Impact of British Colonization on the Gulf

Impact of British Colonization on the Gulf 1. Introduction The term ‘colonization’ is used to refer to the active spread of political and economic power over a region, on the part of a country which has occupied the location, and which is normally far in advance of it, in terms of military and technological prowess. It can be defined by the movement of foreign nationals to the location, or by an official seizure of power over the region, either via political or military means. This process can be triggered by many different things – a swollen population, economic upheaval, social disturbances, and even religious conflicts within the region being colonized. Yet, all of these factors can be linked with expansionism, intrusive humanitarianism and the goals relating to national development, to at least some degree. The act of colonization can be led by the government, or it can be an independent endeavor, helmed by big business. However, before the process can be started, any and all native citizens are first required to be restrained and integrated, or adapted to the customs of the invaders; or else, an agreement has to be drawn up, via the obligation of a treaty or official alliance. The British Empire was made up of the states, domains, provinces, dependencies and terrains which were governed and controlled by Great Britain. It has its beginnings in the foreign trading routes created by Britain, between the 16th and 18th century. At its peak, it was the biggest overseas kingdom ever seen and, for more than a hundred years, it was the primary world leader. By the end of 1922, Britain controlled more than 458 million people around a fifth of the global population. The empire itself stretched across more than 33,000,000 km squared, which is approximately a quarter of the area of the planet. Unsurprisingly ten, its political, legal and cultural norms travelled far and wide. At its strongest point, the adage ‘the empire on which the sun never sets’ was commonly used to refer to the British Empire, as its huge surface area meant that the sun would always be shining in at least one of its newly acquired domains (see Exhibit 1). [1] 1.1 Definition of colonization According to the Collins English Dictionary, the word colonialism can be defined as ‘the strategies and regulations of a power, in spreading influence over vulnerable populations or regions.’ The Merriam-Webster Dictionary actually provides no less than four definitions, which include ‘something representative of a colony,’ and ‘influence by one power, over a vulnerable region or population.’[2] The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy utilizes the word ‘colonialism’ to refer to ‘the practice of European invasion, and the spread of political influence, across the planet – this includes the United States, Australia and portions of Asia and Africa.’ It explores the disparity between colonialism and imperialism, claiming that ‘as a result of the complexity of constantly separating the two words, this definition will refer to colonialism as a widespread notion, relating to the process of European political control, from the 16th to the 20th century, which culminated in the national emancipation protests of the sixties.’[3] 1.2 Objectives of colonization 1.2.1 Political Purpose The political purpose can be assimilate in improve the colonial position in competition for advanced positions on the ladder of the international forces, in order to expand its influence in the international community and make it more powerful to control the international resolutions and directed to its advantage. [4] 1.2.2 Economic Purpose Colonization can be to have new source for raw materials that country needed, the Europe industrial revolution that happened in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century create a need for new source of raw materials for the new industrials. The industrial revolution created a wild manufacturing movement, spread across large factories in the colonial states and that led to have surplus in the goods, and colonization allow them to have new markets to sell their products. Get cheap labor, the colonial powers worked to move millions of people from areas colonized to other areas, in order to employ low-wage or trade them as slaves. At present, many of the industrial countries transfer some of its factories to developing countries, to take advantage of cheap labor in these countries. Secure transportation routes was one of many purpose for colonization, many countries resort to colonize new areas to secure transportation routes to different areas, in order to protect property and maintain its vital interests, and use commercial stations. [5] 1.2.3 Culture Purpose When you look at the linguistic map of the world, we find that the colonial language to replace the local language in the colonial countries; Most of the Spanish colonies in America, the Latin used Spanish as an official language, and English is the official language of a number of British colonies such as India and Nigeria, and South African, as French is the official language in the French colonies, such as Chad, Mali, Senegal, and the Portuguese language is the official language of Mozambique as a former Portuguese colony. If we apply it to the second language in a number of countries, we find that they colonized the language, as is the case with English in Iraq, Egypt and Jordan, which is in line with what the world Tritscka said of that language is the basis of the booming trade, as the nation does not lose its colonies associated language and culture, even if interrupted political association. [6] 1.2.3 Religious Purpose Colonization has been associated with the presence of a number of campaigns and missions consignments religious missionary, a number of them have succeeded in evangelizing sectors of the population of the colonies, and was the most prominent cases of success in this area in African countries such as South Sudan and southern Nigeria. 1.3 Types of Colonization It is common for scholars to make a clear distinction between two closely related manifestations of colonialism. ‘Settler colonialism’ refers to mass movements, usually driven by religious, political or economic motives. ‘Exploitation colonialism’ did not involve as many migrants, and instead placed emphasis on the availability of goods for international trade, usually at the centre of the empire. This latter definition relates to the use of trading stations, as well as bigger domains in which migrant colonists would manage most of the political and economic logistics. Yet, they would still lean heavily on native assets for labour and goods. Just before the culmination, and eventual eradication, of the slave trade, if native labour was not accessible, it was common for slave workers to be shipped to America, by migrant colonists from either Britain, France, Holland, Spain or Portugal. For instance, a plantation based settlement would be an exploitation colony. Yet, invading forces would take advantage of both types of colonialism, in various different domains, contingent on what sort of cultural, economic and topographic conditions confronted them. ‘Surrogate colonialism’ is used to refer to a colonisation venture, funded by a dominant power, in which the majority of the migrants are not native to this power. ‘Internal colonialism’ relates to imbalanced organisational influence, shared between regions of a nation state – the primary motivator of manipulation is the government itself. 2. Colonization in the Arabian Gulf The unique location of the area was the cause of the greed of others and a direct motivates them to attacks; in order to control the strategic location, and undermine its authority in this vital region. Arabian Gulf experienced multiple stages of the foreign presence began to phase control of the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch occupation stage then stage British colonization. Portuguese ambition to expand began in the fifteenth century, that ambition stemming from the desire to explore, and the desire to spread Christianity around the world. This expansion began in the Indian Ocean during their trips to west coast of Africa and southern deserts; and in order to get the goods and slaves. The fall of Portuguese in 1625 after the Battle of Bandar Abbas had a big role in paving the way for the Dutch and the British to enter the region, and in a short time its became a Dutch trading station at Bandar Abbas which was the most active and successful areas; where traded sugar and spice and Indian fabrics, copper, iron, have concluded with Shah Abbas I in 1623 a contract for the silk trade. With the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Dutch became dominant force in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Gulf. The Arabian Gulf was a battle field for European conflicts, specifically the British and French, but in 1810 the British navy campaign managed to hit the island of Mauritius, which was the start of the French attacks against the British rule; enabling them to become the only dominant force in the region. British’s began in this period to conduct surveys in the ports, and in the pearl banks; to identify the nature of the area, which has increased the denominators activity in tracking the British ships in the Indian Ocean (1811- 1818), Until they got to a distance of about 60 km from Bombay, which prompted the British to develop plans to destroy the power of denominators and weaken their union; because they see in them a group of pirates, sending a campaign led by General Kiir to Ras Al Khaimah, as a result, the British took control complete control over Arabian Gulf. Login began with the Gulf sheikhs in the peace treaties, the best known: Treaty (General Peace 1820). Since that time, British placed a naval force in Ras Al Khaimah, and then force in Qeshm; and to oversee treaties signed. 3. The impact of British colonization in the Arabian Gulf Any colonization will leave impact on the colonist, its can be positive or negative and to be more realistic it usually will be mix between them and the British colonization is no different, the Gulf area which was one of British colonists suffered politically, economically, and socially and in the same time they benefit from that colonization. The British colonization on that time ended a lot of wars and fights between tribes in Gulf and secure the area which gave people there the feeling of safety, British colonization organized the trading between the gulf and India and eliminate the pirates by agreements with the gulf presidents at that time mostly with Oman and United Arabic Emirates, on other hand British Colonialism altered the geographical map of the Gulf and drew the boundaries and appointed leaders over the Gulf countries. After WWII, the British were in Palestine, Iraq, Arabian Gulf, the Indian Subcontinent, Malaya, and Brunei. It replaced the educational, legal, and economic institutions. British colonialism replaced Muslim self-rule under Islamic Law, which had been in existence from the time of the Prophet Muhammad, by their European lows. The Muslim world’s centuries of long struggle with Western colonial rule was followed by authoritarian regimes installed by European powers. The absence of stable states has led many to ask whether there is something about Islam that is antithetical to civil society and rule of law. The answer to this question lies more in history and politics than in religion. Modern Muslim states are only several decades old and they were carved out by European powers to serve Western interests. British set the borders for Iraq and Kuwait and created a new entity called Jordan. Such arbitrary borders fed ethnic, regional, and religious conflicts including the Lebanese Civil War between Christians and Muslims, the occupation of Lebanon by Syria, the Gulf War, which resulted from Saddam Hussein’s claim to Kuwaiti territory, and the Israel-Palestinian conflict. One of the biggest borders problems that stile exist the one between United Arabic Emirates and Saudi Arabia, without a doubt the origin of the border problems due to the maps that drawn by the British to the region but also Saudi Arabia greed that have borders problems with all Gulf countries contribute take that problem to other level. The dispute between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, has begun after the independence of the United Arab Emirates in the early seventies of the last century. The dispute was about the Buraimi Oasis, which was at the same time a subject of dispute between Abu Dhabi and Oman, which ended up sharing the region. And away from the logic, Saudi Arabia imposed on the UAE unfair deal when dropped their demands in the AL-Ain area and desert Dhafra according to Jeddah agreement to the border with the UAE in 1974, attached to it by recognizing the UAE, and got in return some areas. That agreement separated UAE and Qatar, and give Saudi Arabia 80% of the oil that was between the countries (see Exhibit 2). We can see on that example how the British colonization even after it withdrew from the area produced contrasting appreciations, it give the preference for Saudi Arabia over UAE and a lot of oil that belong to Saudi Arabia today could be belong to UAE or at least could be joint field between the two countries. Also these borders separated UAE from Qatar which give the advantage to Saudi Arabia again, before the British colonization there was prosperous trade between UAE and Qatar throw their borders but after the new borders set they had to pass Saudi Arabia to reach each other which lead to weakness this trades and in the same time benefit Saudi Arabia (see Exhibit 3). Political and economic models were borrowed from the West to replace the Islamic political and economic systems after independence from colonial rulers in the mid-twentieth century, creating overcrowded cities lacking social support systems, high unemployment, government corruption, and growing the gap between rich and poor people. Rather than leading to a better quality of life, Westernization led to the breakdown of traditional family, religious, and social values. Many Muslims blame Western models of political and economic development as the sources of moral decline and spiritual malaise. On other hand, the British colonization period strengthens the bonds between Gulf countries and western countries, and these relations still existing until today, and we can clearly see it in the trading products between countries and how Gulf countries rely on Europe and epically on British to import lot of goods. On other level we can see the influence of that colonization on the political system, where all Gulf countries leaders are from the royal family and not elected by people, on social and culture level the British colonization had a big influence on the people in the gulf region, because of all other factors we mentioned before and how close the Gulf become from British the people started to gain some habits from British culture. For example most people in Gulf and other colonies with was colonized by British like Egypt and Iraq started drinking tea and consider it necessary part of their daily life, which is originally an English habit. Another culture effect we noticed is the language influence, lot of our words that we used today are taken from English language for example in Kuwait we say the â€Å"tire† while it’s in Arabic language â€Å"Etar† and there are lot of other wards. But the language influence didn’t stop there. In recent years, the subjects of global English, and language based imperialism, have been explored in great depth – not least in the Arabian Gulf, where Arabic is still the main tongue, even if it is gradually becoming less used and less prevalent, particularly in regards to the proportion of speakers. In many ways, the English language is now a representation of the internationalization and transformation, resulting from the hydrocarbon profits which support many of the Gulf nations. As these countries attempt to expand their economies, retain skilled professionals, and prepare natives for life on the international stage, the English language has become a much talked about issue in discussions on religion, politics and society. In fact, it is regularly held responsible for the decay of Islamic lifestyles. Whilst the prominence of the English language certainly comes with disadvantages, a high proportion of young workers seem to understand its benefits, and are much more willing to utilize it within business, law and science sectors. According to many of these people, poor English skills are one of the biggest limitations on the development of private sectors. According to the research of Karmani, which has monitored the development of the English language learning sector, in economic and social terms, in Arabic countries – these motivations, linking back to the fifties and seventies are entrenched in the political world, and have become reciprocally aligned.[7] A lot of workers in the Gulf come from domains which used to be controlled by the British Empire (regions like India and Pakistan), so the English language continues to have an important function for many. It can function as a primary ‘lingua franca,’ particularly in regards to disparate emigrant populations, and between Arabs and emigrants. In some of these nations, the emigrant population accounts for more than 81% (CIA, 2011).[8] A collective anxiety, across the Gulf nations, relates to the decay and possible abandonment of Arabic, as a written and verbal tongue. In fact, there are lots of people, across the Emirati and the Arabic regions, who are extremely worried about the impact that this kind of linguistic transition is bound to be effecting on the integrity of the Arabic spoken in the UAE. 4. Conclusion Colonialism is a practice of domination, which involves political and economic control over the colonist areas. Economic Instability, political weakness, revolutions and other factors can be the reason of colonization. The goal of colonization can be increase its power and influence globally, find a new source of row materials, widens its culture over the world, and expand its religious. Arabian Gulf went throw many colonialisms, the British colonization was the last one which controlled the area to achieve specific goals one of them to secure the trades that have established with India. Although that, Arabian gulf got freedom for a while now but we still can see that the impact of that colonization exist on several levels: political, economic, and social. Here we have to mention that the impact of the colonization is not always negative there are some positive impacts, like the economics relationship that existing between British and most Gulf countries and also the improvement in education process in these countries. On other hand colonization some time can create preference for one country over other country, like the dispute between Saudi Arabia and UAE over boards and how Saudi Arabia took over the oil fields. Exhibit 1 British Empire Exhibit 2 UAE-Saudi Arabia Boarder Exhibit 3 UAE-Qatar Boards [1] Colonization. The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2014. Encyclopedia.com. (November 17, 2014). [2] Colonialism. Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2010. [3] Margaret Kohn (2006). Colonialism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University. Retrieved 5 April 2010. [4] Anton Mata (1993). â€Å"Tarak Al-Estiamar in Arabian Gulf†. Beirut. Dar Al-Jeal. [5] Anton Mata (1993). â€Å"Tarak Al-Estiamar in Arabian Gulf†. Beirut. Dar Al-Jeal. [6] Jameil Baiton (2002). â€Å"Tarek Al-arab Al-hadeth†. Beirut. Dar Al-Amal. [7] Karmani, S. (2005). Petro-Linguistics: The Emerging Nexus Between Oil, English, and Islam. Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 4.2, 87-102. [8] CIA Factbook. (2011). United Arab Emirates. 18 Nov. Web. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/ae.html

The Influence of Noam Chomsky in Child Language Acquisition

The influence of Noam Chomsky in child language acquisition Noam Chomsky dominated the world of linguistics like a colossus for decades after the late fifties. My main aim of this essay is to discuss his influence in the area of child language acquisition and inspect to see if his influence is waxing or waning. After that I will examine the reasons behind the increase or decrease of his influence. I will be relating back every so often to nativism and the great ‘nature vs. nurture’ debate since Chomsky’s reputation significantly depends on it. Avram Noam Chomsky was born in 1928 and is, as reported by the online Encyclopaedia , â€Å"an Institute Professor Emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and also is the creator of the Chomsky hierarchy, a classification of formal languages. † Apart from his linguistic work, Chomsky is also famous for his political views. Although, the field of children's language development includes a whole range of perspectives , the issue that has outweighed the rest is that of whether language ability is ‘innate’ or not. This matter which has been long debated concentrates on finding out whether children were born ‘preprogrammed’ to acquire language or is it merely a matter of cultural product . One of the most influential figures around this debate was Noam Chomsky, who believed in the innate capacity of children for learning language. As Harris (1990:76) explains, â€Å"Chomsky suggested that infants are born with innate knowledge of the properties of language. Further elaborating on Chomskys’s belief, Sampson (1997:23) says â€Å"Chomsky claims that this process of first language acquisition must be determined in most respects by a genetic programme, so that the development of language in an individuals mind is akin to the growth of a bodily organ rather than being a matter of responding to environmental stimulation. † Noam Chomsky suggested that children are born with a genetic mechanism for the acquisition of language, which he called a â€Å"Language Acquisition Dev ice† (LAD). He claimed that they are born with the major principles of language in place, but with many parameters to set. Further supporting this claim Chomsky (1972:113) said â€Å"Having some knowledge of the characteristics of the acquired grammars and the limitations on the available data, we can formulate quite reasonable and fairly strong empirical hypotheses regarding the internal structure of the LAD that constructs the postulated grammars from the given data. † Nevertheless, this theory of an innate Language Acquisition Device has not been generally accepted but in fact has been opposed on two grounds. Firstly, in the famous ongoing debate between nature and nurture many people have criticised Chomsky for disregarding environmental aspects. Secondly, there is a difference of opinion as to whether language acquisition is part of the child’s wider cognitive development or as Chomsky believes, is an independent inborn ability. Disagreements such as these display the immense impact Chomsky’s theory has had on the field of linguistics. One of the central concepts which Chomsky introduced was the idea of Universal Grammar. Chomsky greatly influenced Linguistic thinking by his theory that a universal grammar inspires all languages and that all languages have the same basic underlying structure. Collis et al (1994:11) further clarify â€Å"Chomsky argued that universals of linguistic form are innate: the child had inborn knowledge of the general form of a transformational grammar. † He believed in Universal Grammar because children remarkably seem to be able to learn rapidly whatever language they are exposed to despite certain rules of grammar being beyond their learning capacity and in a couple of years they seem to master the system they are immersed in . Harris (1990:76) supporting this view says: â€Å"After a period of some four to five years’ exposure to the language of those around them, children seem to have mastered the underlying rule system which enables them to produce an infinite variety of relatively well-formed, complex sentences. † Also children progress so rapidly in acquiring their native language as though they know in advance the general form of the system to be acquired as Fromkin & Rodman (1998:339) state, â€Å"The similarity of the language acquisition stages across diverse peoples and languages shows that children are equipped with special abilities to acquire. Wilkipedia explaining this theory says: â€Å"it does not claim that all human languages have the same grammar, or that all humans are â€Å"programmed† with a structure that underlies all surface expressions of human language; but rather, universal grammar proposes a set of rules that would explain how children acquire their langua ge(s), or how they construct valid sentences of their language. † Although, Sampson (1997:108) gives the arguments in support of language universals some credit saying â€Å"the arguments from universals is the only one hat has some serious prima facie force† But, by and large, Sampson (1997:136) disagrees as he concludes: â€Å"there are some universal features in human languages, but what they mainly show is that human beings have to learn their mother tongues rather than having knowledge of language innate in their minds. † Another argument, involving Chomsky, which is referred to as Poverty of data, is that children would be unable to learn language in a human environment where the input is of poor quality. Chomsky (1980) argued that the child’s acquisition of grammar is ‘hopelessly underdetermined by the fragmentary evidence available. He recognized this deficiency due to two major reasons. The first is the poor nature of the input. According to Chomsky, the sentences heard by the child are so full of errors and incompletions that they provide no clear indication of the possible sentences of the language. As well as this problem there is an unavailability of negative evidence and children have a hard time knowing which forms of their language are acceptable and which are unacceptable. As a result of all this, he believes language learning must rely on other constraints from universal grammar. Macwhinney (2004) says: â€Å"To solve this logical problem, theorists have proposed a series of constraints and parameterizations on the form of universal grammar. Plausible alternatives to these constraints include: conservatism, item-based learning, indirect negative evidence, competition, cue construction, and monitoring. † According to Macwhinney (2004) Chomsky’s views about the poor quality of the input have not stood up well to the test of time. Many studies of child directed speech have shown that speech to young children is slow, clear, grammatical, and very repetitious. Newport, Gleitman & Gleitman (1977) reported, ‘the speech of mothers to children is unswervingly well-formed. ’ More recently, Sagae et al (2004) examined several of the corpora in the CHILDES database and found that adult input to children can be parsed with an accuracy level parallel to that for corpora. Although, this failure of Chomsky’s claim has not so far led to the collapse of the ‘argument from poverty of stimulus’, however, as Macwhinney (2004) says, â€Å"It has placed increased weight on the remaining claims regarding the absence of relevant evidence. The overall claim as Macwhinney (2004) points out is that, â€Å"given the absence of appropriate positive and negative evidence, no child can acquire language without guidance from a rich set of species-specific innate hypotheses. † Chomsky also claimed that there was a critical period for language learning which was first proposed by Eric Lenneberg. He claimed, as Cook & Newson (199 6:301) explain, that there is a critical period during which the human mind is able to learn language; before or after this period language cannot be acquired in a natural fashion. Although the rare cases of feral children who had been deprived of first language in early childhood seems to support the idea of critical period but it is not known for definite if deprivation was the only reason for their language learning difficulties as Sampson (1997:37) points out, â€Å"it is not certain if children in cases of extreme deprivation have trouble learning language because they have missed their so-called â€Å"critical period† or if it is because of the extreme trauma they have experienced. Although Chomsky was a very influential and successful nativist, Sampson (1997:159) claims ‘his theories were given a helping hand by external circumstances. ’ At the time when he was putting forward these ideas about language and human nature, Chomsky was also the leading intellectual opponent of American involvement in the Vietnam War as Sampson (1997:11) states: â€Å"politics had given Chomsky much of his audience in the early days as he was the leadin g intellectual figure in the 1960’s movement against American involvement in the Vietnam War. His opposition to the Vietnam War made him a popular figure amongst the young Americans who also opposed the decision and were eager to cheer on anyone speaking against it. Sampson (1997:11) also points out importantly â€Å"Many people came to listen to Chomsky on foreign policy and stayed to listen to him on linguistics. Giving other reasons Sampson (1997:159) claims that â€Å"it was a period when the academic discipline of linguistics found a new market in providing professional training for teachers of foreign language and this nativist style of language analysis was relatively appealing to them as nativism focused on language universals rather than on the peculiar individual features of particular languages. Similarly he points out that â€Å"it was a period when knowledge of other languages among the English speaking world was diminishing. † Furthermore, the years aro und 1970 were also a period when the university system expanded massively in a very short eriod. Large numbers of people were taken on into the university teaching profession over a few years, and after entering they remained there as Sampson (1997:159) says, â€Å"they stayed; so an over-presentation of whatever intellectual trends happened to be ‘hot’ just then was locked into the system. † Stating another reason Sampson (1997:161) claims: â€Å"American linguists who were not established in their careers were afraid to voice disagreement with nativism publicly for fear of damaging their chances of academic employment. The most important point keeping the nativist domination is the greater job availability as Sampson (1997:161) points out, â€Å"there are more jobs in nativism than empiricism† During the 1980s, Chomsky’s nativist discourse moved out of the public limelight as his political interference became less agreeable to many and so Chomsky ’s influence started to diminish in significance to linguistic nativism as Sampson (1997:11) says â€Å"In the 1980’s Chomsky’s star waned† and then reasoning the 1980’s eclipse he says that ‘those were the Margaret Thatcher years, which meant that educated public opinion had other things to be interested in. But, beginning in the 1990s, a new wave of writing has revived basically the same idea about language and knowledge being innate in human beings and they rely on Chomsky’s ideas as Sampson (1997:14) says, â€Å"Many of the nativists work of the 1990’s depend on chomsky’s version of nativism. However, these books seem to better equipped to the test of time as Sampson (2003) points out â€Å"These books refer to a broader range of considerations, including issues high in human interest such as case studies of pidgin languages, young children’s speech, experiments in teaching language to apes whereas Chomskyâ⠂¬â„¢s arguments were rather dryly formal and mathematical. † Furthermore, the contemporary nativists claim to identify some additional evidence which was never mentioned by Chomsky. Several different writers have contributed to this â€Å"new wave† of present-day arguments for nativism. By far the most influential, however, as Sampson (2003) suggests, has been Steven Pinker’s 1994 book The Language Instinct. Regarding this new revival Sampson (1997:12) says: â€Å"The nativists of the 1990’s are quite different. Their books are full of fascinating information about languages and linguistic behaviour so that people enjoy reading for the data alone. He further states: â€Å"As a result, the new generation of linguistic nativists have succeeded very quickly in winning audiences and attracting praise from distinguished and sometimes influential onlookers. † Criticising the content of these books he says: â€Å"The reader is taken on a magical mystery tour of language and urged to agree that nativism makes a plausible account of it all- rather than herded through a bare corral in which every side exit is sealed off by barriers of logic a nd the only way out is the gate labelled ‘innate knowledge. In conclusion, it is very obvious to see the great impact Chomsky’s ideologies have had in the area of child language acquisition which subsequently enhanced his status. Describing his huge influence Sampson (1997:10) says, â€Å"It would be hard to exaggerate the impact that these ideas of Noam Chomsky’s achieved. † He further states â€Å"By many objective measures, he became the world’s most influential living thinker. Sampson (1997:11) further reports that, â€Å"in the comprehensive computerized registers of references that scholars make to one another’s writings in the academic literature; within the sphere covered by the Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Chomsky is the most- quoted living writer, and the eighth most quoted in history. † Although his ideas suffered a blow in the 1980’s, it has been strongly revived since the 1990’s as Sampson (1997:161) critically states â€Å"in the 1990’s the public mood has changed again. Society is showing signs of reverting to an almost medieval acceptance of intellectual authority, from which dissent is seen as morally objectionable† Further, reasoning the success of these new nativist writers he says â€Å"When Chomsky originally spelled out an argument, the reader would assess it and might detect its fallacies; but when recent writers refer to something as having been established back in the 1960s–70s, most readers are likely to take this on trust, for lack of time and energy to check the sources. Finally, on the subject of ‘nature vs. nurture’ debate, which so heavily involves Chomsky, it seems impossible to distinguish whether language is only acquired due to environmental exposure or simply due to innate faculties. From the evidence it seems that humans possess innate capabilities which enable linguistic development, but the correct environment, with exposure to adult language throughout the critical period, also seems to be necessar y in order for a child to develop and become a proficient speaker. In regards to this issue Collis (1994:10) makes a valid conclusion â€Å"current thinking about language acquisition treats nativist and empiricist explanations as forthrightly opposed, but as potentially varying in degree: language acquisition is mostly a realisation of innate principles, or mostly a consequence of learning. † Similarly, Sampson (2003) clarifies: â€Å"Clearly this issue is not an all-or-nothing question. It is about where truth lies on a spectrum of possibilities. Nature must have some role in human cognition; conversely, nurture must also play a role. † Bibliography Chomsky, N. (1972) Language and Mind New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Chomsky, N. (1980). Rules and representations. New York: Columbia University Press Chomsky, N. (1986) Knowledge of language: it's nature, origin and use. New York: Praeger Cook, V. J, & Newson, M. (1996) Chomsky’s Universal Grammar : An Introduction(2nd ed. ) UK:Blackwell Publishers Collis, G. , Perera, K, & Richards, B (1994) (Eds. ), Growing points in child language UK: CUP Fromkin, V. and Rodman, R. (1998) An Introduction to Language. 6th. ed. US: Harcourt Brace College Publishers Harris, J (1990) Early Language Development- implications for clinical and educational practice London:Routledge Macwhinney, B(2004) ‘A multiple process solution to the logical problem of language acquisition’ Journal of Child Language. Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 883–914 UK:CUP Newport, E. , Gleitman, H. & Gleitman, L. (1977). Mother, I? d rather do it myself: some effects and non-effects of maternal speech style. In C. Ferguson (ed. ), Talking to children :language input and acquisition. Cambridge: CUP Sagae, K. , MacWhinney, B. & Lavie, A. (2004). Automatic parsing of parent–child interactions. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers 36, 113–26. Sampson,G (2005) The ‘Language Instinct' Debate: Revised Edition of Educating Eve Continuum International Publishing Group Sampson, G (2003) Empiricism v. Nativism [http://www. grsampson. net/REmpNat. html](07/05/05) Sampson,G (1997) The ‘Language Instinct' Debate: Educating Eve London and New York: Cassell Wikipedia (2005) The Free Encyclopedia – Noam Chomsky [http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky] (07/05/05) Wikipedia (2005) The Free Encyclopedia- Universal grammar [http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Universal_Grammar] (07/05/05)

Can Failure Lead to Success

Failure is to success as practice is to perfection. One who perseveres to achieve a paragon of whatever it may be will one day accomplish that task. In the same sense, an average human being who makes mistakes, like the rest of us, must fail in order to reach the level of success that he or she is determined to. A transient feeling of doubt may come across after or during the breakdown, but learning to be optimistic in such situations will abet one to learn from the wrong-doing and make better of themself.Any obstacle to stand in someone’s way of acquiring success is simply just a nudge in a different direction. Failure gives you the opportunity to come back stronger and braver. You are given a chance to work even harder than you did in the past. Assiduity and confidence is the key to picking up from any debacle that may influence you to give up. Imagine interviewing for a job that seemed like the best out there for you, but you didn’t get it.However, another job comes up that pays more and fits more comfortably for your schedule. A frustration of decline suddenly becomes something gained. Everything will soon be put into its’ right place, which is something pivotal to remember when you are in a struggle. Now that you have undergone such a negative time period of failure, you have been given a learning experience. Your stream of thought has been influenced and enriched. It is easier to develop new and different ideas, being that you must erase previous concepts.Make a new approach, take a risk, or test out something new to see a change in what you have done. All you have room left for is improvement, so doubting yourself will lead you nowhere. Learn from the mistakes that you have made in order to never run into them again on your road to success. Think of your downfalls as different plans that didn’t work out, rather than complete failures with no advantage. There are always things to learn, ways to grow, and new opportunities waiti ng for you.Failure can very well lead to success, but it all depends on you. Don’t be pessimistic when you must make new attempts in different situations. Be the best you can be so that your efforts can shine through in your work. Desire to succeed is much greater at this point, meaning you can truly stay focused on your goals. Viewing failure as the end of your road is the biggest mistake of all. Simply consider it the beginning of something potentially better.

Review Of The Great White Man - 1104 Words

Getting back to the idea of how music plays an important role in this film, however, we must see how Schweitzer’s authority is challenged. Schweitzer tries to drown out the African boy’s drumming with his organ, but the drumming persists. The African boy, Higginson argues, is trying to invite Schweitzer to a musical dialogue. However, â€Å"the Great White Man refuses to hear the drum’s musical offering; yet, the drum responds to the rhythm of the keyboard.† The part where the colonial powers influenced this boy is when Schweitzer gives this boy a trumpet to play instead of the drum as a Christmas present. On a more positive note, Higginson argues that on the day that Gabon achieves independence, â€Å"the trumpet player frees himself from the Great†¦show more content†¦Dieng, unable to read, signs contracts that he does not know for sure what exactly they entail. He even needed to pay someone to read the letter from Abdou that said Abdou sent hi m a money order. He also cannot cash in the money order without an identity card or â€Å"something with [his] picture on it†. And in order to get an identity card, according to Sarah L. Lincoln in her article titled â€Å"Consumption and Dependency in Mandabi, he needs â€Å"he needs a birth certificate, three photographs and fifty cents.† Another impact of colonialism is that cities like Dakar have no employment opportunities. Abdou has gone to Paris and picks up a working class job as a street sweeper. He has also gone to Paris in order to be educated in trade. He works all day and studies at night according to Lincoln. This is just one example of many in which Africans see Europe as a land that has much more opportunities. Even when Africans do live in European countries, they are not usually thriving so much, as evident by the fact that Abdou is working a modest, low paying job and he is not having a very nice time in Paris. Still, like many, he is willing to sac rifice his enjoyment for a while in order to have a better future. Senegal has also adopted a credit system that exists in the western world. According to Lincoln, Sembene argues that paying on credit can ruin a family financially, which is shown by the end of the film when Dieng’s and his family lose even their house.Show MoreRelatedThe Autobiography By Frederick Douglass1632 Words   |  7 Pagesnarrative is Douglass’s own work and is entirely truthful. It gives the book its merits to become a bestseller. Garrison also gives a story about a white man that was ship wreck and became a slave or Africa for three years. After he was found he was unable to remove his language and his power a reason. This concluded that the Detroit deterioration of the man s mine to a result of slavery you and not to a certain race. Garrison off so discusses the issues of slave-owners Kelly slaves and being not punishedRead MoreWarning : The Following Review1052 Words   |  5 PagesWARN ING: The following review contains spoilers, I’m telling you now so you don’t pretend to be outraged later. I have to be honest here, when I first saw the trailer for Get Out, I legitimately thought it was a joke, like seriously. It looked so ridiculous that when I saw Jordan Peele’s name on it, I thought â€Å"ok good one, you got me†. To my surprise, it wasn’t a joke and suddenly I went â€Å"That’s a funny trailer†¦it s serious Oh dear God†¦Ã¢â‚¬  If you can imagine my shock of this being a realRead MoreRacial Tension During The Great Migration Essay1699 Words   |  7 PagesCierra Stevens Professor Rankin FYS100ZA Discovery: America Now 11 November 2016 Racial Tension in the North During the Great Migration 1910-1920 After the post-Civil War reconstruction era in 1879, white supremacy was at an all-time high. There was economic deprivation as the boll weevil and flooding exterminated cash crops like cotton, resulting in poor crop yields and an uncertain economy(Clark); threats from the supposedly subdued Ku Klux Klan, the need for better jobs, and segregation dueRead More Reviews of Notes of a Native Son Essay1238 Words   |  5 Pages Reviews of Notes of a Native Son Notes of a Native Son, a widely acclaimed and celebrated book by James Baldwin was subjected to many reviews upon its first publication. There were many opposing views between reviewers but almost all came to the conclusion that Baldwin’s use of words was extremely eloquent and intelligent. Specifically an article titled â€Å"Rage unto Order† by Dachine Rainer was very adamant about Baldwin’s genius as a writer but hardly did anything to explain or exemplify thatRead MoreEssay on Annotated Bibliography: Robert Graves1099 Words   |  5 PagesAnnotated Bibliography: Robert Graves 1dkennedy.org. (2004, July 15). The Greek Myths: 1 - Robert Graves. Retrieved from dkennedy.org Book reviews: http://www.dkennedy.org/C2025243227/E518045992/index.html This analysis of Robert Graves, The Greek Myths, was far from what I expected. The author begins with stating that he is a great admirer of Robert Graves and has always enjoyed reading the Greek Myths. However, he goes on to say that Robert Graves take on the Greek Myths was gearedRead MoreSummary Of The Help 1012 Words   |  5 Pages09/15/2015 ENG142 â€Å"The Help† Annotated Bibliography Tiffin University Pulg, Claudia. â€Å"‘The Help’: It’s Fine Work All Around.† USA Today. Web. 9 Aug (2011) . In her review, Claudia was basically focused on how the movie was based on racism and that in this time in the 1960’s that the movie would not be a great movie to see. Claudia, states this statement because of all issues that were going on with the civil rights at the time and how their services as maids were taken for granted.Read MoreThe Autobiography of the Ex-Colored Man: The Ability to Pass Essay1120 Words   |  5 Pages The Autobiography of the Ex-Colored Man: The Ability to Pass The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man depicts the narrator as a liminal character. Beginning with an oblivious knowledge of race as a child, and which racial group he belonged, to his well knowing of â€Å"white† and â€Å"black† and the ability to pass as both. On the account of liminality, the narrator is presenting himself as an outsider. Because he is both a â€Å"white† and â€Å"black† male, he does not fit in with either racial group. In the autobiographyRead MoreThe Movie Crash Essay1031 Words   |  5 PagesWriter-director Paul Haggis Movie â€Å"Crash† written in 2004, tells an interconnecting story of what Whites, Blacks, Latinos, Iranians, cops and criminals. Regardless of their Social Economic Academic or Political background, they are all defined in one way or another by racism. Crash represents the modern condition as a violent bumper car ride (Variety) which connects stories based on coincidences serendipity, and luck as the lives of the characters crash against one another. The movie presumes thatRead MoreStruggles and Tensions in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and Fences by August Wilson1437 Words   |  6 Pagesaudience sees Willys struggle with his career in the following: But I gotta be at it ten, twelve hours a day. Other men- I dont know- they do it easier. I dont know why- I cant stop myself- I talk too much. A man oughta come in with few words. One thing about Charley. Hes a man of few words, and they respect him. (Miller 1703) As seen in this dialogue, Willy believes that he has to work harder than other men in order to stay in business. Willy is struggling with feeling worthless. His wholeRead MoreThe American Dream By Edgar Allan Poe1476 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout American history, there is a variety of great authors who have brought the many genres of literature we have today. Many hear names like Edgar Allan Poe and automatically think of a dark short story, or two, from his collection of works. But how many authors are there which give strong visualization and experiences that not many individuals may get the chance to examine in their life? Around the early 20th century, African Americans were slowly progressing into being intergraded in society