to the SL text. On the other hand, the shift in coherence in translation
distinguishes between reader-based shifts (which occur as a result of a text being
read by culturally different audiences) and text-based shifts (which result from
the translation process per se). In both cases, such shifts affect the texts meaning
potential.
Regardless of whether meaning is a property of text or situation, coherence is not a
feature of text, but rather of the judgment made by a reader on a text. As far as
translation is concerned, Baker (1992) indicates that the range and type of
difficulties encountered will not so much depend on the ST itself as on the
significance of the translated text for its readers as members of a certain culture,
or of a sub-group within that culture with the constellation of knowledge,
judgment and perception they have developed from it (p. 222).
From a pedagogical viewpoint, the study of cohesion and coherence, provide
significant insights for applied linguistics, especially in language and translation
teaching. These concepts can help writing and translation students to avoid
producing discursive or unorganized texts in the TL.
Finally, in order to preserve the intended meaning, a translator has to consider
cohesion in the light of what constitutes assumed knowledge for ST reader and TT
reader alike.

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Parallelism
Parallelism is a universal rhetorical device. Fowler & Aaron (2007) state that
parallel structures can be used to increase coherence. They enable one to combine
in a single, well-ordered sentence related ideas that might otherwise have to be
expressed in separate sentences. Parallelism helps to drive home the impact of a
message contained in a text in a far more forceful way.
They further point out that parallelism is a special kind of reiteration or
repetition. What is repeated is not a particular word or phrase but the structure of
the preceding sentence. Parallelism reflects the similarity of grammatical form
between two or more elements (Fowler & Aaron, 2007).
As far as translation is concerned, different translators have different ways of
handling parallel structures. In general, parallelism can be handled in one of three
ways: translating parallel structure as parallel structure; opting for variation; or
completely ignoring it. However, Hatim & Mason (1990) indicate that the use of
parallel structures, especially the strict recurrence of the same items in the same
form is usually a sign of intentionality, and as such, it is significant. To opt for
variation could result in distortion of the author's intention.
Below are examples showing parallel structures that occurred in the sample text
of this study with their transliteration:
.

Man naffasa an muminin kurbatan min kurabi al-dunya, naffasa Allhu anhu
kurbatan min kurabi yawmi al-qiyma.


.

Wa-man yassara an musirin, yassara Allhu alayhi f al-dunya wa-l-khira.

Wa-man satara musliman, satarahu Allhu f al-dunya wa-l-khira

In this respect, Hatim & Mason (ibid.) maintain that assuming that recurrence is
a universal rhetorical device, any attempt by a translator to vary TT expression at
this point in the text is sure to detract from equivalence of text focus (p. 199).

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In the present study, the translators should maintain the same effect of parallel
structures of the ST to show significant elements of textual cohesion and coherence
in their translation.

Theoretical models of coherence

This section aims at presenting some analytical models of coherence in translation,
naming the theoretical framework that is expected to suit the requirements of
this study.
It has been stressed that translation, as a complex use of language, is a textual
phenomenon which presupposes a careful analysis of the functions of the SL
(Catford, 1965). In this study, translation involves the replacement of a coherent
SL text by an equivalent coherent text in the TL.
The notion of equivalence presupposes that there are coherent aspects which can
be made further explicit when given an appropriate analytical tool. Therefore, it
is assumed that the ST coherent aspects should be kept equivalent if translation is
to be successful.
By analysing the ST in terms of the theoretical model of coherence selected and
applied in the analysis of the TT in this study, the translation of the model text
will be said to be successful or not.

De Beaugrande (1980)/De Beaugrande and Dressler (1981)

De Beaugrande and Dressler (1981) indicate that for a text to be defined as a
communicative occurrence, it must meet several standards of textuality. If any
of these standards is not considered to be satisfied, the text will not be
communicative. Hence, non-communicative texts are treated as non-texts. One
of these standards is coherence which concerns the ways in which the
components of the textual world, i.e. the configuration of concepts and relations,
which underlie the surface text, are mutually accessible and relevant. A concept is
definable as a configuration of knowledge (cognitive content) which can be
recovered or activated with more or less unity and consistency in the mind.
Relations are the links between concepts which appear together in a textual world.
Each link will bear a designation of the concept it connects to. They (ibid.) add
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that coherence is clearly not a mere feature of texts, but rather the outcome of
cognitive processes among text users. Moreover, a text does not make sense by
itself, but by the interaction of text-presented knowledge with peoples stored
knowledge of the world. A senseless text is one in which text receivers can
discover no continuity (the foundation of coherence), usually because there is a
serious mismatch between the configuration of concepts and relations expressed
and the receivers prior knowledge of the world.
According to De Beaugrande and Dressler (ibid.), coherence will be envisioned as
the outcome of combining concepts and relations into a network composed of
knowledge spaces centred on main topics. The surface text is parsed onto a
configuration of grammatical dependencies, which the surface expressions are
taken as cues to activate concepts. The concepts are treated as steps in the
construction of a continuity of sense and the extent of processing expended will
vary according to whatever is required and useful for the task. Attention would
be directed particularly toward the discovery of control centres, i.e. points from
which accessing and processing can be strategically done.
The theoretical model of textual analysis in this study (see Appendix 3) includes
(a) the primary concepts, which are the usual control centres for building textual
world, i.e. the points of orientation from which a processor sets up relationships
to the secondary concepts, (objects, situations, events and actions) and (b) the
secondary concepts (such as state, agent, affected entity, relation, attribute,
location, time, motion, instrument, form, part, substance, containment, cause
enablement, reason, purpose, etc.). In addition, a more elaborate justification for
these is offered in De Beaugrande (1980).
De Beaugrande and Dressler (1981) confirm that this typology is not exhaustive
or superior to other proposed before. It is merely useful for labelling the links
among concepts and through various combinations we can capture the notions of
other typologies we have examined so far (p. 97).
Although one might easily work with other typologies having greater or lesser
details than theirs, the writer of this article finds De Beaugrande and Dresslers
model clear, comprehensive and applicable for the requirements of the present
work.

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In addition to a typology of concepts for labelling links, a set of operators might

be needed which further specify the status of linkage. These operators are
concerned with: (a) beginnings and endings, (b) fuzziness, (c) counter factuality
and (d) strength of linkage. They are: (a) initiation, (b) termination, (c) entry, (d)
exit, (e) proximity, (f) projection, (g) determinateness and (h) typicalness (De
Beaugrande, 1980).

Brown and Yule (1983)

Brown and Yule (1983) state that the assumption of coherence will only produce
one particular interpretation in which the elements of the message are seen to be
connected, with or without overt linguistic connections between those elements.
To them, the most important thing is the readers or hearers effort to arrive at
the writers (or the speakers) intended meaning in producing a linguistic
message. There are aspects of discourse which the reader can use in his
interpretation of a particular discourse fragment. Yet, the reader also has more
knowledge than knowledge of discourse. This is a form of conventional sociocultural knowledge.
In general, in their discussion of coherence, they point out that utterances must be
treated as actions of different types and they review the theoretical and
descriptive frameworks developed in support of this approach. They refer to
Labov (1970) who argues that there are rules of interpretation which relate what
is said to what is done. And, it is on the basis of such social, but not linguistic, rules
that they interpret some conversational sequences as coherent and others as noncoherent. Brown & Yule also, emphasize the importance of the wide range of
possible inferences made by readers and their role in interpreting utterances
and the connections between utterances. However, they indicate that it is not
always easy to determine which were intended by the text-producer and which
were not.

Baker (1992)
The coherence of a text is a result of the interaction between knowledge presented
in the text and the readers own knowledge and experience in the world.
Therefore, a text which coheres for one reader may not cohere for another (Baker,
1992).
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In recent years, the notion of implicature has emerged in text studies referring
to the question of how it is that we came to understand more than is actually said.
Baker (ibid.) introduces a number of factors suggested by Grice which are relevant
to the success or failure in working out implicature. These include:

the conventional meaning of the words and structures (i.e. a mastery of a language
system) together with the identity of any references that may be involved;
the co-operative principle and its maxims;
the context, linguistic or otherwise, of the utterance;
other items of background knowledge; and
the fact (or supposed fact) that all relevant items falling under the previous headings
are available to both participants and both participants know or assume this to be the
case.

Grice suggests that these factors are data on which the hearer will reply in
working out whether a particular conventional implicature is present. Baker
(ibid.) believes they also provide a good basis for exploring the question of
coherence in general and to common problems and strategies in translation. Thus,
she discusses these factors in relation to coherence and translation arriving at the
following conclusions:
Coherence is a very problematic and elusive notion because of the diversity of
factors, linguistic and non-linguistic, which can affect it, and the varying
degrees of importance which a particular factor can assume in a given context.

It is impossible to itemize the various factors which can contribute to or detract

from coherence of a text. The variables involved and the processes of
interpretation to be employed in trying to make sense of a text are far too
numerous and often too elusive to be pinned down and described.
The fact that many of these factors are language and culture-specific, adds to the
complexity of the problem.
Most of the examples relevant to this matter suggested that in order to maintain
coherence, translators often have to minimize discrepancies between the model of
the world presented in the ST and that with which the target reader is likely to be
familiar with. The final analysis depends on two factors:

162

The translators ability to assess the knowledge and expectations of the

target reader (which is so difficult).
The translators own view of his role and of the whole question of where
his loyalties ought to lie (i.e. whether they ought to lie with the ST or
with the TT).

In this study, among the models of coherence presented above, De Beaugrandes

(1980), also mentioned in De Beaugrande and Dressler (1981), is to be adopted as a
model of textual analysis. This serves the requirements of the present work for
the reasons referred to in the introduction of this work. The assessment of the
translation of Hadth No. 36, as well as, assessing the ST in terms of the extent to
which the TT matches it in the aspects of coherence, will take place through the
application of this theoretical model (as a translation quality assessment tool).

Methodology: Translation quality assessment

Adequate translation can be regarded as the optimum (or maximum)
reconstruction of all the ST elements possessing textual functions. Such elements
(linguistic and extra-linguistic elements) will be termed textemes (Van den Broeck,
1985). In this study, the comparison of a TT with its ST moves through three
stages:

A textemic analysis of the ST, may lead to the formulation of the adequate
translation, viz., the specifications of the ST in terms of textemes.
A comparison of the TT elements with these of the ST textemes, taking into
account the various shifts (or deviations) from the ST.
A general description of the differences between the actual TT/ST equivalence
and the adequate translation, on the basis of the comparison of the textemes. This
description will state the factual degree or type of equivalence between TT and
ST.

In the following section, the model suggested by De Beaugrande and Dressler

(1981) will be adopted for the analysis of some aspects of coherence of adth No. 36
in the SL and its translation. One translation of this adth will be analysed and
compared with the ST within the framework of this theoretical model with
respect to the above-mentioned stages. As it has been mentioned earlier in this
article, the TT represents Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies translation (1977). The
aim of this is to investigate coherence of the ST and the extent to which the
163

corresponding TT matches with the original, i.e. the evaluation involves

examining the degree to which the TT realizes the various concepts and relations of
coherence and the semantic equivalents of the ST (as one of the basic requirements
of any translation is the achievement of adequate textual equivalents).
However, any mismatch in textual features will be identified and a better
alternative, if possible, will be suggested in an attempt to improve the quality of
the translation.
It is worth noticing that students translating texts from Arabic to English, for
instance, can use this model of analysis as a useful tool to evaluate whether the
texts they produce are well connected and coherent or not.

Textual Coherence: Analysis and Assessment

It should be noticed that there is another translation to the text under
investigation offered by Jeffery (1962) (see Appendix 2) which is not chosen.
Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies' translation (1977) (see Appendix 1) is more recent
and it is translated by two translators (one an Arab Muslim and the other is not)
whose backgrounds both overlap and complement each other.
The writer of the present article intends to take each sentence in the ST and
analyse it separately with respect to the primary and secondary concepts of the
model of coherence. Then, it will be compared and commented on in relation with
the corresponding sentences in the TT.
De Beaugrande (1980) and De Beaugrande and Dressler (1981) point out to how a
grammatical dependency network can serve a useful indicator of the control
centres for a given stretch of text. The preference strategy would be to postulate
that the heads of grammatical macro-states, i.e. a noun in a noun phrase
(henceforth NP) or a prepositional phrase (henceforth PP); a verb in a verb phrase
(henceforth VP) or participial phrases are expressions of primary concepts.
Thus, this view will be taken into account in the analyses of sentences.The
analyses of the sentences are given below:

Sentence 1
.
:

164

Man naffasa an muminin kurbatan min kurabi al-dunya, naffasa Allhu anhu
kurbatan min kurabi yawmi al-qiyma.
Whosoever removes a Worldly grief from a believer, Allh will remove from him
part (one) of his own grief (grieves) on the Day of Judgment.

ST

TT

1. In the first part of the sentence, man

(which is pronominally used here) is the
object concept (primary concept), i.e. a
believer who removes from a believer and
naffasa is the action concept. The relation
'agent of' obtains; where man is the agent
of this action. The noun kurba is a
situation (of the believer) and is the state
of in this relation.

1. In the first part, we have the relative

pronoun whosoever (also can refer to a
believer) which is the object concept; the
verb removes is the action concept (an
event intentionally brought about by the
agent). The relation agent of obtains,
because whosoever is the agent of this
action. The noun grief can be an object
concept. Since it is the direct object, it is
the state of in this relation.

2. The PP min kurab al-dunya is an attribute

of kurba which is at the same time an
instance of kurab al-dunya. The noun aldunya is an object concept. In Arabic, it
refers to time or location. Muminin in
the PP an muminin is the complement of
preposition which also refers to an object
concept. It is the indirect object that
receives the effect of the action naffasa
kurba an muminin. It is also the affected
entity conceptually.

2. In the NP a Worldly grief (as grief is the

noun head word), we can consider worldly
as an attribute of this noun. In the PP
from a believer which is an adverbial by
function, a believer is the complement of
preposition and it is an object concept.
The whole PP could be attribute-toaction as it grammatically modifies the
verb remove. Conceptually, it is the
'affected' entity by the action.

3. In the second part of this sentence, i.e.

naffas Allh anhu kurbatan min kurab yawm
al-qiyma, we can see corresponding
concepts and relations. The same
grammatical functions of the elements
occur too. In this part of the sentence,
Allh is the object concept and the action
concept is also naffas. In terms of relations
Allh is the agent of this action where

3. The second part of this sentence nearly

corresponds to the first with respect to the
primary and secondary concepts. So, Allh
is the object concept and removes an action
concept. The relations agent of and
modality obtain, because Allh is the
agent of the action and will modality of
(indicating prediction- Allh will). The PP
from him is attributed to the action, since

165

kurba is the state of (the direct object).

its grammatical function is adverbial. At

the same time, it is conceptually the
affected entity too.

4. In the PP anhu, the pronoun can refer to

muminin representing an object concept
(being the complement of the
preposition). Consequently, it is also an
affected entity, since it is the indirect
object. The noun kurba is an object
concept. It refers to a relation of instance
of kurab yawm al-qiyma. In the PP min
kurab yawm al-qiyma the object concepts
are kurab, yawm and al-qiyma
respectively. Yawm al-qiyma indicates
time.

4. Concerning one of the grieves, the noun

grieves is the head in this NP; it is an object
concept at the same time. The modifier
one of labels the link between the entity
grieves and a concept of number, i.e. it
refers to a relation of quantity of
signalling quantity-to-object. It should
be noticed that the whole NP is the direct
object and it represents the relation state
of. The PP of the Day of Judgment is a postmodifier (attribute) to grieves,
grammatically speaking, i.e. it is part of
this NP. The PP of Judgment is at the same
time post-modifier (attribute) to Day. Both
Day and Judgment can be object concepts.
This NP the Day of Judgment indicates time
of relation and refers to an event.

5. It is worth noting that the whole

sentence coheres in terms of causal
relations, i.e. the first event Man naffasa
an muminin is the cause of the second
naffas Allh anhu , since it creates the
necessary conditions for it. In this
sentence, we can also see a relation of
recurrence represented by Man naffasa
and naffas Allh; and kurba followed by min
kurab al-dunya and kurba followed by min
kurab yawm al-qiyma and the noun kurab
in both. There is a relation of opposed
to as al-dunya is the converse relation to
Yawm al-qiyma. There may also be a
relation of volition represented by Man
naffasa (i.e. has the will to do) and naffas
Allh. A relation of instance of also
occurs between kurba and min kurab al-

5. It is also clear that corresponding to the

original text in the SL, the first event
whosoever removes is the cause of the
second Allah will remove, i.e. the whole
sentence coheres in terms of causal
relations. In addition, we can notice other
relations (secondary concepts) in this
sentence, such as relation of Allah and
believer (God of); volition of whosoever
removes and Allah will remove; opposed to
a Worldly grief is opposed to one of the
grieves of the Day of Judgment and relation
of recurrence of obtains in grief-grieves;
removes-will remove, but co-referentialwith between whosoever and the proform
him. A relation of instance of refers to
one of the grieves of the Day of Judgment.

166

dunya/min kurab yawm al-qiyma.

6. Concerning the operators which specify
the relations in this sentence, we can see
that naffas represents termination (i.e.
the relation is ended by the agent naffasa
kurba an muminin). This can also be said
in the case of naffas Allh indicating
termination operator.

6. Regarding the operators signalling the

relations in this sentence, they correspond
to these in the Arabic ST indicating
termination: remove and will remove
respectively signalling the early end of the
relation by the agent.

Sentence 2
.

Wa man yassara an musirin, yassara Allh alayhi f al-dunya wa-l-khira.

Whosoever alleviates [the lot of] a needy person, Allh will alleviate [his or her
lot] in this World and the Next.
ST

TT

1. The object concept is man (a

believer) and yassara is the action
concept. The relation agent of
obtains; where man /muminin is the
agent and yassara is the action.

1. Whosoever is the object concept and

alleviates the action concept. The relation
agent of obtains; where whosoever is the
agent and the verb is the action

2. an musirin is a PP; where musirin is

the noun head/complement of
preposition. It is the object concept
(the situation of the object muminin is
musirin. By function, this phrase is an
adverbial.

2. [The lot of] a needy person. Person is the

object concept, needy attribute to person. It
is the direct object (NP) considered as the
affected entity in this relation.

3. In Arabic grammar, it can be the

direct object. So, we can consider it an
affected entity in this relation. The
action could also be realized as an
event concept changing the situation
of musirin.

3. In the second part, the object concept is

Allah as the agent, where the action
concept is will alleviate. [his lot] is a NP
corresponding the PP alayhi in the ST. It is
the direct object NP realized here as an
object concept referring to an affected
entity in this relation.

4. In the second part, we can see that

4. Like the Arabic original sentence, the

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Allh is the object concept agent;

yassara the action concept changing
the situation of the object concept
huwa- muminin within the PP in this
relation representing a direct object
affected entity.

parts of this sentence cohere in terms of

causal relation (E1 is the cause of E2); (E =
event).

5. Event 1, in the first part of the

sentence coheres with event 2 in a
causal relation.

5. Also, volition of is noticed here in

Allh/whosoever will alleviate/ alleviates
modality will.

6. The action yassara could be

considered as volition of.

6. The relation of opposed to is indicated

by this World and the Next.

7. The relation of opposed to is

represented in the nouns al-dunya and
al-khira.

7. Recurrence of in alleviates, will alleviate,

the lot of, his lot and co-referential with
whosoever and the pronoun his/proform.

8. We also notice the relation of

recurrence of in yassara and yassara.
The relation of co-referential with
between man and the pronoun huwa
within the PP alayhi used as a proform.

8. The operators observed indicate

termination represented by the verbs
alleviates and will alleviate respectively.

9. The operators signaling relations in

this sentence indicate termination
showing the end of the relation by the
agents man yassara and yassara Allh.

It is worth noticing that Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies when translating the word
musirin, added the lot of enclosed in square brackets and preceded a needy person.
Their aim was to ensure the accuracy of the translation where a literal translation
sounds unacceptable (Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies, 1977). However, by restricting
the lot of to only a needy person, the translators narrowed the scope of the meaning
of the ST as needy, which includes only very poor people. According to Hornby
(2010: s.v. lot 2:3), the word lot has the meaning a persons fortune or destiny.
Sirriyya (1998) discusses brevity as a method in translation, i.e. decreasing the
number of words and increasing the number of meanings. Thus, in the ST, the
word musirin could refer to difficulties of all kinds, i.e. the meaning is broad and
168

general. Jeffery (1962) translated it into someone who is in difficulties (p.157).

Therefore, the researcher thinks that Jefferys is a more appropriate translation
since it corresponds to the meaning intended in the ST.

Sentence 3
.

Wa man satara musliman, satarahu Allh f al-dunya wa-l-khira.

Whosoever shields a Muslim, Allh will shield him in this World and the Next.

ST

TT

1. The first part of the sentence man

satara musliman represents the control
centers (object-action-object)
respectively, i.e. it represents the
relations of agent-action-affected.

1. In the first part of the sentence, the

control centers are (whosoever/object;
shields/action and a Muslim/object)
indicating the relations of agent-actionaffected entity, respectively.

2. In the second part of this sentence, the

control centers are Allh object satara
action and the pronoun hu (object)
representing the relations of (agentaction-affected) successively. Also, in
this part, the PP f al-dunya wa-l-khira is
an adverbial modifying the actionattribute-to-action, where al-dunya and
al-khira are object concepts indicating
time/location relations.

2. In part two, the same thing can be said

as it parallels the structure of the first
part. So, the control centers are
(Allh/object; will shield/action and him the
object) representing the relations of
agent-action affected entity,
respectively. Modality of is indicated by
will.

3. As in the previous sentences, E1 is

cause of E2.

3. In this part, the PP in this World and the

Next includes object concepts realized by
the noun head words World and Next
showing location and time relations
successively. The whole PP is 'attributeto-action' (as it is an adverbial by
function).

4. Other relations to be noticed are:

relation of Allh and musliman (God
of); volition of man Allh and satara;

4. Here, E1 also indicates a causal

relation with E2 providing the necessary
condition for it.

169

opposed of al-dunya and al-khira; coreferential with musliman and the

pronoun hu; and recurrence of satara
and satarahu.
5. The operators signaling relations in
this sentence are these of termination
satara musliman and satarahu Allh.

5. Other relations in this sentence are

these of: relation of Allh and Muslim
(God of); volition of in both whosoever
and Allh shield / will shield; opposed of
this World and the Next; co-referential
with whosoever and him; and
recurrence of shield / will shield.
6. The operators signaling relations are
these of termination shield a Muslim and
Allah will shield him.

Generally speaking, having analysed the three previous sentences, one can say
that the cohesive ties and grammatical structures are nearly the same in each of
the ST and the TT indicating continuity. These grammatical and cohesive
relations presuppose textual coherence which is achieved successfully in each one
of these texts in terms of causal relations and parallel structures. Thus, the
textual and conceptual coherence in terms of the primary/secondary concepts,
relations and operators of the translated text matches that of the ST adequately.
Some other relations can also be identified which bring up coherence among these
sentences especially of equivalents. In the Arabic ST, for instance, there is
coherence between muminin, musirin and musliman and in the TT between a
believer, a needy person, and a Muslim. These words have other equivalents in the
following sentences of each text such as abd and akhhi (a believer is the brother
in religion of another believer) in the ST and servant of Allh and his brother. Other
equivalents to be noticed are: Yawm al-qiyma and al-khira in the ST and The Day of
Judgment and the Next in the TT. The recurrence of the words Allah, mn and Aldunia
in the ST and their equivalents in the TT: Allh, whosoever, and Worldly/this World
also indicate textual and conceptual coherence in the three sentences.

170

Sentence 4
.

Wa-Allh f awni al-abdi, m kna al-abdu f awni akhhi.

Allh will aid a servant [of His] so long as the servant aids his brother.
ST

TT

1. The control centers of the first part of

this sentence are Allh as the object concept
and f awni al-abdi, a situation concept
where al-abdi is an object-concept as the
relation object-affected obtains. It is a
nominal clause in Arabic of the type
subject-adverbial (SA).

1. The control centers in this first part of

the sentence are Allh, aid and servant as
object-action-object concepts
respectively entering into a relation of
agent-action and affected entity. Will in
will aid indicates modality of. This realizes
the relation of volition too.

2. The particle m that introduced the

second part of this sentence indicates
condition. Here, we can also consider alabdu as an object concept and f awni akhhi
a situation concept as akhhi is the affected
entity. It is the object concept.

2. The second part of the sentence

represents an adverbial clause of condition
indicated by the conditional conjunction so
long as with the meaning on condition
that (see Quirk et al., 1973). The control
centers observed here are servant / object;
aids /action and his brother / object concepts
respectively. These represent the relation
of agent-action-to affected entity.

3. So, we can consider the second situation

in this sentence as the necessary condition
of the first, i.e. wa-Allh f awni al-abdi, m
kna al-abdu f awni akhhi. In other words,
the second situation is the cause of the first.

3. The addition of [of his] by the translators

is just to emphasize the relation between
Allh and His servant, i.e. relation of.

4. Other relations observed in this sentence

are: relation of Allh and abd (God of);
abd and akhhi (in religion); recurrence of
al-abdi al-abdu; f awni - f awni.

4. Conceptually speaking, we can also say

that the situation realized by the
conditional clause in the second part of the
sentence is the cause of the second situation
introduced in the first part of this sentence.

5. Regarding the operators: the one of

projected entry occurs into a relation
signaling that a relation is possible and
under consideration wa Allh f awni al-abdi,

5. Other relations noticed in this sentence

are relation of as mentioned in (3) above
and between a servant, his brother [two
believers]; the relation of recurrence

171

m kna al-abdu f awni akhhi.

occurs to will aid, aid, a servant and his

servant.
6. The operators signal a relation of
projected entry Allh will aid as long as the
servant aids.

Sentence 5
.

Wa-man salaka tarqan yaltamisu fhi ilman, sahhala Allh lahu bihi tarqan il aljanna.
Whosoever follows a path to seek knowledge therein, Allh will make easy for
him a path to Paradise.
ST

TT

1. The first part of this sentence, i.e. wa-man

salaka tarqan yaltamisu fhi ilman, is a
complex sentence of purpose in Arabic
(Aziz, 1989). The control centers are: object
man; action salaka; and object tarqan,
representing the relation the relation of
agent-action-affected entity, respectively.
In the adverbial clause of purpose yaltamisu
fhi ilman, the subject huwa is implicit. The
control centers are yaltamisu and object
ilman (affected entity). The prepositional
phrase is adverbial in function, referring to
tarqan and indicating a relation of
location. So, we can say that the adverbial
clause tarqan yaltamisu fhi ilman is the
purpose of the action salaka.

1. In the first part of this sentence there

is a non-finite clause (to seek
knowledge therein) indicating purpose
(it coheres with the same structure in
the ST). Such clauses of purpose are
usually introduced by a non-finite
forms (Aziz, 1989). In this part, the
control centres are the concepts:
Object/ whosoever, action/ follows and
Object/ a path with the relations 'agentaction-affected entity' respectively.
The sub-clause is adverbial by function
representing 'attribute-to action'. Seek
is the action concept; knowledge is
object concept; and therein is adverbial
attribute indicating location.

2. The first event in this sentence is the

cause of the second event, in which we can
identify the control centers: Allh, the
object; sahhala, the action; lahu, the indirect
object grammatically and also the object
concept; tarqan, direct object and object
concept. The relation is that of agent

2. In the second part of the sentence

Allh will make easy for him a path to
Paradise, the control centers are: Allh
as an object concept; will make/action; a
path object concept and direct object,
indicating the relation agent-action
and affected entity, respectively. The

172

Allh; sahhala action; tarqan affected

entity; lahu action-to-affected entityentering into-location tarqan il al-janna.
The pronoun in the PP bihi coheres with the
noun ilman in the first part of the sentence.
It is a proform indicating a relation of coreferential with. The PP il al-janna is
adverbial in function, indicating location in
which al-janna is an object concept.

word easy in make easy is an attribute

(adverb = in an easy manner) to-action.
For him is a PP / adverbial where him
coheres with whosoever in a relation of
co-referential with. The PP to
Paradise is an adverbial attribute-toaction indicating location where
Paradise is the object concept. It also
coheres as an equivalent to other words
in the previous sentences like: the Day of
Judgment; the Next.

3. Other relations are: relation of Man

(muminin) - Allh (God of) volition of
sahhala Allh and yaltamisu ilman; the word
al-janna is also equivalent to other words
(indicates coherence) in the previous
sentences like: al-khira, yawm al-qiyma; and
recurrence of occurs between tarqan tarqan, motion of occurs in salaka.

3. Other relations to be observed are:

relation of in whosoever (believer)
Allh (God of); volition Allh will
make easy whosoever seeks knowledge (also
modality will); and recurrence of
occurs in a path a path. Motion of
follows.

4. The operators represent relations in this

sentence are:

4. The operators indicate:

a. entry - salaka
b. initiation - yaltamisu
c. termination -sahhala

a. entry - follow;
b. initiation- seek
c. termination-make easy

In both the ST and the TT, the first event in the first part of the sentence is the
cause of the second. So, they cohere in terms of causality.

Sentence 6

.

Wa-m ijtamaa qawmun f baytin min buyti Allh, yatloona kitb Allh wayatadrasnahu baynahum il nazalat alayhumu al-sakna, wa-ghashayathum alrama, wa afathum al-malika, wa-dhakarahum Allh fman indahu.

173

No people gather together in one of the houses of Allah, reciting the Book of
Allah and studying it among themselves, without tranquility descending upon
them, mercy enveloping them, the angels surrounding them, and Allah making
mention of them amongst those who are with Him.
ST

TT

1. Grammatically speaking, in the first

part of the sentence Wa-m ijtamaa
qawmun f baytin min buyti Allh, we can
notice the particle m indicating negation
(Aziz, 1989) followed by il indicating
exception (ibid). This is a complex
sentence with subordinate clauses.

1. The situation of the first part of the

sentence represents the following
concepts and relations: No is a negative
particle, people object- (agent) concept;
gather action, together an adverb
attribute to the action; the PP in one of
the houses of Allah is attribute to action. In
this phrase, houses is the head word. It is
an object concept. One of is a determiner
indicating the relation of quantity to
object. The relation instance of is
realized here in one of the houses (=a
house of the houses of Allah). Allah is the
object concept in the PP of Allah which
grammatically post modifies houses.
Thus, it is an attribute-to-object.

2. In this situation, the control centers are:

qawmun as object concept; ijtamaa action
baytin and buyti objects, Allh object. The
relation is that of agent of-action-tolocation. There is a relation of part of
baytin min buyti where buyti at the same
time signals a relation of containment
of. The action ijtamaa also indicates the
relation motion of.

2. The non-finite compound clause

reciting the Book of Allh and studying it
amongst themselves; is attribute to the
action gather (as its function is
adverbial). The non-finite VPs are
action concepts reciting and studying. In
the Book of Allh; Book is the noun head
word pre-modified by the determiner the
which is attribute-to-object (as book is
an object concept); the PP following it of
Allh is post modifier, i.e. attribute-toobject in which Allh is an object
concept. The pronoun (proform) it
following studying signals relation of coreferential with Book. The PP amongst
themselves includes an object concept

174

themselves as its complement / head of

the NP. It has a relation of coreferential (as a proform) with the
word people. The relation of
recurrence is noticed here between of
Allh of Allh; relation of. Allh and
people (God of); location in gather one
of the houses of Allh. Also, people gather
indicates a relation of motion of and
that of communication of in studying.
3. There is a relation of purpose purpose
of in this situation, i.e. ijtamaa qawmun
in order to yatlna kitb Allh wa yatadrasnahu baynahum. Here, the
control centers are: yatlna and
yatadrasnahu are actions (the subject in
the form of the pronoun hum is implicit);
the object concept is kitb Allh; baynahum
is an adverbial phrase (an adverb bayn and
its complement the pronoun hum). Here,
hum is the object concept (i.e. qawmun).
There is a relation of communication of
yatadrasnahu. In general, the relation of
agent-action-affected entity obtains
between (hum) - yatlna and kitb Allh.
The pronoun hu in yatadrasnahu refers
to kitb Allh indicating a relation of coreferential with. The relation of
recurrence is also represented by
bayt/buyti; Allh (in buyti Allh) and Allh
in kitb Allh.

3. The first part of the sentence starting

with No people and ending with among
themselves is linked in terms or purpose
relation, i.e. people gather in order to recite
and study the Book of Allh. It is worth
mentioning too that this part of the
sentence is the cause of the subsequent
events of the sentence providing the
necessary condition to them.

4. In this situation, the event of ijtamaa

qawmun is the cause of the subsequent
events in the rest of the sentence. It
provides the necessary condition to them
reflecting the coherence of the whole
sentence.

4. Thus, the control centers of the

second part of the sentence occur within
the PP which is at the same time an
attribute to the action gather. It
functions as an adverbial within the
whole clause. Tranquility; mercy and the
angels are object concepts (agents);

175

descending; enveloping and surrounding

action concepts; and them also in the PP
upon them is an object concept affected
entity. At the same time, it is a proform
signaling the relation of co-referential
with people indicating cohesion bringing
up coherence.
5. Consequently, in the second part of the
sentence, the control centres are:
alsakeena / object concept; nazalat / action
concept and humu in 'alayhumu / object
concept. They indicate the relations:
'agent-action-affected entity'. The same
concepts and relations can be seen with
ghashiyatahum alrahma where alrahma is
the object concept (agent); ghashiyatahum
the action concept (action) and hum the
object concept (affected entity). Also, in
hafathum almalaaika; almalaaika - object
concept (agent); hafat action concept
(action) and hum - object concept (affected
entity). These parallel structures,
concepts and relations indicate cohesion
of the sentence bringing up coherence.

5. The above part of the sentence is

coordinated by and with Allah making
mention of them amongst those who are with
him. Here, Allah is the object concept
(agent); the action concept is making
mention the object concept of them the PP
is 'attribute-to-action'. The PP amongst
those who are with Him includes the
primary concepts those as an object
concept / complement of preposition
(head noun). It is post-modified by the
relative clause who are with Him, in which
who represents those having a relation of
'object-to-state' with the verb. The PP
with Him is 'attribute to-the-state'
referring to those with Allah in location.
Him is the object concept in this relation.

6. The last part of the sentence wadhakarahum Allh fman indahu shows the
concepts of object Allah (agent) action
dhakara referring to a relation of
communicate of and hum object
(affected entity). In the PP to follow, man
in fman refers to persons (e.g. may be
angels) indicating object concept. In the
adverbial phrase indahu, the pronoun
refers to Allah representing an object
concept too. indahu means with Him in
English and it can signal location.

6. Other relations to be observed are:

motion of: descending, enveloping and
surrounding; 'co-referential with: them,
people, Allh, Him; 'relation of': Allh and
people (God of), them, those, angels. The
relation of emotion of in tranquility
descending upon them as used
metaphorically (they feel tranquil /
personification). This relation is also
recognized in mercy-enveloped and angels
surrounding (symbolic relations). The
relation of communication of can also
be observed in Allah, making mention.
The relation of recurrence of is seen in

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Allh-Allh, them-them.
7. Other relations are these of: motion of
in nazalat, ghashiyathum and afathum; coreferential with qawmun -hum where the
latter implicit or explicit is inseparable in
baynahum; alayhumu, ghashiyathum,
afathum and dhakarahum; a relation of
emotion of could be observed in nazalat
alayhumu al-sakna as used metaphorically
/ personification (i.e. they feel tranquil).
The relation of signification of is also
recognised in nazalat-al-sakna;
ghashiyathum al-rama and afathum- almalika (symbolic relations).

7. The operators in these relations

indicate:
a. entry gather
b. initiation reciting and studying
c. termination descending,
enveloping, surrounding, making
mention

8. The operators indicated here are:

entry ijtamaa
initiation- yatlna , yatadrasnahu
termination nazalat, ghashiyathum,
afathum and dhakarahum.

Sentence 7

. ,

Wa-man baaa bihi amaluhu, lam yusria bihi nasabuhu.

Whosoever is slowed down by his actions will not be hastened forward by his
lineage.
ST

TT

1. In Arabic grammar, the jussive is used

after the particle lam to indicate negation,
not (Aziz, 1989). The subjects are
amaluhu and nasabuhu, i.e. Wa-man baaa
bihi amaluhu, lam yusria bihi nasabuhu. The
relative pronoun man is in a coreferential relation with the PP bihi,
where the pronoun hi, which is the
complement of preposition, refers to man

1. The control centers of this sentence

are: his actions the object concept / having
the relation instrument of; the action
concept slowed down and whosoever are
the object concepts / affected entity.

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(used
pronominally
having
the
grammatical function of indirect object).
2. In this sentence, E1 Wa-man baaa bihi
amaluhu provides the necessary condition
for E2 lam yusria bihi nasabuhu to happen,
i.e. the two events cohere in terms of
causal relation.

2. In addition, his lineage is the object

concept / instrumental of hastened which
is the action concept; forward is adverbial
/ attribute to the action; will indicates
modality.
The object concept /
affected entity is whosoever.

3. The control centers in wa-man baaa

bihi amaluhu are: amaluhu is the object
concept
indicating
the
relation
instrument of; the action concept is
baa and bihi (representing man) is the
object concept / affected entity.

3. Other relations to be observed are:

motion of slow hasten which at the
same time indicate the relation of
opposed to; signification action slow
down and lineage hasten and
recurrence of the pronoun his.

4. The control centers in lam yusria bihi

nasabuhu are: the object concept nasab
(having a conceptual meaning not
referring to persons Aslf or dhurya
Ancestors or offspring, eventually it has
the relation of instrument of. The
action concept is yusria and bihi / man is
the object concept (or affected entity).

4. Like its Arabic counterpart, in this

sentence, the first event coheres with the
second in a causal relation, i.e. it
provides the necessary conditions for the
second.

5. Other relations to be identified in this

sentence are: motion of in baaa and
yusria; signification amaluhu baaa bihi;
nasabuhu yusria (symbolic relation);
opposed to between yusria- baaa; and
recurrence of bihi-bihi.

5. The operators indicate termination of

relations slowed down and not hastened.

6. The operators are of termination: baaa

and yusria, indicating the end of the
relation.

Regarding the word lineage, it has the meanings nasab or dhurya (Baalbki, 1981,
s.v. lineage). The first is conceptual, while the second is personal. Comparing it
with its equivalent ancestry, which is used in Jefferys translation, this word can

178

also refer to either nasab or Aslf (ibid). According to the writer of this article,
both fit. However, Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies tried to reflect only the conceptual
meaning in their translation to accurately match the meaning of the ST. If the
other meanings, i.e. dhurya (offspring) or Aslf (Ancestors) are meant, then, the
object concepts will have a relation of agentive rather than instrumental.

A Comparison between the two translations of the sample text

Regarding the semantic relations and equivalents, the writer of this chapter finds
it useful to compare Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies TT with that of Jefferys in order
to investigate to what extent the translators used appropriate or inappropriate
words and meanings. This can be shown below.
In the first sentence, Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies chose the word remove to mean
naffasa, whereas Jeffery suggested the word dispel. In Al-Mawrid (Baalbaki, 2010,
s.v. dispel), dispel is given only one meaning yubadid (could be to dispel fears);
whereas the most appropriate meaning of remove that fits this context is yuzeel
(ibid, s.v. remove). However, since there is no great difference between the two, I
think that both fit.
For Yawm al-qiyma Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies suggested the Day of Judgment,
while Jeffery used the Day of Resurrection. In Al-Mawrid, the former is given the
meaning Yawm al-isb (ibid, s.v. Judgment Day), while the latter is given the
meaning Bath-Nushr (ibid, s.v. Resurrection). I fact, both are used in religious
texts with no great difference. There is another word Doomsday, which is also
given the meaning Yawm al-isb in Al-Mawrid (ibid, s.v. Doomsday).
The translation of Jeffery seems more literal and word-for-word, and this is
preferable when translating religious texts (Newmark, 1988). He ~i.e. Jeffery~
even matches exactly the structure of the ST with respect to the verb forms and
tenses. For instance, in his translation of Wa-Allh f awni al-abdi, m kna al-abdu
f awni akhhi, where it indicates a relation of state in Arabic; Jeffery uses the
verb be as a stative verb just to match the ST. He translated this sentence as:
Allh is ready to aid any servant so long as the servant is ready to aid his brother. On the
other hand, Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies translated the same sentence using a
dynamic verb that refers to an action as in Allh will aid.

179

Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies translated baytun min buyti Allh and kitb Allh as
one of the houses of Allah and the Book of Allh, respectively; while Jeffery used the
possessive (s) instead, i.e. one of Allhs houses and Allhs Book. According to Aziz
(1989:p.127), the -s genitive is normally used to refer to personal possession;
while the of-construction is more common in inanimate nouns lower in the
scale of gender. Since Allh is the Eternal One and none is His peer, it is more
appropriate to use the of-construction here and not to refer to Him personally.
In Al-Mawrid (Ba'albaki, 2010, s.v. envelope), the word envelope means yughallif,
yutawwik and yahjub. This word was chosen by Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies as an
equivalent to ghashiyathum. On the other hand, Jeffery used the word cover for this
purpose. In Al-Mawrid (ibid, s.v. cover), cover is assigned the meanings yahjub,
yaksou and yughai. According to the writer of this article, envelope fits better here
as its meaning is more conceptual and symbolic.

Conclusion
This chapter looks at the notion of coherence and its relevance to translation. The
theoretical model is adopted to investigate whether the translators handled or
mishandled the aspects of coherence in the TT. This framework has also been tried
out to prove its validity as the most effective tool in the analysis and assessment
of these aspects. The semantic relations in the ST and the TT have also been
identified and discussed in terms of this model. Thus, the findings of the present
article can be summarized as follows.
Among the different standards of textuality, two have received special attention
in various treatments, these are cohesion and coherence. Coherence is clearly not a
mere feature of a text, but rather the outcome of cognitive processes among text
users. Based on the analysis of the sample text in this work, it appears that the
simple juxtaposition of events and situations in this text activate operations
which recover or create coherent relations.
Concerning the theoretical framework of coherence analysis, it has proved to be
the clearest and most inclusive (including the various aspects of coherence) among
the other models. Most of the other models discussed in this work seem to be
primarily concerned with the analysis of conversational material. In short, De
180

Beaugrandes model has approached coherence as a many-sided property of text. In

this study, it has been used for investigating coherence in a TT that determines the
translation quality. Although it has been tried out in the analysis of a religious
text, it could also be used with other text types for quality assessment.
In translation, translators should preserve the same coherent interpretation and
maintain the same logical relations between propositions in the TT. This enhances
the effectiveness of the TT, as well as the accuracy of the translation and its
fidelity to the ST. Based on the analysis and comparison of the ST and the TT,
there is clear evidence that the same aspects of coherence and semantic relations
have been maintained in Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies' translation of the text. In
this respect, the following points can be listed.
Generally speaking, it has been found that both the ST and its translated
counterpart cohere in terms of causality, i.e. the events and situations
within and among the sentences are entirely linked in each of these texts by a
group of relations subsumed under causality. Consequently, coherence in the ST
and TT has been fully achieved and brought about by causal relations.
The sequence of coherence relations remains constant in the TT. The translation
could be said to be accurate and adequate, i.e. the result of the analysis is positive,
and it shows that the translators proved to be competent in their translations. In
fact, the TT combines accuracy with readability.
However, the TT may have departed in small measure from the Arabic ST. The
following points illustrate some of the aspects of the evaluation:
i.

The same layout of the ST in the SL is maintained in the TT.

ii.

Cohesion realizing coherence is indicated in both the ST and TT by various

textual features and cohesive ties . For example, most of the sentences in
the Arabic text are linked by the coordinator wa.

iii. The sentences in general represent parallel structures in the ST and this
is maintained in the TT too. Repetition of lexical items also indicates
cohesion and coherence in both texts. The analysis and comparison process
shows that the translators translated parallel structures of the ST as
parallel structures. By doing so, they preserved the repetition of the

181

lexical items and structures of the ST which is a significant element of

coherence and effective translation quality.
iv. Most of the primary and secondary concepts, relations and operators
indicating coherence coincide in the two texts (i.e. ST and TT).
v.

No instances of mistranslation, distortion of meaning, or carelessness in

translation are observed.

vi. The grammatical structures are also adequately translated to match

these of the ST and the needs of the TT reader.
vii. Since the text analysed is of a content-focused type; its content and
information have fully and adequately been represented in the TT.
In addition, the translators have adequately oriented its form to the usage of the
TL, i.e. it is an appropriate readable text for the readers of English.
The analysis and comparisons of the TTs have shown that the translators
succeeded in producing an understandable and readable translation of the ST. No
instances of violation or gaps in the coherence and semantic relations of the TT are
observed. However, while Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies utilize more conceptual
and symbolic equivalents of the SL words, Jeffery's translation looks more literal
and word-for-word.
Assessment of the translation of the ST, in general, has revealed nearly full
correspondence with the original text. Where there is any difference or addition,
this is due to the requirements of the TL system.
In fact, Ibrahim and Johnson-Daviess successful rendition of the ST aspects of
coherence gives evidence of their awareness of the role of various devices that
establish coherence in sustaining text unity.
Finally, most student translators who are non-native speakers of English are quite
concerned about grammar and syntactic errors in their English TTs. Therefore,
the teaching of cohesion and coherence will enhance their understanding that
translating a text is not simply translating with syntactic accuracy. They should
develop awareness of translation as a means of communication. Through explicit
instruction, teacher feedback and text revision, they will learn to craft readerbased well-organized texts. In addition, lessons on cohesive ties and other features
182

promoting textual coherence can raise students consciousness and give them
insights into how they can translate with clear directions and produce (or create)
their texts effectively.
Using De Beaugrandes model of analysis, students should be able to improve the
quality of their translations and the coherence of their texts. They can do so by
comparing the networks of coherence and drawing conclusions about the
differences between the ST & TT in this respect. Maintaining greater coherence in
the TT will hopefully enhance the reader comprehension and understanding.

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Appendix 1
Ibrahim and Johnson-Davies Translation (1977)

185

Appendix (2)
Jefferys Translation (1962)

186

Appendix (3)
De Beaugrandes Model of Coherence Analysis (1980)

187

A review of changing trends in evaluation of teachers

professional development studies
Zafar Iqbal Khattak
Al Musanna College of Technology, Oman

Saiqa Imtiaz Asif

Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan

Abstract: Teachers general professional development needs to be an essential

part in overall teacher education. It must be taken as a personalized, practical,
reciprocal, and interactive exercise addressing contemporary aspects. However,
teachers professional development programs, if not evaluated effectively, may
not bring desired results. In the following article, an analytical review of
teachers professional development studies was done to emphasize the need for
evaluating teacher training programs on a regular basis. It is generally believed
that a critical survey of related literature leads to planning, executing and
developing appropriate conceptualizations of problems and solutions.
Moreover, it provides guidelines and suggests methods of investigation. As well,
it provides comparative data for the purpose of interpretation. Keeping these
beliefs in mind, the prevalent relevant literature on how to evaluate the
effectiveness of teachers professional development programs in ELT was
narrowed down to see gaps, if there are any, and to suggest a way forward in
this regard.
Keywords: Teachers professional development, English language teaching,
evaluation, assessment, research studies

The Need for Teachers Professional Development

It has been generally observed that the performance of organizations and
institutions depends on the performance of the individuals and groups within
them. However, staff performance calls for training and capacity building. This
applies to educational contexts, too, especially to teacher training programs.
188

Furthermore, it has now been established that learning to teach is a life-long

process (Zeichner and Noffke, 2001), comparable to learning to learn. Hence, it is
very important to provide meaningful professional development to inservice teachers.
In-service teachers professional development is a multi-dimensional process that
requires a variety of support schemes and resources in order to function properly.
Nevertheless, it is quite customary throughout the world to conduct short-term
in-service teacher training sessions, even programs, with the help of outsiders
who can help educators to expand their knowledge base (Cullen, 1997). These
programs enjoy great popularity since they provide the teachers with an
opportunity to break away from their daily routine, and also a chance to see new
peers. At the same time, this can lead to the emergence of novel ideas (Atay,
2007). However, research suggests that in such programs, the transmitted
knowledge is not always related to the trainee teachers contexts.
Moreover, several important factors that affect teachers classroom practices are
not taken into consideration. Hence, the ultimate goal of teacher training is not
achieved (Atay, 2007).
Similarly, Tsang (2003) reviewed existing research linking teacher education and
classroom practices and concluded that there was little convincing evidence. In
order to identify aspects of teacher education programmes associated with
successful practice in the field, almost 100 empirical studies were analysed by the
Education Commission of the States (Allen, 2003) wherein little basis for researchdriven practices in teacher education programmes was found. Cochran-Smith
(2005, p. 6) straightforwardly asserts Very little while summing up the results of
the Allen study and its conclusions about research on teacher preparation. Again,
according to the American Educational Research Associations report on Research
in Teacher Education, there was hardly any more evidence found about the
effectiveness of teacher education. Wilson, Floden, & Ferrini-Mundy (2001), too,
tried to explore the research on teacher education in an attempt to somehow
show the effectiveness of teacher education. Nonetheless, the evidence showing
the effects of teacher education on classroom practice remains elusive.
In the recent few decades, both educators and researchers have attempted
to change the age-old methods of teachers professional development so that they
take charge of their academic decisions and actively participate in their own
189

instructional improvement on an on-going basis (Hopkins, 1989; McDonough and

McDonough, 1997). Moreover, teachers are expected to play new roles (e.g. of
educationists, social reformers, researchers etc.) as part of the general reform
efforts. Komba et al. (2006) emphasize that the professional development of
teachers provides opportunities for them to refine their practice and achieve new
levels both as educators and as individuals. It also helps them to explore new roles
and develop new instructional techniques.
Again if not to overemphasize, it can be asserted that teachers professional
development in the form of teacher training programs has generally been needed
and traditionally also done. But the ground realities, in most of the educational
settings, point to a deficit (C.f. Atay, 2007). For instance, in most parts of the postcolonial world, and Pakistan is no exception to this, educational institutions are
hierarchical and bureaucratic; teachers are not close to one another and usually
work alone; administrative officers usually are not supposed to back up teamwork;
and leadership plays formal roles only. Thus, it appears that generally teachers
professional development programs in the form of training rely upon a
deficit model in which a trainer or resource person inculcates knowledge and
information to the assumingly deficient trainee teachers. In the context of the
present study, different studies on teacher education have identified certain
common problems associated with professional development programs. These
range from viewing training as distinct and separate from teaching to
viewing learning merely related to preparing for the academic examinations
rather than considering it as a lifelong process. These problems are related to not
seeing individuals practice as a source of learning, lack of time to applying
training, lack of understanding of group work and, last but not least, to
the officials viewing group work and interactive teaching skills as lacking in
discipline (Van Kalmthout and OGrady, 1992; Nauman, 1995; Hussain and Abbasi,
1995; Jaffer and Hughes-d Aeth, 1998; Jaffer, 1998; Jaffer, Hussain et al., 2004;
Saleemi, 1999; Qureshi and Rahmatullah, 2000; Siddiqui, 1997; Smith et al., 1998;
Warwick and Reimers, 1990;1991 as cited in NAHE Impact Analysis Study, 2008).
Since teachers professional development programs generally fail to produce the
desired result, the researchers looked for some alternative means of achieving the
goal of teachers professional development. According to Spratt (1994), the
inadequacy of teachers training programs results in the need for teachers
190

professional development programs. Spratt further says that inadequate teacher

training programs do not make teachers (more) dynamic and competent in their
jobs. He emphasizes that getting trained is not the culmination in ones career; in
fact, the trainee teacher still has to face the bitter realities which will come after
the training.
To sum up, teachers general professional development should be an essential part
in overall teacher education. It must be taken as a personalized, practical,
reciprocal, and interactive exercise addressing contemporary aspects.

Review of the Related Studies

In the literature till the late eighties of the previous century, the descriptions
of evaluations of teacher training programmes were less frequent; they did not
seem to have focused specifically on teachers professional development and
revitalization in those days as much as we do now (Breen et al., 1989; Pennington,
1989). However, it was relatively easy to find more than a few descriptions of
assessments of second or foreign language (L2) programs (Clark, 1987; Sharp, 1990,
Davies, 1990; Brown, 1995; Lynch, 1996). These evaluation studies would usually
focus on ESL curriculum and ESL student performance. Similarly, according to
Rea-Dickins and Germaine (1998), from the early 1990s onwards, evaluation
in overall language education became a very important issue, and a number of
books and articles were devoted to its different aspects. To be more exact, since
Berettas (1992, p. 5) regret that To date very few books appeared on the evaluation of
language teaching programs in general, the situation has rapidly improved in terms
of the publications with the emergence of Anivan (1991; edited collection), ReaDickins and Germaine (1992), Weir and Roberts (1994), Rea- Dickins and Lawitama
(1995, edited collection), Monsi et al. (1995), Richards (1998) and Coleman and
Klapper (2005, edited collection). Recent articles published in various journals also
reveal a growing concern with evaluation (e.g. Blue and Grundy, 1996; Ellis, 1997;
Pacek, 1996; Chambers 1997; Halbach, 1999; Kiely, 2001; Farmer, 2006; Stewart,
2007 and Brandt, 2008). Yet another indication of the popularity of evaluation in
language education is the emergence of several evaluation societies (e.g. European
Evaluation society, the UK Evaluation Society, the Australian Evaluation
Society, Swiss Evaluation Society).
191

However, besides the availability of the recent studies as referred above, the clearcut evaluation studies similar to the context of the present study are not easily
found. Models of such evaluations are still wanting; hence, the researchers would
like to gain some insight from the literature on training programs evaluation in
general and on second/foreign language programs evaluation in particular.
My review of the literature is divided into the following three sections:

Course Content
Evaluation Methodologies
Evidence of Changing Trends in Evaluation Methods

Course Content
The following section will provide a brief analytical review of some of the
pertinent studies on the evaluation of in-service teacher training programs in
English Language Teaching (ELT) with reference to the course content/materials.
Again, although there exists a relative dearth of evaluation studies on teacher
training programs in ELT, a few such studies have been conducted in the last two
decades wherein the researchers focused on the different aspects of the training
courses. Some have stressed the theoretical aspects of the training programs,
while the others have considered practical aspects to be more important and
useful. For example, Kiely (1996) tries to present a novel approach to develop
teachers professionally. In fact, he studies the evaluation of a Materials Writing
Approach to professional development in ELT. The issues arising from the
production of training materials and the role they can play were his main
concern. He wanted to study them as part of a personal development process as
well as providing an impetus to other trainers to deliver more effective
curriculum for teacher education. However, his findings from evaluating the
participants after six to eight months of the training suggest that the participants
had not been showing the expected interest in using those materials. One could
infer from it that perhaps these materials did not conform to their teaching needs.
For, as Taylor (1992) believed, the materials or the course content of any inservice teacher training program must be based on the needs of the teachers in a
specific context as determined by them.

192

In the same vein, Lamb (1995) suggests that the trainees themselves should
determine the areas of teaching they want to improve in on the basis of their own
experiences rather than going for the readymade solutions recommended by the
trainers. He further says that, based on their own practice, the teachers
themselves should formulate their own agenda for change in the post-training
transmission. Similarly, Ur (1992) asserts that ELT training courses or programs
must aim at developing the trainee teachers personal theories of action besides
increasing their theoretical knowledge. However, he suggests that the training or
course should focus on a pedagogy wherein teaching practice and observation are
integrated. In other words, he tries to prove that it is not the course content
that should dictate the trainees, but the other way around. The trainees teaching
practices, while being observed, ought to help them to redress their deficiencies.
The significance of evaluation in ELT courses in terms of contents and their
utilization has been acknowledged through certain case studies as well. For
instance, Makina-Kaunda (1995) carried out a study on Evaluation as a Tool for
Course Development: A Case Study of the Language Programme for Engineering
Students at the Malawi Polytechnic. This case study showed that it
is unproductive to allow an ESP-type course to run for too long without being
evaluated. It was also shown that in both content and teaching techniques, the
existing courses did not fulfil the utilitarian role which they were expected to
fulfil. By operating independently of the engineering faculty, the
language department was unable to determine students precise needs and
thereby to justify the existence of their courses. An important spin-off from the
study revealed a lack of classroom research that needed to be undertaken by
language staff in order to improve their own practices. Above all, this case
study illustrated that evaluation was a necessary tool for the course, teacher
development, and innovation. Through evaluation, the extent to which a course
satisfies students learning needs and language using needs can be assessed.
Although the case study focused on evaluating an ESP-type course, it was even
more pertinent that EAP-type courses, too, be acknowledged and evaluated, as
well as their proposed aims.
Moreover, the evaluation of ELT courses and training programs can pave the way
for making decisions to improve their quality in the future. For instance, Ellis
(1997) distinguishes two types of materials evaluation: a predictive evaluation
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intended to make a decision concerning materials to be used, and a retrospective

evaluation targeted at examining the materials currently in use. The
study showed that retrospective evaluations, being impressionistic or empirical,
can be conducted by investigating specific teaching tasks. Besides, it suggested
also that action research be involved in evaluations to contribute to reflective
practice in teaching. On the other hand, Jansen (1995) undertook a study on Joint
Evaluation of Short EFL Courses between Course Provider and Client as a Means to
Improve Course Quality. The study showed how evaluation could be
developmental by being instrumental in improving the quality of
language courses and, in addition, how collaboration on a joint evaluation project
could help to develop and improve the relationship between client and courseprovider. The researcher took joint client/course-provider evaluation to be a way
of sharing responsibility for meeting target situation requirements and thus also
for improving the appropriateness and effectiveness of courses. The
researcher recognized that the negotiation, development and implementation of
procedures and instruments for the evaluation, as well as the follow-up, were all
extremely time-consuming and expensive in human relationships. However, the
study proved that despite difficulties, developmental evaluation
could substantially facilitate the decision-making process, quality control and
institutional self-development.
Some evaluation studies reveal how the teachers and students alike are deficient
in English Language. For instance Lawrence (1995) undertakes a study on using
evaluation to improve teacher education programmes. The study discusses a
classroom-based evaluation carried out in Zambia in 1987. The study aims at
knowing whether junior secondary learners enter secondary school with
sufficient proficiency to cope with an English-medium education; and secondly
at knowing to what extent the English syllabus was the most appropriate for a
learner required to study English. The design of the evaluation comprised a
language proficiency test (C-Test), a questionnaire, interviews, and classroom
observations. The researcher found that teachers were ignoring the syllabus
requirements for structure to be taught and practiced in meaningful
contexts using either a situational or communicative approach. Their strategies
were in harmony neither with the syllabus nor with the learners needs. The study
also revealed that a substantial number of the target learners required urgent

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remedial teaching to improve their ability to understand and use

English effectively. This study seemed pertinent to the scope of the present study,
for effective use of English is desired not only from and by the school level
students, but it is also found to be the Achilles heel of both the graduates and
Master degree holders in Pakistan (Shamim and Tribble, 2005; Mansoor, 2004).
Again in the Pakistani context, the findings of a study conducted by Shamim and
Tribble (2005) underscored the need to revamp the reorganization of English
language teaching in General as well as of professional universities. The
researchers also indicated that there was a need to focus on the professional
development of teachers as well as on the provision of adequate materials so as to
implement the curricula that are aimed at addressing the needs of tertiary level
students studying through the English medium.
Murdoch (1994) attempted to verify the general concern that those teachers who
have to teach language components through interactive methods may encounter
problems, especially if they lack confidence in their own language performance.
His view was that we ought to question the effectiveness of a pedagogical focus
which fails to address this important anxiety on the part of teachers. His study
suggested that a greater concern with training in language
components, especially during the early phases of a training course, would give us
more competent teachers. He further claimed that different strands of language
components are least focused along with other major subjects in the institutional
training curriculum. He concluded that confidence in their own performance
plays a vital role in the education of effective non-native English teachers and it
is, therefore, highly crucial that the trainee teachers own language improvement
be given its due attention (Murdoch, 1994).
Like Murdoch, the findings of Mansoors study (2005) conducted at Aga Khan
University Karachi also suggested that students and teachers were not satisfied
with the availability and quality of their present English department among
degree awarding institutions. Moreover, her study highlighted the need of
updating testing and evaluation procedures, intensifying research and developing
test books and materials corresponding to local culture and needs. She also
suggested setting up computer-assisted and online language learning programs.
Similarly, Monsi et al. (1995) undertook a study titled Kenyan Universities
Communication Skills Project Evaluation: Process and Product for the purpose of
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evaluating the effectiveness and usefulness of the course materials. They assessed
participants responses to materials in terms of their appropriateness,
practicability, and levels of difficulty. The findings showed that there was a need
to revise the course materials in terms of their subject specificity.

Discussion
The review of the above research studies in terms of course content has stamped
on the apparent observation that there usually exists a gap between training
objectives and training achievements. The above findings from the reviewed
studies seem to make the cause for the professional development of teachers. The
evaluation of some of those studies has shown that the gap between teacher
training and its utilization in the classroom teaching remains constant. Some
of these studies, therefore, mark the need for context-based materials and course
content for ELT courses, workshops, etc. Moreover, it has also been agreed that
the evaluation of ELT courses paves the way for decision making and innovations,
and help harbouring on action research for further development. However, some
of the studies were too limited and specific in scope and, thus, made us realize the
need for a relatively more prescriptive and generalized form of development
of ELT professionals.

Methodologies of the Evaluation Studies

English Language Teacher Training Projects generally consist of a complex set
of variables that include the projects funders, resource persons or trainers,
trainees or students, course contents or materials, training methodologies, and
other administrative resources. These projects are carried out within a complex
framework of political, cultural, and educational systems. Therefore, any
evaluation technique or methodology requires encompassing these different yet
inter-related factors.
Alderson (1992) has very rightly stressed that there is no better way to conduct an
evaluation than by being clear about the purpose of evaluation, the nature of
the program, its practical aspects (such as the time frame and resources available),
and the participants involved. Moreover, Pawson and Tilley (1997) have expressed
the view that there is hardly any standard method of evaluation and that every
evaluation should be based on the nature of the context and the program itself.
196

Fitzpatrick et al. (2004) have also espoused the same idea. The evaluation
objectives, the participants, and the project criteria should be matched by a valid
design.
As far as the standard methodology for an evaluation study in ELT is concerned,
hardly any single one can be prescribed or adopted in a general, reliable or valid
sense. Different researchers have either devised or adopted different
methodologies for their respective studies. For instance, Monsi et al. (1995)
adopted the framework proposed by Rea-Dickins (1990) for the purpose of
evaluating the effectiveness and usefulness of the course materials of a study
titled as Kenyan Universities Communication Skills Project Evaluation: Process
and Product. Similarly, Brandt (2008), after developing various data-gathering
techniques (i.e. interviewing participants, asking them to keep journals and
respond to questionnaires, and shadowing trainees throughout a complete
course), gathered all data according to an ethical framework of seven criteria
(Patton 1990) including informed participant consent, guaranteed anonymity, and
confidentiality. On the other hand many a researcher devised their own
methodologies to undertake evaluation studies (for instance, Lawrence, 1995; Lee,
2007; Stewart, 2007).
The following section is a brief analysis of some evaluation studies in English
Language Teacher Training according to the methodologies used by the
researchers. The analysis will underscore the need to use an eclectic approach and
devise the relevant methodology to conduct the proposed study.
In an attempt to evaluate the usefulness of an educational novelty, the
researchers usually tend to prefer summative evaluation. In general terms, it means
that the researchers select groups of teachers and students, and administer them
suitable tests at the beginning and end of the program in order to gauge the
effectiveness of the intervention. However, to guide the project, formative
evaluation instruments are needed. This sort of evaluation will also help in making
decisions throughout the duration of the innovation. Formative evaluation is used
for this purpose because it helps in shaping projects and increases the chances of
their successful implementation. Instead of evaluating only the outcomes,
formative evaluation evaluates the project from the beginning, and does
continuously so in order to shape, improve and guide the innovation.

197

Williams and Burden (1994), favoring the formativistic school of evaluation,

consider evaluation as a major part of the design and implementation of foreign
language projects. They argue so because evaluation provides important
information to guide actions, methodology, materials, timing, and all aspects of
syllabus innovation.
There are some others who have adopted different norms of evaluation to
conduct studies in ELT. For instance, Mackay, R. (1994) believes that there is a
difference between extrinsically motivated evaluation, which deals with the issues
related to bureaucracy as opposed to the intrinsically motivated evaluation,
which deals with the specific concerns of teachers and learners in order to bring
improvement in various aspects of the programme (see Fig. 1 and 2).

198

There is yet another type of evaluation for carrying out research in ELT studies,
namely illuminative evaluation. In his study, Sharp (1990) discussed some of the
available techniques for course evaluation. He referred especially to
illuminative evaluation, illustrated by an evaluation program undertaken at the
University of Brunei Darussalam. The course was aimed at upgrading the English
of A-level students at the university for four months. This course followed the
complaints lodged by the university lecturers regarding the students inadequate
preparedness for degree programs. Both the students and the staff of the course
took part in the process of its evaluation, which took place in two stages, one
formative and one summative.
The study described that formative evaluation had a number of features,
including self-reporting by students and staff, meetings, informal conversations
and class observation. However, since it was essential for the conductors to
monitor the improvement of the undergraduate students as a result of the course,
they decided to justify and validate its effects. Summative procedures were
emphasized so that the results would justify the courses continued existence.
The summative evaluation took place right after the end of the courses
199

evaluation. When students were six months into their undergraduate studies,
summative evaluation was applied again. It was undertaken through observations,
written reports, and comments from the eight ELT staff teaching the course.
Similarly, questionnaires, student observation, end exams, and feedback from the
university staff were also utilized for the evaluation.
However, there were a few deficiencies in the evaluation process of Sharps study.
These were mainly related to collecting students and lecturers opinions, and
testing. The mixed method of research applied to carry out the study, in my
viewpoint, was a good attempt to help the evaluator achieve short-term goals
only, for the achievement of long-term and objective goals usually demands the
application of a clear, reliable and valid methodology. Moreover, the research
method applied seems to favor subjective results, for there was no third party
involved in the process of evaluation.
Some researchers have undertaken internal evaluation in studies focusing on the
collaborative efforts of teachers/trainers and students/trainees (Stewart, 2007;
Atay, 2004). Stewart carried out a study titled Teachers and learners evaluating course
tasks together. He put forward an approach to task evaluation which arose from the
process in which two teachers developed a negotiated course. One of the teachers
was an ELT specialist, whereas the other was a subject specialist. During the
course of teaching, the teachers also elicited the students opinions on tasks.
Again there are some researchers who have undertaken evaluation studies while
focusing on the role of positive feedback in ELT theory and practice (Kennedy,
1993; Brandt, 2008; Lee, 2007). Brandt adopted an ethnographic approach defined
by its use of qualitative methods of enquiry. His methodology spanned over a
period of four years. It involved two phases and 95 participants who belonged to
nine countries. Two thirds of the participants were trainees, while one-third were
tutors. The study included full-time as well as part-time courses. The researcher
employed various types of data collection techniques. The participants were
interviewed, asked to keep journals, and administered questionnaires. The first
part of the study involved 23 participants who attended a part time course
spanning 12 weeks. Twenty statements came out as the outcomes which served as
the root for questionnaires that were intended to collect additional data in the
next phase of research. The intention was to revise or substantiate the
statements.
200

Lee (2007) undertook a study aimed at preparing pre-service English teachers for
reflective practice. In his study, he tried to find out the relevance of response
journals and dialogue journals for encouraging reflection among these teachers.
The participants of the study were thirty-one teachers from two universities in
Hong Kong. They were divided into two groups, one of which wrote response
journals, while the other one wrote dialogue journals throughout the training
process, which was conducted by the author himself. In addition to journal
entries, post-study interviews were also part of the research. The findings of the
study showed that response journals and dialogue helped the trainees in engaging
in reflective practice. All the participants revealed that the experience was
beneficial to them. The study made several recommendations on the effective use
of journals for promotion of reflective practice among trainee teachers.
At the Centre for English Language Teaching (CELT) of the University of Warwick,
some young EFL trainees, following an initial teacher training course, underwent
a feedback exercise in order to see whether both the trainees and the trainers
shared perceptions regarding the important and relevant aspects of teaching
practices. Kennedy (1993) discussed the outcomes of the feedback exercise and
examined the problems which the trainees faced in order to see the correlation
between the needs of the young pre-service trainees and the current paradigm of
reflective teacher education. Her study suggested that a guided approach may
prove more helpful for the initial teacher trainees, although some aspects of a
reflective approach appear attractive, too, particularly the move to a more
collaborative clinical form of supervision.
Morrow and Schocker (1993) sought to find out a proper and effective
methodology for in-service courses that would enable the proper development of
the skills and attitudes of teachers. They discussed an attempt to help teachers to
understand the process of learning on an INSET course and make their insights
available for future action. They engaged participants in a continuous evaluation
of the methodology and content of the course in order to achieve this. However,
their data collection methodology was neither clear nor pertinent. For instance,
as they themselves acknowledged, they and the participants and evaluators had
been emotionally compatible throughout the process of evaluation of that
particular INSET course; their mutual agreement casts some shadows on the

201

objectivity of their evaluations. Even the data analysis done by the evaluators
allows for serious concerns regarding its impartiality.

Discussion
The analysis of some of the above-mentioned studies related to research
methodology shows that these researchers have adopted different methodologies
by keeping in view the objectives of their respective studies. As a result of these
studies, quite a few forms of evaluation terms have surfaced. These mainly include
summative, formative, illuminative, internal and external evaluations. However, none of
the evaluations would probably suffice in isolation. In other words, as far as the
standard methodology for an evaluation study in ELT is concerned, hardly any
single one can be prescribed or adopted in a general, reliable and valid sense. To
reiterate, it can be said that since generally English Language teacher training
projects may involve a complex set of variables. For example, these will often
comprise administrative and academic factors. On the academic front, there are
resource persons or trainers, trainees or students, course contents or materials,
training methodologies and workplace settings. On the other hand, there will also
be planners, projects sponsors, and managerial resources that generally enable
the projects to run administratively smoothly. Moreover, these projects
occur within complex parameters of political, cultural, and educational systems.

Evidence of Changing Trends in Evaluation Methods

According to Rea-Dickins and Germaine (1998), evaluation in language education
has become a hot topic. In Table 1.0, we tried to analyze small scale evaluation
studies selected primarily for the range of views they represent in terms of
current evaluation practice in different language education contexts. In that
respect, certain points can be made at the outset.

202

Firstly, and predictably, one can identify a range of motivations for the
evaluations. These can range from the need to provide information on issues of
impact and the effects of language intervention, with the underlying intention of
having the findings feed into policy (e.g. Low et. al., 1993) to furthering quality
and development in professional practice (e.g. Alderson and Scott, 1992; Lynch,
1996).
Secondly, the aims of evaluation influence the role of the external evaluator, thus
affecting the relationships with and between program staff. In the study by
Alderson and Scott, the evaluation expert functioned as a facilitator for the
evaluation process and took on a collaborative role. In turn, the aims and nature

203

of stakeholder involvement shape the selection of methodology and have

implications for evaluation training for project staff.
In their study, Weir and Roberts (1991) were concerned only with identifying the
impact of a teacher training program on the classroom and learners level of
language proficiency. They played the traditional role of external evaluators as
experts. The training they provided was for the technical staff who were to assist
in the data collection, also for the field workers in the Mitchell evaluation. Thus,
the extent to which an evaluation is, or can be, participatory is largely dependent
upon the aims of the project articulated at the outset. Further, one can note
influences from the empiricist paradigm for evaluation, with some attempts to
control variables. Weir and Roberts used a non-equivalent control group design
with pre- and post-tests. Low et al. also attempted to make project and nonproject school comparisons. Overall, however, there was a remarkable shift
towards multiple methods in evaluation. That is, rather than relying solely on test
results, the focus has shifted to triangulation of data sources via tests,
questionnaires, interviews, performances tasks and classroom observation.
These points also arise in relation to smaller scale evaluation studies, as reported
in Table 2.0, which provides an overview of recently reported micro-evaluations,
indicative of another trend in English language education. Remarkably, all the
reported evaluations demonstrate the interrelation between evaluation and
professional practice. The reported evaluations also show the importance of
systematic evaluation conducted at the heart of a learning program. Although
there may be some reluctance to external evaluation of language programs geared
towards accountability and review, there is also increasing awareness of the need
to integrate evaluation practice at the micro level as it contributes directly to both
the curriculum and the professional development of individuals. This should not
be surprising in a profession which is oriented towards the practical and
immediate concerns of the curriculum, pedagogy, and the classroom.

204

Another dimension evident from these accounts of evaluation is that not only the
design, but also the intention of the authors must be all encompassing and
interrelated; for instance, it must include stakeholders, too, wherever possible.
Blue and Grundy (1996) had an interest in intrinsic team evaluation by checklist,
which may subsequently contribute to external evaluation. Paceks focus (1996)
was more summative, but indicated that also formative collaborative evaluation
took place during the INSET program itself. However, even summative evaluation
is oriented towards future developments in the program reported. Collaboration
and consensus between teachers evaluating course books is at the center of
Chambers account (1997), which, like the others, also had a practical orientation.

205

Discussion
From the foregoing, it can be noticed that over the last few years or so, a
significant change has occurred in evaluation practice in language education. This
change in evaluation practice cannot only be identified in terms of enhanced
profile and an increase in activity but changes are also observed in defining
methods of evaluation, with a paradigm shift by greater participation of
stakeholder groups, an extended range of functions for evaluations, and most
importantly in the use of multiple methods with triangulation of data sources,
informants, and elicitation techniques.
From the above review, it can be seen that like large scale evaluation studies, most
of the micro-evaluations also show the need for integrating evaluation with both
internal and external factors.

Conclusion
To conclude, the above literature review has shown that the professional
development of teachers is an important issue these days. Teachers professional
development needs to be carried out not only through in-service professional
development programs, but also by allowing teachers to contribute to their own
professional development through the observation of their peers and by attending
workshops and conferences. Some other resources include reading academic
journals and books, and working together with peers on classroom research or
other professional projects. Additionally, some evaluation studies were also
reviewed and analyzed focusing especially on changing trends in evaluation
methods. These trends cannot only be seen in terms of an enhanced profile and an
increase in activity; changes are also observed in methods of evaluation being reassessed and greater participation being accorded to stakeholder groups. Finally,
evaluations are increasingly being seen as instruments to discover a wide range of
dimensions of education; hence, they call for a multiplicity of methods, including
triangulation of data sources, different types of informants, and new elicitation
techniques.

206

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