Tom 8 (2022): Zeszyt 2 (October 2022)

This study aims to examine the forms of nature represented in the fiction written by Ahmad Tohari. The source of this analysis is Ahmad Tohari works entitled (1) Kubah, (2) Di Kaki Bukit Cibalak, (3) Lingkar Tanah Lingkar Air (4) Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk, (5) Lintang Kemukus Dini Hari, (6) Jantera Bianglala, and (7) Orang-orang Proyek. Data were collected by means of reading and note-taking technique. Semantic validity was used to measure the data validity, while intra-rater and inter-rater were used to check the reliability. The collected data were then analyzed using the descriptive qualitative technique. The results show that many works written by Ahmad Tohari represent nature. His works show nature in the story setting, characters, and titles. In terms of story setting, the fertile soil, the variety of plants, and small animals usually found in the countryside and forests are presented. The writer describes various places, such as the forest around Cibawor River, Cigobang forest, Citandui River creek, Cibalak Hill, Tanggir Village, and Dukuh Paruk where various plants and animals are found. Then, in terms of representation of nature in the names of characters, there is a character named “Srintil”. In Banyumas area, Srintil refers to a type of tobacco that has a fairly higher economic value compared to other types of tobacco. Srintil tobacco may have a high economic value if only it is cared properly, and the green leaves are not damaged. At last, the nature representations in the novel titles are shown in Di Kaki Bukit Cibalak, Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk, Lintang Kemukus Dini Hari, and Jantera Bianglala. The nature representations in Ahmad Tohari's works add aesthetic values and deliver the message of environmental protection.

W.B. Yeats (1865-1939) discussed different issues in his plays. He dramatized the Irish society, folklore, and nationality. The Abby Theatre became his platform for Irish national art and his struggle for the Irish unity, prosperity and strength. The poet according to Yeats is a visionary, a wanderer, and an activist. The paper aims at analyzing Aleel’s self-conflict and his repeated attempts to persuade Countess Cathleen of leaving her quest for the sake of their love and sublime life. Besides, it will explain Aleel’s journey towards Countess Cathleen ‘s pole of objectivity.

The role and contribution of images to the educational process has been pointed out by many researchers. Images are a source of information and for this reason their use in education is both important and valuable. Their enduring nature is demonstrated by their long-lasting presence in educational textbooks at every level of education. The introduction of new audiovisual media into the practice of teaching has resulted in a change in the traditional way in which they appear and are displayed. However, the factor which has remained stable and unaltered is the benefit which results from their being used.

Bernhard Schlink’s novel The Reader (1995) has been a very controversial book since its publication. Not only it portrays a sexual relationship between a 15-year-old Michael and 36-year-old Hanna without any judgment on the part of the author as the voice of the society, but it also leaves a space for the reader to sympathize with a Nazi criminal. The analyses presented in this article will take the cue from the current discussion of The Reader as a Holocaust novel. Thus, it will be argued that Michael’s victimization by Hanna is similar to her treatment of the Jews in the camp. The examination of the novel commences with the analysis of his relationship with Hanna, which is the focus of the first part of the novel, revealing that silence is the key element of their oedipal mother−son relationship, which they use as a strategy for safeguarding their bond. This will be followed by the analysis of Michael’s silence during Hanna’s trial, the findings of which indicate that, as an adult, Michael is keen to put his traumatic past behind him and thus distances himself from language by remaining silent about his experiences. Henceforth, his actions resemble the Jewish survivors’ refusal to discuss what happened to them in the camps. Therefore, “silence” emerges as an overarching theme in the novel and will be the key term in this article that links Jewish victims with the German perpetrators, as well as their descendants. In closing, it will be posited that The Reader can be viewed as a Holocaust novel, not due to its treatment of the Holocaust through Michael’s solidarity with an ex-perpetrator, but because of his genuine empathy with and understanding of the nameless Jewish survivor that is revealed at the end of the novel.

The aim of the present study is to examine the effect of perceived interest and prior knowledge on EFL reading comprehension. Participants were 227 undergraduates with advanced competence in English. With respect to the method, participants had to read a 450-word text entitled Wales. After that, they had to complete a Perceived Interest Questionnaire (PIQ), which consisted of 9 items and two assessment tasks: a written recall and a multiple choice task. The results of our study show the significant effect of perceived interest and prior knowledge on L2 reading comprehension. Thus, comprehension assessed via written recall and multiple choice questions had higher scores when readers read texts related to their interests. Besides, prior knowledge had a positive effect on the reader’s comprehension irrespective of the assessment method used. This study concludes that different assessment tasks may be crucial factors that affect the relationship between factors like interest and prior knowledge, and L2 reading comprehension.

Having been defined as an ‘incomplete man’ or an ‘incidental being’ that lacks certain qualities, women have gradually internalized the patriarchal ideology, claiming that they are essentially insufficient. Considering themselves as the insignificant ‘Other’ in relation to men, women are full of self-loathing and shame over their bodies. Thus, always seeking men’s approval, women drown out the inner voice of their bodies and resort to being ‘the body for others’. However, for Woolf, it is a self- destruction not a salvation. She claims women have to get rid of those docile bodies and disembodied minds to be able to take control of their own lives cleared from all the social constraints, society constructed gender roles and patriarchal demands. For Woolf, this is only possible when women assert themselves through their bodies, thereby realizing a new sense of being inside themselves that is powerful and autonomous ready to actualize its potential. Therefore, basing its argument on those assertions of Virginia Woolf and one of her most influential novels, To the Lighthouse, this study puts forward women’s body image largely influenced by phallocentric world and its typical patriarchal system can be challenged and subverted through the ‘visionary body’ that enables women to achieve the unique process of self-discovery and wholeness.

In his personal account of cancer, Ball (2003), the performance artist, Brian Lobel, intently refuses to succumb to the myths about the illness, challenging the cancer narratives that have traditionally been based on a discourse of heroism or martyrdom. While his performance is, at times, sensational with a keen focus on sexuality and a determination to produce humour out of a grave matter, they invite criticism for the way cancer has been perceived and presented as a medical condition and for the social stigma attached to the disease. This paper addresses the numerous ways in which Lobel challenges the assumptions, expectations and taboos regarding cancer, cancer patients and survivors by examining his strategies in the light of cultural studies on cancer and humour theories.^*

In the Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690), Locke set out to offer an analysis of the human mind and its acquisition of knowledge still very current and important today. Locke offered also an empiricist theory according to which we acquire ideas through our experience of the world. The article examines Locke’s views on language and his principal innovation in the field of linguistic theory, represented by the recognition of the power of language with respect to the classification of the world, and its relative independence from reality. In particular the following topics are discussed: a) the polemical contrast with Cartesian philosophy b) the criticism that Locke levels against innatism c) the function of abstraction of the mind d) the concept of semiotics as a theory of thought and its expression e) the radical concept of arbitrariness f) the pragmatic factor intrinsic to Locke’s linguistics described as “communicational scepticism”.

The focus of this paper is on usage of communicative verbs show, speak, talk and argue within adverbial clauses. Since adverbial clauses are used to realize time, place, manner and contingency semantic categories, the main goal of this paper is to illustrate the use of adverbial clauses that have communicative verbs show, speak, talk, and argue as verbals. The aim is to analyze the frequency and distribution of the verbs show, speak, talk and argue in all types of adverbial clauses. We will also present similarities and dissimilarities of their use in the specific adverbial clauses, and show the specific features of their use within each type of adverbial clause. We will also determine the most frequent type of adverbial clause in each register. The goal is also to present certain features of the selected verbs along with their practical use in spoken and written language. Except that, we will also determine the most frequently used subordinators that introduce all types of adverbial clauses, their use and distribution across analyzed corpus.

The paper examines Greek EFL Coordinators’ involvement in online Communities of Practice (CoPs) in terms of its impact on participating teachers’ professional development. The study focuses on four online CoPs hosting 49 Greek EFL teachers as participants and four Greek EFL Coordinators, using an online platform named 2gather developed by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in the context of a national in-service professional development project in Greece. The study involves investigating the Coordinators’ patterns of involvement and their trainees’ response using a mixed-methods approach which combines quantitative and qualitative research as collective case studies of the four groups. Differentiations between the four Coordinators’ reported patterns of involvement and teachers’ reported effectiveness of their CoP training experience enables us to identify critical factors that contribute to the enhancement of effectiveness. A comparison of the Coordinators’ and their trainees’ responses per online CoP highlights the factors that have supported teachers’ reported reconstruction of knowledge and practices and the reported effectiveness of the CoP training experience regarding their everyday teaching practice. The findings contribute to furthering our understanding of effective online CoPs implementation in the context of continuing professional development.