An appropriate terminal behavior Essays

An appropriate terminal behavior Essays An appropriate terminal behavior Paper An appropriate terminal behavior Paper You are giving tennis lessons to a beginning tennis player. Describe how you would teach the proper tennis swing through shaping.  Specify:  a. An appropriate terminal behavior  b. A reinforcer you might use  c. The specific steps you would take during shaping  d. When you would use continuous reinforcement  e. When you would use intermittent reinforcement  A.  An appropriate terminal behavior would be to tell the student that he or she must make contact with the ball, hit it over the net and into the other side of the tennis court. A reinforcer I might use would be to praise the student if he or she succeeded, or to offer to buy the student lunch or ice cream if he or she succeeded a certain amount of times. During shaping, I would first reinforce any attempt the student made that came relatively close to the goal of hitting the ball. Secondly, I would reinforce a response that more closely approximates the terminal behavior-such as hitting the ball over the net. Thirdly, I would reinforce a response that resembles the terminal behavior even more closely-for example, if the student hit the ball over the net and came close to hitting it in. I would continue to reinforce closer and closer approximations to the terminal behavior until I was finally reinforcing only the terminal behavior of hitting the ball over the net and in. I would use continuous reinforcement at first, when the student needed positive thinking the most, in order to help he or she improve more quickly. I would reinforce the student for simply trying. However, after he or she gets the hang of hitting the ball over the net and in, I would only intermittently reinforce him or her when he or she performed this terminal behavior, and not reinforce him or her every time he or she tried to hit the ball. Above and beyond, it is important for students not just to use models in their science teaching but also gain knowledge about the nature and purpose of scientific models (Grosslight et al, 1991, Van Driel and Verloop, 1999). Moreover, learning to model should be a social procedure that involves discussion and negotiation of meaning, because this provides the best opportunity for each student to construct the desired knowledge (Harrison and Treagust, 1998). However, as a research suggests (Grosslight et al., 1991), students should have more experience in using models as tools for learning and experience with discussions underlying the role of models in scientific concepts. Wilensky and Reisman (2006) highlight the need for further experience with models in science education by saying that all students seek to understand science and the world around them. Besides, when students manage to accomplish modeling skills they can use them in novel situations in the domain of instruction (White, 1993, White and Frederiksen, 1990). The use of models in science education requires great effort and there are difficulties that not only students but also teachers need to overcome, in order to achieve meaningful and efficient use of modeling. Teaching students about models and modeling has proven a quite challenging and difficult task (Schwartz White, 2005). However, research showed that neither students nor their teachers possess efficient knowledge about the nature and purpose of scientific models (Van Driel Verloop, 1999). Consequently, some students fail to understand the purpose of engaging with the modeling process (Barrowy Roberts, 1999) and they also might not realize the nature of models or modeling, even if they are engaged in creating and revising models (Carey and Smith, 1993; Grosslight et al., 1991). On the other hand research has shown (Louca Constantinou, 2002) that learning about models and modeling can be accomplished in early middle school ages by guiding students through a process of developing and refining models about natural phenomena. Therefore teachers role in teaching science through an efficient and successful modeling approach is important. Teachers should develop their knowledge in teaching scientific concepts and achieve self-efficacy in teaching and as Bandura (1981) argues self-efficacy can be enhanced through modeling. Similarly, Enochs et al. (1995) support that in order for elementary teachers to achieve self-confidence, well planned and modeled based lessons are required. Also, when students are building models and using their own analogies, instead of those of teachers, will be more benefited (Harrison and Treagust, 1998) and this is due to the fact that students analogies are more familiar and easier to understand (Zook, 1991). On the other hand, students find it difficult to select appropriate analogies, so they expect from the teacher to give an analogy or a model, even if they have difficulties in mapping it (Harrison and Treagust, 1998). Moreover, some difficulties that students find when trying to construct meaning in science are due to the fact that they dont have efficient ability and knowledge in developing conceptual models of physical phenomena (Golin, 1997). Consequently, teachers should use analogies and models in their teaching through an approach that involves focus, action and reflection (Treagust et al., 1998). Also, considering the importance of hand-on lessons, primary teachers should continuously improve their teaching methods especially in the area of hands-on activity planning (Dickinson et al, 1997). Modeling teaching practices can be an appropriate and useful tool, since they promote teaching though practical demonstrations (Hudson, No date). Though, some times models that are used in physics only demonstrate the end product of physics to students (Steinberg, 2000), something that can limit students critical thinking and take from them the opportunity to observe and find out new phenomena by themselves.

Definition and History of Cathode Ray

Definition and History of Cathode Ray A cathode ray is a beam of electrons  in a vacuum tube traveling from the negatively charged electrode (cathode) at one end to the positively charged electrode (anode) at the other, across a voltage difference between the electrodes. They are also called electron beams. How Cathode Rays Works The electrode at the negative end is called a cathode. The electrode at the positive end is called an anode. Since electrons are repelled by the negative charge, the cathode is seen as the source of the cathode ray in the vacuum chamber. Electrons are attracted to the anode and travel in straight lines across the space between the two electrodes. Cathode rays are invisible but their effect is to excite atoms in the glass opposite of the cathode, by the anode. They travel at high speed when voltage is applied to the electrodes and some bypass the anode to strike the glass. This causes atoms in the glass to be raised to a higher energy level, producing a fluorescent glow. This fluorescence can be enhanced by applying fluorescent chemicals to the back wall of the tube. An object placed in the tube will cast a shadow, showing that the electrons stream in a straight line, a ray. Cathode rays can be deflected by an electric field, which is evidence of it being composed of electron particles rather than photons. The rays of electrons can also pass through thin metal foil. However, cathode rays also exhibit wave-like characteristics in crystal lattice experiments. A wire between the anode and the cathode can return the electrons to the cathode, completing an electrical circuit. Cathode ray tubes were the basis for radio and television broadcasting. Television sets and computer monitors before the debut of plasma, LCD, and OLED screens were cathode ray tubes (CRTs). History of Cathode Rays With the 1650 invention of the vacuum pump, scientists were able to study the effects of different material in vacuums, and soon they were studying  electricity  in a vacuum. It was recorded as early as 1705 that in vacuums (or near vacuums) electrical discharges could travel a larger distance. Such phenomena became popular as novelties, and even reputable physicists such as Michael Faraday studied the effects of them. Johann Hittorf discovered cathode rays in 1869 using a Crookes tube and noting  shadows cast on the glowing wall of the tube opposite of the cathode. In 1897 J. J. Thomson discovered that the mass of the particles in cathode rays was 1800 times lighter than hydrogen, the lightest element. This was the first discovery of subatomic particles, which came to be called electrons. He received the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physics for this work. In the late 1800s, physicist Phillip von Lenard studied the cathode rays intently and his work with them earned him the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physics. The most popular commercial application of cathode ray technology is in the form of traditional television sets and computer monitors, although these are being supplanted by newer displays such as OLED.

Global business enironment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Global business enironment - Essay Example Although global organisation operations are intense in the developed nations, the developing nations have also been impacted in one way. Amid the globalisation and diversification of production, the benefit of business activities that are carried out abroad has increased rapidly than even domestic markets (David, Joakim & Richard, 2008).Therefore, the essay evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of globalization for business. Today wave of globalisation that began immediately after World War II has moved businesses and entire world economy to a state of interdependence, and it enabled it through making possible expansion of investment and trade across the national borders. Multinational companies that are always referred as borderless organisations have played a key role in accelerating the pace of world economic interdependence and integration by expanding their businesses (Wallerstein, 2009). Globalisation has led to the dismantling of national barriers and the breakdown of barriers to the flow of goods, capital, services, ideas and people, and the explosion in the volume, complexity and variety of those flows. In addition, it has led to increasing uniformity and standardisation among businesses, the growing homogenisation of infrastructure, policy, and ideas to conform to the global platforms(Wallerstein, 2009). For most of the business organisation, globalisation means an opportunity of taking advantage of scale, and exploiting synergistic benefits, as well as benefiting from the geographical merits and the market power advantages. However, according to the scale economy theory, the average cost per unit goes down as the amount of goods and services that are provided increases. Growth and expansion abroad of the business are the key strengths to getting the benefits of scale, hence achieving important cost reduction for the cost of a production unit, sales system

Delphi Technique of Forecasting Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Delphi Technique of Forecasting - Case Study Example There after results are tabulated and issues raised are identified one by one. This step helps the planner to carefully study the various important issues to be addressed in the next round. It needs to be mentioned here that it is the same questionnaire that is given to all the experts in the panel. These days the questionnaire is sent through mail. Now we come to the second round where the planar tries to hold a meeting with all the experts together and the results of the questionnaire are then return the experts. There are issues where experts agree where as there are some other issues on which they disagree. It is carefully noted by the planner and a general consensus is reached. Finally we come to the third round where the various factors are reevaluated by everyone together and the issues are carefully discussed. In this particular Delphi method group judgments are more important than individual judgments. Information processing. The experts collect the answers in the form of questionnaires and comments. The panel head controls the exchange of ideas among the experts by processing the data and deleting the unnecessary content. Usually the experts engage in disagreements during the panel discussion and hence it has negative effect. Anonymity of participants. ... Regular Feedback: The experts give comments on their own forecasts and it is very much valued by the planner. Anonymity of participants. There is complete anonymity of the participants because the nature of the experts might vary and during the discussion they may try to bully others or some not voice their opinion due to fear of opposition. Role of the facilitator. The role of the facilitator is very important during the discussion among the experts. He interprets the various view points raised by the participants and comes to a conclusion. Uses of Delphi Method in forecasting The Delphi method is very useful in the field of science & technology. Since my organization is into a broadband connection it is particularly very helpful in analyzing the market. The researcher of my organization through his questionnaire has tries to find out the demand of various broadband connection plans across the length and breadth of the country since India has a huge market which needs to be covered by the internet network the feedback given by the participants becomes very valuable to the company. The feedback highlighted various issues on which the experts agreed i.e. the example the different broadband scheme to suit everybody's budget. But they disagreed as to the pricing of the various connection plans. But however a general consensus was reached in the final round and the outcome was positive. The Delphi method however has its drawbacks and may not be always as accurate as it states but the method is not at fault rather the reporting or the interpretation of the feedback taken from the participants may not necessarily give us the true picture as to the future predictions. The

Opinions on Stereotypes Essay Example for Free

Opinions on Stereotypes Essay Webster’s Dictionary defines the word â€Å"stereotype† as a simplified and standardized conception or image of a person, group, etc. , held in common by members of a group. (1265) Many people create stereotypes of an entire group of people based off a single person. There are several different stereotypes that exist amongst society today in many different forms. Most churches and religious affiliated organizations condemn homosexuality which causes less gays to be open about their faith. This brings upon the stereotype that the gay community is not religious at all. This, however, has been proven false. According to Dan Giloff’s article, â€Å"While 72 percent of straight American adults describe their faith as ‘very important’ in their lives, so do 60 percent of gays and lesbians. †(par. 3), the gay community has plenty of religious affiliates now; The United Church of Christ now ordains ministers. Other religious groups are following in their footsteps, making moves to open their doors to the gay community. The people of the gay community are stereotyped heavily in society. Gay men are said to be obsessed with fashion, have great style, have a caddy attitude with very strong opinions, a love for dogs and are destined to be hairdressers, stylists, Broadway dancers, or fashion designers. Lesbians have plenty as well, such as: they move fast in relationships, dress manly, work in some kind of construction field, wear flannel, and hate men. These are all huge generalizations. Although gay men and lesbians may fall under some of these categories, not all do. People have too many factors that make up their identity, so it is unfair to set a certain list of characteristics to them. One of the most common stereotypes is gender stereotyping, which can be limiting to men and women in the world today. Throughout the years there have been plenty of stereotypes placed on women. One being that the woman should always be in the house cooking, cleaning, and tending to their spouses with no complaints. The culture of today has cultivated an image of women, saying that they are outspoken and have strong opinions about anything, that they spend all your money, that they are extremely demanding, and do nothing but gossip and shop endlessly. Women have worked towards breaking this stereotype by taking a stand over many decades and actually making many breakthroughs. Although that is a big stereotype involving women, there is research that shows women are â€Å"typically categorized in 3 primary clusters: traditional (e. g. homemaker), nontraditional (e. g. career woman) and sexy. † (Psychology of women quarterly). In an article from Psychology of Women Quarterly, scientists did research showing that career women held jobs in higher status while the sexier women held more appeal for the lower status, more feminine occupations. A sexier dressed woman showed to invoke negative emotion while also making people think incompetence was inevitable. Where as a more career based woman showed to be looked at as more of a leader figure that was prepared to take care of business at any cost. While Women are stereotyped to be a homemaker or a career woman, men too have sterotypes. Men have been stereotyped as being stupid and sex-obsessed people only worried about the next sports game; or weathly businessmen who cheat on their wives constantly with the closest woman in his office. Contrary to most women’s belief, there are plenty of men who are hardworking businessmen who have happy and loving home lives. Men live above this stereotype all the time. The blonde has two sides, the positive side where blondes are considered to be alluring and desirable. Then there is the negative side, where they are perceived as not being too intelligent and don’t use their common sense to figure out things; they rather rely on their looks than their intelligence. The hair color is often associated with â€Å"floosies†, â€Å"airheads†, or â€Å"ditzy† women. This is a very broad stereotype because there are many smart and successful blond women in society amongst the governments, school systems, and many other places. According to Harriet Brown, â€Å"In landmark 2003 research from the University of Pennsylvania, more than half of the 620 primary-care doctors surveyed characterized their obese patients as ‘awkward,’ ‘unattractive,’ ‘ugly,’ and ‘noncompliant‘ the latter meaning that they wouldnt follow recommendations. More than one-third of the physicians regarded obese individuals as ‘weak willed,’ ‘sloppy,’ and ‘lazy. ’† (par. 3). The stereotypes placed upon obese people usually falls under the words the doctors stated in the study from the article. Most people over look that it could be a medical condition causing such weight gain in obese people. They see the weight and automatically assume that it was a choice based upon laziness and lack of drive. People do not look beyond what they see, which creates plenty of false accusations. While there are many lifestyles that are stereotyped, such as, people assume if your gay; you must have aids, if your atheist; you must hate the world, if you have no religion; you must not have any morals, etc. One in particular is if you’re a biker you like to party hard, have tattoos and are a criminal. However, as much as people who ride motorcycles love the smell of fresh air and the open road, different riding styles are associated with different lifestyles and are completely diverse Racial stereotypes are in abundance in today’s world as well as throughout history. Most associate themselves with racist thoughts. Asians must be smart, Arabs must be terrorists, Irish must have drinking problems, Italians must be in the Mafia, Germans must be Nazi’s, African Americans must be in gangs, whites must be nerds, etc. These stereotypes can be wrong and hurtful in many situations. One public incident from any person of any race can create a stereotype. Society places people they don’t know much about or they don’t understand into classifications, thinking that people who look like them will act the same. Media plays a role in creating all of these stereotypes although people play the biggest role in creating them. It is human nature to notice the difference between themselves and others before the similarities. Media is still held responsible for a lot of the creation because not only does it use pictures of a generalized group to show how a person may look, but media also uses stereotypes as comedic entertainment on popular shows and movies. The romantic movies of today ,as well as in the past, depict very heavily the gender stereotypes placed upon men and women. They always show the â€Å"knight in shining armor who saves the damsel in distress† story, the men always sticking to their â€Å"typical† man stereotype and the women always to theirs. Media does influence our views and thoughts about people and does encourage generalizations about certain classifications of people. People to this day still fight with being held under heavy stereotyping. Society places an immense amount of merit on these loose generalizations. This sadly makes it hard for a lot of the people who do not fall under them and do break free from these stereotypes. While there is some truth to a lot of stereotypes, people need to understand one person cannot define an entire group of people. Whether a stereotype is negative or positive, they both exist and are limiting and leave no room for individuality. Works Cited Brown, Harriet. Does Your Doctor Make You Feel FAT? Prevention 63. 7 (2011): 26-33. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. Gilgoff, Dan. Fighting the Gay-As-Godless Stereotype. U. S. News Digital Weekly 1. 23 (2009): 12. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. Heather Branstiter, et al. Evaluations of Sexy Women in Low- And High-Status Jobs. Psychology of Women Quarterly 29. 4 (2005): 389-395. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Nov. 2011.

The American Society Of Criminology Essay -- Criminology FBI Expositor

The American Society Of Criminology â€Å"AHHHHhhhhh!† I let out a girlish scream and squirmed as shivers went strait up my spine. I was glued to the latest episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, a show that I have watched religiously since its debut. Criminology is something that has always fascinated me, and is a career that I hope to pursue in the future as an FBI agent. I frequently surf the web looking for short stories to read about different criminal cases and to find information about job opportunities and internships. One day I found a website of an organization that studied crime independently of the government. I was immediately intrigued by the organization, and began reading about the American Society of Criminology. â€Å"The American Society of Criminology is an international organization dedicated to the study of criminology† (ASC homepage). The societies purpose is to educate, research, and study the various aspects of the science, and to transmit ideas and information of criminological development and theories into governmental practices. There are five divisions of the organization, the Division on Corrections and Sentencing, the Division of Critical Criminology, the Division of International Criminology, the Division of People of Color and Crime, and the Division of Women and Crime. Each division has its own individual focus and purpose, as well as an independent website. The Organization as a whole, the American Society of Criminology or ASC, was founded on December 30, 1941, when seven College professors of Political Science and Public Administration joined together â€Å"for the purpose of furthering college police training and standardizing police training curricula.† (American Society of Crimino... ...website should be checked out by anyone interested in the various studies of criminology. Works Cited The American Society of Criminology homepage The American Society of Criminology: The Division of Corrections and Sentencing 02 July. 2003 The American Society of Criminology: The Division of Color and Crime 28 Sept. 1999 The American Society of Criminology: The Division of International Criminology 07 Feb. 2003 The American Society of Criminology: The Division of Women and Crime August 2000 The American Society of Criminology: The Divisions of Critical Criminology September 2003

Isyu Sa Wikang Filipino Essay

In this current situation of portentous upheaval in the Philippines, any discussion of the â€Å"language question,† like the â€Å"woman question,† is bound to be imcendiary and contentious. The issue of language is always explosive, a crux of symptoms afflicting the body politic. It is like a fuse or trigger that ignites a whole bundle of inflammable issues, scandalously questioning the existence of God in front of an audience of believers. Or the immortality of souls among the faithful. Perhaps my saying outright that I am a partisan for a national language, Filipino, may outrage the postmodernists and cosmopolites among you—how can you say such a thing when you are speaking in English? Or, as Senator Diokno once said, â€Å"English of a sort. † How dare I infuriate the loyal speakers of Cebuano, Ilocano, Pampagueno, Ilonggo, Taglish, Filipino English, and a hundred or more languages used in these seven thousand islands. One gives up: it can’t be helped. Or we can help lift the ideological smog and draw more lucidly the lines of demarcation in the battleground of ideas and social practices. One suspects that this is almost unavoidable, in a society where to raise the need for one national language, say â€Å"Filipino† (as mandated by the Constitution) is certain to arouse immediate opposition. Or, if not immediately, it is deferred and sublimated into other pretexts for debate and argumentation. Fortunately, we have not reached the point of armed skirmishes and violent confrontations for the sake of our mother/father tongue, as in India and other countries. My partisanship for Filipino (not Tagalog) is bound to inflame Cebuanos, Bicolanos, Ilocanos, and so on, including Filipino speakers-writers of English, or Filipino English. We probably try to defuse any brewing conflict quickly by using the colonizer’s tongue, or compromise babel-wise. My view is that only a continuing historical analysis can help explain the present contradictory conjuncture, and disclose the options it offers us. Only engagement in the current political struggles can resolve the linguistic aporia/antinomy and clarify the import and consequence of the controversy over the national language, over the fate of Filipino and English in our society. _______________ Sa kasalukuyang matinding sigalot sa bansa, anumang talakayan hinggil sa wika ay tiyak na magbubunsod sa isang away o maingay na pagtatalo. Kahawig nito ang usapin ng kababaihan. Laging matinik ang isyu ng pambansang wika, isang sintomas ng pinaglikom na mga sakit ng body politic. Tila ito isang mitsang magpapasabog sa pinakabuod na mga kontradiksiyong bumubuo sa istruktura ng lipunang siyang nakatanghal na larangan ng digmaan ng mga uri at iba’t ibang sektor. Lalong masahol siguro kung sabihin kong nasa panig ako ng mga nagsususog sa isang pambansang wikang tinaguriang â€Å"Filipino. † Tiyak na tututol ang mga Sebuano, Ilokano, Ilonggo, mga alagad ng Taglish, o Ingles, o Filipino-Ingles. Ngunit hindi ito maiiwasan, kaya tuloy na tayong makipagbuno sa usaping ito upang mailinaw ang linya ng paghahati’t pamumukod, at sa gayo’y makarating sa antas ng pagtutuos at pagpapasiya. _______________ One would expect that this issue would have been resolved a long time ago. But, given the dire condition of the Philippine political economy in this epoch of globalized terrorism of the U. S. hegemon, a plight that is the product of more than a century of colonial/neocolonial domination, all the controversies surrounding this proposal of a national language since the time of the Philippine Commonwealth when Quezon convened the Institute of National Language under Jaime de Veyra, have risen again like ravenous ghouls. I believe this specter can never be properly laid to rest until we have acquired genuine sovereignty, until national self-determination has been fully exercised, and the Filipino people—three thousand everyday, more than a million every year–will no longer be leaving in droves as Overseas Contract Workers, the whole nation becoming a global subaltern to the transnational corporations, to the World Bank-World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the predatory finance capital of the global North. If we cannot help but be interpellated by the sirens of the global market and transformed into exchangeable warm bodies, we can at least interrogate the conditions of our subordination—if only as a gesture of resistance by a nascent, irrepressible agency. _________________ Saan mang lugar, ang usapin ng pambansang wika ay kumakatawan sa pagtatalo tungkol sa mga mahalagang usapin sa pulitika at ekonomya. Buti naman, hindi pa tayo nagpapatayan sa ngalan ng wika, tulad ng nangyayari sa India at iba pang bansa. Marahil, napapahinahon ang bawat isa kung Ingles, ang wika ng dating kolonisador, ang wika ng globalisasyon ngayon, ang ating gagamitin. Di ko lang tiyak kung maiging magkakaunawaan ang lahat sapagkat ang pagsasalin o translation, kalimitan, ang siyang nagbubunga ng karagdagang basag-gulo. Ngunit ang pagbaling sa Ingles ay pagsuko lamang sa dominasyon ng kapangyarihang global sa ilalim ng kasalukuyang hegemon, ang Estados Unidos. Ang makalulutas ng krisis, sa tingin ko, ay isang pakikisangkot sa nangyayaring labanang pampulitika at pang-ideolohya, laluna ang pakikibaka tungo sa tunay na kasarinlan at demokrasyang popular, sa gitna ng dominasyon ng mga mayayama’t makapangyarihang bansa sa Europa, Norte Amerika, Hapon, at iba pa. Bagamat mula pa noong panahon ni Quezon hanggang sa ngayon, ang isyu ng â€Å"pambansang wika† ay naipaloob na sa Konstitusyon, bumangon ito muli na tila mga kaluluwang uhaw sa dugo. Maireresolba lang ang isyung ito kung may tunay na soberanya na tayo, at namamayani ang kapangyarihan ng nakararami, mga pesante’t manggagawa, at nabuwag na ang poder ng mga may-aring kakutsaba ng imperyalismo. Sa ngayon, walang kalutasan ito, sintomas ng bayang naghihirap, hanggang ang relasyong sosyal ay kontrolado ng naghaharing uri, laluna ng mga komprador at maylupang pabor sa Ingles, wikang may prestihiyo at kinagawiang wika sa pakikipag-ugnay sa kanilang mga patrong Amerikano, Hapon, Intsik at iba pa. _____________________ In the hope of avoiding such a situation, which is almost ineluctable, I would like to offer the following seven theses that may initiate a new approach to the question, if not offer heuristic points of departure for reflection. In contrast to the dominant neoliberal philosophically idealist-metaphysical approach, I apply a historical materialist one whose method is not only historicizing and dialectical—not merely deploying the â€Å"Aufhebung† of Hegel within an eclectic, neoWeberian framework (as Fernando Zialcita does in his provocative book–Authentic Though Not Exotic: Essays on Filipino Identity (2005)—but also, as Marx said, standing it on its head in the complex and changing social relations of production within concrete historical settings. The materialist dialectic offers a method of analysis and elucidation of the context in which questions about a national language can be clarified and the nuances of its practical implications elaborated. Thesis 1: Language is not a self-sufficient entity or phenomenon in itself but a component of the social forms of consciousness of any given social formation. Marx considered language a productive force, conceived as â€Å"practical consciousness,† as he elaborates in the Grundrisse: â€Å"Language itself is just as much the product of a community, as in another aspect it is the existence of the community–it is, as it were, the communal being speaking for itself† (quoted in Rossi-Landi 1983, 170). As such, it can only be properly addressed within the historical specificity of a given mode of production and attendant social-political formation. It has no history of its own but is a constituent part and constitutive of the ideological terrain on which the struggle of classes and historic blocs are fought, always in an uneven and combined mode of development. It forms part of the conflicted evolution of the integral state, as Gramsci conceived it as the combination of political society and civil society. The issue of language is located right at the heart of the construction of this integral state. Hence not only its synchronic but also diachronic dimensions should be dialectically comprehended in grasping its worth and contribution to the liberation and fulfillment of the human potential. Thesis 2: The function and nature of language then cannot be adequately discussed in a neutral and positivistic-empiricist way, given its insertion into conflicted relations of production, at least since the emergence of class-divided societies in history. Ferruccio Rossi-Landi explains the imbrication of language in social-historical praxis: â€Å"The typically social operation of speaking can only be performed by a historically determined individual or group; it must be performed in a given language, that is, within a determined structure which is always itself, to some extent, both an ideological product and an ideological instrument already; lastly, the audience is determined as well† by the historical-social situation (1983, 169). Language use, in short, the process of communication, cannot escape the necessity of sociopolitical overdetermination. In the Philippines, the status and function of various languages—Spanish, English, and the numerous vernaculars or regional languages—cannot be assayed without inscribing them in the history of colonial and neocolonial domination of the peoples in these islands. In this regard, the terms â€Å"national-popular† and â€Å"nation-people†Ã¢â‚¬â€as Gramsci (1971) employed them in a historical-materialist discourse–should be used in referring to Filipinos in the process of expressing themselves (albeit in a contradiction-filled way) as diverse communities, interpellating other nationalities, and conducting dialogue with themselves and other conversers. It is necessary to assert the fundamental premise of the â€Å"national-popular,† the nation as constituted by the working masses (in our country, workers and peasants), not the patricians. Otherwise, the nation (in the archive of Western-oriented or Eurocentric history) is usually identified with the elite, the propertied classes, the national bourgeoisie, or the comprador bourgeoisie and its allies, the bureaucrats and feudal landlords and their retinue of gangsters, private armies, paramilitary thugs, etc. Actually, today, we inhabit a neocolony dominated by a comprador-bureaucratic bloc of the propertied classes allied with and supported in manifold ways by the U. S. hegemon and its regional accomplices. The recent unilateral policy pronouncement of the de facto Philippine president Arroyo that English should be re-instated as the official medium of instruction in all schools can only be read as a total subservience to the ideology of English as a global language free from all imperialist intent. Obviously this is propagated by free-market ideologues inside and outside government, even though a bill has recently been proposed in the Congress to institute the mother tongue as the medium of instruction up to grade six of the elementary school. (One needs to interject here that this idea of using the mother tongue in the first years of education is not new; it was first planned and tested in the Sta. Barbara, Panay, experiment conducted by Dr. Jose V. Aguilar in the late forties and fifties. But this finding has been buried and forgotten by the neocolonialist policies of all administrations since 1946. ) As Peter Ives pointed out in his Language and Hegemony in Gramsci, issues of language policy in organizing schools and testing curriculum need to be connected to â€Å"political questions of democracy, growing inequalities in wealth and neo-imperialism† (2004, 164), since the daily acts of speaking and writing–in effect, the dynamic field of social communication– involves the struggle for hegemony in the realm of civil society, state institutions, and practices of everyday life. ____________________ Sa halip na sipatin ang isyung ito sa kinagawiang empirical na lapit, tulad ng ginagamit ng mga postmodernistang iskolar, dapat ipataw ang isang materyalismo- istorikal na pananaw at ang diyalektikong paraan upang makalikha ng praktikang agenda na tutugon sa tanong kung ano ba ang wikang pambansang magsisilbing mabisang sandata sa mapagpalayang pakikipagsapalaran ng sambayanan. Ang wika ay hindi isang bagay na may sariling halaga kundi bahagi ito ng kategorya ng kamalayang sosyal, isang kamalayang praktika—â€Å"practical consciousness,† ayon kay Marx—na gumaganap sa buhay bilang lakas ng produksiyon. Matutukoy lamang ito sa gitna ng isang partikular na mode of production sa isang determinadong pormasyonag sosyal. Hindi ito bukod sa pagtatagisang pang-ideolohiya. Kalahok ito sa pagbubuo ng integral state (konseptong galing kay Gramsci), tambalan ng lipunang sibil at lipunang pampulitika. Ang usapin ng wika ay di maihihiwalay sa yugto ng kasaysayan ng bayan, na laging komplikado at di-pantay ang pagsulong ng iba’t ibang bahagi—uneven and combined development. Samakatwid, sa ating sitwasyon, ang suliraning pang-wika ay di maihihiwalay sa programa tungo sa tunay na kasarinlan at kasaganaan, mula sa kasalukuyang neocolonial at naghihikahos na bayan. ____________________ Thesis 3: The Filipino nation is an unfinished and continuing project, an unfinished work, constantly being re-invented but not under conditions of its own making. Becoming Filipinos is a process of decolonization and radical democratization of the social formation, a sequence of collective choices. This is almost a cliche among the progressive forces with a nationalist orientation. It bears repeating that Filipino sovereignty is a dynamic totality whose premises are political independence and economic self-sufficiency. We have not yet achieved those premises. Given the current alignment of nation-states in the world-system under U. S. hegemony, whose hegemony is unstable, precarious, sustained by manifold antagonisms, and perpetually challenged by other regional blocs, becoming Filipino is an ever-renewing trajectory of creation and re-creation, a process overdetermined by legacies of the past and unpredictable incidences of the present and the future. Within this configuration, an evolving, emergent Filipino language may be conceived as both a medium and substantive element in fashioning this sequence of becoming-Filipino, a sequence grasped not as a cultural essence but a network of dynamic political affiliations and commitments. It is also an aesthetic modality of counterhegemonic, anti-imperialist expression. Thesis 4: Only within the project of achieving genuine, substantive national independence and egalitarian democracy can we argue for the need for one national language as an effective means of unifying the masses of peasants, workers and middle strata and allowing them integral participation in a hegemonic process. Note that this is not just a question of cultural identity within the larger agenda of a reformist-individualist politics of identity/recognition. Without changing the unequal and unjust property/power relations, a distinctive Filipino culture incorporating all the diverse elements that have entered everyday lives of the masses can not be defined and allowed to flourish. Without the prosperous development of the material resources and political instrumentalities, a Filipino cultural identity can only be an artificial, hybrid fabrication of the elite—an excrescence of global consumerism, a symptom of the power of transnationalized commodity-fetishism that, right now, dominates the popular consciousness via the mass media, in particular television, films, music, food and fashion styles, packaged life-styles that permeate the everyday practices of ordinary Filipinos across class, ethnicities, age and localities. The consumerist habitus (to use Pierre Bourdieu’s [1998] concept) acquired  from decades of colonial education and indoctrination has almost entirely conquered and occupied the psyche of every Filipino, except for those consciously aware of it and collectively resisting it. With the rise of globalization, it has been a fashionable if tendentious practice among the floating litterateurs, mostly resident in colleges and universities, to advocate the maintenance of the status quo; that is, English as the prestigious language, Taglish as the media lingua franca, and Filipino and the other languages as utilitarian devices for specific tasks. But soon we find that this imitated pluralistic/multiculturalist stand only functions as the effective ploy of neoliberal finance capital. This seemingly pragmatist, accomodationist stance ultimately serves neocolonial goals: the Filipino as presumptive world-citizen functioning as compensation for the lack of effective national sovereignty. Its obverse is regional/ethnic separatism. The culturalist or civilizationalist program, often linked to NGOs and deceptive philanthropic schemes, skips the required dialectical mediation and posits an abstract universality, though disguised in a self-satisfied particularism now in vogue among postcolonial deconstructionists eulogizing the importance of place, locality, indigeneity, organic roots, etc. We discover in time that this trend serves as a useful adjunct for enhancing the festishistic magic, aura and seductive lure of commodities—from brand-name luxury goods to the whole world of images, sounds, theoretical discourses, and multimedia confections manufactured by the transnational culture industry and marketed as symbolic capital for the pettybourgeoisie of the periphery and other subalternized sectors within the metropole. __________________ Sa Pilipinas, ang lagay at papel na ginagampanan ng wika ay maipapaliwanag lamang sa pagsingit nito sa ugnayang panlipunan, sa kontradiksyon ng sumusulong na puwersa ng produksyon at namamayaning balangkas na pumipigil sa pagsulong ng buong lipunan. Ang katayuan ng wika ay nakabatay sa kasaysayan ng bansa, sa kolonyal at neokolonyal na dominasyon ng Kastila, Amerika at Hapon, at sa himagsik ng sambayanan laban sa pang-aapi. Ang mga katagang â€Å"nasyonal-popular† o pambansa-makamasa—na iminungkahi ni Gramsci—ang dapat ilapat sa nakararami na nag-aadhikang makapagpahayag ng kanilang pagkatao sa iba’t ibang paraan, tigib ng kontradiksiyon na bunga ng di-pantay at pinagtambal na pagsulong ng iba’t ibang sangkap ng kabuuang istruktura ng lipunan. Ang wika ay nakalubog sa daloy ng mga kontradiksiyon sa lipunan. Kailangang idiin ang prinsipyo ng nasyonal-popular, pambansa-makamasa, ang bansa na binubuo’t pinapatnubayan ng masang walang pag-aari—mga manggagawa, magsasaka, at gitnang sangay (mga propesyonal, petiburgesyang uri, mga minorya). Kung hindi, ang bansa ay mabibigyan-kahulugan ng mga naghaharing uri, ang iilan na nag-mamay-ari, ang oligarkong tuta ng imperyalismo, mga ahente ng global finance-capital. Thesis 5: Spanish and English are global languages needed for communication and participation in world affairs. They are recognized as richly developed languages of aesthetic and intellectual power useful for certain purposes—English particularly in the scientific and technical fields. But they have a political history and resonance for â€Å"third world peoples† who have suffered from their uses. Its sedimented patterns of thought and action cannot so easily be ignored or elided. The discursive genres of law, business, liturgy, pedagogy, and so on, in English and their institutionalized instrumentalities cannot be judged on their own terms without understanding the political role they played, and continue to play, as effective instruments in the colonial domination of the various peoples in the Philippines and their total subordination to the political-cultural hegemony of the Spanish empire, and then of the American empire from 1899 to 1946, and of U. S. neocolonial control after formal independence in 1946. Everyone knows that while Rizal used Spanish to reach an enlightened Spanish public and an ilustrado-influenced audience, the masses who participated in the Malolos Republic and the war against the Americans used Tagalog, and other vernaculars, in fighting for cultural autonomy and national independence. Historically the national and democratic project of the Philippine revolution—still unfinished and continuing—provides the only viable perspective within which we can explore the need for a national language as a means of uniting and mobilizing the people for this project. Thesis 6: The use and promotion of a national language does not imply the neglect, elimination, or inferiorization of other regional languages spoken and used by diverse communities involved in the national-democratic struggle. In fact, it implies their preservation and cultivation. But that is contingent on the attainment of genuine national sovereignty and the emancipation of the masses, their integration into active participation in governance. Their inferiorization is tied to the oppression of their users/speakers by virtue of class, nationality, religion, ethinicity, locality, and so on. (My friends in Panay who use Kinaray-a, Ilonggo or Akenaon should not fear being dominated by a Manila-centric hegemony as long as they address crucial political questions of social justice and sovereignty in a manner that commands directive force, displacing the question of form with the substantive totality of communication across ethnic and local differences to forge a flexible but principled united front for national democracy and socialist liberation. ) Meanwhile, in the course of the national-liberation struggle, all languages should and are being used for mobilization, political education, and cultural self-affirmation. Simultaneously, the dissemination and development of one national language becomes a political and economic-cultural necessity for unifying the diverse communities under a common political program—which does not imply a monolithic ideological unity– in front of the monstrous power of finance-capital using English as an instrument of subordination and neocolonial aggression. In this regard, I would argue that the unity and collective pride attendant on the use of one national language provides the groundwork and fundamental requisite for the promotion and development of other ethnic/regional languages within the national polity. This is a psychological-ideological imperative that cannot be deferred. A dialectical approach should be applied to the historically contentious relations between a dominant vernaculat (Tagalog) and its subalternized counterparts (Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, etc. ) in order to transcend historically sedimented prejudices and promote creative dialogue and intertextuality among all the languages spoken in the Philippines. ____________________ Ang bansang Pilipinas na may kasarinlan at matipunong industriya ay isang proyektong di pa tapos, nagpapatuloy, laging iniimbento ngunit hindi sa anumang kondisyon. Ang pagiging Filipino ay isang proseso ng dekolonisasyon at demokratisasyong radikal, isang kaganapan na likha ng kolektibong pagpapasya, hindi indibidwal na kagustuhan. Ang proyektong ito ay hinuhubog at niyayari ng maraming lakas, ng minanang ugali at sari-saring idea at institusyon katutubo o hiram. Hindi ito nakatutok sa pagtatamo ng isang esensiya, kundi makikilatis ito bilang isang masalimuot na pagbubuklod ng dinamikong pakikisamang pampulitika at mga komitment. Ito’y isa ring estetikong kalakaran sa kontra-gahum na paglikhang makasining. Sa loob lamang ng pangitaing ito, sa proyekto ng pagsisikap makamit ang tunay na pambansang kasarinlan at demokrasyang radikal makatuturang mahihimay ang problema ng pangangailangan ng wikang pambansa, isang wikang mabisang makapag-iisa sa masa at mga komunidad sa teritoryo ng Pilipinas, at makapagdudulot ng mabisang partisipasyon sa pagbuo ng isang gahum o lideratong moral-intelektwal ng masang manggagawa. Paano mayayari ang mapagpalayang gahum kung walang pagkakaisang kinakatawan ng/kumakatawan sa sariling wika ng komunikasyon at pag-iisip? ______________________ Thesis 7: Hegemony, the moral and intellectual leadership of the Filipino working masses, the scaffold within which an authentic Filipino identity can grow, assumes the rise of organic Filipino intellectuals who will use and develop Filipino as the evolving national language. Again, this does not mean suppressing other regional languages. Nor does it mean prohibiting the use and teaching of English or other international languages (Spanish, French, Chinese, etc. ). It simply means the establishment of a required platform, basis or foundation, without which the productive forces of the people within this particular geopolitical boundary can be harnessed, refined, and released in order to, first, benefit the physical and spritual health of Filipinos, repair and recover the damage inflicted by centuries of colonial oppression and exploitation, and thus be able to contribute to the cultural heritage of humankind. That is why mandating the continued teaching of English equally with Filipino, with the mother language as auxiliary, at the secondary level, betokens a schizophrenic if not treacherous and treasonous policy of the ruling class beholden to U. S. and transnational corporate interests. Without an independent national physiognomy, Filipinos have nothing distinctive to share with other nations and peoples. Without national self-determination and a historically defined identity, there is no way Filipinos can contribute their distinctive share in global culture. In fact, it is impossible to be a global citizen unless you have fully grown and matured as an effective democratic participant in the making of a prosperous, egalitarian nation-people in a historically specific territory defined by a concretely differentiated sequence of events not replicated elsewhere. _________________ Ang layon natin ay hindi lamang kultural na identidad, o kasiyaang pang-kalinangan. Sa gitna ng komodipikasyon ng lahat, sa gitna ng laganap na konsumerismo at paghahari ng halagang-pamalit (exchange-value), ang reipikasyon at alyenasyon ng ugnayan ng mga tao ay siyang nagpapalabo sa usapin ng wika. Hindi malulutas ang mga tanong tungkol sa wika hanggang hindi nahaharap ang mistipikasyon ng pakikipagkapwa, na ngayo’y natatabingan at nalalambungan ng mga komoditi, bilihin, salapi, na tila siyang umuugit, nagpapagalaw, namamahala’t gumagabay sa lahat ng bagay. Ang mistipikasyong ito ay mawawala lamang kung mapapanaw ang paghahari ng global na kapital, ang patakaran na tubo/yaman muna bago kapakanan ng tao—na, sa ngayon, ay nagsasalita sa Ingles, ang wika ng kongkistador na pumalit sa mga Kastila. Ang pagbuo’t pagpapayaman ng isang pambansang wika, Filipino, ay hindi nangangahulugan ng pagsasaisantabi o pagbabalewala sa ibang mga wikang ginagamit ng maraming komunidad. Ang pagpapalawig at pagsuporta sa mga wikang ito ay matutupad kung may basehan lamang: ang kasarinlan ng bansa batay sa pagpapalaya sa masa. Sa harap ng higanteng lakas ng kapitalismong global, maisusulong lamang ang proyektong nabanggit ko kung makikibaka tayo sa programa ng pagbabago tungo sa pamamayani, gahum, ng masang gumagawa. Ang wika ay maaaring maging mapagpalayang sandata kung ito’y binubuhay ng masa sa pang-araw-araw na kilos at gawa. __________________ Historical examples are often misleading, but sometimes elucidatory. It may be irrelevant and even Eurocentric to invoke the examples of Italy and Germany as nations that experienced unified mobilization through the affirmation of national-popular languages, Italy vis-a-vis the Papal ascendancy, and Germany vis-a-vis Latin/Roman Catholic hegemony. In any case, again, the social and historical function and character of language cannot be adequately grasped without situating them in the complex dynamics of the conflict of social classes in history since the break-up of the communal tribes in the hunting-gathering stage, since the rise of private property in the means of production, and the intricate dialectics of culture and collective psyche in the political economy of any social formation. In short, language is not just a permanently undecidable chain of signifiers, always deconstructing itself and falling into abysmal meaninglessness, a vertigo of nonsense and silly absurdities quite appropriate, of course, for pettybourgeois careerists, dilettantes, and hirelings of the oligarchs. Rather, language is a social convention and a site of struggle, the signifier conceived as â€Å"an arena of class struggle† (1986, 23) to use Mikhail Bakhtin’s synthesizing phrase. To conclude these reflections with an open-ended marker: I believe that only from this historical materialist perspective, and within the parameters of the political project of attaining genuine autonomy as a nation-people, can the discussion of a Filipino national language be intelligible and productive. But, again, such a discussion finds its value and validity as part of the total engagement of the people for justice, authentic national independence, and all-sided emancipation from the nightmares of the past and the terrorist fascism of the present. _____________________ Ang wika ay isang larangan o arena ng tunggalian ng mga uri, ayon kay Mikhail Bakhtin. Naniniwala ako na ang usaping ito, kung ano talaga ang wikang pambansa, ay masasagot lamang sa loob ng proyektong pampulitika, tinimbang at sinipat sa isang materyalistiko-istorikal na pananaw. Ang wika ay praktipang panlipunan, isang produktibong lakas ng sambayanan. Nakapanahon ngang maintindihan natin ito ngayon kung matagumpay na madalumat at mapahalagahann ang kolektibong saloobin ng sambayanan, na ngayon ay naisasatinig sa anagramatikong islogan: ZOBRA NA, TAMA NA, EXIT NA! Samantala, panahon na ngayon at pagkakataong mapakinggan ang iba pang tinig ng madla rito sa makasaysayang hapong ito, una muna ang kasamang Bien Lumbera. – REFERENCES Bakhtin, Mikhail/V/ N. Voloshinov. 1986. Marxism and the Philosophy of Language, translated by Ladislav Matejka and I. R. Titunik. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Bourdieu, Pierre. 1998. Practical Reason. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Gramsci, Antonio. 1971. Selections from the Prison Notebooks, edited by Quintin Hoare and Geoffrey Nowell Smith. New York: International Publishers. Ives, Peter. 2004. Language and Hegemony in Gramsci. London: Pluto Press. Rossi-Landi, Ferruccio. 1983. Language as Work and Trade. South Hadley, Mass: Bergin & Garvey Publishers, Inc. Zialcita, Fernando. 2005. Authentic Though Not Exotic: Essays on Filipino Identity. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.