Innovative nursing care delivery model Term Paper

Innovative nursing care delivery model - Term Paper Example Nurses form a critical part of this model because they have immense knowledge on patient evaluation and education just to mention a few. The model aims at avoiding complications such as phantasm, which is commonly caused by hospital admission of the elderly patients. Joynt and Kimball (2008) describe ACO as a collaboration that involves various parties including primary care clinicians, the hospital, and other healthcare professionals. These parties work jointly with an aim of not only ensuring quality service delivery, but also reducing the high costs of care provided to patients. Upon ACO’s success, all providers are offered to keep part of the saving contributed by the organization. The ACO model exposes nurses and clinical officers to leadership skills. Through this, health employees are able to take the mantle of organizational leadership especially in providing care in underserved areas. Retail clinics, also referred to as nurse-managed health clinics (NMHCs), are created with the aim of offering holistic primary care services and quality services to particular populations such as those deemed underserved or vulnerable. Debra (2013) posits that retail health centre are an important avenue where healthcare can be offered as per the model. The model as pursued by the federal government depict the above model. According to Debra (2013), retail clinics are, usually, associated with schools, federally qualified health center and social service agencies. Retail health centre bring health care close to people and ensure that services are affordable and of high quality. Through retail health centre patients save a lot of their finances used in emergency room care. Involvement of nurses in these clinics helps in not only containing costs but also optimizes patient outcomes. This is an innovative Care Delivery Model, which makes use of technology in monitoring patients with chronic illness. Usually, data goes back to the

Environmental Analysis Of Thomas Cook Tourism Essay

Environmental Analysis Of Thomas Cook Tourism Essay Summary This report deals with one of the leading travel group in the world which has been in operation since the past. It has been considered as the most trustworthy and reliable travel group which offers travel packages to its customers across the world. The travel group is Thomas Cook and is one of the leading travel and tourism agencies in the world. In this assignment, the organisation of Thomas Cook has been analysed taking into consideration the internal and the external environmental factors. A number of the important models such as McKinsey model along with the Pest analysis, SWOT and other models have been used to analyse the organisation. The main aim was to analysis the external and internal environment affecting the organisation. Leadership style has been discussed, and it can been seen that Thomas Cook has one of the cost effective organisational structure and follows a flexible business model so that it can be altered as and when needed. Finally the paper ends with recommendat ion and conclusion which states that the company should work according to the demand of the customers in order to stay competitive and maintain its number one position. Introduction Aim of the Report The aim of this report is to conduct an effective internal and external environmental analysis of Thomas Cook based on separate models. The analysis would help one understand the key competencies of the firm and also the areas where development is needed. Recommendations are also to be provided in due course to enhance the position. Overview of the Organisation Company Size Thomas Cook is one of the biggest companies in the field of leisure and travel and is observed to operate along a large geographical segment pertaining to 22 countries round the world. The company has emerged out to be a key market leader in the leisure and travel category. Thomas Cook, during the financial year of 2011-12 earned total sales revenue emanating to  £9.8 billion from a total customer base of 23.6 million people around the globe (Thomas Group Plc, 2012). Company Structure Thomas Cook operates based on a decentralised structure where the board of directors are responsible for delegation of tasks and duties to subsequent committees and other sub-boards. The structure operates along a top-down or vertical integration fashion in the company (Thomas Cook, 2010, p.53). Main Activities Thomas Cook Plc works along several segments to render value-added services to the customers. The first or the core product segment contains of packaged tourism services where both flights and hotel services are grouped under one bundle and rendered to the customer. The second segment consists of independent packages that help in rendering consumers a larger flexibility in choosing the travel destinations, duration of tour and other value additions. The third product segment focuses on rendering financial support to the travellers in terms of foreign exchange or money transfers and also in tour assurance services. Fourthly the group also operates via retail houses that help in distributing tour packages and offers to the consumers. Finally the group also operates on the basis of online networks where it focuses to serve consumers in European and pan-European markets effectively (Thomas Cook, 2011, p.13). Objectives of the Report As a market analyst and researcher the report to be presented would highlight the strategic potencies and drawbacks of Thomas Cook operating around the world in the travel and leisure segment. The report presented would eventually help the company management potentially address the drawbacks highlighted to develop its performance potential in the future. Analysis of the Organisation Internal Environmental Analysis Employee Engagement Analysis in Thomas Cook The analysis of employee engagement in organisations reflects the manner in which the people involved relate their activities and conduct to the inherited cultures and values of the concern. Thus an employee engaged is taken to be highly conscious of the organisational values and cultures and thereby coordinates with other colleagues to effectively achieve organisational goals and objectives. The level of employee engagement enhances with the level of relatedness the employer has with the employee groups (Vazirani, 2005, p.3). Herein, the module of employee engagement is used to analyse the level of loyalty and reliability of the employees in Thomas Cook. The management of Thomas Cook endeavours to effectively interrelate with the employees involved in different levels to share with them potential information pertaining to changes in organisational strategy and policies. Effective interrelation and communication is carried out by the management both along the web and physical sphere in terms of online chat and electronic mails and circulation of internal magazines respectively. Moreover the employees are also invited to participate in workshops and training programs that in turn enhance their potential to perform in their specific task areas. Further the management body of Thomas Cook from time to time conducts effective surveys to understand the level of interrelatedness of the employees, both new and old to the organisational values and business directives. Survey carried out would clearly hint on the satisfaction and commitment level of the internal people in Thomas Cook. Satisfaction level of the internal people duly enhanced help s Thomas Cook in addressing the changing needs of the consumers and also in effectively reducing the level of staff turnovers in the organisation. Henceforth, employee engagement activities in the company motivate the people to work more productively and thereby augment the revenue and productivity paradigm of the concern (Thomas Cook Group plc, 2011; Thomas Cook Group plc-a, 2011). Analysis of Thomas Cook based on McKinseys 7S Model The Model In the McKinseys 7S Model firstly, the management works on the basis of set strategies incorporating the views of many to help arrive at a specific action plan to accomplish end goals. Secondly, the management works on a definite structure to integrate the people working in different levels more effectively to meet end objectives. Thirdly, the organisation works based on a set of policies and procedures in achieving targets set. Fourthly, the concern uses internal people as a key resource in meeting the tasks set. Fifthly, different managers reflect different types of styles in meeting the same objectives. Sixthly, the management needs to share the objectives and policies of the concern with the employees to coordinate the actions taken. Seventhly, the skills of the people need to be enhanced in meeting end objectives effectively and successfully (Bhattacharya, 2011, p.333-334). McKinseys 7S Framework is reflected in the following diagram. Figure 1 (Bhattacharya, 2011, p.334) The attributes of the model would be used to analyse the internal environment of Thomas Cook for they help in setting a paradigm through which the organisational manager gains the potential in drawing the attention of the employees in meeting end objectives. Structure The organisational structure of Thomas Cook is found to be vertically integrated with a top-down management structure. Thus decisions are generally taken by the board of directors and higher management body of the concern and percolated downwards to different organisational levels. However in recent times, Thomas Cook is observed to take resort of a global outsourcing strategy to transfer the finance and accounting services in the hands of outsourced teams to help in cost reduction and organisational productivity (Banham, 2005). Systems Thomas Cook works based on an integrated business model incorporating the designing of both individual and packaged tours and also assisting the consumers in terms of financing and insuring their tour activities. Similarly, the company works in gaining an enhanced consumer base through carrying out its operations via retail marts and also through the online base. Thomas Cook trains its staffs to render effective customer services acting on such planes (Thomas Cook, 2011, p.13). Style The management style at Thomas Cook firstly works in encouraging the growth of organisational diversity in terms of employing people pertaining to different ethnic backgrounds, sex and age differences. Secondly, the management style in the concern promotes growth and promotion based on merits and performance parameters and thereby restricts the practice of discrimination in the workplace (Thomas Cook, n.d.). Staff The organisational management works in effectively recruiting a talented and knowledgeable workforce in the concern. Having recruited a talented and multi-skilled workforce the management works in motivating the people and effectively integrating training them to fulfil the needs of the concern (Thomas Cook Group plc-b, 2011). Skills The skills of the internal people are enhanced by Thomas Cook through the incorporation of effective training and performance management programs. Feedback is generated to the employees based on performance appraisal systems to help them address the drawbacks. In 2011, the company invested around à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤9.9 million pertaining to the training segment (Thomas Cook Group plc-c, 2011). Strategy The core business strategy of Thomas Cook is to train its employee base to render value-additions to the service parameters pertaining to the category of independent travel. Further, the management also desires to enhance the financing and business development parameters of the travel related services framework to augment the customer satisfaction experience (Thomas Cook Group plc, 2012). Shared Values The higher management body of Thomas Cook works on the basis of transmitting potential information pertaining to business and strategic value to the employees pertaining to different levels. Through the above function the company management desires to work as a single unit in helping to achieve end goals effectively (Thomas Cook Group plc-d, 2011). Leadership Style of Thomas Cook Adair (2011) states that leadership style pertaining to an organisation gains effect such that where different individuals and groups are employed to help in achieving a desired task. Herein, the manager is required to divide the entire task among groups and individuals and thereby to monitor and evaluate their performance levels in helping to meet the objectives taken (Adlair, 2011, p.92-93). The same can be represented through the following illustration. Figure 2 (Adair, 2011, p.92) Task Individual Team The leadership style of Thomas Cook reflected that it works on a task based model where decisions taken by higher management are percolated through the management hierarchy along different levels. Task Individual Team Ideal leadership style of Thomas Cook would be where the task is uniformly matched with team and individual pursuits. However, the same is difficult to implement for it means a complete restructuring of the organisational structure. Task Individual Team Thus the ideal style would be to delineate and percolate the entire organisational task along different layers while at the same time encouraging the development of individuals and teams by incorporating them in decision making functions. Organisational Structure of Thomas Cook The organisation structure of Thomas Cook is reflected in Figure A in the Appendix section. Headed by the Board of Directors the company is run by different committee bodies looking after finance, health and safety, auditing and disclosure functions and similar other departments. These committee bodies report to the body of Directors. Similarly the different segments and functions of the company are governed by different boards which are linked therewith other country heads serving different markets (Thomas Group Plc-a, 2012). Human Resource Systems in Thomas Cook Induction The induction program of Thomas Cook helps in introducing the people to the procedures and policies of the company. It also helps in providing guidance to the students regarding aspects of value and culture of the company. Moreover, a buddy is rendered with the apprentices who introduce the aspirant to the task to be performed at different levels along with the values of the company. Effective survey is conducted based on the apprenticeship program where feedback is gained from them to be used for further developments in the induction training rendered. Again, the apprentices are also rendered specific electronic learning modules to enhance the knowledge of the employees in the light of modifications and developments (People 1st, 2011). Appraisal The company conducts effective performance appraisal programs of the people pertaining to different levels in the organisation. Performance reviews of the people in the concern are conducted on an annual basis and feedbacks are generated to the people on that behalf. Development of the people is done through involving them in training programs where the skills sets are honed to meet drawbacks (Thomas Cook Plc, 2010). Communication Internal communication is practiced in Thomas Cook through the holding of meetings by the board of directors of the concern every year on timely schedules. In addition to the scheduled meetings the directors are also responsible for conducting of other additional and supplementary meetings as and when needed by the company. It is observed that on a general note the board of directors holds around 9 scheduled and 10 other additional meetings in the company (Thomas Cook, 2011, p.45). Incentive A host of financial and other incentives and amenities are rendered to the individuals by the organisation so as to effectively retain a productive and highly skilled workforce. The range of benefits rendered range from holiday packages, to shopping discounts and also other insurance and other leave related benefits. Moreover the workplace is made advanced in terms rendering flexible working hours to help the people work more productively. Areas of Development in Thomas Cook Structural Paradigm Pertaining to the structural paradigm the introduction of decentralisation in the organisational ambit has required the company to incorporate information technology infrastructure in the designing of data centres in different regions (Chillingworth, 2010). Leadership Style Paradigm The managers of Thomas Cook are required to adapt to changing situations through training programs rendered based on change leadership models. Similarly, the management skills are honed through incorporation of tenets pertaining to emotional intelligence and qualities to manage stress in the workplace (People 1st, 2008, p.3). Systems Paradigm Pertaining to operation systems and procedures the company is focusing to enhance its relationship with the consumers through augmenting their safety paradigm and suppliers like hotels and air services on an enhanced scale. Moreover the company is also working for promoting a safer and healthier environment through evaluation of carbon footprint (Thomas Group Plc, 2009). Plan of Development in Thomas Cook Kotters Eight Step Model The analysis of the plan of development in Thomas Cook is conducted based on the Eight Step Model presented by John P. Kotter of Harvard. The first three steps focus on analysing external changes, modifying the vision and thereby aligning teams to incorporate the change process. The subsequent three steps focus on implementing the change process through effective communication, empowerment of individuals and motivating people through short-term wins. Finally, the seventh and eight steps focus on sustaining the change rendered and enhancing the impacts of the change through modifications (Kotter, 2006, p.4). The same can be shown in the following illustration. Figure 3: Kotters Eight Step Change Process (Kotter, 2006, p.4) Change Process in Thomas Cook Firstly, the company management created the urgency in gaining profits from the market. Secondly, a team was created through replacements and promotions rendered in the executive body to incorporate the change. Thirdly, a new vision was created focusing on reducing costs, redesigning its organisation structure and enhancing its existing brand image (Linder, 2004, p.114). Fourthly, the management endeavoured to share the vision gained with the employees involved at different levels. Fifthly, employees were empowered to take individual decisions while rendering services to the consumers. Sixthly, a reward system was brought out to effectively motivate the employees to enhance the service quality (Srinivasan, 2009, p.280). Seventhly, the company focuses on gaining hold of talented and effective people that would help the concern achieve its set goals. Communication along the lines is enhanced through holding of training and interactions on a two-way level. Finally, new leadership policies and procedures are brought about by the company management to motivate the people to work in a productive fashion (Thomas Cook, 2010, p.40). External Environmental Analysis No organisation tends to exists in vacuum as each of the organisations is affected by the external environment. The external environment refers to the context in which organisation promotes, provides and also distributes its services. In maximum number of cases, the organisation doesn`t have control or has limited control over the environmental factors. According to Rubrigt and MacDonald (1981), if any of the organisation faces weakness it would become the tendency of the organisation to overlook the opportunity or the obstacles in the market place, also the external environment (Winston, 1985, p. 45). Process of Environment Monitoring in Thomas Cook With a wide range and scale of environmental impacts across the business of Thomas Cook, the operating companies tend to coordinate the performance of the environment locally under the banner of Group Environmental Policy. Thomas Cook is committed in reducing the impact of the environment by way of protecting the environment and the resources and the business usually depends on safeguarding the wildlife, biodiversity and also animal welfare. Market research: In order to monitor the upcoming challenges and trends of the consumer Thomas cook can conduct market research based on the needs of the customers. As the disposable income rise, there arise a shift in the mindset and thus it is required to introduce and act accordingly the customers expectation. Thus doing a proper market research would help the travel agency to stay ahead of its competitors. The company can make a page and share it in social networking sites to get feedbacks about the new schemes and can alter accordingly. Demographic: Thomas Cook is a well known and the oldest travel agency and thus the customers are attracted towards it because of the reliability and experience. Thomas cook can expand its stores where most number of customers visit to attract even more customers. Benchmarking: Thomas Cook has benchmarked the employee satisfaction. The company believe that employee who is engaged tends to perform better which leads to satisfied and loyal customers. Thomas Cook has compared each of the business segments through an employee survey and the rate of response was 64% in the year 2009. As per the survey in 2009 the engagement index was 3.74 as compared to the benchmark index of 3.67 (Thomas Cook Group Plc, 2009). Trade publication: Thomas Cook pocket guides covers about 170 destinations and at the same time compact and practical guide for the sun seekers and also for the city breakers. Other guides available for the travellers include driving guides, travellers guide and others. Recently Thomas cook has launched Canadian website which is a conjunction with rebranding of all the retail locations of Thomas Cook across Canada (Travel Trade, 2012). Scenario Planning: Thomas cook has acquired other travel agents in order to stay competitive in the travel agency sectors. PEST Analysis of Thomas Cook PEST Analysis is mainly used to scan the environment. PEST refers to political, economical, social and technological factors (Henry, 2008, p. 41). Thus Pest is used to analyses and scans the general environment surrounding Thomas cook. It is through PEST that the company will be able to detect as well as monitor the weak signals in order to recognise the fractures which shape the environment. Political Factors The UK travel and tourism industry has faced immense pressure from the government as it has introduced tourism tax and has said to affect all the travel and tourism business including Thomas Cook. The travel agents had opposed to the proposal of bed tax which the government had levied  £1 per head per night from the visitors staying in the local hotels. The proposed bed tax is said to increase the domestic price and keep the foreign visitors from holidaying in UK (The Guardian, 2012). The potential tax of about 5% to 10% would make England the proposed bed tax is said to increase the domestic price and keep the foreign visitors from holidaying in UK (The Guardian, 2012). It is one of the highest taxed holiday destinations in whole of Europe (BHA, 2012). Thus with the rise in tax, business like the local shops, the restaurants and the travel agencies are said to be affected. Economic Factors During the past few years the tourism sector have faced hard times due to challenging economic times and have largely impacted the global travel market but however there are signs of recovery within the consumers. The travel and the leisure sector were impacted mainly due to the consumers disposable income, unemployment rate, fluctuation in the rate of currency and the oil price. All these drives have hugely impacted the travel and leisure industry. The GDP declined by 6% in the year 2009, the rate of unemployment has increased to about 2%, the price of oil continued to be highly volatile. In addition to the above factor, there are other factors which have impacted the global travel market. Global terrorism has impacted the confidence of the consumers from travelling along with the swine flu in Mexico which had similarly affected the travel planes along with an increased taxation the economic conditions seems to get worst. Therefore due to these challenging economic conditions, the t ravel market over the past few years has significantly declined in the travel market (Thomas Cook Group Plc, 2009). Social Factors The economy of UK is one of the strongest economy in Europe where the disposable income of the consumers are at a rise and thus the expenditure made on leisure is growing at about 6% and thus has higher level of expectation from the travel and tourism sectors. Most of the people will at least go for one holiday to abroad, thus increasing the demand of the travel and tourism industry. In addition one of the important markets in travel and tourism is the grey market which mainly comprises of older people who are healthy and fit and as such has plenty of time along with funds to spend on travelling (Pearson School and College, n.d, p. 11). Technological Factors Technological factors refer to the use of internet which has allowed the people the opportunity to become much more independent and make plans according to their desire. Thomas Cook aims to be among the top online service provider and it can be done through modified and advanced technologies. Analysis of the Competitive Environment of Thomas Cook The competitive environment is analysed in order to describe the nature of the following attributes. As the environment keeps on changing each of the listed attributes becomes more or less attractive in order to achieve profitable growth rate. Thus the competitive environment of Thomas Cook has been analysed. Figure 4: Attributes in the Competitive Environment (Source: Bigler Norris, 2004, p. 81) Diversity The Thomas Cook Group is committed to provide a workplace which is free from discrimination and that supports diversity. Not only is it beneficial to the employee but also to the company in having a diversified workforce. The organisation provides employee training and monitors the diversity among its employees. Diversity is key strength of Thomas Cook and is an essential part of the business. The company operates in bout 22 countries and thus employs people from different backgrounds and cultures. A diverse workforce tends to create a dynamic as well as innovative culture of the company (Thomas Cook Group Plc-a, 2011). (Refer Appendix A) Rivalry Rivalry is high among the leisure industry as with the rise in the disposable income people are spending more amount of money on travelling which has led to the development of many tourism and travel agencies. As a result Thomas Cook also faces rivalry from other travel agencies such as American Express Company, Carlson Wagonlit Travel and Holiday break plc (Hoovers, 2012). Buyers The buyers are not given many options to choose from, by the company and thus they need to finalise from the given set of options and thus it can be said that the degree of power of the buyers are low. Hostility The degree of hostility is low to moderate in case of tourism industry. The travel and tourism agencies face from fierce competition but they do not declare an open war with respect to price. The marketing strategy adopted by the Thomas Cook and its competitors are almost the same to attract the customers. The companies compete with each other in all the aspects but do not declare open price wars with the competitors. Cost of Entry The cost of entry into the travel and tourism industry is relatively moderate to high. The capital requirement is usually high and thus creates a high rate of barrier for the new entry in the tourism sectors. Also the market share is occupied by the top leaders in the market and therefore it becomes hard for the new company to form a brand image and acquire a decent market share to compete with the already established firms. Brand recognition also acts as a barrier to the new entrant. Fragmentation The degree of fragmentation is high among the travel and tourism industry. Thomas Cook remains highly fragmented as it had the opportunity to achieve the top three market position. Thomas Cook has targeted gross booking with value of about  £3.5bn (Thomas Cook Group Plc-b, 2010). Turbulence The travel and tourism industry suffers from unpredicted variance and thus the turbulence is also high. With economic downturn and other related factors the tourism industry tends to gets affected to a very large extent and it increases the rate of turbulence. SWOT Analysis of Thomas Cook SWOT analysis is mainly used by organisation as strategic planning and usually refers to the identification of the strength, weakness along with the opportunities and threats of the organisations. SWOT is conducted to know about the internal as well as the external environment of the company and act accordingly. SWOT Analysis of Thomas Cook will enable the travel group to know its strength and overcomes its weakness and through opportunity overcome the threats. Strength Thomas cook has a strong brand name and image and is one of the leading leisure travel agencies in the world. It offers various package tours and other holiday components and other services. The group has recorded revenue of about  £9, 808.9million during the financial year 2011 The company has managed to show an increase of about 10.3% from the previous financial year 2010 (Research and Markets, 2012). The group continues to build upon the strengths which the company has created over the years which include strong financial position, trusted brand portfolio and the ability of the company, with its flexible model, to manage the business so that the group is able to meet the needs of the customers in the future (Thomas Cook Group Plc-c, 2009). Weakness One major weakness lies is that with a economic slowdown the travel agencies have experienced a huge break down in the number of consumers travelling from one place to another. This has impacted Thomas Cook Group. Opportunity With a rise in the disposable income of the consumers a huge opportunity lies with Thomas Cook to expand itself into various other countries and help the consumer experience the pleasure of travelling. Technology being an upper hand for the travel agencies, the online market is said to flourish which makes it easier for the consumers to select from various options made available from the travel agencies. Threat Threat lies from the other competitors which has been doing equally well in the travel and tourism sectors. With many travel and tourism agency, the customers gets a wide variety to choose from the best options and this tends to increase the competition among the travel and tourism industry. Also shift in the consumer behaviour also poses a threat for Thomas Cook. Major Challenges of Thomas Cook Thomas Cook has been facing some tough challenges which include financial consolidation as well as restricting. The CEO of the company, Manny Fontenla-Novoa resigned which took the company as a surprise. Another set of challenges is the growth of the company through acquisition. Growth by way of acquisition was one of the core strategies together with strict cost in order to improve the profit margins. In recent years Cook had sealed its market entry in Russia by a majority of stake in tour business operator. But at the same time, both internal as well as external problems have increased in Thomas Cook and it becomes a huge challenge for the company to undergo its operation when the environment is not healthy. The demand has slowed because of the weak economy of UK and also its strong focus on cost cutting, UK invested little in IT and product which left Thomas Cook positioned poorly in the market (FVW, 2011). The oldest travel agency has also seen a drop in summer holidays by about 10% which is one of the core businesses of Thomas Cook of sending the families off to destinations like Balearics and Canaries. The shares of Thomas Cook have also slumped to about 86% but still many of the problems of the company tend to persists (Moulds, 2012). Conclusions Thomas Cook is one of the most successful travel agency which meets the travel need of the customers. Thomas Cook is the leading travel groups with flexible business model and also focused strategy and has a team of more than 31000 people who are equally committed towards the vision of the company. It can be said that the company has been performing well in the financial year and plans to do well in the near future but with changing market environment along with the demands and needs of the customers Thomas Cook needs to adapt to new technologies and serve or provide its customers with the wants and requirements. Thomas Cook has been facing few challenges as mentioned and it should take the necessary steps to avoid problems which could hamper the

Death Of A Salesman :: essays research papers

1. The book Death of a Salesman is a play about a salesman who wants to be well liked by everyone. The title of this book fits the book because there are two salesmen who die in the book. The two salesmen who die in the book are Dave Singleman, who was well liked by everyone, and Willy Loman who was the main character. The book is about a traveling salesman named Willy Loman who has a wife named Linda and two kids named Biff and Happy. The theme of the book is that the most important thing in the world is to have personal attractiveness and to be well liked. 2. Willy Loman is a sixty-one year old man who is a traveling salesman for the Wagner Company. He had worked for the same company for thirty-four years. Willy’s last name is a pun on the word low-man which is symbolic of the kind of person he is and the things he has accomplished. He has nothing and owns nothing and he would be considered a low man in the world status. Willy develops a maxim that states the most important thing in the world is to be well liked. Willy is not well liked so he often lies to his family telling them that he is very important to the New England area. He also pushes his kids very hard to be well liked so he can live vicariously through them. 3. Biff Loman his Willy’s oldest son. Biff is thirty-four years old and was once a high school football star. He spent fourteen years of his life presumably somewhere out west trying to “find himself.'; Willy caught his father having an affair with Miss Frances and quickly developed a lack of trust for his father. Willy throughout the play seems to be opposed to his father, but there are many similarities between the two. There views on life tend to be the same and also their values are the same. This is found out when Willy sends his son to steal wood from a construction site to prove to Ben that he is a fearless character. Biff’s willingness to perform the task shows that their values are the same. Happy Loman is the youngest son and was often overshadowed by his brother. Happy works at a department store and has his own apartment. Happy was deprived of attention as a kid because his brother got all the attention.

Difficulties in Learning English Grammar

International Journal of Instruction e-ISSN: 1308-1470 ? www. e-iji. net July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 p-ISSN: 1694-609X DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING GRAMMAR IN AN EFL CONTEXT1 Abdu Mohammed Al-Mekhlafi PhD. , College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman [email  protected] com Ramani Perur Nagaratnam PhD. , Ministry of Manpower, Oman The role of grammar instruction in an ESL/EFL context has been for decades a major issue for students and teachers alike.Researchers have debated whether grammar should be taught in the classroom and students, for their part, have generally looked upon grammar instruction as a necessary evil at best, and an avoidable burden at worst. The paper reports a study undertaken to investigate the difficulties teachers face in teaching grammar to EFL students as well as those faced by students in learning it, in the teachers' perception.The study aimed to find out whether there are significant differences in teachers' perceptions of difficulties in relation to their gender, qualification, teaching experience, and the level they teach in school, thus providing insights into their own and their students' difficulties. Mean scores and t-test were used to interpret the data. The main findings are reported with implications. Key Words: English language teaching, instruction, EFL grammar instruction, teaching, difficulties in grammar instructionINTRODUCTION The English teacher is often portrayed as an â€Å"unattractive grammar monger whose only pleasure in life is to point out the faults of others† (Baron, 1982, p. 226). For the most part, within the classroom, any mention of grammar causes the student moments of discomfort and sometimes even terror. Many teachers have tried to make grammar teaching a non-threatening, imaginative and useful activity within the English curriculum. A summary of this paper was presented at the 54th World Assembly of the International Council on Education for Teaching (ICET) on ‘Maintaini ng Strategic Agility: Managing change and assuring quality in education for teaching’, 14-17 December 2009, Muscat, Oman. 70 Difficulties in Teaching and Learning Grammar†¦ Previous studies on students' and teachers' attitudes and perceptions of grammar instruction in the context of language teaching and learning suggest a disparity between students and teachers.While students favour formal and explicit grammar instruction and error correction, teachers favour communicative activities with less conscious focus on grammar (e. g. , Brindley 1984; Kumaravadivelu 1991; Leki 1995; Schultz 1996, 2001; Spratt 1999). Rationale for the present study The foregoing review of literature shows that practicing teachers are faced with a range of options for grammar instruction in their classrooms. There are, however, many types of difficulties faced by students and teachers with regard to grammar instruction in an ESL/EFL context.Identifying such difficulties and being consciously awar e of them would help teachers find ways of overcoming them and provide effective grammar instruction. There has, however, been little investigation of the difficulties faced by EFL teachers and Aran learners in the Gulf region with regard to grammar instruction. The teachers employ theoretically recommended methods without necessarily taking into account their own and their learners’ potential difficulties.They may not be conscious of difficulties which are serious and may thus hinder students’ learning of English grammar, and do not choose the method of instruction that would pose fewer difficulties and problems to their learners. It is in this context that the present study was undertaken to capture valuable insights into how EFL school teachers in Oman perceive students’ as well as their own difficulties with grammar instruction. The study reported here aims to address this need by presenting the difficulties of a cross section of school EFL teachers in Oman as well as their perceptions of their students' difficulties in this regard.It also aims to add to the knowledge base in this area. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Attitudes towards grammar instruction In teaching grammar, three areas have to be considered: grammar as rules, grammar as form, and grammar as resource. For many L2 learners, learning grammar often means learning the rules of grammar and having an intellectual knowledge of grammar. Teachers often believe that this will provide the generative basis on which learners can build their knowledge and will be able to use the language eventually. For them, prescribed rules give a kind of security.International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 Al-Mekhlafi & Nagaratnam 71 A better approach is perhaps to see grammar as one of many resources that we have in language which helps us to communicate. We should see how grammar relates to what we want to say or write, and how we expect others to interpret what our language use and i ts focus. According to Widdowson (1990: 86), † . . . grammar is not a constraining imposition but a liberating force: it frees us from a dependency on context and a purely lexical categorization of reality. Given that many learners – and teachers – tend to view grammar as a set of restrictions on what is allowed and disallowed in language use – ‘a linguistic straitjacket’ in Larsen-Freeman’s words (2002: 103) – the conception of grammar as something that liberates rather than represses is one that is worth investigating. According to Morelli (2003), students perceived themselves as having a better attitude towards grammar instruction in context, while performing slightly better after having experienced the traditional grammar instruction.Elkilic and Akca (2008) reported generally positive attitudes of students studying English grammar at a private primary EFL classroom towards studying grammar. In particular, however, a little ov er 50% of their subjects claimed to enjoy grammar very much and only about 10% reported finding some difficulty in learning and remembering grammar. Student expectations Student expectations of traditional, explicit grammar teaching have been confirmed by many teachers (cf. Borg, 1999a, b).Burgess and Etherington (2002:440-441) also conclude that teachers believe that explicit teaching of grammar is favoured by their students because of expectations and feelings of insecurity. Since the 1970s, attention has shifted from ways of teaching grammar to ways of getting learners to communicate, but grammar has been seen to be a powerful undermining and demotivating force among L2 learners. In terms of motivation and learner success with languages, grammar has been seen to be a problem and to stand in the way of helping learners to communicate fluently.The hard fact that most teachers face is that learners often find it difficult to make flexible use of the rules of grammar taught in the cl assroom. They may know the rules perfectly, but are incapable of applying them in their own use of the language. Teachers' recognition of this process (i. e. , of transferring declarative knowledge about grammar into procedural knowledge) as a problem for many of their students has been reported by Burgess and Etherington (2002:442). Haudeck International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 72 Difficulties in Teaching and Learning Grammar†¦ as reported that many learners have difficulty in internalising grammar rules, although these have been taught intensively (1996, cited in European Commission, 2006). The use of grammatical terminology Metalinguistic discussion (i. e. , the use of grammatical terminology to talk about language) is seen by Stern (1992:327) as one of the characteristics of explicit grammar teaching. According to Burgess and Etherington (2002: 444), teachers believe that their students see grammatical terminology as useful and that its use does no t present a particular difficulty for students.Descriptive grammars acknowledge the fact that language is dynamic and its use is constantly changing, although not in major ways. The problem for ESL/EFL learners, however, is that there is a time-lag between the awareness of such changes and their acceptance as the proper use of the language. As Morelli (2003:33-34) has observed, â€Å"Grammar can be taught traditionally or contextually, but student perception should be considered by teachers in the decision-making process. Students need to feel confident that educators have met their needs . . . nd educators should be willing to consider the attitudes and perceptions of students when making decisions about how to teach grammar. † METHOD Purpose The study reported here aims to investigate the difficulties of a cross section of school EFL teachers in Oman as well as their perceptions of their students' difficulties with regard to grammar instruction. Research questions The study aimed to answer the following questions: 1. What are EFL teachers’ perceptions of the difficulties of students and teachers with regard to grammar instruction in an EFL context? 2.Are there any differences in teachers' perceptions between the difficulties faced by teachers and those faced by students? 3. Do these perceptions of difficulties vary according to the teachers’: †¢ Gender, †¢ Level taught, †¢ Qualifications, and †¢ Experience? International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 Al-Mekhlafi & Nagaratnam 73 4. Are there any significant differences in teachers' perceptions due to the type of difficulty? Limitation of the study The present study is limited to: †¢ EFL teachers teaching English in Omani Basic Education schools, and †¢ The use of questionnaire as the research instrument.Nevertheless, the responses are valuable in themselves, indicating the general difficulties that students and teachers face with regard to grammar instruction in an EFL context. Research design The study was mainly quantitative in design, using a questionnaire and the subjects responded to each statement on a five-point Likert-type attitude scale (from 5 for ‘strongly agree' to 1 for ‘strongly disagree'). The respondents also provided background information on gender, qualification, teaching experience and the level they teach, for creating their profile in terms of variables. The data was analyzed (t-test and ANOVA) using the SPSS.The research instrument The questionnaire used in the present study, which comprises 20 statements, was the one employed by Burgess and Etherington in their study (2002: 451452) (See ANNEXURE – I for the questionnaire used in the present study). Subjects Only one broad geographical context was chosen for the study, namely Oman, in order to be context-specific and be able to make a close connection between teachers, their assumptions and their practical experience. It is b elieved that the subjects fairly represented the context of EFL teaching at different levels in Omani schools.Besides, the sample size was 90, more than the minimum number required for making useful statistical analyses according to Cohen and Manion (1994:77). The profile of the subjects in terms of the four variables is given below in Table 1: International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 74 Difficulties in Teaching and Learning Grammar†¦ Table 1. Profile of Respondents to the Study Instrument Variable Gender Level they teach Categories within the variable Male Female Grades 1-4 Grades 5-10 Grades 11-12 Master’s Degree Bachelor’s Degree Diploma ? years > 5 ? 10 years > 10 years No. of respondents in each category 39 51 17 31 42 8 76 6 27 41 22 Total (N) 90 90 Qualification 90 Experience 90 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION With regard to the first research question whether there are difficulties faced by students and teachers with grammar instruction, Tabl e 2 (ANNEXURE – II) shows an overall mean of 3. 51 on a five-point scale, the means for individual statements ranging from 2. 97 to 4. 10, thus indicating teachers' general agreement with most of the statements in the survey questionnaire (See Fig. below). This suggests that, in the perceptions of teachers, there are difficulties faced by teachers as well as students with regard to grammar instruction in an EFL context. Fig. 1. Teachers’ Perceptions of Difficulties with EFL Grammar International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 Al-Mekhlafi & Nagaratnam 75 With regard to the second research question about the differences between students and teachers in the difficulties faced, Table 3 shows that there is a statistically significant difference at the level of p ; 0. 01 in the perceptions of teachers and students, with students experiencing difficulties to a greater extent than teachers, which is understandable. The overall mean for students' difficulties as perceived by the teachers was 3. 58, while the overall mean for teachers' difficulties was 3. 23 (Table 3 below). Table 3. Teachers’ Perceptions of Teachers’ and Students’ Difficulties with EFL Grammar (N = 90) Statement Teachers’ Difficulties Students’ Difficulties as perceived by the Teachers Mean 3. 331 3. 5779 SD . 58484 . 42214 t Sig. (2-tailed) 5. 225 . 000 The third research question is about the differences in perception of difficulties in terms of the four teacher variables: gender, level taught, qualification, and teaching experience. With regard to gender, a comparison of the overall mean response for male (3. 508) and female teachers (3. 510) (See Fig. 2 below) shows that they are quite nearly the same and that there is no statistically significant difference at the level of 0. 5 in their perceptions about the difficulties (Sig. : . 978) (Table 4 in ANNEXURE – II)). This suggests that gender does not play a significant role i n the teachers' perceptions when it comes to articulating their own difficulties as well as those of their students with English grammar instruction. Fig. 2. Teachers’ Perceptions of Difficulties with EFL Grammar according to Gender With regard to the level taught, Table 5 (ANNEXURE – II) shows that teachers teaching at different levels have similar perceptions about their wn and their International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 76 Difficulties in Teaching and Learning Grammar†¦ students' difficulties with English grammar instruction, with a slightly higher mean for teachers of Grades 1-4 (3. 58) than the means for teachers of the other two levels, which are nearly the same (3. 49 and 3. 5) (See Fig. 3 below). Table 5 also shows that there is no statistically significant difference at the level of 0. 05 in terms of this variable (Sig. : . 686). Fig. 3.Teachers’ Perceptions of Difficulties with EFL Grammar according to Level Taught With r egard to teachers’ qualifications, Table 6 (ANNEXURE – II) shows a slightly higher overall mean for teachers with a diploma qualification (3. 78) than the overall means for teachers with higher qualifications, viz. bachelor's (3. 46) or master's degree (3. 49) (See Fig. 4 below). The results also show that there is no statistically significant difference at the level of 0. 05 in terms of this variable (Sig. : . 211 – Table 6). Fig. 4.Teachers’ Perceptions of Difficulties with EFL Grammar according to Qualifications With regard to teachers' experience, it does not seem to be a significant variable with regard to their perceptions of their own and their students' difficulties with English grammar instruction, as Table 7 (ANNEXURE – II) shows (See Fig. 5 below). The results also show that there is no statistically significant difference at the level of 0. 05 in terms of this variable (Sig. : . 869 – Table 7). International Journal of Instructio n, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 Al-Mekhlafi & Nagaratnam 7 Fig. 5. Teachers’ Perceptions of Difficulties with EFL Grammar according to Experience The foregoing discussion is based on the overall mean score obtained for the difficulties in general and for each of the four teacher variables considered in the present study. With regard to the fourth research question, a detailed analysis of the results provides interesting and valuable insights into teachers’ perceptions of different types of difficulties for students and teachers themselves and their concerns about classroom application of grammar teaching principles.The results are discussed with respect to difficulties categorized in terms of the themes listed in Table 8 below: Table 8. Statements in the Questionnaire Categorised according to Themes Theme Explicit grammar teaching The transfer of declarative knowledge into procedural knowledge The use of grammatical terminology Error correction Problem-solving activities The use of authentic texts for grammar instruction The use of spoken and written communicative activities Statement(s) 3, 4, 5, 13 1, 17, 18 14, 19 15, 16 2, 20 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 17, 18Explicit grammar teaching The dichotomies of unconscious/conscious learning and inductive/deductive teaching methods are both sometimes equated with the dichotomy between implicit and explicit instruction. Attitudes to inductive and deductive methods were investigated through statements concerning explicit presentation of grammar by teachers, students finding form-function matches for themselves, and the constraints in using either of the two methods. International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 78 Difficulties in Teaching and Learning Grammar†¦Statement 3 (My students expect teachers to present grammar explicitly) and Statement 13 (A lack of explicit grammar teaching leaves my students feeling insecure) produced a mean score of 3. 61 and 3. 38 respectively (Table 2 ANNEXU RE – II), supporting the view that students, in teachers’ perception, prefer explicit grammar teaching. This is not surprising, as students are known to expect traditional, explicit grammar instruction (e. g. , Borg, 1999a, b). The responses in the present study indicate that this expectation of students still remains, especially at the school level.Responses to Statement 5 (My students prefer to find matches between meaning and structure for themselves), however, produced a mean score of 3. 59 (Table 2 – ANNEXURE – II), which is very close to the mean score for students’ expectation about explicit teaching of grammar. This perception of students’ preference for an inductive method of learning grammar on the part of the same responding teachers is surprising. With regard to the same statement, the difference in mean between males and females seems to be higher than for the other statements (Table 4 – ANNEXURE – II).A follow-up interview with teachers might have provided more specific information and thrown light on their understanding of explicit and implicit methods of teaching grammar. With regard to Statement 4 (My students prefer to learn grammar from onesentence examples), which links to explicit grammar teaching, responding teachers produced the lowest mean score (2. 97) of all statements in the questionnaire (Table 2 – ANNEXURE – II). In terms of experience, however, there seems to be some significant difference at the level of 0. 5 in favour of teachers with more than 10 years of experience (Table 7 – ANNEXURE – II). Declarative vs procedural knowledge Statement 1 (My students find it difficult to transfer their grammatical knowledge into communicative language use), designed to identify teachers’ beliefs about the possible transfer of declarative knowledge (i. e. , knowledge about grammar) into procedural knowledge (i. e. , ability to use that knowledge in actua l communication), produced a mean score of 3. 81 (Table 2 ANNEXURE – II).This indicates that responding teachers recognise this process of transfer of one kind of knowledge into another as a problem for a large number of their students. This gap between students’ grammatical knowledge and communicative ability is not surprising to teachers, who often find that most of their students can recall grammatical rules accurately and perform very well on discrete-point grammar International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 Al-Mekhlafi & Nagaratnam 79 exercises, but fail to achieve such grammatical accuracy in actual communication.This fact is corroborated by the responses to Statements 17 and 18 (My students find it difficult to improve the accuracy of their grammatical knowledge within a totally communicative writing/speaking activity), which produced a mean score of 4. 10 and 3. 73 respectively (Table 2 – ANNEXURE – II). In terms of teacher qua lifications, teachers with a diploma agree strongly (mean of 4. 33) that their students find it difficult to transfer their grammatical knowledge into communicative language use. The mean for this statement for teachers with higher qualifications is lower (Table 6 – ANNEXURE – II).The use of grammatical terminology The use of grammatical terminology in the EFL classroom is seen as a necessary part of the explicit method of teaching grammar. When students and teachers talk about grammar (i. e. , in meta-linguistic discussion), which is one of the characteristics of explicit language teaching (Stern 1992: 327), they need to use grammatical terms. Two statements (14 & 19) sought to explore teachers’ perceptions of how their students feel about the use of grammatical terminology.Statement 14 (My students find grammatical terminology useful) and Statement 19 (My students find it difficult to use grammatical terminology) produced a mean score of 3. 82 and 4. 07 respec tively (Table 2 – ANNEXURE – II). This indicates that, in the responding teachers’ perception, their students see grammatical terminology as useful, but find difficulty in using the terms to be of a greater magnitude. Interestingly, the usefulness of grammatical terminology seems to be linked to the students’ preference for explicit grammar instruction. The difference in mean between teachers of Grades 1-4 and 11-12 on the one hand (mean of ? ) and those of Grades 5-10 (mean of 3. 4), however, seems to be higher with regard to their perceptions of the usefulness of grammatical terminology to their students. That is, teachers of the lowest and highest levels think that their students find grammatical terminology more useful than those of the middle grades. There is a significant difference at the level of 0. 05 in terms of the level taught with regard to the usefulness of grammatical terminology (statement 14) (Table 5 – ANNEXURE – II). In te rms of teacher qualifications, teachers with a diploma agree very strongly (mean of 4. 0) that their students find it difficult to use grammatical terminology and the majority of teachers surveyed, who have a bachelor's International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 80 Difficulties in Teaching and Learning Grammar†¦ degree, also seem to show a high level of agreement with regard to the same statement (mean of 4. 04). The mean for this statement for teachers with higher qualifications is lower (Table 6 – ANNEXURE – II). Error Correction Teachers generally tend to believe that errors of form committed by EFL learners should be corrected even when communicative goals are intended.This need for correction of form even within a communicative context, either spoken or written, may arise from a concern for grammatical accuracy in students’ communicative output or for avoiding fossilization of errors in their interlanguage. Statements 15 and 16 aim to capture teachers’ perceptions in this regard. Statement 15 (Teachers find it difficult to correct student errors of grammar within a written communicative context) and Statement 16 (Teachers find it difficult to correct student errors of grammar within a spoken communicative context) produced a mean score of 3. 26 and 3. 7 respectively (Table 2 ANNEXURE – II). It may be inferred from the results that the responding teachers experience more difficulty in correcting their learners’ spoken communication than written. Problem-solving techniques Problem-solving techniques in relation to grammar teaching are inductive techniques that require learners to find form-function matches by themselves. (e. g. , Hall and Shepheard, 1991). Responses of teachers surveyed in the present study produced a mean score of 3. 58 for Statement 2 (My students are motivated by problem-solving techniques for learning grammar), showing a link to responses to Statement 5 bout studentsâ⠂¬â„¢ preference for finding matches between meaning and structure for themselves. Surprisingly, however, the same responding teachers produced a mean score of 3. 60 for Statement 20 (My students are frustrated by problem-solving techniques for learning grammar) (Table 2 – ANNEXURE – II). A possible interpretation could be that teachers, while recognising the motivational potential of problem-solving techniques, also observe their students’ frustrating experience with such techniques, possibly because they are too ‘challenging’ for the learners to cope with.Another interpretation could be that teachers’ responses to Statement 2 are based on their theoretical assumption about what these techniques could do to the learners, while those to Statement 20 could be based on teachers’ assessment of the ground reality. International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 Al-Mekhlafi & Nagaratnam 81 With regard to the statement about students being motivated by problemsolving techniques for learning grammar (Statement 2), there is also a significant difference at the level of 0. 5 between males and females in their perceptions (Table 4 – ANNEXURE – II). The use of authentic texts for grammar instruction Authentic texts are texts that are not produced artificially for the purpose of language teaching, but are used for genuine purposes in the real world, like newspaper articles and recipes. By implication, these texts are contextualised and communicatively complete in themselves. They focus is on conveying real meaning rather than on form.Decontextualised examples of language, on the other hand, are one-sentence examples usually found in EFL textbooks and grammar practice books. They illustrate grammatical forms and structures in context-free sentences and are generally associated with the explicit method of teaching grammar. The use of texts illustrating authentic communication for presenting gramma r is generally seen as posing problems to teachers and students alike. Students’ problems with their use arise from difficulties of variety of structures Statement 7), culture (Statement 8), vocabulary (Statement 9), and implicit form-function matches (Statement 10), besides an overall difficulty in handling grammar presented within authentic texts (Statement 6). Teachers’ difficulties with authentic texts include those arising from the amount of time needed for using them (Statement 11) and producing suitable tasks from such texts (Statement 12). According to the responding teachers’ perceptions, students experience greater difficulties from vocabulary (Mean=3. 52), variety of structures (Mean=3. 49) and finding form-function matches (Mean=3. 3) than from handling from presented within authentic texts (Mean=3. 33) and culture (Mean=3. 26). Statements 11 and 12 relating to teachers’ difficulties in using authentic texts produced a mean score of 3. 03 and 3. 09 respectively (Table 2 – ANNEXURE – II), which indicates a lower perception of teachers of their own difficulties than those of students. The use of spoken and written communicative activities Statements 17 and 18 refer to the possible difficulties students might have in improving the accuracy of their grammatical language within totally communicative activities.Responding teachers produced a mean score of 4. 10 and 3. 73 for the two statements respectively. In fact, the highest mean score of International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 82 Difficulties in Teaching and Learning Grammar†¦ all scores for the survey questionnaire (4. 10) was obtained for Statement 17 (My students find it difficult to improve the accuracy of their grammatical knowledge within a totally communicative writing activity) (Table 2 ANNEXURE – II).The results indicate that, in teachers' perceptions, totally communicative activities, whether written or spoken, po se great difficulties to students for learning grammar and improving grammatical accuracy, writing activities proving more challenging than spoken ones. It might be inferred that the teachers surveyed might have a serious concern about the lack of sufficient focus on form in purely communicative activities or tasks for developing students' grammatical knowledge. Practising language as communication in real-life tasks might not give sufficient opportunities for students to improve their grammatical knowledge.In terms of teacher qualifications, teachers with a diploma agree very strongly (mean of 4. 67) that their students find it difficult to improve the accuracy of their grammatical language within a totally communicative writing activity and the majority of teachers surveyed, who have a bachelor's degree, also seem to show a high level of agreement with regard to the same statement (mean of 4. 01). The mean for this statement for teachers with higher qualifications is lower (Table 6 – ANNEXURE – II).CONCLUSION Generally speaking, in teachers’ perceptions, both teachers and students invariably face serious difficulties with regard to EFL grammar instruction, students facing them to a greater extent than teachers. It is obvious that EFL teachers consider these difficulties quite serious, which suggests that serious attention needs to be paid to them. There may be generally recommended ways of teaching EFL grammar (for example, the implicit method), but it would not be proper to adopt them universally without looking at the possible difficulties that might go with those methods suggested.While a less favoured method might pose fewer problems and hence be more effective, a more favoured method might be less effective owing to greater difficulties or problems in implementing it. The difficulties may also be influenced by the context in which a particular method is used. It is, therefore, necessary to make a detailed study of such difficulties faced by teachers and students in specific contexts, take appropriate steps to overcome them, and adapt the method to suit the actual teaching and learning International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2Al-Mekhlafi & Nagaratnam 83 environment. This is not to suggest ‘diluting’ a sound approach or method, but only to plan mediating or supplementary tasks to help learners tide over the difficulties. IMPLICATIONS The findings of the present study point to the following implications: 1. EFL Curriculum and material developers should show an understanding of learners’ and teachers’ difficulties, and provide sufficient guidance and help in the curriculum document and the teachers’ book showing how the potential difficulties could be addressed in planning their classroom activities.Teachers may be given examples of mediating tasks, which would mitigate the difficulties. 2. As Morelli (2003: 33-34) has pointed out, students need to be taught grammar through various methodologies and approaches to cater to their individual styles of learning, and educators should consider students’ attitudes and perceptions when making decisions about how to teach grammar. 3. EFL teachers would do well to understand and address their learners’ concerns in planning their lessons and classroom activities, and use supplementary materials, if necessary, to help learners cope with the difficulties. 4.Both in-service and pre-service training programmes should be planned in such a way that student-teachers and practising teachers articulate the potential and actual difficulties and discuss ways of overcoming or at least coping with them. The database relating to teaching English as a foreign language, including the difficulties of learners and teachers with regard to grammar instruction, should be enriched by more detailed research and analysis, which would enable generalizations across the gulf countries. International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 84 Difficulties in Teaching and Learning Grammar†¦REFERENCES Baron, D. (1982). Grammar and good taste: Reforming the American language. New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press. Borg, S. (1999a). The use of grammatical terminology in the second language classroom: a qualitative study of teachers’ practices and cognitions. Applied Linguistics, 20 (1): 95-126. (cited in Burgess and Etherington, 2002) Borg, S. (1999b). Teachers’ theories in grammar teaching. ELT Journal, 53 (3): 157-167. (cited in Burgess and Etherington, 2002). Brindley, G. (1984). Needs Analysis and Objective Setting in the Adult Migrant Education Program. NSW Adult Migrant Education Service, Sydney.Burgess, J. and Etherington, S. (2002). Focus on grammatical form: explicit or implicit? System, 30: 433-458. Cohen, L. and Manion, L. C. (1994). Research Methods in Education. London: Routledge. Elkilic, G. and Akca, C. (2008). Attitudes of the Students Studying at K afkas University Private Primary EFL Classroom towards Storytelling and Motivation. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 4(1): 1-22. European Commission (2006). The Main Pedagogical Principles Underlying the Teaching of Languages to Very Young Learners. Final Report of the EAC 89/04, Lot 1 Study: Edelenbos, P. , Johnstone, R. and Kubanek, A. Hall, N. nd Shepheard, J. (1991). The Anti-Grammar Grammar Book. London: Longman. Kumaravadivelu, B. (1991). Language learning tasks: teacher intention and learner interpretation. ELT Journal, 45 (2): 98-107. Larsen-Freeman, D. (2002). The Grammar of Choice. In E. Hinkel and S. Fotos (Eds. ). New Perspectives on Grammar Teaching in Second Language Classrooms. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Leki, I. (1995). Good writing: I know it when I see it. In In D. Belcher and G. Braine (eds. ) Academic Writing in a Second Language. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing. International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. , No. 2 Al-Mekh lafi & Nagaratnam 85 Morelli, J. A. (2003). Ninth Graders’ Attitudes toward Different Approaches to Grammar Instruction. Unpublished Dissertation. The Graduate School of Education, Fordham University, New York. Schultz, R. (1996). Focus on form in the foreign language classroom: students’ and teachers’ views on error correction and the role of grammar. Foreign Language Annals, 29(3): 343-364. Schultz, R. (2001). Cultural differences in student and teacher perceptions concerning the role of grammar instruction and corrective feedback. USAColombia. The Modern Language Journal, 85(ii): 244-258. Spratt, M. 1999). How good are we at knowing what learners like? System, 27:141-155. Stern, H. H. (1992). Issues and Options in English Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Widdowson, H. G. (1990). Grammar and nonsense and learning. In H. G. Widdowson, Aspects of language teaching, pp. 79-98. Oxford: Oxford University Press. International Journal of Instructio n, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 86 Difficulties in Teaching and Learning Grammar†¦ ANNEXURE – I RESEARCH INSTRUMENT – QUESTIONNAIRE STUDENT AND TEACHER DIFFICULTIES WITH GRAMMAR These are questions about how students and teachers deal with grammar in the classroom.Please indicate how far you agree or disagree with these statements. If you agree strongly, mark a 5 on the scale; if you strongly disagree, mark a 1 on the scale. No. Statement SA 1 My students find it difficult to transfer their grammatical knowledge into communicative language use. 2 My students are motivated by problem-solving techniques for learning grammar. 3 My students expect teachers to present grammar points explicitly. 4 My students prefer to learn grammar from one-sentence examples. 5 My students prefer to find matches between meaning and structure for themselves. My students find it difficult to handle grammar presented within authentic texts. 7 My students find authentic texts difficult becaus e of the wide variety of structures which appear. 8 My students find authentic texts difficult because they are too culture bound. 9 My students find authentic texts difficult because of the vocabulary used. 10 My students cannot find form-function matches in authentic texts without explicit direction from teachers. 11 Teachers find the use of authentic material too time-consuming. 12 Teachers find it difficult to produce tasks of a suitable level from authentic texts. 3 A lack of explicit grammar teaching leaves my students feeling insecure. 14 My students find grammatical terminology useful. 15 Teachers find it difficult to correct student errors of grammar within a written communicative context. 16 Teachers find it difficult to correct student errors of grammar within a spoken communicative context. 17 My students find it difficult to improve the accuracy of their grammatical language within a totally communicative writing activity. 18 My students find it difficult to improve the accuracy of their grammatical language within a totally communicative speaking activity. 9 My students find it difficult to use grammatical terminology. 20 My students are frustrated by problem-solving techniques for learning grammar. A N D SD International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 Al-Mekhlafi & Nagaratnam 87 ANNEXURE – II Table 2. Teachers’ Perceptions of Difficulties with EFL Grammar (N = 90) Statement 1. My students find it difficult to transfer their grammatical knowledge into communicative language use. 2. My students are motivated by problem-solving techniques for learning grammar. 3. My students expect teachers to present grammar points explicitly. 4.My students prefer to learn grammar from one-sentence examples. 5. My students prefer to find matches between meaning and structure for themselves. 6. My students find it difficult to handle grammar presented within authentic texts. 7. My students find authentic texts difficult because of t he wide variety of structures which appear. 8. My students find authentic texts difficult because they are too culture bound. 9. My students find authentic texts difficult because of the vocabulary used. 10. My students cannot find form-function matches in authentic texts without explicit direction from teachers. 11.Teachers find the use of authentic material too time-consuming. 12. Teachers find it difficult to produce tasks of a suitable level from authentic texts. 13. A lack of explicit grammar teaching leaves my students feeling insecure. 14. My students find grammatical terminology useful. 15. Teachers find it difficult to correct student errors of grammar within a written communicative context. 16. Teachers find it difficult to correct student errors of grammar within a spoken communicative context. 17. My students find it difficult to improve the accuracy of their grammatical language within a totally communicative writing activity. 8. My students find it difficult to improve the accuracy of their grammatical language within a totally communicative speaking activity. 19. My students find it difficult to use grammatical terminology. 20. My students are frustrated by problem-solving techniques for learning grammar. Overall Mean 3. 8111 3. 5778 3. 6111 2. 9667 3. 5889 3. 3333 3. 4889 3. 2556 3. 5222 3. 4333 3. 0333 3. 0889 3. 3778 3. 8222 3. 2556 3. 5730 4. 1000 3. 7333 4. 0667 3. 6000 3. 5090 SD . 93490 . 97125 1. 04607 1. 49494 . 94684 1. 03858 1. 01941 1. 03382 1. 07293 1. 02825 1. 05415 1. 16739 . 97816 1. 5937 1. 25027 . 83785 . 90006 . 99210 . 87152 1. 08927 7. 71887 Table 4. Teachers’ Perceptions of Difficulties with EFL Grammar according to their Gender (Males: N=39; Females: N=51) Statement 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Gender Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Mean 3. 8718 3. 7647 3. 2308 3. 8431 3. 7436 3. 5098 3. 1282 2. 8431 3. 7949 3. 4314 3. 2821 3. 3725 3. 5128 3. 4706 3. 2051 3. 2941 3. 5128 3. 5294 3. 3846 3. 4706 3. 0769 3. 0000 3. 1282 3. 0588 SD . 86388 . 99173 1. 6281 . 80926 . 96567 1. 10223 1. 47219 1. 51489 . 95089 . 92206 1. 02466 1. 05756 . 79046 1. 17223 1. 10452 . 98578 . 99662 1. 13759 1. 09100 . 98697 1. 10940 1. 01980 1. 19603 1. 15606 F 1. 357 4. 942 1. 447 . 032 . 068 . 095 9. 319 . 295 1. 240 . 600 . 062 . 107 t . 536 3. 105 1. 051 . 895 1. 828 . 408 . 194 . 403 . 072 . 391 . 341 . 278 Sig. (2-tailed) . 593 . 003 . 296 . 373 . 071 . 684 . 847 . 688 . 943 . 697 . 734 . 782 International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 88 Difficulties in Teaching and Learning Grammar†¦ Statement 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 OverallGender Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Mean 3. 3333 3. 4118 3. 9231 3. 7451 3. 3590 3. 1765 3. 5385 3. 6000 4. 0769 4. 1176 3. 7179 3. 7451 3. 8974 4. 1961 3. 4359 3. 7255 3. 5077 3. 5100 SD . 98230 . 98339 1. 28523 1. 24649 1. 34726 1. 17823 . 82226 . 85714 . 98367 . 84017 .88700 1. 07412 . 94018 . 80049 1. 16517 1. 02134 6. 67887 8. 50930 F . 018 . 105 1. 363 . 174 . 023 1. 454 . 201 2. 494 1. 604 t . 375 . 662 . 684 . 342 . 212 . 128 1. 626 1. 254 . 028 Sig. (2-tailed) . 708 . 510 . 496 . 733 . 833 . 898 . 108 . 213 . 978 Table 5.Teachers’ Perceptions of Difficulties with EFL Grammar according to the Level taught Statement 1 Level 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 N 17 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 17 Mean 3. 8824 3. 5484 3. 9762 3. 8111 3. 5882 3. 2903 3. 7857 3. 5778 3. 7059 3. 5161 3. 6429 3. 6111 2. 7647 3. 4516 2. 6905 2. 9667 3. 7059 3. 6774 3. 4762 3. 5889 3. 1765 3. 3871 3. 3571 3. 3333 3. 6471 3. 4839 3. 4286 3. 889 3 . 6471 3. 2903 3. 0714 3. 2556 3. 7059 3. 5484 3. 4286 3. 5222 3. 7647 SD 1. 05370 1. 09053 . 71527 . 93490 1. 00367 . 97275 . 92488 . 97125 1. 04670 . 99569 1. 10036 1. 04607 1. 52190 1. 43385 1. 47314 1. 49494 . 77174 . 79108 1. 10956 . 94684 1. 01460 1. 02233 1. 07797 1. 03858 1. 16946 1. 06053 . 94075 1. 01941 . 99632 . 93785 1. 09082 1. 03382 1. 26317 1. 09053 . 99125 1. 07293 1. 20049 F 1. 970 Sig. .146 2 2. 394 .097 3 .213 .809 4 2. 593 .081 5 .557 .575 6 .242 .785 7 .274 .761 8 1. 943 .149 9 .413 1. 116 .663 . 332 10 International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 Al-Mekhlafi & Nagaratnam 9 Statement 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Overall Level 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total 1-4 5-10 11-12 Total N 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 17 31 41 89 17 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 17 31 42 90 Mean 3. 3871 3. 3333 3. 4333 2. 8824 3. 0968 3. 0476 3. 0333 3. 1176 3. 1290 3. 0476 3. 0889 3. 5294 3. 0645 3. 5476 3. 3778 4. 0000 3. 3871 4. 0714 3. 8222 3. 0588 3. 5161 3. 429 3. 2556 3. 6471 3. 7419 3. 4146 3. 5730 4. 2941 4. 0323 4. 0714 4. 1000 3. 6471 3. 6774 3. 8095 3. 7333 4. 3529 3. 9355 4. 0476 4. 0667 3. 5294 3. 5806 3. 6429 3. 6000 3. 5824 3. 4871 3. 4951 3. 5090 SD . 91933 1. 02806 1. 02825 1. 05370 1. 10619 1. 03482 1. 05415 1. 21873 1. 14723 1. 18841 1. 16739 1. 17886 . 99785 . 83235 . 97816 1. 22474 1. 22956 1. 23748 1. 25937 1. 39062 1. 17958 1. 24100 1. 25027 . 93148 . 68155 . 89375 . 83785 . 77174 . 87498 . 97262 . 90006 1. 27187 . 90874 . 94322 . 99210 . 70189 . 81386 . 96151 . 87152 1. 12459 1. 14816 1. 05510 1. 08927 7. 94466 8. 51652 7. 09156 7. 71887 F Sig. .230 .795 049 .953 2. 509 .087 2. 968 .057 1. 056 .352 1. 443 .242 .499 .609 .233 .792 1. 287 .281 .072 .931 .378 .686 Table 6. Teach ers’ Perceptions of Difficulties with EFL Grammar according to their Qualifications Statement 1 Qualification MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total N 8 76 6 90 8 76 6 90 Mean 3. 5000 3. 8026 4. 3333 3. 8111 3. 6250 3. 5395 4. 0000 3. 5778 SD 1. 30931 . 89472 . 81650 . 93490 . 91613 . 99921 . 63246 . 97125 F 1. 394 Sig. .253 2 .630 .535 International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 90 Difficulties in Teaching and Learning Grammar†¦ Statement 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17Qualification MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma N 8 76 6 90 8 76 6 90 8 76 6 90 8 76 6 90 8 76 6 90 8 76 6 90 8 76 6 90 8 76 6 90 8 76 6 90 8 76 6 90 8 76 6 90 8 76 6 90 8 76 6 90 8 75 6 89 8 76 6 Mean 3. 5000 3. 5921 4. 00 00 3. 6111 3. 3750 2. 9605 2. 5000 2. 9667 3. 7500 3. 5526 3. 8333 3. 5889 2. 6250 3. 4079 3. 3333 3. 3333 3. 2500 3. 4605 4. 1667 3. 4889 3. 5000 3. 2237 3. 333 3. 2556 3. 1250 3. 5000 4. 3333 3. 5222 3. 3750 3. 4079 3. 8333 3. 4333 2. 7500 3. 0526 3. 1667 3. 0333 3. 5000 3. 0132 3. 5000 3. 0889 3. 2500 3. 4079 3. 1667 3. 3778 3. 1250 3. 8947 3. 8333 3. 8222 3. 3750 3. 2237 3. 5000 3. 2556 3. 5000 3. 5200 4. 3333 3. 5730 4. 5000 4. 0132 4. 6667 SD 1. 06904 1. 03509 1. 26491 1. 04607 1. 40789 1. 50058 1. 64317 1. 49494 1. 38873 . 91498 . 75277 . 94684 1. 30247 . 96854 1. 36626 1. 03858 1. 16496 1. 01247 . 75277 1. 01941 1. 06904 1. 02760 1. 21106 1. 03382 1. 24642 1. 05198 . 81650 1. 07293 1. 18773 1. 03509 . 75277 1. 02825 1. 58114 1. 00525 . 98319 1. 05415 1. 30931 1. 13717 1. 37840 1. 6739 1. 58114 . 86684 1. 47196 . 97816 1. 80772 1. 16137 1. 60208 1. 25937 1. 68502 1. 18433 1. 64317 1. 25027 1. 19523 . 77738 . 81650 . 83785 . 75593 . 91642 . 51640 F . 467 Sig. .629 .586 .559 .3 66 .694 2. 108 .128 1. 596 .209 .272 .762 2. 348 .102 .484 .618 .345 .710 1. 029 .362 .240 .787 1. 363 .261 .173 .842 2. 757 2. 407 .069 . 096 International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 Al-Mekhlafi & Nagaratnam 91 Statement 18 19 20 Overall Qualification Total MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total MA BA Diploma Total N 90 8 76 6 90 8 76 6 90 8 76 6 90 8 76 6 90 Mean 4. 1000 3. 6250 3. 7632 3. 5000 3. 333 4. 0000 4. 0395 4. 5000 4. 0667 3. 8750 3. 5658 3. 6667 3. 6000 3. 4563 3. 4933 3. 7750 3. 5090 SD . 90006 1. 40789 . 92186 1. 37840 . 99210 . 75593 . 90097 . 54772 . 87152 1. 35620 1. 08733 . 81650 1. 08927 10. 98619 7. 29186 7. 44983 7. 71887 F Sig. .244 .784 .798 .453 .299 .742 1. 582 .211 Table 7. Teachers’ Perceptions of Difficulties with EFL Grammar according to their Experience Statement 1 Exp. (yrs) ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 0 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 N 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 90 27 41 Mean 3. 5556 3. 9250 3. 9130 3. 8111 3. 4444 3. 5500 3. 7826 3. 5778 3. 4444 3. 8000 3. 4783 3. 6111 3. 2222 3. 1500 2. 3478 2. 9667 3. 7407 3. 5000 3. 5652 3. 5889 3. 2963 3. 4000 3. 2609 3. 3333 3. 4074 3. 5250 3. 5217 3. 4889 3. 1481 3. 2000 3. 4783 3. 2556 3. 8519 3. 3000 3. 5217 3. 5222 3. 3333 3. 4500 SD 1. 12090 . 91672 . 66831 . 93490 . 84732 . 95943 1. 12640 . 97125 . 97402 1. 01779 1. 16266 1. 04607 1. 52753 1. 45972 1. 40158 1. 49494 . 81300 1. 13228 . 2777 . 94684 1. 17063 . 98189 1. 00983 1. 03858 1. 24836 . 93336 . 89796 1. 01941 . 81824 1. 11401 1. 12288 1. 03382 1. 06351 1. 11401 . 94722 1. 07293 1. 03775 1. 06096 F 1. 457 Sig. .239 2 .778 .462 3 1. 185 .311 4 2. 772 .068 5 .525 .593 6 .153 .859 7 .121 .886 8 .733 .484 9 2. 189 . 214 .118 . 808 10 Interna tional Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2 92 Difficulties in Teaching and Learning Grammar†¦ Statement 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Overall Exp. (yrs) ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total ? 5 ; 5 ? 10 ; 10 Total N 22 90 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 89 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 90 27 41 22 90 Mean 3. 5217 3. 4333 2. 8889 3. 0750 3. 1304 3. 0333 3. 3333 3. 0750 2. 8261 3. 0889 3. 3704 3. 2750 3. 5652 3. 3778 3. 4815 3. 8500 4. 1739 3. 8222 3. 1481 3. 2500 3. 3913 3. 2556 3. 6667 3. 5000 3. 5909 3. 5730 4. 0741 4. 1000 4. 1304 4. 1000 3. 6667 3. 8250 3. 6522 3. 7333 4. 0370 4. 0500 4. 1304 4. 0667 3. 4074 3. 000 3. 6522 3. 6000 3. 4759 3. 5250 3. 5201 3. 5090 SD . 99405 1. 02825 1. 25064 . 99711 . 9 1970 1. 05415 1. 14354 1. 11832 1. 26678 1. 16739 . 92604 1. 01242 . 99206 . 97816 1. 36918 1. 23101 1. 11405 1. 25937 1. 43322 1. 14914 1. 23359 1. 25027 . 87706 . 87706 . 73414 . 83785 1. 03500 . 74421 1. 01374 .90006 1. 03775 . 84391 1. 19121 . 99210 . 70610 . 90441 1. 01374 . 87152 1. 18514 1. 06699 1. 02730 1. 08927 9. 44364 7. 20399 6. 48558 7. 71887 F Sig. .377 .687 1. 182 .311 .639 .530 1. 935 .151 .232 .794 .321 .727 .024 .976 .304 .739 .083 .921 .612 .545 .140 .869 International Journal of Instruction, July 2011 ? Vol. 4, No. 2

Herland As A Feminist Work

Feminism is the advocating for social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men (Random House College Dictionary). This story depicts just that. It is about a society made entirely of women with no need for men. We see the perspective of men through the eyes of our narrator. He gives us the point of view from three different men about women. Herland takes the traditional stereotypes about women and reverses them entirely. Everything that was once regarded by feminine and masculine standards was taken away. The women had short hair and athletic bodies. Their clothing was not provocative but built for comfort and convenience. They were not coy and flirtatious. They did not need men. Their daily living and whole lives did not depend on a man in any way shape or form. They were builders, farmers, scholars, and most importantly mothers. They lived together, harmoniously. The women of the land do not understand the gender biases of the world because they simply do not make sense. â€Å"There was no accepted standard of what was â€Å"manly† and what was â€Å"womanly†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Jeff said, ‘a woman should not carry anything,’ Celis asked ‘Why? ’ with the frankest amazement†(93). And why shouldn’t a woman carry anything. To her it was the funniest idea. If none of them carried anything, nothing would get done! The men who â€Å"invade† Herland are filled with typical boyish fantasies of wild maidens in waiting. Their ideals about this place are comical. They expect to find a collection of wild women that are waiting to be tamed by men. They imagine a world of pure, untainted women. They cannot imagine a civilized world without the presence of men. â€Å" They would fight amongst themselves, Women always do. We mustn’t look for any sort of order and organization† (10). This statement was made by Terry, as we come to know him. He is the most â€Å"manly† of the three men. His ideals are the most Victorian and chauvinistic. Jeff’s ideas about the women they would come to find were different than Terry’s. He believed that women should be sheltered and protected without a care in the world. â€Å"Jeff idealized women in the most Southern style. He was full of chivalry and sentiment, and all that. And he was a good boy; he lived up to his ideals† (11). Van’s ideals about their venture were the most practical in nature. He looked over every detail and tried to make the most sensible explanations. I believe he was the voice of reason. We could also compare the three to Freud’s Id (Terry), Ego (Jeff), and Superego (Van). But that is another paper. Perhaps one of the most forthcoming feminist aspects is the fact that the women of Herland reproduce without the assistance of men. This feature of the novel helps to create a truly self -supporting society of women that our narrators cannot seem to grasp. This makes these women superhuman in a sense. The male race is unnecessary to their existence. I believe that this story was told with the purpose of making the gender roles of most of the world look like children’s games. It is clear that this story was intended to show that women were and are self-supporting human beings and not objects to be possessed and kept.