Impact of Transport Costs on Housing Decisions

Impact of Transport Costs on Housing Decisions This study will emphasise on the effect of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. The case study will be held in Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. This study will be using the quantitative methods to further study the effect of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. Background In the search for lower cost housing, working families often locate far from their place of work and this will resulting in the increasing of their transportation costs and commute times. However, for many such families, the transportation costs exceed their housing costs. According to Bernstein (2001), affordability has never been just about housing cost, it is actually the interaction between housing and transportation cost that provide more meaningful measure of affordability. Hence, choosing a location-efficient neighbourhood near transit, services and jobs, families can reduce monthly household expenses. This study will emphasise on the model of land use and prices formulated by Von Thunen in 1826, a German economist. The theory concentrates on difference in relative transport costs in different types of agricultural production. According to J. Harvey (1997), he made assumptions that a boundless flat and featureless plain over which natural resources and climate are distributed uniformly and there is a central market for the area. Furthermore, he also assumed that the farmer used uniform horse and cart transport facilities to this central market, and different foods can be grown, but since these differ in bulk, the cost of transporting them to the market also differs. For each type of product, transport cost varies directly and proportionately with distance from the central market. However, the receipts from cultivation of one hectare of land are the same for all types of product. Given by these assumptions, it pictures the rent-paying capacity as a function of transport cost and the distance from the market. As distance from the market increases the total costs are raised by the increased cost of transport of the cultivation product. However, this study will relates this theory with the decision of housing location of the case study in Bandar Saujana. It will examine whether the theory match the pattern of the housing location in regards with the transport cost. Bandar Saujana Putra is a new self-contained township located in Sepang Selangor. The township launched the first phase of the development in 2004, has an easy access to the town centre using ELITE Highway. Its easy access to the town made Bandar Saujana Putra an ideal for the case study as the resident able to travel to the respective location of their needs. Statement of Problems: The township of Bandar Saujana Putra is located approximately 20km from the centre of Kuala Lumpur and the residents enjoy an easy access via ELITE Highway. However, how the transportation cost is plays a role in determining the decision to reside in Bandar Saujana Putra? Furthermore, does the Von Thunen theory explain the pattern of location theory in the case of Bandar Saujana Putra? Objectives of Study: The main objective of the study is to examine the effects of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. The second objective of the study is to examine whether Von Thunen theory match the pattern of location theory in Bandar Saujana Putra. Scope of Study: The study is confined to the areas of Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor since it is located approximately 20 km away from city centre and easily accessible. The respondent of the questionnaire are limited to the residents of Bandar Saujana Putra and analysis as well as findings from the rental and property price will be used to accomplish the objectives mentioned above. The difficulty and limitation for the study arise when distributing the sample questionnaire and to get the feedback from the respondents. There will be situation where the respondents that have been approached will not or hesitate to give cooperation to the sample questionnaire. Research Methodology: The study would be done in an analytic manner. The information that is needed to examine the issue will be obtained from primary and secondary data. Primary Data: Primary data refers to the first-hand data, which required data collection. For this study, it will mainly involve in the distribution of questionnaire to the residents of Bandar Saujana Putra. The analysis will also be done according to the study areas in order to examine the transport cost of the residents. The question will be in objective manner administered to arrive to the objectives of the study. Secondary Data: The second method is secondary data which will mostly comprise of data collection through references of such as relevant books, journal, conference paper, newspaper and magazine articles and also online references. The data will also obtain from the economic text book which further explained the theory related to the study. Significant of Study: It is hoped that the anticipated outcome of this study can benefit the government especially the Town Planners in determining the structure of local city plan. While planning for housing development and also commercial hub, the developer and town planners have to consider the factors of distance and transportation as these two related closely to the affordability factor of a household. Secondly, this study will also benefit the house buyer in determining the location of the house as the distance and transportation cost is concern. The study will enlighten as how the location factors of property affects the daily budget of a household. The study also points to the importance of infill development that expands the supply of affordable housing in inner city and older suburban neighbourhoods that have good access to traditional job centres; the development of more affordable housing near transportation hubs and suburban employment centres. Lastly, the study intends to benefit the students as it will open up more discussion regarding the issue. Further research can be done to improve the findings of this study and hopefully it will beneficial towards the knowledge of the students. Organisation of Study: This study will consist of five chapters where the first chapter provides a brief concept and overview of Von Thunen theory that will be discussed further in the Literature Review. The first chapter consist of the introduction of the study and also statement problem that initiates the study. The first chapter also explained on the limitation faced on doing the study and the significance of this study. Meanwhile, the second chapter will discuss on literature review related to the study. It will mainly focus on the concept of the dynamic of Von Thunen theory in relation of the property market. The next part of the chapter will look further on the theory of urban economic and the formulation of the theory towards the locational decision. It will further strengthen the understanding of the theory based on the literature reviewed. Chapter three will discuss further on the methodology used in obtaining the information for the study. The quantitative methods of distributing questionnaire will be discussed further as well as the qualitative research methods used in the study. The qualitative research of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data is by observing the current market trend. This chapter will further emphasise on the case study chosen which is Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. The fourth chapter of the study will shows the analysis of the data collected previously. Information and data that is obtained from the survey of the market rental will be further detailed in this chapter using the appropriate graphs and diagrams. The analysis of the findings is further discussed in relation to the patterns of economic rent in the market. The last chapter will conclude the analysis of the findings and draws the recommendation of the further study to compliment this research. It will also determine the confirmation of the objectives of this study as well as the holistic achievement of the study. Chapter 2: Literature Review Introduction: This chapter will explain further on the previous literature and writing in regards of the urban land use in general and Von Thunen theory of locational decision. Other than that, this chapter will also discuss on the limitation of the theory as well as the formulation of the theory. Background: Urban land use comprises two elements; the nature of land use which relates to which activities are taking place, and the level of spatial accumulation which indicates their intensity and concentration. Central areas compared to peripheral area have a high level of spatial accumulation and corresponding land uses such as retail while peripheral areas, on the other hand have lower levels of accumulation. In addition most economic as suggested by Gordon (2005), social or cultural activities imply a multitude of functions, such as production, consumption and distribution. These functions take place only at specific locations and are part of an activity system. Therefore activities have a spatial imprint whereby some are routine activities as they occur regularly and are thus predictable, such as commuting and shopping. Others are institutional activities that tend to be irregular, and are shaped by lifestyle for example sports and leisure, by special needs for example healthcare. Still others are production activities that are related to manufacturing and distribution, whose linkages may be local, regional or global. In short, the behavioural patterns of individuals, institutions and firms have an imprint on land use and the representation of this imprint requires a typology of land use, which can be formal or functional: Formal land use: The representations are concerned with qualitative attributes of space such as its form, pattern and aspect and are descriptive in nature. Functional land use: The representations are concerned with the economic nature of activities such as production, consumption, residence, and transport, and are mainly a socioeconomic description of space. Residential accommodation: The stock of residential accommodation varies from multi-storey flat near the city centre, through back-to-back terrace houses and then semi-detached, to detached houses often standing in spacious ground. This stock of residential accommodation reflects decisions taken at some time in the past because of the building costs rule out the choice of new construction for a substantial part of the population. If the residence is to compete land away from other uses then sites would have to be developed to higher densities in or near the position of greatest accessibility than elsewhere, because sites in that area provide optimum location for higher order uses such as offices and retailing. According to Smith (1997), there is a relationship between a persons income, his place of residence and his place of work, although the correlation is not fixed, for individuals differ in the proportion of their incomes they choose to spend on accommodation. An individual, according to Cunningham (1999), seeking to maximise utility, must weigh his desire for access to his place of work against various possible combinations of commuting costs and accommodation prices and his other desires for urban contacts and amenities. Incomes will determine how far a households residence preference can be indulged. With differing preference consumers in the same group of income may demand different type of accommodation. On the other hand, those desiring contacts furnished by near central locations have the advantage of lower transport cost but frequently have to sacrifice certain site amenities. Where persons of unlike incomes lives at distances where they incur the same commuting costs then the person with the highest income will occupy the best accommodation, and so on. Urban Land Use: Commercial land use according to Faraday (1997) and supported by Lean (2001) involves relationships with its supplier and customers as it support the claim that land use in both formal and functional representations implies a set of relationships with other land uses. A level of accessibility to both systems of circulation must be present because relationships with suppliers will dominantly be related with movements of freight; relationships with customers would include movements of people. Since each type of land use has its own specific mobility requirements, transportation is one of the factors of activity location and is therefore associated intimately with land use. Within the urban system each activity occupies a suitable, but not necessarily optimal location, from which it derives rent. Transportation and land use interactions mostly consider the retroactive relationships between activities, which are land use related, and accessibility, which is transportation related. These relationships often have been described as a chicken-and-egg problem since it is difficult to identify the triggering cause of change; do transportation changes precede land use changes or vice-versa? Urban transportation aims at supporting transport demands generated by the diversity of urban activities in a diversity of urban contexts. A key for understanding urban entities thus lies in the analysis of patterns and processes of the transport / land use system. This system is highly complex and involves several relationships between the transport system, spatial interactions and land use: Transport system: It will consider the set of transport infrastructures and modes that are supporting urban movements of passengers and freight. It generally expresses the level of accessibility. Spatial interactions: It will consider the nature, extent, origins and destinations of the urban movements of passengers and freight. They take into consideration the attributes of the transport system as well as the land use factors that are generating and attracting movements. Land use: It will consider the level of spatial accumulation of activities and their associated levels of mobility requirements. Land use is commonly linked with demographic and economic attributes. Accessibility: Accessibility evaluates the net economic costs of moving persons and goods between one place and another place. It is, therefore, not only concerned with the distance to be travelled between two places but, more important, with the time taken to travel that distance, i.e., with all the factor costs in any journey (Lean , 2001). However, accessibility does not affect solely the real costs incurred by movement but also the real benefits derived. The residential demand for urban land also depends upon accessibility but the capital sum a residential user pays to obtain a site represents a money evaluation of the satisfaction to be derived from that site. According to Goddall (2001) residential demand depends upon utility or satisfaction and the residential user seeks that the site which allows him to maximise his utility. Thus, for the residential user travelling, whether to work, to shops, or for pleasure, represent a disutility and each person wishes to minimise these disutilities such as the time and money costs of travelling. Disutilities would be minimised if a residential user located himself on a site with a high degree of accessibility, so residential use would compete with business uses for accessible site. However, for a residential there are certain amenities considerations involved in the choice of site which confer satisfaction/utility upon the user. The amenity value of a site depends upon factors not readily assessable in financial terms such as space, quiet, fresh air, etc. According to Wardour (1997) the choice of a residential site is, in many cases, a compromise because the desire to minimise travelling disutilities demands a relatively accessible, therefore central site, whereas the quest for amenity leads towards less accessible sites some way from the city centre. Greater amenity can usually be achieved by accepting additional travelling disutility. Urban Land Use Model: Von Thunen Ring Model: The relationships between transportation and land use are rich in theoretical representations that have contributed much too geographical sciences. Several descriptive and analytical models of urban land use have been developed over time, with increased levels of complexity where all of them involve some consideration of transport in the explanations of urban land use structures according to Carter (1995). However, this study will emphasise on the oldest land use theory by Johann Heinrich Von Thunen. According to Rodrigue (2000) modern location economics began with Von Thunen (1826). Being the first to develop a basic analytical model of the relationships between markets, production, and distance he too looked upon the agricultural landscape as the purpose in this study. The relative costs of transporting different agricultural commodities to the central market determined the agricultural land use around a city. The most productive activities will thus compete for the closest land to the market and less productive activities will be located further away. The model has a set of basic assumptions which reflects agricultural conditions around a city in the early 19th century: Isolation: There is one isolated market in an isolated state having no interactions (trade) with the outside. Ubiquitous land characteristics: The land surrounding the market is entirely flat and its fertility uniform. Transportation: It is assumed there are no transport infrastructures such as roads or rivers and that farmers are transporting their production to the market using horses and carts. Transportation costs are dependent of the type of commodity being transported to the market as well as the distance involved. Comparison of the relationships between production cost, the market price and the transport cost of an agricultural commodity is explained thoroughly as follows: R = Y(p-c) Yfm R = Rent per unit of land. Y = Yield per unit of land. p = market price per unit of yield. c = Average production costs per unit of yield. m = Distance from market (in kilometers or miles). f = Freight rate per unit of yield and unit of distance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Carter (1995) further explained that all agricultural land uses are maximizing their productivity (rent) whereby in this case it is dependent upon their location from the market (Central City). Discourse community of farmer play significant role as they are to maximize his profit which is simply the market price minus the transport and production costs. The most productive activities such as gardening or milk production or activities which cost higher in transportation (firewood) are located near to the market. The above figure provides an overview of Von Thunens agricultural land use model with the basic assumptions being applied such as isolation, ubiquity, and transportation. It can be divided into two parts: The pure isolated state over an isotropic plain (left). In this case, the model takes a shape of perfect concentric circles. The potential impacts of modified transport costs (a navigable river) and the presence of a competing center (right). The relationships between agricultural land use and market distance are very difficult to establish in the contemporary context. Von Thunen primary objective was to determine the relationship between the intensities and type of agricultural production and the available markets. The physical and cultural complexities however, led him to disregard the variations in a large number of environmental and social conditions. Instead, he made seven basic assumptions, which formed the core of the theory. The ideal site consisted of completely rational (optimising) economic behaviour, an isolated state, a single central city, settlement in village far away from the city centre, and a racially homogeneous population, uniform topography, uniform climate and soil fertility, and a relatively uniform and primitive transportation cost according to Griffin (1968) and later supported by Rodrigue (2001). Sinclair (1966) however noted that Von Thunen primary concern was to discover and examine the laws which governed the pattern of agricultural land use existing in his time and within his experience. His dominant recognition was the land use pattern depended upon competition between various types of agriculture for the use of particular piece of land. The controlling factor in this competition was Economic Rent as defined here the return of investment in the land. Later it is sopported briefly by Rodrigue (2001) that form of land providing the greatest Economic Rent would make the highest bid for the land and displaced all others. The facts that transport cost increased with distance and they imparted a spatial variation to Economic Rent become an eye opener to Von Thunen whom later comes to realise that transportation costs were a primary factors determining Economic Rent. Hence, Economic Rent from any one land use can be expressed as a function of a distance from the market. Limitation of the Theory: In constructing the model complicating factors were assumed away, providing a laboratory in which the interplay between a small number of essential causal influences and their relations with certain effect could be studied. In particular this model provided a mechanism in which changing technical and economic inputs could be linked with evolving geographical patterns of production according to Samuelson (1983) and Linehan (2003). The attraction was thus, that the theory simplified the world by concentrating on the effects of one primary variable, transportation costs, on the location of agricultural production. Von Thunen himself accomplished this by creating the idea of the economic margin. In his view, land use areas were bounded by margins where one use became more cost-effective than another. Given von Thunens thesis, Peet, (1987) could attempt to explain how these factors may have changed historically and explain changes in the location of production. The uses of Von Thunen model, or derivatives of it, continue to this day among quantitative geographers for example, Wang and Guldmann (1997); Hill and Smith (1994); Linehan (2003). Even in 1966, however, the limitations of the model were accepted. Gaston (1997) followed by Linehan (2003) for instance admits Von Thunens analysis is basically descriptive rather than normative and does not explain changes over time or the possible effects of economies of scale. Despite this, Smith (2000) promotes the model because it made marginal economics geographical. In the years since these limitations in particular the fact that Von Thunen ignored changes over time have often been mentioned, but the model survives in importance in the minds of geographers and is a main subject of beginning economic geography courses. The most likely reason for this is that Von Thunen rings actually appear to exist in many cases. For instance, cities are often surrounded by a dairy ring. Von Thunen rings are one of the few very easily understandable models in geography that truly appear to explain a pattern in the world, even if the model is primarily descriptive and does not give much idea a bout how exactly this pattern came to be or what might happen to it in the future. Harvey made this argument in Social Justice and the City (1997), arguing that social scientists are attracted to models such as the Isolated State because they appear to be empirically relevant. Barnes (1998), following Haraway (1997). Latour (1987) and Linehan (2003), comments on the manner in which von Thunens model, in particular the concentric zone diagram showing agricultural land use rings of decreasing intensity with distance from the city, has been fetishized within economic geography. Barnes (1998) argues, based on the work of Barnbrock (1997) and Harvey (1997) that Von Thunens concept of the frontier wage, the just reward for work done that, if paid, would ensure worker harmony, leads to a more complete understanding of Von Thunens work. This sense of harmony was also Von Thunens vision of the isolated state in general, constructed not just an isolated state, but an ideal one. The rings were less a description of how the world is, but how it should be once social harmony was realized. The idea that the isolated state was not just descriptive but also prescriptive is emphasized by Barnbrock (1997), who writes that for von Thunen the Isolated State is the true representation of the final end mankind should strive for. He further quotes von Thunen, who states in the Isolated State we have in mind only the final goal. Harvey points out, however, that this was an essentially conservative goal. Through the imposition of the frontier wage and a more harmonious land use pattern, class conflict and social polarization would be minimized within German society. The lesson learned by neo-classical economists, Harvey argues, was that economic science could seek and spell out principles of social harmony without appeal to the political economy of the spatial fix. The use of Von Thunens ideas within geography highlights the conflicts within a discipline that strives both to find regularity in the world and to explain the patterns seen in specific places. The Isolated State theory is attractive because it one of the few easily understood location theories for which empirical examples can be easily drawn. Of course, these examples are never absolutely correct and often seem overly simplistic. Barnes (1998) analysis of Von Thunen and the social construction of Von Thunens theory within economic geography particularly help understand the use of Von Thunen within agricultural economics supported by Watson (2005). The idea that Von Thunens theories were not just descriptive but also prescriptive more closely parallels the attitudes of the agricultural economists, who were searching not just to describe land use but often also to restrict it in order to build a more harmonious dairy economy. Formulation of the Theory towards Locational Decision: In an attempt to test the hypothesis that market forces largely allocate the supply of sites among the alternatives uses within the urban area, Von Thunens agriculture land use model is adapted. The rising transportation costs explain the differentials rent among homogenous site as stated in the theory explained by Moss (2001). Understood the accessibility within an urban market will be at maximum at the city centre; the assumptions of a competitive market and a homogenous site will be given. As far as transport and commuting cost is concern the accessibility tend to decrease when distance from the market centre increases. Moss (2001) concluded that firms and households have no intentions to change location and ceteris paribus because profits and other objectives are maximised. Next output is optimal and the maximum efficiency of the city as a productive unit is realised. In fact, the resulting structure of land uses reflect institutional arrangement such as zoning ordinance, transportation system and policies of financial institutional as well as the competitive ranking of the city, i.e. its economic base. The location of firms and households within this structure depends heavily upon competitive bidding for specific sites since rent differentials result market forces require from each site that rent resulting from maximum utilisation or highest and best use. Maximum economic rent occurs at the market centre because the supply of sites and average transportation and commuting costs for the local market are least according to Seyfried (1963).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Seyfried (1963), followed by Linehan (2003) also suggested that the wages and interest are among production costs and they are assumed to be independent of location, but transportation costs rise as distance increases which later cause the rent, the surplus of gross revenue over production costs, decline proportionately. The supply of sites, i.e., more and larger land unit, increases with the distance from centre. Therefore competing user of sites will locate relative to their economic rent potential so that a structure of site values relative to location results from market forces. This structure of urban land market can be visualised as a rent or value surface; the market centre is the apex which is the point or area of highest site value. In the other word, rent decline with distance so do the value and land uses too change. If sites of equal value are related, the iso-value lines or contours are a function of site rent o r value. Thus the spatial structure of land uses or the urban land market at a moment of time can be shown by the rent or value function or gradient. Conclusion:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The chapter on literature has discussed the concept of urban land use, the linkage between urban land use and the Von Thune theory, limitation on the theory as well as formulation of Von Thunen theory. The following chapter will discuss on the methodology of the study used in gathering all the information needed. CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Introduction: This chapter discusses in details the research methodology, which ensured that the objectives of the study can be achieved in a proper way. An appropriate research methodology application may avoid deviation against the objectives and gives clearer understanding on how the study is to be carried out. Validity of the research data and reliability of measurement will affect the practical research and accuracy of the result. Thus, the research methodology is directly connected to objective and problem statement of research. The second part of this chapter will go into details of the case study of Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. According to Yin (2003) a case study design should be considered when: the focus of the study is to answer how and why questions; you cannot manipulate the behaviour of those involved in the study; you want to cover contextual conditions because you believe they are relevant to the phenomenon under study; or the boundaries are not clear between the phenomenon and context. Research Design: Research design can be classified into exploratory research and conclusive research. Exploratory research design is mostly in qualitative nature while conclusive research design is in quantitative nature. It is more focus on the collecting data from primary or secondary data. It also involves in many qualitative data collection techniques such as focus groups and depth interview (Shukla, 2008). Qualitative data collection will provide a lot of information, however it also hard to interpret from the data collection. Meanwhile, qualitative case study is an approach to research that facilitates exploration of a phenomenon within its context using a variety of Impact of Transport Costs on Housing Decisions Impact of Transport Costs on Housing Decisions This study will emphasise on the effect of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. The case study will be held in Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. This study will be using the quantitative methods to further study the effect of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. Background In the search for lower cost housing, working families often locate far from their place of work and this will resulting in the increasing of their transportation costs and commute times. However, for many such families, the transportation costs exceed their housing costs. According to Bernstein (2001), affordability has never been just about housing cost, it is actually the interaction between housing and transportation cost that provide more meaningful measure of affordability. Hence, choosing a location-efficient neighbourhood near transit, services and jobs, families can reduce monthly household expenses. This study will emphasise on the model of land use and prices formulated by Von Thunen in 1826, a German economist. The theory concentrates on difference in relative transport costs in different types of agricultural production. According to J. Harvey (1997), he made assumptions that a boundless flat and featureless plain over which natural resources and climate are distributed uniformly and there is a central market for the area. Furthermore, he also assumed that the farmer used uniform horse and cart transport facilities to this central market, and different foods can be grown, but since these differ in bulk, the cost of transporting them to the market also differs. For each type of product, transport cost varies directly and proportionately with distance from the central market. However, the receipts from cultivation of one hectare of land are the same for all types of product. Given by these assumptions, it pictures the rent-paying capacity as a function of transport cost and the distance from the market. As distance from the market increases the total costs are raised by the increased cost of transport of the cultivation product. However, this study will relates this theory with the decision of housing location of the case study in Bandar Saujana. It will examine whether the theory match the pattern of the housing location in regards with the transport cost. Bandar Saujana Putra is a new self-contained township located in Sepang Selangor. The township launched the first phase of the development in 2004, has an easy access to the town centre using ELITE Highway. Its easy access to the town made Bandar Saujana Putra an ideal for the case study as the resident able to travel to the respective location of their needs. Statement of Problems: The township of Bandar Saujana Putra is located approximately 20km from the centre of Kuala Lumpur and the residents enjoy an easy access via ELITE Highway. However, how the transportation cost is plays a role in determining the decision to reside in Bandar Saujana Putra? Furthermore, does the Von Thunen theory explain the pattern of location theory in the case of Bandar Saujana Putra? Objectives of Study: The main objective of the study is to examine the effects of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. The second objective of the study is to examine whether Von Thunen theory match the pattern of location theory in Bandar Saujana Putra. Scope of Study: The study is confined to the areas of Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor since it is located approximately 20 km away from city centre and easily accessible. The respondent of the questionnaire are limited to the residents of Bandar Saujana Putra and analysis as well as findings from the rental and property price will be used to accomplish the objectives mentioned above. The difficulty and limitation for the study arise when distributing the sample questionnaire and to get the feedback from the respondents. There will be situation where the respondents that have been approached will not or hesitate to give cooperation to the sample questionnaire. Research Methodology: The study would be done in an analytic manner. The information that is needed to examine the issue will be obtained from primary and secondary data. Primary Data: Primary data refers to the first-hand data, which required data collection. For this study, it will mainly involve in the distribution of questionnaire to the residents of Bandar Saujana Putra. The analysis will also be done according to the study areas in order to examine the transport cost of the residents. The question will be in objective manner administered to arrive to the objectives of the study. Secondary Data: The second method is secondary data which will mostly comprise of data collection through references of such as relevant books, journal, conference paper, newspaper and magazine articles and also online references. The data will also obtain from the economic text book which further explained the theory related to the study. Significant of Study: It is hoped that the anticipated outcome of this study can benefit the government especially the Town Planners in determining the structure of local city plan. While planning for housing development and also commercial hub, the developer and town planners have to consider the factors of distance and transportation as these two related closely to the affordability factor of a household. Secondly, this study will also benefit the house buyer in determining the location of the house as the distance and transportation cost is concern. The study will enlighten as how the location factors of property affects the daily budget of a household. The study also points to the importance of infill development that expands the supply of affordable housing in inner city and older suburban neighbourhoods that have good access to traditional job centres; the development of more affordable housing near transportation hubs and suburban employment centres. Lastly, the study intends to benefit the students as it will open up more discussion regarding the issue. Further research can be done to improve the findings of this study and hopefully it will beneficial towards the knowledge of the students. Organisation of Study: This study will consist of five chapters where the first chapter provides a brief concept and overview of Von Thunen theory that will be discussed further in the Literature Review. The first chapter consist of the introduction of the study and also statement problem that initiates the study. The first chapter also explained on the limitation faced on doing the study and the significance of this study. Meanwhile, the second chapter will discuss on literature review related to the study. It will mainly focus on the concept of the dynamic of Von Thunen theory in relation of the property market. The next part of the chapter will look further on the theory of urban economic and the formulation of the theory towards the locational decision. It will further strengthen the understanding of the theory based on the literature reviewed. Chapter three will discuss further on the methodology used in obtaining the information for the study. The quantitative methods of distributing questionnaire will be discussed further as well as the qualitative research methods used in the study. The qualitative research of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data is by observing the current market trend. This chapter will further emphasise on the case study chosen which is Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. The fourth chapter of the study will shows the analysis of the data collected previously. Information and data that is obtained from the survey of the market rental will be further detailed in this chapter using the appropriate graphs and diagrams. The analysis of the findings is further discussed in relation to the patterns of economic rent in the market. The last chapter will conclude the analysis of the findings and draws the recommendation of the further study to compliment this research. It will also determine the confirmation of the objectives of this study as well as the holistic achievement of the study. Chapter 2: Literature Review Introduction: This chapter will explain further on the previous literature and writing in regards of the urban land use in general and Von Thunen theory of locational decision. Other than that, this chapter will also discuss on the limitation of the theory as well as the formulation of the theory. Background: Urban land use comprises two elements; the nature of land use which relates to which activities are taking place, and the level of spatial accumulation which indicates their intensity and concentration. Central areas compared to peripheral area have a high level of spatial accumulation and corresponding land uses such as retail while peripheral areas, on the other hand have lower levels of accumulation. In addition most economic as suggested by Gordon (2005), social or cultural activities imply a multitude of functions, such as production, consumption and distribution. These functions take place only at specific locations and are part of an activity system. Therefore activities have a spatial imprint whereby some are routine activities as they occur regularly and are thus predictable, such as commuting and shopping. Others are institutional activities that tend to be irregular, and are shaped by lifestyle for example sports and leisure, by special needs for example healthcare. Still others are production activities that are related to manufacturing and distribution, whose linkages may be local, regional or global. In short, the behavioural patterns of individuals, institutions and firms have an imprint on land use and the representation of this imprint requires a typology of land use, which can be formal or functional: Formal land use: The representations are concerned with qualitative attributes of space such as its form, pattern and aspect and are descriptive in nature. Functional land use: The representations are concerned with the economic nature of activities such as production, consumption, residence, and transport, and are mainly a socioeconomic description of space. Residential accommodation: The stock of residential accommodation varies from multi-storey flat near the city centre, through back-to-back terrace houses and then semi-detached, to detached houses often standing in spacious ground. This stock of residential accommodation reflects decisions taken at some time in the past because of the building costs rule out the choice of new construction for a substantial part of the population. If the residence is to compete land away from other uses then sites would have to be developed to higher densities in or near the position of greatest accessibility than elsewhere, because sites in that area provide optimum location for higher order uses such as offices and retailing. According to Smith (1997), there is a relationship between a persons income, his place of residence and his place of work, although the correlation is not fixed, for individuals differ in the proportion of their incomes they choose to spend on accommodation. An individual, according to Cunningham (1999), seeking to maximise utility, must weigh his desire for access to his place of work against various possible combinations of commuting costs and accommodation prices and his other desires for urban contacts and amenities. Incomes will determine how far a households residence preference can be indulged. With differing preference consumers in the same group of income may demand different type of accommodation. On the other hand, those desiring contacts furnished by near central locations have the advantage of lower transport cost but frequently have to sacrifice certain site amenities. Where persons of unlike incomes lives at distances where they incur the same commuting costs then the person with the highest income will occupy the best accommodation, and so on. Urban Land Use: Commercial land use according to Faraday (1997) and supported by Lean (2001) involves relationships with its supplier and customers as it support the claim that land use in both formal and functional representations implies a set of relationships with other land uses. A level of accessibility to both systems of circulation must be present because relationships with suppliers will dominantly be related with movements of freight; relationships with customers would include movements of people. Since each type of land use has its own specific mobility requirements, transportation is one of the factors of activity location and is therefore associated intimately with land use. Within the urban system each activity occupies a suitable, but not necessarily optimal location, from which it derives rent. Transportation and land use interactions mostly consider the retroactive relationships between activities, which are land use related, and accessibility, which is transportation related. These relationships often have been described as a chicken-and-egg problem since it is difficult to identify the triggering cause of change; do transportation changes precede land use changes or vice-versa? Urban transportation aims at supporting transport demands generated by the diversity of urban activities in a diversity of urban contexts. A key for understanding urban entities thus lies in the analysis of patterns and processes of the transport / land use system. This system is highly complex and involves several relationships between the transport system, spatial interactions and land use: Transport system: It will consider the set of transport infrastructures and modes that are supporting urban movements of passengers and freight. It generally expresses the level of accessibility. Spatial interactions: It will consider the nature, extent, origins and destinations of the urban movements of passengers and freight. They take into consideration the attributes of the transport system as well as the land use factors that are generating and attracting movements. Land use: It will consider the level of spatial accumulation of activities and their associated levels of mobility requirements. Land use is commonly linked with demographic and economic attributes. Accessibility: Accessibility evaluates the net economic costs of moving persons and goods between one place and another place. It is, therefore, not only concerned with the distance to be travelled between two places but, more important, with the time taken to travel that distance, i.e., with all the factor costs in any journey (Lean , 2001). However, accessibility does not affect solely the real costs incurred by movement but also the real benefits derived. The residential demand for urban land also depends upon accessibility but the capital sum a residential user pays to obtain a site represents a money evaluation of the satisfaction to be derived from that site. According to Goddall (2001) residential demand depends upon utility or satisfaction and the residential user seeks that the site which allows him to maximise his utility. Thus, for the residential user travelling, whether to work, to shops, or for pleasure, represent a disutility and each person wishes to minimise these disutilities such as the time and money costs of travelling. Disutilities would be minimised if a residential user located himself on a site with a high degree of accessibility, so residential use would compete with business uses for accessible site. However, for a residential there are certain amenities considerations involved in the choice of site which confer satisfaction/utility upon the user. The amenity value of a site depends upon factors not readily assessable in financial terms such as space, quiet, fresh air, etc. According to Wardour (1997) the choice of a residential site is, in many cases, a compromise because the desire to minimise travelling disutilities demands a relatively accessible, therefore central site, whereas the quest for amenity leads towards less accessible sites some way from the city centre. Greater amenity can usually be achieved by accepting additional travelling disutility. Urban Land Use Model: Von Thunen Ring Model: The relationships between transportation and land use are rich in theoretical representations that have contributed much too geographical sciences. Several descriptive and analytical models of urban land use have been developed over time, with increased levels of complexity where all of them involve some consideration of transport in the explanations of urban land use structures according to Carter (1995). However, this study will emphasise on the oldest land use theory by Johann Heinrich Von Thunen. According to Rodrigue (2000) modern location economics began with Von Thunen (1826). Being the first to develop a basic analytical model of the relationships between markets, production, and distance he too looked upon the agricultural landscape as the purpose in this study. The relative costs of transporting different agricultural commodities to the central market determined the agricultural land use around a city. The most productive activities will thus compete for the closest land to the market and less productive activities will be located further away. The model has a set of basic assumptions which reflects agricultural conditions around a city in the early 19th century: Isolation: There is one isolated market in an isolated state having no interactions (trade) with the outside. Ubiquitous land characteristics: The land surrounding the market is entirely flat and its fertility uniform. Transportation: It is assumed there are no transport infrastructures such as roads or rivers and that farmers are transporting their production to the market using horses and carts. Transportation costs are dependent of the type of commodity being transported to the market as well as the distance involved. Comparison of the relationships between production cost, the market price and the transport cost of an agricultural commodity is explained thoroughly as follows: R = Y(p-c) Yfm R = Rent per unit of land. Y = Yield per unit of land. p = market price per unit of yield. c = Average production costs per unit of yield. m = Distance from market (in kilometers or miles). f = Freight rate per unit of yield and unit of distance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Carter (1995) further explained that all agricultural land uses are maximizing their productivity (rent) whereby in this case it is dependent upon their location from the market (Central City). Discourse community of farmer play significant role as they are to maximize his profit which is simply the market price minus the transport and production costs. The most productive activities such as gardening or milk production or activities which cost higher in transportation (firewood) are located near to the market. The above figure provides an overview of Von Thunens agricultural land use model with the basic assumptions being applied such as isolation, ubiquity, and transportation. It can be divided into two parts: The pure isolated state over an isotropic plain (left). In this case, the model takes a shape of perfect concentric circles. The potential impacts of modified transport costs (a navigable river) and the presence of a competing center (right). The relationships between agricultural land use and market distance are very difficult to establish in the contemporary context. Von Thunen primary objective was to determine the relationship between the intensities and type of agricultural production and the available markets. The physical and cultural complexities however, led him to disregard the variations in a large number of environmental and social conditions. Instead, he made seven basic assumptions, which formed the core of the theory. The ideal site consisted of completely rational (optimising) economic behaviour, an isolated state, a single central city, settlement in village far away from the city centre, and a racially homogeneous population, uniform topography, uniform climate and soil fertility, and a relatively uniform and primitive transportation cost according to Griffin (1968) and later supported by Rodrigue (2001). Sinclair (1966) however noted that Von Thunen primary concern was to discover and examine the laws which governed the pattern of agricultural land use existing in his time and within his experience. His dominant recognition was the land use pattern depended upon competition between various types of agriculture for the use of particular piece of land. The controlling factor in this competition was Economic Rent as defined here the return of investment in the land. Later it is sopported briefly by Rodrigue (2001) that form of land providing the greatest Economic Rent would make the highest bid for the land and displaced all others. The facts that transport cost increased with distance and they imparted a spatial variation to Economic Rent become an eye opener to Von Thunen whom later comes to realise that transportation costs were a primary factors determining Economic Rent. Hence, Economic Rent from any one land use can be expressed as a function of a distance from the market. Limitation of the Theory: In constructing the model complicating factors were assumed away, providing a laboratory in which the interplay between a small number of essential causal influences and their relations with certain effect could be studied. In particular this model provided a mechanism in which changing technical and economic inputs could be linked with evolving geographical patterns of production according to Samuelson (1983) and Linehan (2003). The attraction was thus, that the theory simplified the world by concentrating on the effects of one primary variable, transportation costs, on the location of agricultural production. Von Thunen himself accomplished this by creating the idea of the economic margin. In his view, land use areas were bounded by margins where one use became more cost-effective than another. Given von Thunens thesis, Peet, (1987) could attempt to explain how these factors may have changed historically and explain changes in the location of production. The uses of Von Thunen model, or derivatives of it, continue to this day among quantitative geographers for example, Wang and Guldmann (1997); Hill and Smith (1994); Linehan (2003). Even in 1966, however, the limitations of the model were accepted. Gaston (1997) followed by Linehan (2003) for instance admits Von Thunens analysis is basically descriptive rather than normative and does not explain changes over time or the possible effects of economies of scale. Despite this, Smith (2000) promotes the model because it made marginal economics geographical. In the years since these limitations in particular the fact that Von Thunen ignored changes over time have often been mentioned, but the model survives in importance in the minds of geographers and is a main subject of beginning economic geography courses. The most likely reason for this is that Von Thunen rings actually appear to exist in many cases. For instance, cities are often surrounded by a dairy ring. Von Thunen rings are one of the few very easily understandable models in geography that truly appear to explain a pattern in the world, even if the model is primarily descriptive and does not give much idea a bout how exactly this pattern came to be or what might happen to it in the future. Harvey made this argument in Social Justice and the City (1997), arguing that social scientists are attracted to models such as the Isolated State because they appear to be empirically relevant. Barnes (1998), following Haraway (1997). Latour (1987) and Linehan (2003), comments on the manner in which von Thunens model, in particular the concentric zone diagram showing agricultural land use rings of decreasing intensity with distance from the city, has been fetishized within economic geography. Barnes (1998) argues, based on the work of Barnbrock (1997) and Harvey (1997) that Von Thunens concept of the frontier wage, the just reward for work done that, if paid, would ensure worker harmony, leads to a more complete understanding of Von Thunens work. This sense of harmony was also Von Thunens vision of the isolated state in general, constructed not just an isolated state, but an ideal one. The rings were less a description of how the world is, but how it should be once social harmony was realized. The idea that the isolated state was not just descriptive but also prescriptive is emphasized by Barnbrock (1997), who writes that for von Thunen the Isolated State is the true representation of the final end mankind should strive for. He further quotes von Thunen, who states in the Isolated State we have in mind only the final goal. Harvey points out, however, that this was an essentially conservative goal. Through the imposition of the frontier wage and a more harmonious land use pattern, class conflict and social polarization would be minimized within German society. The lesson learned by neo-classical economists, Harvey argues, was that economic science could seek and spell out principles of social harmony without appeal to the political economy of the spatial fix. The use of Von Thunens ideas within geography highlights the conflicts within a discipline that strives both to find regularity in the world and to explain the patterns seen in specific places. The Isolated State theory is attractive because it one of the few easily understood location theories for which empirical examples can be easily drawn. Of course, these examples are never absolutely correct and often seem overly simplistic. Barnes (1998) analysis of Von Thunen and the social construction of Von Thunens theory within economic geography particularly help understand the use of Von Thunen within agricultural economics supported by Watson (2005). The idea that Von Thunens theories were not just descriptive but also prescriptive more closely parallels the attitudes of the agricultural economists, who were searching not just to describe land use but often also to restrict it in order to build a more harmonious dairy economy. Formulation of the Theory towards Locational Decision: In an attempt to test the hypothesis that market forces largely allocate the supply of sites among the alternatives uses within the urban area, Von Thunens agriculture land use model is adapted. The rising transportation costs explain the differentials rent among homogenous site as stated in the theory explained by Moss (2001). Understood the accessibility within an urban market will be at maximum at the city centre; the assumptions of a competitive market and a homogenous site will be given. As far as transport and commuting cost is concern the accessibility tend to decrease when distance from the market centre increases. Moss (2001) concluded that firms and households have no intentions to change location and ceteris paribus because profits and other objectives are maximised. Next output is optimal and the maximum efficiency of the city as a productive unit is realised. In fact, the resulting structure of land uses reflect institutional arrangement such as zoning ordinance, transportation system and policies of financial institutional as well as the competitive ranking of the city, i.e. its economic base. The location of firms and households within this structure depends heavily upon competitive bidding for specific sites since rent differentials result market forces require from each site that rent resulting from maximum utilisation or highest and best use. Maximum economic rent occurs at the market centre because the supply of sites and average transportation and commuting costs for the local market are least according to Seyfried (1963).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Seyfried (1963), followed by Linehan (2003) also suggested that the wages and interest are among production costs and they are assumed to be independent of location, but transportation costs rise as distance increases which later cause the rent, the surplus of gross revenue over production costs, decline proportionately. The supply of sites, i.e., more and larger land unit, increases with the distance from centre. Therefore competing user of sites will locate relative to their economic rent potential so that a structure of site values relative to location results from market forces. This structure of urban land market can be visualised as a rent or value surface; the market centre is the apex which is the point or area of highest site value. In the other word, rent decline with distance so do the value and land uses too change. If sites of equal value are related, the iso-value lines or contours are a function of site rent o r value. Thus the spatial structure of land uses or the urban land market at a moment of time can be shown by the rent or value function or gradient. Conclusion:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The chapter on literature has discussed the concept of urban land use, the linkage between urban land use and the Von Thune theory, limitation on the theory as well as formulation of Von Thunen theory. The following chapter will discuss on the methodology of the study used in gathering all the information needed. CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Introduction: This chapter discusses in details the research methodology, which ensured that the objectives of the study can be achieved in a proper way. An appropriate research methodology application may avoid deviation against the objectives and gives clearer understanding on how the study is to be carried out. Validity of the research data and reliability of measurement will affect the practical research and accuracy of the result. Thus, the research methodology is directly connected to objective and problem statement of research. The second part of this chapter will go into details of the case study of Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. According to Yin (2003) a case study design should be considered when: the focus of the study is to answer how and why questions; you cannot manipulate the behaviour of those involved in the study; you want to cover contextual conditions because you believe they are relevant to the phenomenon under study; or the boundaries are not clear between the phenomenon and context. Research Design: Research design can be classified into exploratory research and conclusive research. Exploratory research design is mostly in qualitative nature while conclusive research design is in quantitative nature. It is more focus on the collecting data from primary or secondary data. It also involves in many qualitative data collection techniques such as focus groups and depth interview (Shukla, 2008). Qualitative data collection will provide a lot of information, however it also hard to interpret from the data collection. Meanwhile, qualitative case study is an approach to research that facilitates exploration of a phenomenon within its context using a variety of

Abortion and Human Rights | An Analysis

Abortion and Human Rights | An Analysis What is Abortion? The word ‘abortion’ comes from the Latin word ‘aboriri’ meaning ‘to fail to be born’. Abortion can be defined as the premature expulsion of a foetus from a womb (termination of pregnancy). In matters of ethics abortion usually refers to the intentional destruction of a foetus in the womb. Why do women have abortions? Find out that the foetus is disabled or deformed. Mother is underage and would not be able to look after the baby. The foetus is carrying a hereditary (genetic) illness. Mother got pregnant by mistake and it is used as a form of contraception. The mother will die if she continues her pregnancy. The mother is underage (16) and faces physical harm if she goes full term (as not developed well enough). The mother has been raped and become pregnant. It is used to cover up an affair. In some cultures, where sons have a higher economic value women can sometimes decide to abort if the foetus/embryo is female. Women in the workplace and career minded. The Legal Position of abortion in the UK In the UK abortion became illegal in the nineteenth century when the penalty for having an abortion was life imprisonment. Women trying to escape the unwanted pregnancy were forced to use unreliable and dangerous methods, including poisonous drugs, knitting needles, blows to the abdomen etc. If a woman had money, she was discreetly taken to a clinic for an illegal abortion. For those without money the only option was ‘back street’ clinics where untrained people performed the operation. Knitting needles were routinely used for this ‘operation’, but there was rarely pain relief. Poor hygiene and (sometimes) banned drugs were another feature of back street abortions. Many women haemorrhaged (very heavy bleeding-often life threatening) and some bled to death rather than go to hospital where their symptoms would be recognised. Many people were appalled by the number of women suffering and dying as a result of illegal (‘back street’) abortions. Due to pressure from the public, an abortion Reform Bill was introduced. This became LAW in 1967 and took effect in 1968. The Abortion Act of 1967 (Revised 1990) stated that: Abortion is legal if two doctors independently agree that one or more of four reasons for it exist: The mother’s life is at risk if the pregnancy continues. The mother’s mental or physical well-being is at risk. Scans or tests show the foetus is badly or physically disabled, or has a deformity, meaning it is unlikely to live at birth. There is risk of harm to existing children. The main time limit was lowered from 28 weeks, to 24 weeks in 1990 (Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act). However, the law allows an abortion at any stage of the pregnancy if the doctors agree that continuing the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the mother or if there is a substantial risk if the child were born that it would be seriously handicapped. The biological father has no rights and cannot, in law, stop an abortion. (In 1987 an Oxford University Student lost his attempt in the courts to prevent his girlfriend aborting the child they had conceived). Most abortions in Britain are performed under the part of the Abortion Act which allows abortion if the pregnancy involves a risk to the physical or mental health of the mother. Many doctors involved in abortion argue that if a woman is determined not to have a child, to refuse her an abortion poses a possible threat to her mental health. It was the rape by British soldiers of a young girl in 1938, which justified Dr Aleck Bourne carrying out an illegal abortion in order to safeguard her mental health. At trial he was acquitted. The precedent established grounds for abortion as an exception and eventually became the basis on the 1967 Abortion Act. How are abortions performed? Vacuum Aspiration: (Suction abortion) Under general anaesthetic neck of womb (cervix) is dilated (opened) by probes. Suction then used to remove contents of uterus. Larger pieces of foetal tissue (usually the head) are crushed and pulled out with forceps. Dilation and Curettage (D C): Scraping instrument (curette) is used and contents of the womb are scraped out. Dilation and Evacuation (D E): Instead of a curette, small forceps are used to crush the contents and pull it out in bits. Prostaglandin’s (induced premature labour): This type of abortion is used in very late abortions and is rare in the UK. Hormones called prostaglandins are injected to bring on labour, which may last for 8 to 22 hours. A poison may be added to the womb to kill the foetus before delivery. RU486 pill will induce an abortion if taken in the first ten weeks of pregnancy. Why is abortion so controversial? Abortion is now commonplace and in many countries tens of millions of abortions take place every year. Although abortion is legal, its morality is still disputed. Religious organisations, such as the RC Church campaign against the availability whilst many women’s right groups campaign for greater access. The key ethical dimension in the abortion debate is whether there should be an absolutist prohibition of abortion on the basis of divine law, natural law or human rights or whether there are situations in which it should be made available. There are two central issues in relation to abortion: Whether the foetus is a person or potential person Whether the foetus has rights, and, if so, how these are to balanced against the rights of the mother. 1. When do humans become persons and become part of the moral community? The status of human life between conception and birth is central to the abortion debate. Whilst some form of life is clearly present at conception, whether that form of life should get the full protection of the law as a ‘person’ is disputed. Not all-human tissue is a person as not all living cells are persons. Living cells such as cancer cells for example are not persons. If things like bacteria or plants are considered for example, very few people would argue that they should be protected simply because they are alive. In terms of abortion, if the foetus/embryo is to be classified as a ‘person’, then abortion may be considered as the equivalent to a form of murder. Opponents of abortion argue that to kill a foetus is to murder a human person. Pope Pius IX in 1869 declared that a foetus is a human person from conception and therefore abortion is murder. This claim is supported by the fact that all necessary genetic material is present at conception and the foetus continues development from conception until born as a human being. Critics of this position argue that a fertilised egg is not a person. In ‘A defence of abortion’ (1971) Judith Jarvis Thompson accepts that there’s a continuous development but suggests that there is a point at which it is not a human being. Let’s consider when the foetus could be classed as ‘human’: Conception: In effect this is the point in which life begins and this is the argument given by opponents of abortion who say that this is the point at which a pre-embryo should be considered as a person. Others disagree with this, as the chromosomes do not develop until the third day and half of all fertilised eggs do not attach themselves to the wall of the womb, therefore cannot become babies. Physical sign: Some say that the foetus should be considered human when there is a physical sign, but what? From the 22nd day the heart beats and by day 42 the foetus is recognisably a human baby. Some argue that the foetus is human when the brain has developed activity, implying that the brain has some form of consciousness, which is crucial for making human beings what they are. Others argue that when the foetus has developed organs it should be considered human, but what organs and at what stage of development? Consciousness may be suggested as a definition of personhood as it cannot be applied to all living tissues, as it applies to sensory experiences and the ability to feel pleasure and pain etc. The only problem with this is that consciousness would include many animals and most people would argue that an animal is not a person in the same sense as humans are. The presence of rationality and our ability to develop complex language are distinctive features of ‘personhood’. Perhaps self-consciousness or self-awareness defines personhood? This includes a sense of our past and our future. However, very young babies are not self-aware in this sense, and most would argue that killing babies is killing human persons. Viability: some say that a foetus should be considered a person when ‘viable’ (can survive independently of mother). Currently a foetus is seen as ‘viable’ at 24/25 weeks. There are two objections to this: Many people have tried to ‘draw a line’ at a particular point in which a foetus is to considered viable and say that before this point a foetus is a bundle of tissue. The problem with this is that there is no easy way of drawing that line. The age at which the foetus can survive outside the womb is constantly reducing as medical technology progresses, therefore what is viable now may not be in five years. It is now possible to keep a 21-week foetus alive in an incubator and with intensive care, yet abortion is allowed at up to 24 weeks. One could say that until the main organs are formed the foetus is not a person, but which organs are essential and at what stage of the development of the organs? Many people are dependent upon medical technology to stay alive, such as dialysis. We do not consider these people not to be ‘viable’; we consider them to be persons, despite their medical conditions. Shouldn’t the same be applied to the foetus? Ensoulment: ‘Ensoulment’ means having a soul attached to something. This is a very different suggestion as to when the foetus/embryo becomes human and is based mainly on religious ideas. It is argued that the most important aspect of being human is having a soul; therefore a foetus/embryo becomes human at the point when the soul is attached. Augustine maintained that a soul was implanted at 46 days, although he condemned abortion at any stage. Aquinas maintained that the souls of girls were implanted at 90 days and boys at 40 days. In the 17th Century however, the RC Church stated that ensoulment took place at conception, therefore the fertilised egg is a human person. Birth: Before the foetus is born it is part of the mother’s body and after this it has certain independence and does not have to rely on its natural mother. Mary Anne Warren in 1991 argued that birth marks the point of true moral status. (Singers, ‘A companion to Ethics’) she sates ‘birth, rather than some earlier point, marks the beginning of true moral status’. She argues that if a foetus is to be considered a person then so should sperm. Does this mean that we need to protect the rights of sperm? She states that birth provided a clear boundary. Legislation in many countries allows abortion in exceptional circumstances up to birth but regards the deliberate killing of the baby after birth as murder. Warren’s argument is vulnerable as a foetus of 34 weeks is quite clearly viable and if aborted is likely to live outside the womb and may actually have to be left to die. Is a foetus that is capable of surviving outside the womb entitled to moral rights? The potential to become a person: It could be argued that the foetus is a potential person, as has the capability of becoming human and thus should be treated as one because of this. Many philosophers would argue against this. Potentiality does not necessarily imply that full legal status should be awarded on the basis of what it has the potential to be. A potential victory is not the same as an actual victory, having the potential to pass exams is not the same as actually passing them and a potential person is not equal to an actual person. The definition of personhood remains unresolved, as it is an agreement over the point of which a potential human being becomes a full human being. I could not find any recent statistics relating to the number of abortions at different stages in the UK and on what grounds. However, the following tables refer to abortions in England and Wales (1996) and are taken from Wilcockson’s ‘Issues of Life and Death’. Wilcockson’s source for this was ‘Office for National Monitor AB 97/4 (July 1997)’ Table 1: Abortions in England and Wales, 1996 Weeks of pregnancy Number of abortions Under 9 weeks 69,926 9-12 weeks 85,083 13-16 weeks 14,779 17-20 weeks 5,266 21-24 weeks 2,078 24 weeks and over 92 Unknown 1 Total 177,225 The above table indicates that most abortions in England and Wales take place within the first 9-12 weeks of pregnancy. Table 2: Number of abortions in England and Wales for each of the statutory grounds, 1996. A: Risk to mother’s life 138 B: To prevent grave permanent injury to mother 2,471 C: Risk to mother’s physical or mental health 171, 175 D: Risk to existing (born) children’s health 12,227 E: Substantial risk of serious disability of child 1,943 F: In emergency – to save mother’s life 3 G: In emergency – to prevent grave permanent injury to mother 0 Total (Doctors sometimes cite more than one category for reasons for abortion) 177,225 The above table indicates that most abortions are carried out under the ‘physical or mental’ health part of the act. The argument over when ‘life’ begins is ongoing and probably will be for a long time. Medical advances have made abortion easier and can also save the life of the unborn earlier. The debate is likely to continue and be hotly debate. The question you should perhaps ask yourself is when do you think life begins? When do you think a foetus/embryo can be considered a ‘person’ and therefore have rights? The table below may help you answer this question, although it must be stressed that this is only a short summary. At conception: Embryo starts growing from day one. This is when fertilization happens. The fertilized egg does not attach itself to the wall of the womb until day twelve (50% of fertilized eggs will not attach). At 1 Month (0.5 cm): Heart pumping since 18th day. The beginnings of eyes, spinal cord and nerves, lungs, stomach, intestines, liver and kidneys. At 2 Months (2.5-3.5 cm): Arms and legs become distinct and tiny fingers and toes appear. All internal organs of an adult, at various stages of development, are present. The first bone cells begin to be formed. Brain waves can be detected from about the sixth week. At 3 Months (6-8 cm): Development continues. The mother may feel the foetus kicking as it flexes its muscles. The heartbeat can be detected. The foetus now looks clearly like a human baby. At 4 Months (12-18 cm): The head has distinct human features and may have hair. The skin is pink, and the bones are closing to form joints. At 5 Months(25-30 cm): Developing rapidly and very active. At 6 Months (28-34cm): Eyes may now open. All systems are formed and are just growing in size. At 7-9 Months (36-56cm): Grows in size and fat is deposited to help survival at birth. Does the foetus have rights, and, if so, how are these balanced against the rights of the mother. If the foetus/embryo is seen as human at a certain stage it then has rights. If the foetus or embryo is regarded as a person, how then does one balance its rights against the right of the mother? A philosophy professor from Kansas, Don Marquis argued that killing in general is wrong because it deprives an individual of a future, which contains value. Most abortions, therefore, are immoral since they deprive the foetus of a future containing value. The foetus then has the right to life. Marquis argues that since it is wrong to kill rational and morally significant persons in principle it would be permissible to kill infants. Do we then allow abortion and the murder of infants because they are not rational? The feminist position began from the perspective of women’s rights. Mary Anne Warren put forward the case for granting women the ‘right’ to have an abortion arguing that the absence in the past of safe legal abortion led to undesirable consequences. (‘Back street’ abortion). Warren goes on to say that abortion must be permissible to guarantee a woman’s human rights. The World Health Organisation (WHO) backs this statement up with their statistics showing that 200 000 women are killed every year by unsafe abortions. To be forced to bear a child brings with it the hardships of possibly giving up work, therefore income, education, freedom etc. Prohibitation of abortion infringes these rights. Warren does say that killing is wrong, but to deny an abortion would deny a woman’s rights. Beverley Harrison in an article ‘Our right to choose’ argues forcefully for the rights of the mother. She maintains that since the woman carries the embryo/foetus and has to go through the pain of childbirth and has to care for and support the child then it is the woman’s decision, which should be paramount. Harrison stated that: ‘The well-being of the woman and the value of her life plan should always be recognised as of intrinsic value’ (Page 152, ‘The Puzzle of Ethics’ Vardy Grosch) A philosophy professor Judith Jarvis Thomson argued that even if we grant that foetuses have a fundamental right to life, in many cases the rights of the mother override the rights of the foetus. Accordingly abortions should be allowed in rape, life-threatening pregnancies and contraception failure. If a foetus was given equal rights then court cases would result and a mother could be forced to have an unwanted child. A court could even force a woman to go through a dangerous childbirth as her life would be considered to be of no more valuable than that of the foetus. What about Christianity? The Bible: There is not one clear message about abortion found in the Bible. In Exodus 20: 18 it is stated ‘Do not kill’ which is a quotation used by many Christians in opposition of abortion. This passage may be seen as only applying to a ‘person’ and the issue of when the embryo/foetus becomes a person crops up again. In response to this a Christian may argue that the Bible teaches that a foetus/embryo is human as it is stated ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you’ (Jeremiah 1:5) and ‘You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother’s womb†¦.. When I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there, you saw me before I was born’. (Psalm 139:13 15). This does seem to imply that someone is human before birth. We are told in Exodus 21:22-25 that if a person injures a pregnant woman, causing miscarriage, compensation must be paid. This suggests that the life of the ‘unborn’ has both significance and value. However at the same time in Exodus 21:22-25 we are also told that if the mother dies then a ‘life for life’ policy applies. This suggests that the unborn does not have the same significance and value as the mother. The birth and role of Jesus is said to have been foretold, therefore his life was mapped out before birth. In opposition to this however are passages which suggest that the foetus need not be considered human ‘a stillborn child comes without meaning, it departs in darkness’ (Ecclesiastes 6:3-4). This COULD be taken to imply that a foetus/embryo lacks humanity and we are also told that a man does not become a human being until he receives ‘breath of life’ (Genesis 2:7) Christian Tradition: Generally most churches are in favour of preserving human life but there are many different teachings on the status of the foetus. Many Christians accept abortion in order to save the life of the mother, or in the case of a severe deformity, but others argue that a person born with a deformity can still give and receive love as a human being and that the detection of such defects should not be grounds for an abortion. The RC Church maintains that it is intrinsically evil and totally condemns it. Abortion goes against Natural Law, as it is not fulfilling the purpose of life ‘to live, to reproduce’ and also goes against the word of God. (See also Ensoulment). Pope Pius IX in 1869 decreed that anyone performing or allowing an abortion was wrong. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) states that, ‘Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence a human being must be recognised as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.’ (Issues of life and death, Michael Wilcockson, page 36) The Roman Catholic Church, and indeed most Christians would argue that since man was created in God’s image and likeness, so then is the foetus/embryo. God alone is lord of life and death and humans do not have the right to take away life. The ‘sanctity of life’ argument may be given here. This is to say that life is sacred and that human life is valuable in itself. The term ‘sanctity of life’ means ‘a life set aside’ and Christians would say that God creates each life specially and uniquely. Human life is therefore intrinsically (i.e. in itself) worthwhile and we have a duty to preserve this life. There is of course in Natural Law and the Christian position the principle of double effect. Double effect is a theory used to justify the termination of a foetus/embryo if the intention of doctors is to save the life of a mother. (E.g. hysterectomy) In the case of an ectopic pregnancy, where the fertilised egg attaches itself to the fallopian tube the double effect justifies the removal of the fallopian tube as if it is not removed the mother will die. In this case if the pregnancy continues the mother and foetus will die and the double effect theory justifies the removal of the fallopian tube, because the intention is to save the mothers life even though the effect of doing so leads to the death of the foetus/embryo. Even pro-life groups, such as SPUC would allow for DDE. What do ethical theories say on this matter? Virtue Ethics: Would abortion be allowed in virtue theory? Virtue Ethics concentrates on what a person is, rather than does. The aim of virtue ethics is a good life of well being (eudaimonia) It is an ethic of aspiration to be a better person and looks to those who have set a good example. Aristotle classifies the virtues and we must try to find the ‘Golden Mean’. Would abortion be classified as an ‘extreme’ of behaviour? Well as you will remember Robert Louden argued that virtue ethics is of little practical use to someone faced with a moral dilemma as virtue ethics fails to address dilemmas, which arise in applied ethics, such as abortion. He gave the example of a woman who discovers that her baby will be born with severe disabilities. He asks how are we to know what a good person would do? How are we to choose between compassion and bravery? Having an abortion could be classed as ‘cowardice’, ‘rashness’ etc. and one could say that Mother Teresa as a Christian would not have an abortion, but what about in certain circumstances? What if virtues clash? Since Virtue Ethics focuses on the person, rather than actions or consequences of actions can we really say whether an abortion would be acceptable? For Aristotle you cannot explain ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ simply in terms of rules, but rather you can show how a virtuous person can be trusted and do the right thing in a variety of situations, each of which may be unique and cannot therefore be covered by a way of a rule. Relativist/teleological ethical theories and abortion: a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Situationism (Notes from page 53, ‘Issues of Life and death’ (Wilcockson) Since the 1960s many Christian theologians have argued that Jesus’ teaching was based on giving people their own freedom to act responsibly based on the principle of generous love or ‘agape’. Joseph Fletchers influential book ‘Situation Ethics’ (1966) coined this term and set out a Christian calculus, which decides each case on its own merits. This theory is absolutist in the agape part but this is the only absolute rule. Fletcher claimed that in any given situation the ‘right’ thing to do was that which love required. Whilst this provides an alternative Christian ethic which is consistent with the Gospel representation of Jesus traditional Christian thinkers have rejected it. (E.g. Pope Pius XII-see Relativism booklet for more information). Fletcher outlined a case in 1962 where an inmate of a mental hospital raped an unmarried, schizophrenic girl. Her father’s request for an abortion was denied because the only moral and legal grounds for abortion would have been if her life were at grave risk. Fletcher finds it shocking that this kind of rigid legalism could deny compassionate treatment. The situationist answer cannot really be predicted because each case is unique but in the above case Fletcher argued that her mental health is paramount and furthermore ‘no unwanted and unintended baby should ever be born’. Fletcher however, is far from clear about why and to what extent the embryo or foetus should be included in the calculus: (Taken from p.53, ‘Issues of life and death’ (Wilcockson) They (situationists) would in all likelihood favor abortion for the sake of the patient’s physical and mental health, not only if it were needed to save her life. It is even likely they would favor abortion for the sake of the victim’s self respect or reputation or happiness or simply on the ground that no unwanted and unintended baby should ever be born. They would, one hopes, reason that it is not killing because there is no person or human life in an embryo at an early stage of pregnancy (Aristotle and St Thomas Aquinas held that opinion-see Ensoulment), or even if it were killing, it would not be murder because it is self-defense against, in this case, not one but two aggressors. First there is the rapist, who being insane was morally and legally innocent, and then there is the ‘innocent’ embryo, which is continuing the ravisher’s original aggression! Even self-defense legalism would have allowed the girl to kill her attacker, no matter that he was innocent in the forum of conscience because of his madness. The embryo is not more innocent, no less an aggressor or unwelcome invader! Is not the most loving thing possible (the right thing) in this case a responsible decision to terminate the pregnancy? (Situation Ethics (1996) p.39) Many people use the situation ethics principle to judge whether or not someone should have an abortion. Because situations differ in so many respects, then so should our response. Situation Ethics as put forward by Fletcher encouraged people to use the ‘agape’ principle – what would be the most ‘loving’ thing to do in the circumstances? For this theory the question of whether abortion is morally acceptable cannot be answered, as it would depend upon each situation and specific circumstances of a particular mother. This system allows for flexibility but the problem is, how can we be certain that our response will, in the long run, turn out to be the most loving? (Many people who have abortions regret their decision in later life.) Also if there are two ‘people’ involved, whose interest’s conflict, how should we decide whom to ‘love’? If an end result serves ‘agape’ best then it is right. b) Utilitarianism: A short summary: This theory can be summed up by the phrase, ‘the greatest happiness for the greatest number’. At a first glance it may seem that abortion is straightforward for a utilitarian. If the mother’s happiness would be greater is she had an abortion, then abortion would be the right course of action. However, it is more complicated than this, as other factors need to be taken into account. The foetus needs to be taken into account as if the foetus is to be considered ‘human’ then its happiness should also be taken into consideration. This does not mean that abortion becomes wrong. However, it does suggest that abortion would be ‘right’ in certain circumstances, such as if the mothers life is in danger. (May be more happiness if mother survived, rather than if both the mother and foetus died.) In addition, other family members perhaps need to be taken into consideration for the ‘greatest happiness for the greatest number’. If other family members did not want the mother to go ahead with the abortion, or indeed if the father wanted the child, then abortion here would not be the ‘greatest happiness for the greatest number’. In the case of pregnancy as a result of rape for example, the following would need to be considered alongside the ‘greatest happiness’ principle: Trauma for mother and existing family Trauma for any child of rape in learning of their violent origins. Absolutist/deontological ethical theories and abortion: Natural Law: This has already been covered in the ‘Christianity’ section of this booklet and the potential to become a person and Ensoulment should also be taken into consideration. When the Christian examines natural law it is clear that nature’s design is that women are naturally equipped to have children. It is thus, natural for intercourse to lead to conception and for women to be pregnant and bear children (Final cause of sex=procreation.) Natural Law theory would claim that abortion is wrong, as the purpose of the body is to reproduce. The RC Church has opposed abortion for a considerable amount of time based on this tradition. There is however, the principle of double effect, which could be applied here. This principle could be seen as ‘relativist’, although the theory of Natural Law is essentially an absolutist theory. The doctrine of double effect consists of fou

The Tv Generation :: essays research papers

The TV Generation Everyone has a moment in history which belongs particularly to him. It is the moment when his emotions achieve their most powerful sway over him, and afterward when you say to this person "the world today" or "life" or "reality" he will assume that you mean this moment, even if it is fifty years in the past. My generation is greatly influenced by the media, specifically television. Television becomes my reality by bringing into my life the happenings of the outside world. Our generation is often called the MTV generation. We are often stereotyped with the idea that all we do is sit around and watch TV. Sure, we probably do watch more television than our parents did as teenagers but we have to remember, TV was generally new to their generation. They only had a couple of channels to choose from while we sit in front of a television with 53 channels and a remote to control them with. We have the option to decide upon everything from The Disney Channel to VH1, The Family Channel to Fox. That box in our bedroom or family room is a very controlling yet entertaining appliance. Teenagers have always been free-spirited in any generation. We are always doing and saying childish things while trying to grow up. If we only have a couple years of our childhood left then who cares if we spend it in front of a TV? Which is not to say that we do that anyhow. Perhaps we use the TV as a way of relaxing before we go off and hit the books for two hours. Or maybe we use it to spend time with our family. I mean, come on, how many teenagers enjoy going on family outings with mom, dad, and kid brother? However, if the TV can gather everyone together on a Sunday afternoon to watch the "Packers" game then shouldn't mom and dad be happy? On the other hand, there is such a thing as bad TV. Sex and violence is plastered all over our brains with a flick of a switch and I tend to believe that this influences teenagers, or for that matter, anyone who watches it. But then again, we can not say all TV is evil. MTV has set up several programs to educate teens on sensitive subjects and has begun to censor certain videos and shows. Parents often say to their teens, "If you watch too much TV you'll fry you brains out." Yeah, right mom! As if we're going to believe that.

Essay on Blanche DuBois as Butterfly in Tennessee Williams A Streetcar

The Portrayal of Blanche as Butterfly or Moth in A Streetcar Named Desire  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      In A Streetcar named Desire, Williams uses description and dialog to develop the play’s characters. In the beginning of the play, Williams describes Blanche as a "moth". A moth and a butterfly seem to be very similar; however, they have very different outward appearances and habits. A butterfly is very "showy " as it flits throughout life, whereas a moth tries hard not to bring attention to itself. Butterflies are open and very visible, but a moth is nocturnal and secretive. The American Heritage Dictionary defines a butterfly as "a person interested principally in frivolous pleasure"; a self-centered person intent on pleasure (line 2). Although Williams describes Blanch as a moth, his use of description and dialog bring out sexual undertones that portray Blanche to be a butterfly instead of a moth. In Scene I of A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams writes-- Her appearance is incongruous in this setting. She is daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice, necklace, and earrings of pearl, white gloves and hat, looking as if she were arriving at a summer tea or cocktail party in the garden district†¦There is something about her uncertain manner, as well as her clothes, that suggests a moth. (qtd. In Bloom 51) Williams’s description leads others to perceive Blanche as an insecure, unassuming person, a typical Southern Belle-- a moth. Although the color of Blanche’s clothing suggests simplicity, the style of her clothing contrasts with the surrounding environment. Blanche is wearing this attire as she arrives at her sister’s home. Her sister lives in a run- down three-room apartment. The apartment contains th... ...erpretations of A Streetcar Named Desire: a Collection of Critical Essays.   Ed. Jordan Y. Miller.   New   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jersey: Prentice, 1971. Monarch Notes. "Works of Tennessee Williams." Williams, Tennessee, 1 Jan. 1963 (http://www.elibrary.com/s/edu mark/search). Preston, Rohan. "Actors Rev Up a Gritty, High-Octane ‘Streetcar’" Minneapolis StarTribune. 3 March 1999, 04E. "Streetcar’s Fiftieth Anniversary" All Things Considered. NPR. WWNO, New Orleans. 1 Dec. 1997. The American Heritage Dictionary, CD-ROM. Microsoft Bookshelf 98. Microsoft Corp. 1987-97. Williams, Dakin and Shephard Mead. Tennessee Williams: An Intimate Biography. New York:   Arbor House, 1998. Williams, Tennessee. "A Streetcar Named Desire" a New Directions Book, copyright 1947. Canada: Penguin, 1980. Williams, Tennessee. Memoirs. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1975.   

Spartan Political and Social System Essay example -- essays research p

Spartan Political and Social Systems Sparta was, above all, a military state, and emphasis on military fitness began at birth, imprinted through society and the political system. The education of the Spartan male children prove that the military and war was constantly a huge part of Spartan society, and the laws and systems that Sparta was governed by, only enforced the militaristic attitude into the society of Sparta. That the Spartans needed to be ready for war is proved by the discord between the Spartiate and the helots, who outnumbered and under ranked the Spartans. From birth Spartan children were expected to be physically strong and when male children were ten days old they were examined by a council of elders to see if the child had enough potential to be a warrior, or if it should be ‘exposed’. The children who were exposed were left to die at Apothetae on the slopes of Mt. Tygetus. The children who passed the examination were left in the care of their mothers until they reached the age of seven, at which point they left home to live in the barrack with other males, and were educated and trained in how to be a brave and strong warrior. While these children were still living at home they were mainly left in the care of a nurse, who taught them the first stage of their life-long education in the military. The nurses taught the children fight their fears as well as general superstition, toughening up the children so they would be able to better survive when they reach the age of seven and moved the barracks. Plutarch explains in source A how boys at the age of seven were put into the care of the state, and how they would grow up constantly training physically. When in the education system the boys learnt reading a... ...er’ in Sparta caused the Spartiates to be constantly prepared for a Helot uprise, as P. Cartledge explains in source F The helots were the Spartans slaves and were treated very poorly, being purposely set apart in image, given no rights, and beaten on several occasions. In fact each time new ephors were voted in, the helots would be rounded up and given an ‘annual beating’, so as the helots knew their place. However this treatment of the helots simply made the helots hate the Spartans, causing the Spartans to be even more prepared to an uprising, bringing the whole dilemma around in a circle. Spartans lived and breathed so that they could be ready for war. Their social and political structure shows this by their education of male Spartans, their laws and government procedures and also the necessity to be ready to protect themselves from a potential helot uprise.

Communicative Approach

MY BEST APROCHE IN ENGLISH LANGUAJE TEACHING : THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROCHE I. Problems in the present English teaching and causes of these problems II. Introduce the communicative approach 1. The definition of communicative approach 2. Two principles of communicative approach †¢ Create a realistic situation †¢ The class should be students-centered III. Adopt communicative approach to improve students ability to listen and speak, and achieve the goal of English teaching 1. Three stages in communicative teaching 2. Communicative activities in class . Achieve the goal of English teaching through communicative approach IV. Conclusion ____________________________________________________________ _________ Abstract Language is a means of communication. Although it is not the only form of communication among human beings, it is certainly the most important. English teaching is to teach the students how to communicate with each other, to train the students good and complete language ability, to express their ideas correctly and to easily adjust themselves to every kind of social situation. English teaching is a case in point. This paper is to discuss some problems of present English teaching approach, to state the principles and advantages of communicative approach, and to give some advice on how to make the English class more communicative and improve the student’s ability of listening and speaking. I. Problems in the present English teaching and causes of these problems As present, English teaching reform has been carried out in schools, some teaching reform has been succeeded, but there are still some problems in English teaching. The students who have had several years of training in English with classical approaches are still unable to actually use the language. For example, the students can’t understand what the teachers have said and they can’t express themselves, their ability of listening and speaking is not up to standard, and also they can’t communicate with others in English. Now the teachers have been faced with the problem of improving the student’s ability of listening and speaking. II. Introduce the communicative approach 1. The definition of communicative approach Communicative approach refers to the theory of teaching according to the principle that the students and teachers should genuinely communicate with each other using the target language. 2. Two principles of communicative approach Among the numerous principles of communicative approach, there are two pieces of principles, which are more important English teaching. 2. 1 Create more realistic situation The current teaching methods don’t emphasize the real world situations and fail to cultivate student’s spontaneity. Artificial conventions and mechanical question-and-answer sequences fall short of the flexible, spontaneous kind of communicative interaction required for performing a task with the context of situation relevant to the real world. Such classroom teaching forces learners to talk about things that are not of their own choosing and not based on their actual needs. Taught in this way, the learners frequently fail when they are faced with the read to produce the language related to a specific situation. Simulation techniques seem to be a better alternative, as they seek to place learners in a situation where they are asked to take on different roles and to. Accomplish their specific tasks, including problem solving. They offer an opportunity for the learners to practice using the language in the right place at the right time and as appropriately as possible. The most obvious advantage of these kind of techniques is that it puts the learners in realistic situations. By simulating the physical circumstances of certain situations, the students can have the opportunity to use and to practice the sort of language, particularly the vocabulary related to that situation, so that learners are rehearsed for real life. In addition, they can express what they want to say whenever the situation calls for it. The teacher provides the best conditions for learning through creating the realist situation. 2. 2 The class should be students-centered The focus of classroom should be shifted from the teacher to students. The teacher does most the talking and always has the whole class under his strict control by lecturing, questioning, correcting students and often supplying correct answers to the exercises. In such a class, the teacher is obviously the most authoritative person. Students always act according to what the teacher wants them to accomplish put not what they themselves want to accomplish. So it appears that sometimes, even if the students have understood the text they are reading, they do not have the courage to speak out when called upon, for fear that they may not be right. The class should be learners-centered. Communicative approach makes learners to be themselves and requires the classroom instructor to play a secondary role, trying to keep focus on the students not on himself and encouraging students to communicate among themselves. The role and relationship between the teacher and students are fixed by the students-centered principle. It is to say that the students are the main part in communication, while the teacher helps the students to communicate. III. Adopt communicative approach to improve students ability to listen and peaking 1. Three stages of communicative teaching The teacher can divide the student’s learning into three stages: 1. – The first stage, the teacher is a sort of information: he selects material to be learnt and presents it so that the students can understand it and remember it as clearly as possible. The students may do little talking but they should by no means be passive. 2. – The second stage is the p ractice stage. Let the students do the talking organized from cue by the teacher: this practice should be meaningful and memorable. 3. The third stage makes the students to be allowed, under the guidance of the teacher, to use the language freely, even if they make some mistakes as a result. This requires a more flexible attitude from the teachers to mistakes, if the student is constantly stopped and corrected, then eventually he will become discouraged and cease to be motivated to speak. If the students can use the language for themselves, then they become aware that they have learnt something useful and are encouraged to go on learning: perhaps the most important factor is to keep up motivation in the learning process itself. We always talk about listening and speaking together. We must be aware of the fact that oral communication is a two-way process between speakers and listeners. In our class, both the teacher and students are speakers and listeners 2. The class communicative activities Communicative activity provides opportunities for positive personal relationships to develop among learners and teachers. Because of the limitation of the classroom, this requires the teacher to create more various social situations and relationships in the class. 1. Simulation: Learners are asked to imagine themselves in a situation which would occur outside the classroom, and they are asked to behave as if the situation really excited. 2. -Role-playing: is one method of getting the students to imagine they are someone else and play that part. 3. -Discussion: They must present their views in a more public context, there are sticker rules governing who speaks, when and to whom, and a higher level of formality is expecte d. The student’s ability of listening and speaking can be improved in discussions. 4. Interaction: There will also be increasing scope which gives learners greater responsibility for creating the interaction themselves. 5. -Pictures: Extremely useful visual aid. Pictures of people and places are much more interesting than ordinary objects. This is another chance for group work and genuine discussion. Other teaching aids are important techniques for creating a wider variety of social situations and relationships. Communicative activities are very important in language learning. It may be useful to consider briefly what the teacher might hope to achieve through the communicative activity in the classroom. Since this will determine his own attitude toward it and what he gives it in his overall methodology. The learners ultimate objective is to take part in communication with others. Their motivation to learn is more likely to be sustained if they can see how their classroom learning is related to this objective and helps them to achieve it with increasing success. . IV. Conclusion The traditional methods of teaching do not allow the learners to express their own ideas, activities and personality, which is though t to be important especially for students. For example, mechanical drills do not allow the students to express their own ideas, therefore, they will not be interested in listening, and their listening efficiency will be impaired. Under the present situation, communicative approach is a better way to improve our English teaching. For the teachers, the new method means more varieties to devise the lessons; for the students as well, the new method more opportunities to practice their listening and speaking, and to have the freedom to express themselves. Thus, the communicative approach makes the teaching more fulfilling. Just as some linguists have said: English language teaching should be made of communication by communication and for communication. English language teaching is an interdisciplinary subject for which human communication is an important source. The communicative approach is no doubt a manifestation of how this theory can be applied in the student’s English learning. It is a good teaching method to improve the student’s ability of listening and speaking. Communicative Approach MY BEST APROCHE IN ENGLISH LANGUAJE TEACHING : THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROCHE I. Problems in the present English teaching and causes of these problems II. Introduce the communicative approach 1. The definition of communicative approach 2. Two principles of communicative approach †¢ Create a realistic situation †¢ The class should be students-centered III. Adopt communicative approach to improve students ability to listen and speak, and achieve the goal of English teaching 1. Three stages in communicative teaching 2. Communicative activities in class . Achieve the goal of English teaching through communicative approach IV. Conclusion ____________________________________________________________ _________ Abstract Language is a means of communication. Although it is not the only form of communication among human beings, it is certainly the most important. English teaching is to teach the students how to communicate with each other, to train the students good and complete language ability, to express their ideas correctly and to easily adjust themselves to every kind of social situation. English teaching is a case in point. This paper is to discuss some problems of present English teaching approach, to state the principles and advantages of communicative approach, and to give some advice on how to make the English class more communicative and improve the student’s ability of listening and speaking. I. Problems in the present English teaching and causes of these problems As present, English teaching reform has been carried out in schools, some teaching reform has been succeeded, but there are still some problems in English teaching. The students who have had several years of training in English with classical approaches are still unable to actually use the language. For example, the students can’t understand what the teachers have said and they can’t express themselves, their ability of listening and speaking is not up to standard, and also they can’t communicate with others in English. Now the teachers have been faced with the problem of improving the student’s ability of listening and speaking. II. Introduce the communicative approach 1. The definition of communicative approach Communicative approach refers to the theory of teaching according to the principle that the students and teachers should genuinely communicate with each other using the target language. 2. Two principles of communicative approach Among the numerous principles of communicative approach, there are two pieces of principles, which are more important English teaching. 2. 1 Create more realistic situation The current teaching methods don’t emphasize the real world situations and fail to cultivate student’s spontaneity. Artificial conventions and mechanical question-and-answer sequences fall short of the flexible, spontaneous kind of communicative interaction required for performing a task with the context of situation relevant to the real world. Such classroom teaching forces learners to talk about things that are not of their own choosing and not based on their actual needs. Taught in this way, the learners frequently fail when they are faced with the read to produce the language related to a specific situation. Simulation techniques seem to be a better alternative, as they seek to place learners in a situation where they are asked to take on different roles and to. Accomplish their specific tasks, including problem solving. They offer an opportunity for the learners to practice using the language in the right place at the right time and as appropriately as possible. The most obvious advantage of these kind of techniques is that it puts the learners in realistic situations. By simulating the physical circumstances of certain situations, the students can have the opportunity to use and to practice the sort of language, particularly the vocabulary related to that situation, so that learners are rehearsed for real life. In addition, they can express what they want to say whenever the situation calls for it. The teacher provides the best conditions for learning through creating the realist situation. 2. 2 The class should be students-centered The focus of classroom should be shifted from the teacher to students. The teacher does most the talking and always has the whole class under his strict control by lecturing, questioning, correcting students and often supplying correct answers to the exercises. In such a class, the teacher is obviously the most authoritative person. Students always act according to what the teacher wants them to accomplish put not what they themselves want to accomplish. So it appears that sometimes, even if the students have understood the text they are reading, they do not have the courage to speak out when called upon, for fear that they may not be right. The class should be learners-centered. Communicative approach makes learners to be themselves and requires the classroom instructor to play a secondary role, trying to keep focus on the students not on himself and encouraging students to communicate among themselves. The role and relationship between the teacher and students are fixed by the students-centered principle. It is to say that the students are the main part in communication, while the teacher helps the students to communicate. III. Adopt communicative approach to improve students ability to listen and peaking 1. Three stages of communicative teaching The teacher can divide the student’s learning into three stages: 1. – The first stage, the teacher is a sort of information: he selects material to be learnt and presents it so that the students can understand it and remember it as clearly as possible. The students may do little talking but they should by no means be passive. 2. – The second stage is the p ractice stage. Let the students do the talking organized from cue by the teacher: this practice should be meaningful and memorable. 3. The third stage makes the students to be allowed, under the guidance of the teacher, to use the language freely, even if they make some mistakes as a result. This requires a more flexible attitude from the teachers to mistakes, if the student is constantly stopped and corrected, then eventually he will become discouraged and cease to be motivated to speak. If the students can use the language for themselves, then they become aware that they have learnt something useful and are encouraged to go on learning: perhaps the most important factor is to keep up motivation in the learning process itself. We always talk about listening and speaking together. We must be aware of the fact that oral communication is a two-way process between speakers and listeners. In our class, both the teacher and students are speakers and listeners 2. The class communicative activities Communicative activity provides opportunities for positive personal relationships to develop among learners and teachers. Because of the limitation of the classroom, this requires the teacher to create more various social situations and relationships in the class. 1. Simulation: Learners are asked to imagine themselves in a situation which would occur outside the classroom, and they are asked to behave as if the situation really excited. 2. -Role-playing: is one method of getting the students to imagine they are someone else and play that part. 3. -Discussion: They must present their views in a more public context, there are sticker rules governing who speaks, when and to whom, and a higher level of formality is expecte d. The student’s ability of listening and speaking can be improved in discussions. 4. Interaction: There will also be increasing scope which gives learners greater responsibility for creating the interaction themselves. 5. -Pictures: Extremely useful visual aid. Pictures of people and places are much more interesting than ordinary objects. This is another chance for group work and genuine discussion. Other teaching aids are important techniques for creating a wider variety of social situations and relationships. Communicative activities are very important in language learning. It may be useful to consider briefly what the teacher might hope to achieve through the communicative activity in the classroom. Since this will determine his own attitude toward it and what he gives it in his overall methodology. The learners ultimate objective is to take part in communication with others. Their motivation to learn is more likely to be sustained if they can see how their classroom learning is related to this objective and helps them to achieve it with increasing success. . IV. Conclusion The traditional methods of teaching do not allow the learners to express their own ideas, activities and personality, which is though t to be important especially for students. For example, mechanical drills do not allow the students to express their own ideas, therefore, they will not be interested in listening, and their listening efficiency will be impaired. Under the present situation, communicative approach is a better way to improve our English teaching. For the teachers, the new method means more varieties to devise the lessons; for the students as well, the new method more opportunities to practice their listening and speaking, and to have the freedom to express themselves. Thus, the communicative approach makes the teaching more fulfilling. Just as some linguists have said: English language teaching should be made of communication by communication and for communication. English language teaching is an interdisciplinary subject for which human communication is an important source. The communicative approach is no doubt a manifestation of how this theory can be applied in the student’s English learning. It is a good teaching method to improve the student’s ability of listening and speaking.

Impressionism in Conrad and Joyce

Impressionism in Literature: Joseph Conrad & James Joyce. This essay attempts to give a brief comparison between two of the major representatives of the English Modernism, James Joyce and Joseph Conrad. Although these two writers come from very different backgrounds, they share the rejection of conventional realism and the search for new way to approach reality. In doing this, I will focus on the presence on Impressionistic ideas and in the new methods they will employ to depict reality. First of all, a swift definition of Impressionism in literature hooked be given.Many critics have argued that both in Jockey's and Concord's writings we could find impressionistic ideas, a new methodology of acknowledging the human experience. Impressionism have is origins in a exhibition in 1984 of a group of painters in which Monet stood out. Although the group was not especially homogeneous, they characterized by represent the way in which one person sees something at one moment in time, impressio ns of a particular and singular moment. They focused in the censorial aspect of how human beings experience the world vying great stress to subjectivity.In order to do this, they employ light and color which produce a censorial impact on the onlooker. In this liking way, literature tries to adapt the new techniques of painting to writing. They also stress subjectivity rejecting the old traditional emphasis upon order, thought and clearness. They provide us with a new perspective of the relation of individual with everyday world relaying on the censorial aspects of the experience. Apart from that, we find another particular characteristics in impressionistic writing: They rejected traditional emphasis on order and clearness, usually related with the conventions of Realism.Ambiguity prevails through the narration being the reader who has to form his own conclusion about the story The moment and the ephemeral is also very important. Description usually are told in a kind of accidental report, when the event are occurring. The details of the action are described through the eyes of the character when still happening and not when he/she has already processed the action (delayed decoding). This technique gives also a sense of ambiguity. The landscape is usually scribed with uncommon adjectives that are more concerned with human emotions than with depiction of the scenery.This and the repeatedly usage of images of fog, haze, mist or light and shadows produces a kind of dreamy and mysterious atmosphere where things seem to be blurred. Now, we come to analyze the following passage of Concord's Heart of Darkness on the basis of Impressionism. â€Å"l saw a face amongst the leaves on the level with my own, looking at me very fierce and steady; then suddenly, as though a veil had been removed from my eyes, I made out deep in angled gloom, naked breast, arms, legs, glaring eyes – the bush was swarming with human limbs in movement, glistening bronze color.The twigs shook, swayed, and rustled, the arrows flew out of them, and then the shutter came to. † Here, Concord's impressionist style permits the the reader to experience the events at the same time that Marrow does. The technique, commonly denominated as delayed decoding, tell us the details of the action before the protagonist has processed the action itself. This give us sensation of confusion, as we have to re-read the passage to really see hat is happening.Actually, this is quite similar to the painting techniques of Impressionism by which the clearest image of the picture can be only seen from certain distance of the canvas. In the following passage, also taken from Heart of Darkness, we can see the special characteristics of impressionistic descriptions. â€Å"The sun set; the dusk fell on the stream, and lights began to appear along the shore. The Chapman light-house, a three-legged thing erect on a mud-flat, shone strongly. Lights of ships moved in the fairway a great stir of lights going up and going down.And farther west on the upper reaches the place of the monstrous town was still marked ominously on the sky, a brooding gloom in sunshine, a lurid glare under the stars. † Here we have a description of the setting where prevails the use of light. In every line appear a reference to specific light (sun, dusk, light-house, stars, glare†¦ ). The description of the atmosphere of the setting is very detailed which produces the effect of certain mood, a kind of mysterious image.Moreover, we find many reference o water (stream, shore, mud-flat, fairway) that makes the image blurred before our eyes. In t he collection of short stories Edibleness, specially in â€Å"Arab† and â€Å"Beeline,† sense perception, like sight, sound, touch, smell, are very important. The descriptions make the reader feel the sensations described, the smells, the sounds†¦ This might be the one most outstanding feature of Joyce ‘s descriptions in Ed ibleness. In the following passage of Arab, we can find this references to receptions: â€Å"It was a dark rainy evening and there was no sound in the house.Through one of the broken ones I heard the rain impinge upon the earth, the fine incessant needles of water playing in the sodden beds. Some distant lamp or lighted window gleamed below me. I was thankful that I could see so little. All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip from them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring (†¦ )† So although both Joyce and Conrad share the same interest on the subjectivity, on how their characters experience reality, we can state that they differ slightly in the way of achieving this AOL.In this examples, Joyce focuses on all the senses to transport the reader into the experience of his characters whereas Conrad visual descriptions reminds the reader of one of the main characteristics of Impressionist pain tings : the interest on atmosphere and lighting effects. Bibliography. Kroger, Maria E. â€Å"Literary Impressionism† De. : New Haven, CT : College ; University Press, 01973. Slapstick, Mercedes. â€Å"Literary Analysis of Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad. † Helium. ;http://www. Helium. Com/items/855651- Impressionism in Conrad and Joyce First of all, a swift definition of Impressionism In literature would be given. Many critics have argued that both In Joyce ;s and Conrad ;s writings we could find impressionistic ideas, a new methodology of acknowledging the human experience. Impressionism have is origins in a exhibition in 1984 of a group of painters in which Monet stood out. Although the group was not especially homogeneous, they characterized by represent the way In which one person sees something at one moment in time, impressions of a particular and singular moment.They focused in the censorial aspect of how human beings experience the world vying great stress to subjectivity. In order to do this, they employ light and color which produce a censorial impact on the onlooker. In this liking way, literature tries to adapt the new techniques of painting to writing. They also stress subjectivity rejecting the old traditional emphasis upon order, thought and clearness. They provide us with a new perspective of the re lation of individual with everyday world relaying on the censorial aspects of the experience.Apart from that, we find another particular characteristics In Impressionistic writing: They rejected traditional emphasis on order and clearness, usually related with the conventions of Realism. Ambiguity prevails through the narration being the reader who has to form his own conclusion about the story The moment and the ephemeral is also very Important. Description usually are told in a kind of accidental report, when the event are occurring. The details of the action are described through the eyes of the character when still happening and not when he/she has already processed the action (delayed decoding).This technique gives also a sense of ambiguity. The landscape is usually ascribed with uncommon adjectives that are more concerned with human emotions than with depiction of the scenery. This and the repeatedly usage of images of fog, haze, mist or light and shadows produces a kind of dr eamy and mysterious atmosphere where things seem to be blurred. Now, we come to analyze the following passage of Concord's Heart of Darkness on the basis of Impressionism. L saw a face amongst the leaves on the level with my own, looking at me very fierce and steady; then suddenly, as though a veil had been removed from my eyes, I made out deep in angled gloom, naked breast, arms, legs, glaring eyes – the bush was swarming with human limbs in movement, glistening bronze color. The twigs shook, swayed, and rustled, the arrows flew out of them, and then the shutter came to. † Here, Conrad s impressionist style permits the the reader to experience the events at the same time 1 OFF us the details of the action before the protagonist has processed the action itself.This give us sensation of confusion, as we have to re-read the passage to really see what is happening. Actually, this is quite similar to the painting techniques of Impressionism by which the clearest image of th e picture can be only seen from certain distance of the canvas. In the following passage, also taken from Heart of Darkness, we can see the special characteristics of impressionistic descriptions. â€Å"The sun set; the dusk fell on the stream, and lights began to appear along the shore. The Chapman light-house, a three-legged thing erect on a mud-flat, shone strongly.Lights of ships moved in the fairway a great stir of lights going up and going down. And farther west on the upper reaches the place of the monstrous town was still marked ominously on the sky, a brooding gloom in sunshine, a lurid glare under the stars. † Here we have a description of the setting where prevails the use of light. In every line appear a reference to specific light (sun, dusk, light-house, stars, glare†¦ ). The description of the atmosphere of the setting is very detailed which produces the effect of certain mood, a kind of mysterious image.Moreover, we find many reference o water (stream, sh ore, mud-flat, fairway) that makes the image blurred before our eyes. In t he collection of short stories Edibleness, specially in â€Å"Arab† and â€Å"Beeline,† sense perception, like sight, sound, touch, smell, are very important. The descriptions make the reader feel the sensations described, the smells, the sounds†¦ This might be the one most outstanding feature of Joyce ‘s descriptions in Edibleness. In the following passage of Arab, we can find this references to receptions: â€Å"It was a dark rainy evening and there was no sound in the house.Through one of the broken ones I heard the rain impinge upon the earth, the fine incessant needles of water playing in the sodden beds. Some distant lamp or lighted window gleamed below me. I was thankful that I could see so little. All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip from them, I pressed the palms of my hands together until they trembled, murmuring (†¦ ) † So although both Joyce and Conrad share the same interest on the subjectivity, on how their characters experience reality, we can state that they differ slightly in the way of achieving this AOL.