IV. Reading IV. 1. Before reading IV.1.1. Is this worth reading? Why should I read this (in general)? What do I need to learn concretely? How much time do I have? Who is the target audience of the text? Who is the author and what do I know about them? What do I already know? IV.1.2. when reading We read only as much as we need! We read only when we are focused! We read actively IV.1.3. after reading Have I learned / found what I expected? Do I understand what I have just read? Do I remember? Do I know where my notes are? Do they include bibliography? Vladimir Nobokov: „A good reader, major reader, an active and creative reader is a re-reader.” (Manguel, 2008: 3) IV.2. Scanning Task 1 Here are six abstracts of journal articles related to the topic of “triangulation”. You are not sure what triangulation means as a method and how you could use it in the area of Humanities. Read the abstracts (a-f) and choose which texts are worth reading. a) The Ordinance Survey techniques of analytical aerial triangulation have been widely reported over the years. The author describes some modifications to that system as well as tests on independent model methods of aerial triangulation and investigations into the cause of image deformation. (Farrow, 2006) b) Triangulation involves the careful reviewing of data collected through different methods in order to achieve a more accurate and valid estimate of qualitative results for a particular construct. This paper describes how we used three qualitative methods of data collection to study attitudes of students toward graphing, hands-on activities, and cooperative grouping techniques using the triangulation method. (Oliver-Hoyo, DeeDee, 2006) c) We show that a triangulation of a set of n points in the plane that minimizes the maximum edge length can be computed in time O(n 2). The algorithm is reasonably easy to implement and is based on the theorem that there is a triangulation with min-max edge length that contains the relative neighbourhood graph of the points as a subgraph. With minor modifications the algorithm works for arbitrary normed metrics. (Edelsbrunner, Seng Tan, 1991) d) This paper explores various types of triangulation strategies and indicates when different types of triangulation should be used in research. Our reviews included literature on triangulation and multimethod strategies published since 1960 and research books specifically focusing on triangulation. By triangulation we mean the combination of at least two or more theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, data sources, investigators, or data analysis methods. The intent of using triangulation is to decrease, negate, or counterbalance the deficiency of a single strategy, thereby increasing the ability to interpret the findings. The use of triangulation strategies does not strengthen a flawed study. Researchers should use triangulation if it can contribute to understanding the phenomenon; however, they must be able to articulate why the strategy is being used and how it might enhance the study. (Thurmond, 2004) e) The more recent interpretation of triangulation in social and educational research was summarised and examined with reference to theory triangulation applied in an empirical study. The construction of special educational needs (SEN) from the individual experiences of a sample of SEN co-ordinators and SEN teachers, parents, and adolescents with emotional and behavioural difficulties or physical disabilities were interpreted from the perspectives of personal construct theory, bio-psycho-social model, socio-psychological analysis, bioecological model of human development and a developmental model of self-understanding. Their points of convergence and divergence enriched and extended theoretical understanding. The focus on the 'verstehen' psychological level of analysis and on forging closer theory, concept and data connections influenced the range of theory choice. This instance of theory triangulation casts doubts on the Duhem-Quine thesis of underdetermination. (Ma, Norwich, 2007) f) The ice movement on the Byrd Glacier, Antarctica, was measured as function of time, on the basis of aerial photography. The method of aero-levelling strip triangulation with a minimum of geodetic control was applied. The methods and procedures were verified over Laufen-Bauma test area. (Adler, 1984) Task 2 Find the answers to the questions. Work only with the information mentioned in the texts. A) 1) Can you name at least two types of quantitative research? 2) Why have quantitative approaches been dominant in social sciences? 3) What are advantages of quantitative research? Quantitative approaches are classified as such because they involve gathering and analysing numerical data. In the social sciences, quantitative approaches have been dominant for several decades, in part because of their aura of scientific rigour and clarity. One disadvantage of this approach, however, is the amount of time necessary to receive training in test and survey design and statistical analyses, both of which are integral parts of most quantitative studies. Main types of quantitative research include survey research, quasi-experimental studies and true experiments. (Murray, Beglar, 2009:43) B) 1) How does a qualitative approach differ from a quantitative one? 2) When is a qualitative approach a suitable one for research? 3) Are there any other qualitative research types apart from a case study and non-participant observation? Qualitative approaches to research involve measures that do not use numerical data. Examples are written documents, interview transcripts, observations of a person or situation and the field notes that may generate, and video and audio recordings. Qualitative approaches are particularly well-suited when you are trying to generate new theories or hypotheses, achieve a deep understanding of a particular issue, present detailed narratives to describe a person or process, and as one component of a mixed-methods study. Examples of qualitative research include ethnographies, case studies, narratives, histories, biographies and non-participant observation. (Murray, Beglar, 2009:43)[1] C) 1) Does a philosophical inquiry belong to the mixed-methods approaches? 2) Which two mixed-methods designs consist of two phases? 3) Why are mixed-methods approaches attractive to some researchers? Mixed-methods approaches are exactly what they sound like: they are a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches. They are attractive to many researchers because they logically allow them to take advantage of the strengths of each approach while simultaneously overcoming their weaknesses to some degree. Essentially, proponents of mixed-methods approaches propose that, in most instances, researchers who make use of more types of data collection tools and analyses will come to understand the object of inquiry better than those who restrict themselves to a more limited set of purely quantitative or qualitative tools. Cresswell and Plano Clark (2007) list four main types of mixed-methods designs. The most common one, the triangulation design, is used when the researcher wants directly compare and/or contrast the quantitative and qualitative results or to elaborate on the quantitative results using qualitative methods. For instance, statistical analyses may indicate a reliable difference between two groups, but the reasons for that difference may best be discovered by interviewing a selected number of persons from each group. The second design, which is called the embedded design, is one in which one data set provides a strictly supportive role for the primary data set. This means that the data set playing the supportive role would not be able to stand alone in a meaningful way. For instance, in a quantitative experimental design the researchers might ask the participants to answer open-ended questions about the experimental treatment. The participants´ responses would not make a lot of sense, however, without knowledge of the experiment. The third type of mixed-methods design, the explanatory design, is a two-phase design in which qualitative data explain or enhance quantitative data. For instance, a quantitative researcher may need to speak directly with some participants in order to discover why an experiment did or did not work as planned. The fourth and final type of design is the exploratory design. In this case, the results of a qualitative study are used to help the researcher develop a quantitative study. By approaching the topic in an open, qualitative way, the researcher can search for important variables of interest, or even develop an instrument that more accurately measures the variable of interest, or even develop a model or theory based on an in-depth study of the people and research context. Like the explanatory design, this one is also conducted in two phases, with the quantitative phase following a potentially long qualitative phase. (Murray, Beglar, 2009: 50-51) D) 1) What do X and Y stand for? 2) What or who is Pareto? 3) What is the ´Pareto-desirable´? 4) How many characteristics of the Pareto criterion are mentioned in the text? 5) In what sense is the Pareto criterion personal? The predominant conception of desirability used in economics is based on the Paretian family concepts. The Pareto criterion states that a state of the world, X, is better than another state, Y, if no one is worse off in Y than in X, and that at least one person is better off in X. A movement from one state to another which satisfies the Pareto criterion is said to be ´Pareto-desirable´. Three characteristics of this norm are worth noting. First, it is consequentialist in the sense that the immediate objects of evaluation are alternative states of the world. The question of whether an action or policy or institutional arrangement is desirable derives from that action/policy/institution´s influence on how the world lies as a result of this implementation. Second, the Pareto criterion is ´personal´ in the sense that the moral responsibility of alternative states of the world is exhausted by the well-offness of persons: any ´moral goodness´ is moral goodness for someone. Third, the goodness of persons is a matter of their preference-satisfaction: an individual is ´better off´ if she enjoys more preference-satisfaction. (Goodin, Petit, 2001: 125) E) 1) How do the figures 220,000 and 400,000 relate to Australia? 2) How long is the Perth Bicycle Network? 3) Do all cyclists respect the law and wear helmets when riding? 4) In the years 1982-1989, was the fall in number per 10,000 of regular cyclists larger for serious injuries or for reported deaths? 5) Who reported statistic concerning the fall in number of people cycling to work from 1.9% to1.1%? 6) When did the massive decline in cycling start? The compulsory bicycle helmet law has changed cycling behaviour of the population of Western Australia. The number of regular cyclists in Western Australia almost doubled between 1982 and 1989 from 220,000 to 400,000. At the same time, the numbers of cyclists admitted to West Australian hospitals and reported deaths and serious injuries per 10,000 regular cyclists fell by 48% and 33% respectively. Although surveys suggest a substantial increase in cyclist road numbers from 2000 to 2009, The Sports Commission Report shows there were 224,600 cyclists aged 15 and over in Western Australia in 2008. The Report also confirms that in Western Australia, the massive decline in cycling began around 1991 when the helmet law was enacted. The Bureau of Statistics figures released in November 2006 show the proportion of West Australians either cycling or walking to work fell from 6.4% in 1996 to 3.8% in 2006. The BS figures show the proportion of people cycling to work or study in Western Australia has fallen from 1.9% to 1.1% in the decade to 2006. Government surveys suggest that from 1998 to 2007 there was a 159% increase in public usage of the 750 kilometre Perth Bicycle Network, which incorporates shared paths, bike lanes and cycle-friendly streets to provide an interconnected grid throughout the metropolitan area. On the other hand, a majority of the additional cyclists are riding without a helmet. Police enforcement of the helmet law has not been apparent in Perth since about 2000, although this is not uniform and some officers are still apprehending bare-head cyclist. (Scribeworks, 2011) Task 3 Read the text below and then decide whether the expressions a-h are true (T) or false (F). The space between anarchy and society was in the first instance opened in consequence of the Age of Discovery – an epoch that both Adam Smith and Karl Marx agreed marked a turning point in human history (Smith, 1981, Marx, 1978). When the first European explorers set out for the New World, and when they circumnavigated the Cape of Good Hope to reach the shores of India and the islands of Pacific, they came into contact with people who were different in every way imaginable. Pizzaro, Cortes, de Gama, and those who followed, encountered people who held radically different beliefs about government, economy, morality, and all that is related to the organisation of public life. They understood notions of obligation, responsibility, right, and good in wholly different terms. They had their own standards of courage, beauty, honour, and prudence. And they approached questions of religion, community, marriage, and family in ways that repelled or frightened most Europeans. But instead of accepting the legitimacy of these practices, that is, granting them recognition as being fully rational and fully moral in spite of their difference, most Europeans responded to the difference of others with the monist ethics of superior civilization. The European explorer, trader, missionary, soldier, and administrator was not prepared to accept that what may be pleasing to a man in Lisbon, London, or Paris may be anything but desirable to a man in Angola, Bihar, or Senegal. Thus, relations based on reciprocal recognition and mutual consent were impossible so long as some people were convinced of the superiority of their God, their science, and their virtue, and possessed the power to impose them on others. (Bain, 2003: 14-15) a) The Age of Discovery caused anarchy in our society. T/F b) Smith and Marx thought the Age of Discovery significantly changed human history. T/F c) First European explorers found similar cultures in America and elsewhere. T/F d) Pizzaro, Cortes, and de Gama met people with familiar ideas of public life. T/F e) Most Europeans widely appreciated dissimilar morals and ways of thinking. T/F f) Most Europeans felt they were above the others and did not acknowledge any diversity. T/F g) Europeans did not want to see that others had different needs and wishes. T/F h) Europeans thought their ideas were better than those of the others and had the potential to force the others to respect them. T/F IV.3 Skimming Task 4 Přečtěte si následující odstavce a vyberte názvy, který nejlépe charakterizují hlavní myšlenku. Read the texts below and decide which titles are the most appropriate. a) The array of internet sources can be baffling. Apart from the obvious e-journals which are available on university sites and library databases (which are often divided into subjects by librarians), there are many other sources. However, some types of information are more useful to certain subjects. For example, newspapers will give up-to-date editorial information for Politics students; and Social Studies, Education, History and Environmental Studies students can benefit from government statistical data. There are also downloadable, video-streamed interview of professionals´ case study findings for Education students on www.techers.tv. (Price, Maier, 2007: 259) 1. Types of information on the Internet 2. Internet source in libraries and at home 3. The Internet and its use for different subjects 4. The internet as a leading source of information b) Occasionally, problems occur in a supervisor-supervisee relationship. This may be the result of a clash of personalities, a major disagreement over the direction the research is taking, dissatisfaction with the amount and / or quality of support the supervisee is receiving or even a fundamental and irreconcilable difference of perspective over a theoretical question or issue. Whatever the reason, supervisees are always at liberty to request a change of supervisor and should not hesitate to take up this option if they no longer feel comfortable with the relationship. After all, it is their time, research and money that are at stake, and if they are not happy this may be reflected in the time taken to complete their research, the enjoyment they derive from doing it, and the quality of the final product. (Murray, Beglar, 2009: 25) 1. Determining the best supervisor for a supervisee 2. Advantages and disadvantages of a high-profile supervisor 3. Supervisees and their basic rights 4. What can go wrong in a supervisor-supervisee relationship c) An important anthropologist, Edward T. Hall, observed that different cultures had particular preferences when structuring their time. Cultures that see time as linear tend to emphasise the usage of time in discrete slots and complete tasks in a linear manner. Those cultures that see time as more fluid and less exact tend to carry out their tasks in a more non-linear manner and do lots of things at the same time. Work has continued in this field and these characteristics are also observed in individuals and particular jobs. Different jobs have different time cultures where different time personalities can thrive. Those working with disaster teams, transport crews and surgical teams need people who can estimate time accurately and know what has to be done, when it has to be done, and do it. Those working in more creative fields may find such colleagues stifling. The academic time culture is deadline driven and many institutions will penalise you if your work is not handed in on time. If working to deadlines is not your preferred style then it is important to acknowledge that first and devise ways of coping. With regard to individuals, those preferring to do one task at a time are seen as ´linear taskers´ while those happy to juggle lots of tasks at the same time are seen as ´multi-taskers´. If you see time as being discrete then you are able to identify slots in which to work and control your time. If, on the other hand, you see time as fluid and continuous you may not see much of a separation between work and social life and you carry out tasks when the mood takes you rather than working to rigid time plans. How you think of time therefore can influence your tendency to multi-task or not. (Price, Maier, 2007: 59) 1. Time perception and multitasking 2. The comfort of multitasking 3. A comparison of multitaskers and linear taskers in the workplace 4. How to cope with being a non-multitasker Task 5 Read the texts below and in a few words describe the main idea of each of them. a) Emotive language uses words, phrases and examples that intend to provoke an emotional response. Some subjects such as children, parents, national pride, religion, crime and security are emotive. Using these unnecessarily as arguments can influence the audience´s emotions. People tend to trust their own emotional response. Strong emotions are usually signal to the body to act quickly rather than to slow down and use reasoning. If an author can elicit an emotional response, then the audience is likely to be less critical of the reasoning. Where subjects are emotive, it is particularly important to check the underlying reasoning carefully. (Cottrell, 2005:117) b) Technopoly is a state of culture. It is also a state of mind. It consists in the deification of technology, which means that the culture seeks its authorization in technology, finds its satisfactions in technology, and takes its orders from technology. This requires the development of a new kind of social order, and of necessity leads to the rapid dissolution of much that is associated with traditional beliefs. Those who feel most comfortable in Technopoly are those who are convinced that technical progress is humanity's superhuman achievement and the instrument by which our most profound dilemmas may be solved. They also believe that information is an unmixed blessing, which through its continued and controlled production and dissemination offers increased freedom, creativity, and peace of mind. The fact that information does none of these things -- but quite the opposite -- seems to change few opinions, for unwavering beliefs are an inevitable product of the structure of Technopoly. In particular, Technopoly flourishes when the defences against information break down. (Postman, 1992: 71-72.) c) Authors can attempt to persuade their audience through using comparisons. In creative writing such as poetry and fiction, it is legitimate to compare two items that seem at first to be dissimilar in order to produce a literary effect such as surprise, humour or an unexpected perspective. In creative writing, it may be possible to say ´it is raining wellington boots´, or ´the moon is a goddess riding her chariots of clouds´. Literary critics have to decide whether such comparisons work to create the desired effect on the audience. For most types of critical thinking, however, comparisons must be valid, and add to our understanding of the situation. In scientific terms, for example, it does not help to think of the moon as a goddess or clouds as chariots. Comparisons draw attention to those aspects which are similar. As two things are never identical, it takes critical evaluation and judgement to decide whether a comparison is valid for the context. If the comparison helps to give a more accurate understanding, then it is likely to be valid. (Cottrell, 2005: 112) IV.4. Main ideas vs developing points Task 6 Read the text below and decide which is the main idea and which are developing arguments. a) There is a tradition in social science which holds that it is quite wrong to suppose that the social sciences have failed; what they have done, in the author’s view, is borrowed the wrong picture of success. If the social sciences were compared with archaeology, they would not look at all like failures – quite bad sociologists can produce more reliable information about living habits in Hackney than very good archaeologists can produce about living habits in Knossos. It is only in the light of the achievements of some of the natural sciences that charges of failure can get off the ground; but it is also worth recalling that the aim of emulating the natural sciences is not one which was thrust on social scientists by philosophers anxious to discredit them. If nobody has ever been claimed to be the Newton of the social sciences, Marx for one was praised as their Darwin. (Potter, 1987: 11) b) It is not unusual for people to suspend critical thinking when reading and making notes. For example, they often assume it is acceptable to read and make notes in a non-selective or non-critical way, amass a pile of notes, and then apply critical thinking to the notes that have been made. Whilst this is not an unacceptable strategy, it is not effective in terms of time management. Using such methods, students are more likely to read and take notes on material they will not use, and then repeat their reading of such unnecessary material in order to select what is needed. (Cottrell, 2005: 164) c) An antelope grazing in Africa hears a sound in the grass. Immediately all the neuronal clusters concerned with danger are activated so that the lion is recognized as soon as it emerges from the grass, and the antelope is able to escape. Such sensitization is a key part of how the brain works and why it is so efficient. (Bono, 1999: 1) d) A Times Higher Education UK survey (March 2006) found that one in six students admitted to copying from friends, one in ten to looking for essays online and four in ten said they knew someone who had passed off work of someone else as their own. This is now recognised as an international problem and universities across the world are starting to tackle it. The main problem with academic cheating, particularly if it escalates, is that it is unfair to those students who do not cheat and eventually will undermine the value of degree awards, as its standard cannot be guaranteed. Would you like to be treated by a doctor or a nurse who you knew cheated throughout their degree? Would you like to walk over a bridge where structural calculations were checked by the structural engineer who cheated through his/her degree? I am sure the answer is a resounding ´no´. (Price, Maier, 2007: 12) e) This article needs considerable work before publication. Not least, the author needs to reflect on why this subject has importance, and what it can tell us about Czechoslovak foreign policy and the security-insecurity issues of 1921 in Central Europe. The detail in the text often needs to be cut, while certain issues need far more analysis, and far more historical framework. The source base could also be expanded to provide more depth and nuance throughout. At present, I am not convinced that this article tells us much that we do not already know. The author, therefore, needs to be alert to his article’s potential significance. (Blair, 2006) f) In literature, a wide variety of meaning is attached to the terms “comparison” and “comparative method”. The comparative method is defined here as one of the basic methods – the others being the experimental, statistical, and a case study methods – of establishing general empirical propositions. It is in the first place, definitely a method, not just “a convenient term vaguely symbolizing the focus of one’s research interests.”(Kalleberg, 1966: 72). Nor is it a special set of substantive concerns in the sense of Samuel N. Eisenstadt´s definition of comparative approach in social research; he states that the term does not “properly designate a specific method …, but rather a special focus on cross-societal, institutional, or macrosocietal aspects of societies and social analysis”. Second, the comparative method is here defined as one of the basic scientific methods, not the scientific method. It is, therefore, narrower in scope than what Harold D. Lasswell has in mind when he argues that “for anyone with a scientific approach to political phenomena the idea of independent comparative method seems redundant”, because the scientific approach is “unavoidably comparative”. Likewise, the definition used here differs from the very similar broad interpretation given by Gabriel A. Almond, who also equates the comparative with the scientific method: “It makes no sense to speak of a comparative politics in political science since if it is a science, it goes without saying that it is comparative in its approach”. Third, the comparative method is here regarded as a method of discovering empirical relationships among variables, not a method of measurement. These two kinds of methods should be clearly distinguished. It is the latter that Kalleberg has in mind when he discusses the “logic of comparison”. He defines the comparative method as “a form of measurement”; comparative means “nonmetrical ordering”, or in other words, ordinal measurement. Similarly, Sartori is thinking in terms of measurement on nominal, ordinal (or comparative), and cardinal scales when he describes the conscious thinker as “the man that realizes the limitations of not having a thermometer and still manages to say a great deal simply by saying hot and cold, warmer and cooler”. This important step of measuring variables is logically prior to the step of finding relationships among them. It is the second of these steps to which the term “comparative method” refers in this paper. Finally, a clear distinction should be made between method and technique. The comparative method is a broad-gauge, general method, not a narrow, specialized technique. In this vein, Gunnar Heckscher cautiously refers to “the method (or at least the procedure) of comparison” and Walter Goldschmidt prefers the term comparative approach, because “it lacks the preciseness to call it a method”. The comparative method may also be thought of as a basic research strategy, in contrast with a mere tactical aid to research. (Lijphart, 1971: 682-683) IV.5. Reading between the lines Task 7 Read the following texts and from the four options below choose the one you think best explains the author’s belief. Only one option is correct. a) Research cloning presents a difficult choice for the many people who in general support medical research, including embryo research, but who are concerned about the dangers of human reproductive cloning and eugenic engineering. A moratorium on research cloning would provide the opportunity to put in place prohibitions on reproductive cloning and inheritable genetic modification, without impeding research on the therapeutic uses of embryonic stem cells. It would also allow time for more extensive public debate and for the establishment of regulatory structures to prevent the gross abuse of any research cloning procedures that society might decide to allow. (CGS, 2006) The author believes that research cloning: 1. is a universally beneficial activity and the moratorium on research cloning would bring positive limitations to medical research. 2. has many supporters who are against the moratorium on research cloning. 3. is dangerous because of possible consequences in some research areas and therefore a moratorium on research cloning may be useful. 4. is difficult to judge but the moratorium on research cloning would prohibit those research areas which should not be allowed. b) All too often, and despite having invested months or years in bringing their dissertations or theses to fruition, students leave them in their bookcases to gather dust. Particularly in the case of theses, this is often because, with having dominated their lives for such a long time, they are simply tired of it; they want a break and feel unable to countenance any further activity directly associated with it. They have reached a kind of saturation point and frequently want to move on to other things, things they may have shelved while completing their degrees and which have been beckoning. This, of course, is perfectly understandable and most students need and deserve a break – a moment to bask in their success and enjoy life without their research hanging over their heads. However, the danger is always that the longer the rest continues the more distant you become from your research and the more difficult it is to re-engage with it, either because you have lost the motivation, lost touch with the research itself and the thinking underlying it, or because developments in the field have overtaken it. For many, such re-engagement never happens. Particularly for those pursuing or intending academic careers, this is a lost opportunity. (Murray, Beglar, 2009:197) The author believes that many students leave their theses and dissertations and never come back to them: 1. which is perfectly understandable and fine. 2. which is not good in cases of those who want to continue in scientific work. 3. which is clear because they need a life and enjoyment. 4. which is dangerous as a true re-engagement never happens. c) Although an important objective of university education is to nurture individuals who are able to think critically about ideas rather than simply take them at face value, it is nevertheless true that much of what students actually do during the course of their university careers consist of locating, reading, selecting and making notes on information obtained from journals, books and lectures, often with a view to writing an essay or perhaps presenting a summary of that information. While there may be some critiquing of the content, this is often minimal and the process of writing becomes, in reality, little more than a process of regurgitation, or showcasing what they have read and learned. Although, on occasions, this may be precisely what they have been instructed to do, more often than not it is the result of a lack of self-confidence and also an aversion to what is seen as risk taking, when the stakes can be unacceptably high. The thinking is that it is better to do a rather tame assignment and get a moderate mark than to stick your neck out and risk a poor one because your ideas are naïve, misguided or misinformed. Furthermore, students often feel that they do not have the authority to question or take issue with respected and prolific scholars whose names grace the covers of books and journals. As a researcher embarking on a dissertation or thesis project students simply cannot afford to approach ideas in this way. (Murray, Beglar, 2009: 5-6) The author believes that students starting their dissertation and thesis projects: 1. must be critical in their approach to new ideas. 2. cannot critique ideas of famous scholars. 3. are very good at obtaining information from various sources for their essays. 4. should act as they are instructed to do. d) As classrooms change and become highly developed, multi media setting extends teachers and students’ ability to communicate and collaborate in an interactive classroom environment. But often teachers are traumatised by the idea of going into an electronic environment and teaching a class of busy students, especially in Higher Education. To use the equipment in a multi media suite, teachers do not need to become technical experts, but a brief overview and an understanding of the pedagogical rationale for using the technology can suffice to produce sound teaching practice. Some trainers believe a thorough understanding of the technology needs to be harnessed to ensure that good quality learning takes place, but we believe that with a little help from technicians, teachers and students can quickly take control of the electronics to be comfortable teaching in the environment to give well thought out appropriate lessons. (deHaaff, 2008:1) The authors believe that teaching in a multimedia environment: 1. is impossible without a thorough understanding of the underlying technology. 2. can be considered impossible because teachers are afraid of using technologies in class. 3. can be effective after some initial technical assistance is provided. 4. is possible only when teachers become technical experts. e) The history of interministerial coordination in the field of tourism hardly inspires excitement, either in the UK or elsewhere. For example, Michaud (1995, pp.38-9), while accepting that the need for such coordination was generally acknowledged in France, also noted that ´curiously´ the Interministerial Committee for Tourism – presided over by the Prime Minister – had not met since 1983. The author believes that: 1. historically, tourism was successful when coordinated by diverse ministries. 2. tourism has not been effectively coordinated among ministries in many countries. 3. interministerial tourism has been overlooked by the French Prime Minister for many years. 4. UK tourist coordination among ministries has set a valuable example to France. f) Sometime in the Age of Thatcher, Reagan and Mulroney, English speaking readers became ignorant. First, translation into English was practically stopped: today, less than 0.1% of everything published in English is a translation, and that includes Japanese computer manuals. Having once been the keen discoverers of Kafka, Camus, Sartre, Unamuno, Neruda, Dürrenmatt (in the first half of the twentieth century, for instance,) English-speaking readers locked themselves into something worse than an imperial mentality, since the Empire forced them at least to look outside England: into a state of stolid contentment. Readers and writers in English today know practically nothing of what is taking place in the cultures of the rest of the world. Step into a bookstore in Bogotá or Rotterdam, Lyon or Bremen, and you can see what the writers from other countries are doing. Ask in Liverpool, Vancouver or Los Angeles who Antonio Lobo Antunes or Cees Nooteboom are (two of the greatest living authors, the first Portuguese, the second Dutch) and you will be met with a blank stare. But such a question would probably not be asked, because English-speaking readers have became prisoners of their own language, living off whatever the publishing industry chooses to feed them. Even the literature written in English has become, by and large, watered down to canteen fare. Of course there are many exceptions, and great writers are writing superb literature all the while, but they work in an atmosphere of intellectual numbness. And, while it has always been true that a new author has difficulty in finding a publisher, now even authors with notable careers are having trouble finding a home for their books. In the English-language publishing world of today there is no middle ground for literature: formulaic fiction and bland non-fiction occupy the shelf previously destined for literary works, which have moved either to small "experimental" publishers (as they used to be called) or to university presses. Doris Lessing's English publishers told her a few years ago, after her eightieth birthday, that she wrote "too much" and that they found it difficult to continue publishing her work; her American publishers first turned down her novel The Cleft on the advice of their marketing department and then reluctantly accepted to bring it out "as a kindness." Bloomsbury, the publishers who once dared publish Nadine Gordimer and Margaret Atwood (authors who've become now "safe" modern classics and therefore still published by them,) now bring out Jane Austen and Charles Dickens in editions for an illiterate audience with cute introductions by best-selling "chick-lit" novelists such as Meg Cabot, of The Princess Diaries fame. In her introduction to Pride and Prejudice, Ms Cabot writes: "OK, so I'll admit it: I saw the movie first ... But, as I had discovered from reading Peter Benchley's book Jaws, sometimes there are scenes in the book that aren't in the movie ... The movies always leave something out. Which is what makes Pride and Prejudice such a joy to read over and over. Because you can make up your own movie about it -- in your head." The Bloomsbury edition also includes spoof interviews with the dead author: "My first book to make it into print was Sense and Sensibility ..." and so on. Random House's Vintage imprint now publishes its novels with a how-to guide at the back, visibly intended for book clubs. These guides are demeaning catechisms that tell the reader what to think. I've had a fair experience with book clubs, and its participants are usually not idiots who need artificial guides to literary conversation. (Manguel, 2008:2) The author believes that: 1. English literature is not as good as it used to be. For example in the 1920s it had to compete with the world´s literature. 2. English readers are locked within an English speaking world dominated by a deteriorating quality of literature dictated by the publishing industry needs. 3. English readers and writers face an unprecedented situation when they ignore quality literature. 4. English literature returns to classics because new writers are not supported by the publishing industry. Task 8 There are many types of fallacies. Here are some of them. Match the types of fallacy to their examples. Types of Fallacies a) Authority b) General Opinion c) Tradition d) Hasty Conclusion e) Over-Generalisation f) Example g) Analogy Argument Examples 1. The success of mass poverty combating policies based on economic growth of China, India and Brazil clearly illustrates why macroeconomic stability is the key factor in poverty reduction. 2. Peter Cowen believes that university education should not be free because people do not usually put a high value on what they get for free. Because Peter works hard and can afford higher tuition fees at university, he is certain that anyone can earn enough to be able to pay their tuition fee. 3. President Václav Klaus argues that current environmentalism is the biggest threat to freedom and prosperity. This is why environmental movements should not be supported by democratic governments. 4. The smoking ban resulted in 9 per cent fewer people being admitted to hospital with heart attacks in the first year of enforcement. The number of smokers has not decreased, therefore the fall in admissions is the result of the declining exposure to second-hand smoke. 5. More than 60 percent of Czechs support the death penalty; polls show. The Parliament should, therefore, re-establish this form of punishment into the Czech law system. 6. Parents have employed spanking as a disciplinary method for thousands of years and therefore see there is no reason to view this as child abuse. 7. The national budget deficit acts like a metastasizing cancer. The danger is it can destroy the country´s economy from within. But similarly with cancer, an effective means for the national debt treatment is very limited. Task 9 Read the texts below and explain, what the authors want us to believe and how we, if we were non-critical readers, could be confused. a) There are clear disparities between the treatment of white and other non-white drug users in the USA. A recent survey of the US Public Health Service estimated that 75% of illegal drug-users in the US were white, 13% Afro-American, and 9% Hispanic. Yet, in New York State, 93% of all drug-possession offenders sent to prison were Afro-American and Hispanic; in California, it was 72%. b) Technology is an important aspect of being human. It is a natural concept because it forms part of human evolution. Technology uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems of human life, especially in the area of transport, industry, medicine or communication. The oldest technology is probably the use of fire, followed then by many others from the wheel invention thousands of years ago to the print or steam engine centuries later and to the internet, social networks or online games nowadays. c) If an author really wants to make sure that the reader loses interest I recommend that he/she does not introduce the ideas and main findings straightaway, but instead hides them at the end of a lengthy narrative. The techniques can be refined by putting the same emphasis on what is unimportant or marginally important to what is really important to make certain that the writing creates the proper hypnotic effect which will put the reader to sleep. (Snad-Jensen, 2007: 2) d) Europe is above all a community of values. The aim of European unification is to realise, test, develop and safeguard these values. They are rooted in common legal principles acknowledging the freedom of the individual and social responsibility. Fundamental European values are based on tolerance, humanity and fraternity. Building on its historical roots in classical antiquity and Christianity, Europe further developed these values during the course of the Renaissance, the Humanist movement, and the Enlightenment, which led in turn to the development of democracy, the recognition of fundamental and human rights and the rule of law. The great currents of culture and art, scientific discoveries and their application for the general good, and the critical analysis of accepted views and perceptions have all had the effect that we can now live and work together in peace, liberty and freedom from want. Europe has spread these values throughout the world. Thus our Continent became the mother of revolutions in the modern world. Europeans have worked to establish freedom, justice and democracy as the principles of international relations, thereby opening the way to a free and peaceful future. (Buamgart, 2003) e) The fact is that the world is divided between users of the Macintosh computer and users of MS-DOS compatible computers. I am firmly of the opinion that the Macintosh is Catholic and that DOS is Protestant. Indeed, the Macintosh is counter-reformist and has been influenced by the ratio studiorum of the Jesuits. It is cheerful, friendly, conciliatory; it tells the faithful how they must proceed step by step to reach -- if not the kingdom of Heaven -- the moment in which their document is printed. It is catechistic: The essence of revelation is dealt with via simple formulae and sumptuous icons. Everyone has a right to salvation. DOS is Protestant, or even Calvinistic. It allows free interpretation of scripture, demands difficult personal decisions, imposes a subtle hermeneutics upon the user, and takes for granted the idea that not all can achieve salvation. To make the system work you need to interpret the program yourself: Far away from the baroque community of revelers, the user is closed within the loneliness of his own inner torment. You may object that, with the passage to Windows, the DOS universe has come to resemble more closely the counter-reformist tolerance of the Macintosh. It's true: Windows represents an Anglican-style schism, big ceremonies in the cathedral, but there is always the possibility of a return to DOS to change things in accordance with bizarre decisions: When it comes down to it, you can decide to ordain women and gays if you want to. (Eco, 1994) ________________________________ [1] Pokud vám druhé cvičení přišlo jednodušší než to první, je to dobře. Obtížnost je sice stejná, ale na prvním jste pochopili princip a na druhém jste již jen aplikovali strategii, která měla v prvním cvičení úspěch.