2015/1, стр. 56 - 80

КАЗУСЕН ПОДХОД В ОБУЧЕНИЕТО ПО ЧУЖД ЕЗИК НА СТУДЕНТИ ОТ ИНЖЕНЕРНО-ТЕХНИЧЕСКИ СПЕЦИАЛНОСТИ

Резюме:

Ключови думи:

Всъвременната педагогическатеориясеутвърждаваидеята заличностно ориентирания характер на обучението и това доведе на практика до ново позициониране на отношението „личност – образователен процес“. Новата парадигма, чиято философска основа се явяват конструктивизмът и хуманистичното образование, определя промяната в образователното пространство, включваща обосноваване на образователните цели и задачи – методология на обучението (от монологичност към диалогичност), промяна на образователните технологии (от стимул реакция към интеракция), промяна в педагогическия диалог между преподавателя и обучаемия.

Това предполага пренасочване на взаимодействията към стимулиране на познавателната активност на обучаемите, увеличаване на самостоятелната и екипната дейност като предпоставка за тяхното активно и съзнателно включване в учебния процес, диференциация на педагогическия процес съобразно възможностите и потребностите на обучаемите.

Днес очакванията по отношение на ролята на обучаемия са: да умее да си поставя цели и да взема решения, като си задава въпроси, идентифицира проблеми, разграничава факти от твърдения, да събира и систематизира информация, представя алтернативи, изразява собствено становище, аргументира личен избор и има адекватна самооценка.

Проблемът за развитие на критичното мислене у обучаемите има своята особена значимост за единодействието между знания и практическа дейност, което води до повишаване на ефективността на учебния процес, до положителни резултати както при обучението, така и по отношение на стимулиране на тяхното интелектуално развитие.

В системата от комуникативни компетентности наред с информационните технологии стоят чуждоезиковите. С развитието на съвременното общество английският език става все по-важен като основен за свободно общуване в глобализиращия се свят. Тази тенденция е много силно изявена и в различни професионални сфери. Изучването на английски език за професионални употреби е особено важно за инженерните специалности, където бизнесът се развива в интернационални компании. Повишаващите се академични стандарти и изисквания на професионалните реализации налагат усилено да се работи по усъвършенстване на методиката на преподаване. Това е процес, който се налага за всяка образователна институция и той се съобразява с идеите за интернационализиране на обучението с цел повишаване на качеството, което се дефинира в ангажимента университетите да предоставят обучение с международно признаване и приложимост, необходимо както за последващо обучение, така и за възможности за работа.

За системата на висшето инженерно-техническо образование в България тази тенденция е предизвикателство, чието решение трябва да се търси в рамката на утвърдените параметри на учебните планове, които през последните 20 години са синхронизирани в европейски контекст и отговарят на Европейската квалификационна рамка (ЕКР). Ето защо обучението по чужд език (английски) следва нови приоритети в посока на изместване на акцента от изучаване на „general Еnglish“ към „English for Specifi c Purposes“ (английски за специфични цели). При това акцент се поставя върху четирите ключови езикови умения, като допълнително се развиват умения в специфични области – като писане на специализирани текстове, съдържащи необходимата за практиката терминология, комуникация с колеги и клиенти, изнасяне на презентации, както и умения по бизнес английски, необходим за преодоляване на празнините между бизнеса и инженерната квалификация. По този начин ще се намали дистанцията между учебната и работната среда, а заетите в инженерната практика ще подобрят езиковите си умения, като база за професионално израстване.

Активно учене посредством използване на казуси

В педагогиката казусът е система от дидактически обосновани дейности, подчинени на определени правила и норми за изучаване и решаване на дидактически ситуации, път, начин за откриване и поставяне на проблема в дидактическата ситуация и за неговото решаване. Методът дидактически казус е начин на съвместна работа на преподавателя и студентите върху реална, подробно и много точно описана професионална ситуация, с помощта на който се постига овладяване на дадена теория. Според някои автори казусът задължително съдържа реални противоречия или конфликти, отразява типични трудности в практиката, затова в описанието се излага възникването на противоречието, неговото развитие, обстановката и участниците (Петров, Атанасова, 2003: 140). Основни елементи на дидактическия казус са: известната ситуация и неизвестното решение.

Казусният метод в обучението не е нов, но с годините доказва безспорни предимства. Решаването на казуси е било познато още в дълбока древност. В Персия в училищата на справедливостта, в древна Атина и т.н. формирането на добродетели се е осъществявало предимно чрез обсъждане на различни ситуации, след това са се аргументирали предложения и решения на всяка от тях, правела се е оценка на издигнатите предложения и решения. Ролята на обучаемите при решаване на казуси е изключително активна, защото анализират ситуацията, отделят същественото от несъщественото, изясняват причините за проблема и генерират различни варианти за неговото решаване (Панчева, Георгиева, Овчарова, 2006: 483).

Методът на дидактическия казус може да бъде разглеждан от различни ъгли и поради това в научната литература несе открива единна класификация на неговите разновидности. Обсъжда се:

а) като логически подход към професионална/реална ситуация – това означава, че казусът се мисли като съчетание на индуктивни, дедуктивни, аналитични и синтетични разсъждения, с помощта на които се установява един проблем и бива решен от гледна точка на определена теория;

б) като практическа работа за решаване на конкретна професионална ситуация – такъв подход обаче би могъл да характеризира работата на обучаемите само външно. Той би стимулирал работа по инструкция, механично пренасяне на опит от предишни професионални ситуации, репродуктивно мислене и др. подобни. Прилагането на казуса като практическа дейност може да формира умения за излагане на идеи, аргументи, доказателства, бързина на мисловната реакция и т.н.;

в) като проблемен случай, тъй като често е наричан „проблемен“ – това означава, че проблемността е негова водеща характеристика. Това акцентира върху процеса, а именно: разрешаването стартира с идентифициране на проблема в неговите детайли и използването на познати методи и операции за неговото разрешаване;

г) като изследователска дейност – разликата му с предходния вид се състои в това, че се използват нови методи и техники за разрешаването му, степента на самостоятелност на работа на учащите е по-голяма, помощта от страна на преподавателя се изразява само в насочване, без да предлага готови решения, макар и те да се отнасят до отделни стъпки в процеса на решаването на ситуацията;

д) като частично изследователска дейност – казусът е с елементи на научно изследване и цели да се формират необходимите изследователски умения.

Приложение на казусите за студентите от инженерните специалности е стъпка към включването им в решаването на реални проблеми – подобряването на конкретна технология, на организацията и безопасността на труда и т.н. Методът улеснява натрупването на знания и дава възможност на студентите да прилагат усвоените знания на практика и да участват активно в учебния процес, подобрявайки тяхното учене. За преподавателите, които подготвят инженери, работата с казуси обогатява собствените им концепции, за да преосмислят и материала, включен в курса, което, от своя страна, води до повишаване на интереса и на студентите.

Активното учене в процеса на разрешаване на казуси създава атмосфера на сътрудничество между обучаемите в класа, които получават знания не само от преподавателя, но и един от друг (Greek, 1995) и където те не просто заучават, но и разбират учебните материали. Според Lomb и Blowers (Lomb and Blowers, 1998) основният резултат от активното учене е „способност за критично мислене и подобряване на комуникационните умения“. На второ място, резултатите включват „изграждане на лидерски умения, разбиране на мултикултурализма и повишено самочувствие“.

Интегрирането на различни методи за активно учене за улесняване на процеса на обучение е системна методическа задача. Редица автори посочват начини за активно включване на обучаемите в процеса на обучение посредством разпределение на задачи между отделни малки групи, симулации, казуси и игрови ситуации (Galbraith, 1992; Lewis, 1992; McAlpine, 1992; Shaw, 1930). Това подчертава значимостта на интегрирането на активното учене и на казусния метод в другите форми на обучение.

Казусният метод включва обучаемите в процеса на анализиране, оценяване, възприемане и обсъждане. Holkeboer (Holkeboer, 1993) твърди, че когато обучаемите работят с казуси, се развива процес на критично мислене на три нива, в който обучаемите разпознават основния проблем, обмислят на възможни решения и постигат съгласие за най-добро решение. Развитието на критичното мислене става посредством разпознаване на съществуващите принципи и теории в конкретни ситуации, изграждайки аналитични умения (Wolfer and Baker, 2000).

Активното участие в процеса на обучение насърчава и развитието на добри комуникативни умения, необходими за бъдещата работа и обучение (Greek, 1995). Въпреки че лекциите все още са най-често използваният метод за обучение в университетите, обединяването на ефикасни стратегии за преподаване може да стимулира креативността на студентите в процеса на обучение (Wells and McKinney, 1997; Wolfer and Baker, 2000).

Учебни материали за преподаватели и студенти на основата на казуси В последните години нов фокус за развитие на академичното обучение дават очакваните резултати, дефинирани в ЕКР и НКР. Резултатите от ученето не са просто изолиран инструмент при съставяне на учебна програма, а представляват подход с важна роля в по-широк смисъл и включващ: интегриране на академичното и професионалното образование и обучение, признаване на предишно учене чрез професионален опит и периоди на обучение.

Учебните резултати насочват вниманието върху ясни и подробни твърдения за това какво студентите учат – знанията, уменията и компетентностите, които целим да развием. Те налагат идеята, че учебните резултати са неделима част от всяка програма за развитие на образователната практика. Това може да се обобщи с фразата – „учене, в центъра на което стои студентът“. Този подход измества парадигмата на традиционните начини за обучение и характеризиране на ученето – от „входящ“ към „изходящ“ подход. Акцентът се измества от съдържанието (какво се преподава) към резултата от обучението (какво обучаемите ще могат да правят). При този подход преподавателят заема ролята на медиатор в процеса на учене, при който голяма част от знанията се усвояват извън аудиториите, без присъствието на преподавател.

В реалните учебни практики чужд език се преподава на студенти в отделни специалности, където попадат обучаеми с различно ниво на владеене на „general English“ и различни потребности от специализиран чужд език, което прави работата в групите коренно различна от традиционните чуждоезикови курсове.

В такава ситуация и от гледна точка на целите, изразени в конкретни резултати от ученето – знания, умения и компетентности за даден тип специалисти, е усвоеният чужд език за специални употреби (професионален език). Изучаването на езика се осъществява в хода на усвояване на професионалните знания и умения и това е основание за търсене на начини за интегриране на двата типа подготовка – професионална и чуждоезикова.

За целите на изследването е направен контент-анализ на съдържанието на специализиращи инженерно-технологични дисциплини в Лесотехническия университет – София, и Химикотехнологичния и металургичен университет – София, изучавани в ОКС „бакалавър“. От анализа на съдържанието са определени основни понятия – научни и технически, свързани с професионалните дейности, и са изведени ключови ситуации, които да станат основа за разработване на учебни казуси.

Тематиката на казусите е следствие от контент-анализа. Всеки от тях отразява различни реални ситуации от практиката в съответната област – техническа, технологична и професионална. Структурирани са по следния начин: цел – описание на конкретния случай, предлагащ цялостна информация – практически задачи.

Казусите описват реални ситуации от практиката, като се основават на професионалния опит – български и/или европейски, и са продукт на прилагане на подхода за съвместно преподаване. Той се реализира на етапа на съставяне на казусите и при необходимост – за оценяване на резултати в индивидуална и/или групова работа.

Активното учене подпомага обучаемите да възприемат информацията най-добре като непосредствени участници в процеса на обучение, а казусите включват студентите в екипна работа, което създава атмосфера на сътрудничество между обучаемите, обмен на знания и опит и така те не просто заучават, но и разбират учебните материали. Резултат от тази дейност е развитието на способност за критично мислене, решаване на конкретни задачи, но и по-добряване на комуникационните и лидерските умения, разбиране и повишено самочувствие.

Ключов момент при прилагане на казусите в курса е дискусията. Тя дава възможност на обучаемите да се научат да слушат партньора в условия на делово общуване, да убеждават, да представят аргументи и да отстояват по-зиция. При формирането на умения за взимане на решения преподавателят влиза в ролята не само на източник на информация, но и на консултант, инструктор и критик, като направлява диалога на чужд език.

Казусите са написани в атрактивен стил и са интересни за решаване от студентите, но могат да се ползват и от професионалисти за чуждоезикова подготовка. Поднесена по този начин, материята предполага размисъл и подтиква към вземане на решение, основано на интегрирани знания. Обучаемите се поставят в реална ситуация и решават симулативно казуса, като по този начин не само затвърждават теоретичните знания за използваната в конкретната област терминология, но и получават необходимата информация и знания, за да могат да реагират адекватно в аналогична ситуация, използвайки чужд език и добрите практики в областта.

Тук се представят част от разработените и приложени казуси на английски език.

Case Study on Chemical Properties of Wood

Aim

This case study aims at making learners familiar with the chemical composition of wood.

The Case

Wood Pulping

The most commonly used pulping method is known as the kraft process. About 70% of the world’s annual pulp output is produced by this process. It is the most effective, versatile and efficient wood delignification method available. The kraft process (also known as kraft pulping) describes a technology for conversion of wood into wood pulp consisting of almost pure cellulose fi bres. The kraft pulping process involves the cooking of wood chips at high temperature and pressure in “white liquor”, which is a water solution of sodium sulfide and sodium hydroxide. The white liquor chemically dissolves the lignin that binds the cellulose fi bres together.

In the first stage of this process the wood chips are cooked in a solution of NaOH at high temperature and pressure. During the kraft cooking of wood chips, a large amount of the lignin in the wood fibres is fragmented and rendered soluble. The remaining lignin is heavily modified. The dark colour of the pulp results from various compounds. Residual lignin is dissolved by treatment with various bleaching chemicals. The most reactive bleaching chemicals are chlorine, ozone and peroxy-acids, which react with the aromatic structures in lignin and whiten the pulp. When chlorine is used to bleach paper, the process can also result in the formation of harmful chemicals such as dioxins and furans, which are known to cause cancer in humans. The safest paper bleaching processes are totally chlorinefree (the bleaching process uses oxygen-based compounds).

Practical Tasks

1. In paper production, delignification is the main process. Why is it so important to remove lignin from the wood?

2. What are the main compounds used for treating wood chips in order to break the lignin bonds?

3. What is the purpose of bleaching? What are the main chemicals used for pulp bleaching?

4. Look at the scheme presenting a paper production process and discuss the main stages, concentrating mainly on the delignification of wood. Write a short description.

Aim

This case study aims at making learners familiar with the main physical properties of wood.

Case 1

Every tree species has unique qualities that can make it ideal for one application but unsuitable for another. Being a professional in the field of woodworking, you have been asked to select the necessary type of wood for the following applications:

– external application – poles, benches, sleepers, doors and windows

– furniture, parquetry, veneer and paneling;

– carvings;

– insulation.

Practical Tasks

1. Which are the most important physical properties for each application?

2. Which tree species are the most suitable for the above applications: beech, oak, maple, lime, walnut, cherry, willow, mahogany, teak, larch, balsa?

Case 2

Wood Dimensional Stability

Wood is dimensionally stable when moisture content is above the fi bre saturation point. Below the fibre saturation point wood changes dimension as it gains moisture (swells) or loses moisture (shrinks), because volume of the cell wall depends on the amount of bound water. This shrinking and swelling can result in warping, checking, and splitting of the wood, which in turn can lead to decreased utility of wood products, such as loosening of tool handles, gaps in flooring, or other performance problems.

Practical Tasks

1. Look at the picture and describe the characteristic shrinkage and distortion of flat, square, and round pieces as affected by the direction of the growth rings.

2. Which are the main factors affecting the wood shrinkage?

Case Study on Mechanical Properties of Wood

Aim

This case study aims at making learners familiar with the main mechanical properties of wood.

Case

Mechanical properties of wood define the performance of wood under load, tending to deform it. The mechanical properties are obtained from test pieces of wood termed “clear” and “straight grained” because they do not contain characteristics such as knots, cross grain, checks, and splits. These test pieces have anatomical characteristics such as growth rings that occur in consistent patterns within each piece.

Loads perpendicular to the grain direction may be at any angle from 0° (tangential direction) to 90° (radial direction) to the growth rings. Having in mind that wood is an orthotropic material, if you have to test the mechanical properties of a piece of wood, it is essential to determine the direction of the external load.

Practical Tasks

1. Look at the picture and determine the direction of external load in relation to the direction of growth rings (tangential, radial and 45°).

2. What other natural characteristics of wood affecting the mechanical properties do you know? a)…….. b)…….. c)……..

3. Look at the picture and fill in the three principle axes of wood with respect to grain direction and growth rings.

4. As strength is the ability of wood not to destroy under impact of external load, can you defi ne compressive strength, tensile strength, bending strength and shear strength?

Case Study on Technological Properties of Wood

Aim

This case study aims at making learners familiar with the main technological properties of wood.

Case

The strength and stability of any wood structure depend mainly on the fastenings that hold its parts together. One of the main advantages of wood as a structural material is the way wood structural parts can be joined together with a wide variety of fastenings-nails, screws, bolts and metal connectors of various types.

The load bearing capabilities of wood structures depend on how well screws and nails are retained in the timber. The fi xture on the fi gure is designed to provide an accurate and easy to use method for assessing withdrawal forces in different types of timber and meets a range of international standards.

The test fixture consists of a high strength steel lower frame into which a wood specimen containing screws or nails is inserted. The upper part of the fi xture grips the head of the fastener and is attached to the test system via a fl exible coupling.

The force required to withdraw the fastener is applied by moving the crosshead in the tensile loading direction.

The lower frame features a slotted base to allow rapid and simple alignment when testing multiple fasteners on a single specimen.

The cleavage test provides an indication of the resistance of wood to splitting.

The test fixture consists of a pair of grips that hook under the cut-out of the test specimen. The upper grip is typically attached to a flexible coupling to provide self-alignment during the test. A tensile force is applied to the specimen with the maximum force being used to determine the wood split resistance.

Practical Tasks

On the basis of your theoretical knowledge and practical experience can answer the following questions:

1. Have you ever made this type of testing during your practical training course or in the plant laboratories?

2. How much the density of a tree species affects the nail withdrawal resistance? Have you noticed the difference in splitting of lighter and heavier wood specimen?

3. Do you think the moisture content affects the nail and screw withdrawal resistance and how?

4. Do you think split resistance depends on the wood anatomical structure?

5. Do you know how the uneven and wavy grain influences the wood split resistance?

6. How does the number and distribution of wood rays increase the split resistance?

7. Have you noticed if there is any difference in nail and screw resistance?

8. Can you give any examples of nail and screw resistance of different tree species?

Заключение

Включването в педагогическия инструментариум на методите за активно учене подпомага студентите да усвояват по-задълбочени знания и да развиват способности за взимане на решения. Обучението посредством казуси може да се реализира като междудисциплинна учебна дейност, отразяваща реални ситуации от практиката, които интегрират прилагане на умения от различни области на компетентност. Казусите улесняват преминаването от теория към практика, като обучаемите разпознават основните принципи на концепциите, прилагат тези концепции в условия, близки до професионалните, и това осигурява допълнителна мотивация в процеса на обучение. В академичното обучение казусите на чужд език (английски) внасят допълнителни възможности за приближаване на учебната среда до професионалната практика и това е нов момент, който води до упражняване на комплексни умения. Умения за анализ, синтез и оценка, за разпознаване на проблеми и вземане на решение, но чрез ползване на терминология и лексика на професионален език.

Използването на учебни казуси на английски език спомага за създаване на цялостна среда за активно учене в групата, като ползите за участниците са двустранни – както за студентите, така и за преподавателите. В условия на прилагане на интердисциплинни задачи предимство за преподавателите е, че те могат да преосмислят подходите за преподаване и да пренасят опит, който е в посока на оптимизация на собствените им концепции за преподаване.

ЛИТЕРАТУРА

Панчева Т., Е. Георгиева, Б. Овчарова. (2006) Казусен подход в обучението по чужд език на студентите от магистърска степен в ЛТУ, Управление и устойчиво развитие, бр. 2.

Петров, П., М. Атанасова. (2003) Образованието и обучението на възрастните.

Galbraith, M., (1992) Nine principles of good facilitation. Adult Learning 3 (6): 10 – 11, 20.

Greek, C. (1995) Using active learning strategies in teaching criminology: A personal account. Journal of Criminal Justice Education 6 (1): 153 – 64.

Holkeboer, R. (1993) Right from the Start: Managing Your Way to Collegе Success, Belmont.

Lewis, L. (1992) Meaning making and refl ective practice. Adult Learning 3 (4): 7.

Lomb, R. C, A. Blowers. (1998) Teaching criminal justice through the social inquiry method. Journal of Criminal Justice Education 9 (1): 103 – 17.

McAlpine, L. (1992) Using journals as professional conversations. Adult Learning 3 (4):15.

Shaw, C. R. (1930) The jack-roller. Chicago.

Wells, J. B., M. K. McKinney. (1997) Assessing criminal justice student learning styles for multimedia instruction. Journal of Criminal Justice Education 8 (1): 1 – 18.

Wolfer, L., T. E. Baker. (2000) Teaching Organized Crime Patterns: An Active Learning Approach. Journal of Criminal Justice Education 11 (1): 79 – 96.

REFERENCES

Pancheva T., E. Georgieva, B. Ovcharova. (2006) Kazusen podhod v obuchenieto po chuzhd ezik na studentite ot magistarska stepen v LTU, Upravlenie i ustoychivo razvitie, br. 2.

Petrov, P., M. Atanasova. (2003) Obrazovanieto i obuchenieto na vazrastnite.

Galbraith, M., (1992) Nine principles of good facilitation. Adult Learning 3 (6): 10 – 11, 20.

Greek, C. (1995) Using active learning strategies in teaching criminology: A personal account. Journal of Criminal Justice Education 6 (1): 153 – 64.

Holkeboer, R. (1993) Right from the Start: Managing Your Way to College Success, Belmont.

Lewis, L. (1992) Meaning making and refl ective practice. Adult Learning 3 (4): 7.

Lomb, R. C, A. Blowers. (1998) Teaching criminal justice through the social inquiry method. Journal of Criminal Justice Education 9 (1): 103 – 17.

McAlpine, L. (1992) Using journals as professional conversations. Adult Learning 3 (4):15.

Shaw, C. R. (1930) The jack-roller. Chicago.

Wells, J. B., M. K. McKinney. (1997) Assessing criminal justice student learning styles for multimedia instruction. Journal of Criminal Justice Education 8 (1): 1 – 18.

Wolfer, L., T. E. Baker. (2000) Teaching Organized Crime Patterns: An Active Learning Approach. Journal of Criminal Justice Education 11 (1): 79 – 96.

CASE METHOD IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS IN ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

Abstract. The case studies approach in the foreign (English) language training of students from engineering and technological specialities from the University of Forestry, Sofia and University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy, Sofi a has been studied in the present article. The application of case studies method in the foreign language training as an active learning tool gives students the opportunity to acquire important skills, necessary in the classroom work and out of it. The active learning aids students to develop problem solving skills, critical thinking and analytical skills—essential tools for making decisions, improvement and better professional realization.

 Dr. Senya Terzieva, Assoc. Prof.

Department of Humanities
University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy
Sofi a, Bulgaria
E-mail: senia@uctm.edu
 1) Dr. Petar Antonov, Assist. Prof., 2)Dr. Tanya Pancheva
University of Forestry
Sofi a, Bulgaria
E-mail: 1)p.antov@abv.bg, 2)tanyapancheva@abv.bg
Language and Culture
Език и култура

HOW CAN WE ‘TEACH’ IDEOLOGIES TO CHILDREN?

THE PARADIGM OF A CONTEMPORARY GREEK ILLUSTRATED ADAPTATION OF A MEDIEVAL NARRATIVE POEM

Anastasia Economidou
Democritus University of Thrace, Greece

Abstract. In this article we argue that literary works for children aim at ‘teaching’ their young readers specific ideologies, i.e. specific attitudes towards the world they live in and specific ways of acting and behaving within it. That is accomplished through the language, the ‘story’ and the significance of such works.

To support our argument we use the paradigm of “Niko and the Wolf” – a contemporary Greek illustrated book which is an adaptation of a medieval narrative poem written by Kostas Poulos and illustrated by Svetlin Vassilev. We aim at showing what ideological shifts take place when we try to re-shape an old story for adults according to contemporary ideologies and then try to promote the adapted story to young readers. Moreover, the specific paradigm is illustrated and it therefore offers the opportunity to examine the ideological nature and role of the pictures in the telling of a story.

First, we examine the text of the book, its anachronisms, its intertextual allusions and its carnivalesque character in order to show how the above parameters relate to its ideological impact on its readers. Secondly, we turn to the pictures of the book and again we examine their anachronisms but also the irony they create by promoting meanings that differ from those of the text; we also pinpoint their energetic role in the construction of the meanings and the ideas that underlie them.

Keywords: children’s literature, ideology, medieval, Greek narrative poem, illustrated book

Apart from entertaining children and from cultivating their imagination, children’s literature has always been written in order to socialize children, in other words in order to inculcate ideologies upon them. It is, therefore, inherently ideological: as John Stephens aptly observes, “what the otherwise rather amorphous body of literary texts for children has in common is an impulse to intervene in the lives of children” (Stephens, 1992: 8). Literary texts as well as their illustrations ‘teach’ children how to become members of their society, in other words, how to ‘see’ their world, how to think about it and, of course how to act and behave within it. Their ideologies are encoded in them either implicitly, that is passively, or, more often than not, explicitly, that is energetically, by advocating specific beliefs, attitudes, behaviours (Hollindale, 1988: 13 – 14): a great number of contemporary children’s books, for instance, advocate ecological thinking or anti-racist attitudes.

The ideology that permeates all literary texts can be inscribed, first of all, at the level of their language. As has been argued from a number of theoretical perspectives, language as a system of signifi cation is endemically and pervasively imbued with ideology (Stephens, 1992: 1): its words, its syntax, its rule-systems and its codes are fraught with ideologies. Moreover, ideology in literary texts may be inscribed at the level of their ‘story’ as well as at the level of their ‘signifi cance’ (ibid. 12 – 13). As mentioned above, however, in the special case of literary works for children, ideology can also get inscribed in them through their pictures which constitute another means of story-telling.

By examining a contemporary Greek illustrated book for children, which is an adaptation of a medieval Greek narrative poem, we will show how the ideologies inscribed in the text itself but also in the pictures of the book get communicated to its young readers. But first, we need to make an introductory comment about the nature of adaptations. When a literary text gets adapted and when, moreover, it gets illustrated, it inevitably changes not only in terms of its content or its form but, more importantly, in terms of the impact it has on its readers. In the case under consideration the didactic medieval narrative poem for adults gets adapted and illustrated in such a way that it becomes a humorous, provocative and playful story for young children. What is interesting to observe, however, is that as the re-telling of the source text is transferred into a new social, cultural and ideological context on the one hand, and as it now address a new audience, that is, an audience of children, its ideological connotations change.

Stephens and McCallum have shown that such a passage from the source text to its re-telling is organized through metanarratives i.e. through “global or totalizing cultural narrative schemata which order and explain knowledge and experience” (Stephens & McCallum, 1998: 16). Therefore, any attempt to examine the metanarrative which organizes a textual or a pictorial re-telling inevitably involves the examination of the ideologies that are inscribed in it. For, all adaptations use the original work as a framework for the inculcation of specific ideologies upon the readers. They may reproduce the ideologies which are inscribed within the original work itself or they may produce new, even antithetical, ideological positions which are, inevitably, related to the social context of the time of the adaptation. For instance, one of the many contemporary illustrated adaptations of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata for children, namely the one by Sophia Zarambouka (1977), became a vehicle for the inculcation not only of the pacifist ideology that was inscribed in the original text but also of feminist ideological positions (Kalkani, 2004: 75,76). The latter were a far cry from the ideology of the original comedy, but reflected aspects of the ideological ambience of the time of the adaptation. Zarambouka’s adaptation, then, serves as a paradigm of a “metanarrative” which demonstrates the contemporary “metaethic”, that is, the ideological framework that characterized the time and the place of the production of the metanarrative”(Stephens & McCallum, ibid.).

In our approach, therefore, of the textual but also of the pictorial aspects of the adaptation under examination we will examine what ideologies are inscribed in them and whether such ideologies are reproductions of the ones inscribed within the original work or new ones, related to the social context of the time of the adaptation.

The contemporary picture book we will focus on, which is titled “Ο Nikos ke o Likos” (“Niko and the Wolf”) (2002) has been adapted Picture 1 for children by Kostas Poulos and has been illustrated by Svetlin Vassilev1.

that belongs to the post-Byzantine era reproducing motifs already existent in the Aesopian fables but also in the oral tradition of the Byzantine period. The source text was first published [in Greek] in Venice in 1539 under the title “Γαδάρου, λύκου κι αλουπούς διήγησις ωραία” [“A nice narrative of a donkey, a wolf and a fox”]. It must have been a widely known and popular narrative poem since it crossed boundaries and found its way, centuries later, into a book of tales published by Jacob Grimm (1840). Although the contributors of the illustrated adaptation state clearly that their work is based on the particular source text, it is not clear on which version of the latter it is based, which, however, is a fairly common condition in the case of adaptations of old literary works (Stephens & McCallum, 1998: 3 – 5).

The story that is related in the source text is this: a very hungry fox and an equally hungry wolf, who appear to be living together, come upon a donkey. As they scheme to eat him, they befriend him and attempt to persuade him to join them in a journey across the sea. However, the donkey manages to outwit them and kick them off the boat on which they are travelling; thus he saves his life and ridicules his rivals. The structure of the plot, the binary opposition between the good and the bad, the eventual triumph of justice, which, importantly, coincides with the victory of the weak, but also the comic, at times sarcastic, and overtly didactic style of the narrative all echo the oral tradition of the Middle Ages on the one hand and the Aesopian fables on the other. In terms of the plot, the contemporary re-teller keeps the framework of the source text but omits many of the incidents included in the latter. Because he is not interested in fidelity he also reconstructs the dialogues between the characters in a very loose way, losing at times contact with the source text. Thus he manages to bring the story to date and to make it not only relevant to children readers but also accessible to them. Eventually, the adapted text becomes less than half the size of the source text that is around 2000 words, which, together with the illustrations, make an average-sized book for young readers.

In terms of the form of the textual narrative, Poulos has chosen to retain the 15-syllable rhyming verse of the original narrative poem: in fact he uses the rhyme as a means of accentuating the humor that permeates it. He has also retained the colloquial tongue-in-the-cheek style of the source text, transferred, however, to a contemporary Greek demotic idiom. The above formal choices result in an ironical effect: for, in terms of its form the text seems traditional while in terms of its content, as will be shown, it is unmistakably contemporary.

What are, then, the ideas that the writer of the adaptation seeks to ‘teach’ his young readers through his verbal and formal choices? We can easily observe that the central binary ideological opposition that underlies the original story, that is the opposition between the ‘strong’, which equals the carnivorous animals, and the ‘weak’, which equals the herbivores, is kept intact in the case of the re-told story. If we take into account the above equation, we can interpret the latter as the struggle of the powerless against the powerful and their eventual triumphant victory over the latter. Such an allegory takes on a special meaning if read vis-a-vis the historical and social context of the 16th century within which the source text was produced. For, after the fall of Constantinople and the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, the impoverished rural population of Greeks, who found themselves the weaklings of the Ottoman Empire, easily identified with a weak herbivore like the donkey which manages to kick his oppressors into the sea (Chatzopoulou – Karavia, 1986: 101).

What is interesting to examine, however, is why such a moral ‘lesson’ like the one that emanates from the source text remains intact in its contemporary re-telling. It is not, we want to argue, a question of remaining loyal to the source text, since, as was mentioned above, Poulos is keen on demonstrating his distance from it. Besides, fidelity has never been an issue in the study of adaptations. Indeed, as Julie Sanders reminds us, “it is usually at the very point of infi delity that the most creative acts of adaptation and appropriation take place” (Sanders, 2006: 20). More likely, the central ideological assumption of the original story is reproduced because it is in tune with contemporary education politics: the view that children need to develop an ethical understanding which will allow them to assess the operation of power in the world and the range of responses available to them (cf. Whitely, 1996: 92) is shared, we want to argue, by the majority of contemporary Greek teachers but also by writers and publishers of children’s literature. Consequently, a contemporary literary work like O Nikos ke o Likos can be seen as a pleasant way of introducing young children to such an ethical understanding and of offering them one such exemplary reaction, as the one of the victorious hero, to the imposition of power.

Staying with the question of ideology, we must stress the fact that the adapted text makes a point of bringing its contemporariness to the forefront of the reader’s attention. For that reason, the sardonic humor that permeates the original text is now given a different twist by a number of anachronisms which highlight the time but also the cultural gap between the original and its adaptation.3 Generally speaking, anachronisms in adaptations (especially, as we will show, in the case of their illustrations which are freer than the text from obvious restrictions) are chosen on the basis of mainly their ideological connotations, and thus constitute indicators of the metanarrative schemata that are being used by the re-tellers of the original story. They belong, that is, to those adapting techniques through which specifi c meaning(s) are prioritized over others and specific subject positions are constructed for the perception of the overall meaning of the adaptation (cf. Kalkani, 2004).

In the case we are examining we observe a number of anachronisms in the form of references to ‘healthy diets’, ‘antibiotics’ or ‘newspaper articles’ which introduce contemporary ideological preoccupations, such as the pros of a healthy vegetarian diet or the cons of being overweight, into a unlikely context. Precisely because such references are ‘out of place’ in a traditional tale, they become humorous and consequently add to the overall tongue-in-the-cheek style of the textual narration. Thus, they give the adapted text a ‘carnivalesque’ character. For, carnival in children’s literature is grounded in a playfulness which situates itself in positions of nonconformity. It expresses opposition to authoritarianism and seriousness, and is often manifested as parody of prevailing literary forms and genres in non-canonical forms (Stephens, 1992: 121).

At the same time, however, we must not lose from sight the fact that precisely because the adapted text has such a humorous and carnivalesque character, its imbued ideologies are more easily transmitted to its young readers as they are ‘disguised’ as innocent jokes and language games.

We now want to turn to the pictures of the book under consideration and examine their role in the construction of particular ideological positions. But before we turn to specific examples we need to make clear our theoretical standpoint vis-à-vis the question of illustrating adaptations: pictures in such cases function, we want to argue, in the same way as words. For, like words, they, too, inscribe their social, cultural and ideological context and like words, they, too, convey ideologies. Consequently, they, too, constitute a metanarrative through which the source text is ‘interpreted’ while being adapted. Generally speaking, the pictures of an illustrated book do not only offer narrative information which completes the meaning(s) of the textual narrative but also construct specifi c ideological positions which may or may not coincide with those constructed by the text (cf. Nodelman, 1988, Stephens & McCallum, 1998, Kalkani, 2004). In the case of illustrated adaptations however, things may sometimes get complicated, for there are cases in which the illustrator chooses to depict characters or scenes as presented in the source text rather than in the adapted text constructing in this way ideological positions which may differ from those inscribed in the text.4

In the case under examination, Svetlin Vassilev has chosen to remain faithful to the adapted text by depicting the scenes described. However, he has also chosen to keep a distance from it both in terms of the narrative information his pictures carry and in terms of the ideological positions they construct. Indeed, in most of the illustrated double spreads the text and the pictures provide such different narrative information that their relation eventually becomes ironical (Nodelman, 1988: 222 – 241). More specifically, pictures consistently show the readers other from or more than what words tell them: for instance, while the words relate how the fox and the wolf come upon the donkey and try to persuade him to leave his master and follow them in their supposed “exploration of the world”, the pictorial depiction of the wolf reveals the real intentions of the couple by showing him holding a fork and a knife behind his back.

The observant readers, therefore, are in a privileged position: for, they fi nd out more than what the words say. In that way they fi nd themselves in the typical position in which they are placed by the narrative strategy of irony. Moreover, they using, therefore, the terminology concerning the ancient Greek tragedy we could argue that the readers experience a typical case of “tragic irony”, of knowing, that is, more than the protagonist himself / herself does.

An ironical relation between words and picture is also inevitably created when the reverse takes place, when, that is, words say more than pictures do, which is what also happens on every single double-spread of the book we are examining: by reading the dialogues between the characters, the readers know much more than what the pictures show them. Thus, when they take a second good look at a particular picture, they utilize the information they gather from the wordsand they inevitably see what is shown in a different light.

The ironical relation between the picture and the text that co-exist on the same page is, we want to argue, a fruitful relation in any case. That may be the reason why both the writer and the illustrator of the book do their best to create it – for the sake of their readers. For, such a relation makes the readers energetic: in order to construct the meaning of the page they have in front of them, they have to synthesize the information they gather from words and pictures respectively into one compound whole. Moreover, it teaches them a basic principle concerning the reading of illustrated books: that neither the words nor the pictures alone can communicate the ‘truth’ of the story. In other words, young readers become conscious of the fact that ‘reality’ is much more complex than it appears. The latter, we may as well add, is a lesson that does not only concern the reading of an illustrated book; it extends, we want to argue, to the young readers’ broader experience of the world that surrounds them.

While examining the ideology of the pictures, we want to focus on one central stratagem on the part of the illustrator, namely, his highlighting of the anachronism between the appearance of the characters on the one hand and of their surroundings on the other. As is shown in picture No. 1, the three animals are fairly realistic in their animal characteristics but they are quite anthropomorphous in their posture, . However, while they are dressed in an old-fashioned style that brings to mind the upper class fashion of the 19th century, their surroundings are undoubtedly contemporary. Let us examine a picture in which such deliberate discrepancy becomes evident.

According to what the text relates, the wolf and the fox are going to the nearest forest to look for food when they bump into the donkey. In the accompanying picture we do not see the actual scene of their encounter, but we have the opportunity to observe the two carnivorous animals as, arm in arm, they enter the scene from the left heading for the forest. They are dressed in meticulously styled 19th century clothes which are drawn in great detail [for instance, a bow-tie and assorted gloves for the wolf, an umbrella and jewellery for the fox]. They seem to be moving in urban surroundings, for, there is an old-fashioned clock as well as park benches nearby. The forest for which they are supposed to be heading is only alluded to by a signpost pointing to its direction. In the background, one can discern some big trees deliberately drawn in outlandish purple colours so as to look artificial and not real. However, what the readers notice in the forefront of the picture is a representation of a destroyed ‘real’ forest: a bleak space filled with what has been left of felled trees, with no sign of vegetation and with notices advertising “land for sale” and “furs on sale here”. That is by no means a representation of a 19th century ‘forest’; rather, it is an allusion to contemporary phenomena such as fires set on purpose or the illegal hunting of wild animals.

An initial comment on the above picture but also generally on pictures like the above is that they serve as highly symbolic representations of the inherently intertextual character of the adaptation to which they belong. For, they manage to depict the very moment when the adapted text ‘meets’ its precursor, the moment when the world of the past and the contemporary world meet up in a visual pastiche, a composition, that is, made up of fragments (Dentith, 2000:194, quoted in Sanders, 2006: 5). The role of pictures in bringing out the intertextual character of the text can be observed in most illustrated adaptations especially so, however, when intertextuality7 is an explicit narrative strategy, as in the case we are examining, when, that is, both the text and the pictures openly declare themselves as re-tellings of a particular source text.

Intertextuality, however, is especially popular among contemporary writers and illustrators of children’s literature for one more reason. Because it is a narrative strategy whereby one text is related to other pre-existing ones, thus acquiring a particular meaning, it often plays a very important role in the writer’s or the illustrator’s attempt to produce certain meanings at the expense of others. Consequently, an intertextual work of literature can be especially important in the socialization of its readers as it ‘teaches’ them specifi c ideologies.

Such intertextual pictures as the above example are fraught with ideological connotations. Readers may find their medley of references humorous, but at the same time they will inevitably stop and think twice when, for instance, they see what has been left of the forest. Even the young readers, whom such an illustrated book seems to target, may not fail to grasp the illustrator’s allusion to the contemporary problem of the destructive forest fi res that are set on purpose by land-grabbers; or again, they will not miss the ecological point against the killing of animals for their fur that is made by the pictorial hint of the “furs on sale here” sign that points in the direction of the forest. Pictures like this then do not only form a metanarrative through which alternative ideological positions get constructed; they also ‘construct’ an energetic type of reader / viewer since they encourage their reader to ponder over their allusions, to try and answer the questions they raise and, eventually, to share in the implicit ideological positions that they construct.

If now we look back at all the aspects of the contemporary illustrated adaptation we have discussed so far, we can first of all conclude that the latter transcends a mere imitation of the source text; instead, it serves in the capacity of what Zabus calls “incremental” literature (Zabus, 2002: 4, quoted in Sanders, 2006: 12) since it adds, it supplements, it improvises and it innovates (Sanders, ibid.). Secondly, we conclude that because it is an illustrated adaptation addressing children, it is a process of re-shaping an old story according to current views concerning how a literary text for children should be written and illustrated. Last but not least, we can conclude that the contemporary adaptation we have examined is a literary work in which we can observe the workings of ideology: it is a process of re-shaping a story for adults of a remote past according to ideologies or models of a posterior generation. Like all adaptations of its kind, then, it can be read as a record of its contemporary context deflected, however, through the personal stance of its writer and its illustrator (Kalkani, 2004: 40). Moreover, it can be read as a paradigmatic text (both verbal and pictorial) which, permeated as it is with ideology, ‘teaches’ its readers how to view their world.

NOTES

1. Svetlin Vassilev is a Bulgarian painter living in Greece. He signs his works as “Svetlin” and he is one of the most distinguished illustrators of children’s books in Greece.

2. There is a similar Aesopian fable entitled: “The Wolf and the Lame Donkey”.

3. For the function of anachronisms in the adaptations of the comedies of Aristophanes but also in adaptations for children in general, see Kalkani (2004: 91 – 93).

4. There is an interesting analysis of such cases in Greek literature for children, whereby the writer adapts the source text in a loose way but the illustrator remains faithful to the source text and not to the loose adaptation: See Kanatsouli (2005) Ideology in contemporary Greek picture books, Children’s Literature 33, Hollins University.

5. According to John Stephens “the ‘fool’ [in fi ction] functions to render problematic common social assumptions and presuppositions by blurring the borders between the serious and the comic, and between the ‘reality’ that is and the ideality which is constructed” (Stephens, 1992: 122).

6. ‘Donkey’ as well as ‘wolf’ are masculine nouns in Greek, which explains why the two animals are depicted as gentlemen. On the other hand, ‘fox’ is a feminine noun. Moreover, in the imagination of the Greeks the fox as a character in tales and fable symbolizes a sly woman. That is clearly refl ected in the way the fox is depicted in the illustrations not only of the book we are examining but in all Greek books with fox fables or tales.

7. For the concept of “intertextuality” see Stephens (1992), Wilkie (1996), Zervou (1997), Stephens & McCallum (1998).

REFERENCES

Chatzopoulou – Karavia, L. (1987). The fable of the fox across the centuries

and especially in Lafontain (pp.91 – 112) in: Epitheorisi Paidikis Logotechnias [Greek Children’s Literature Review], Vol. 2.

Dentith, S. (2000). Parody. London: Routledge.

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 Dr. Anastasia Economidou, Assist. Prof.

Democritus University of Thrace 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece E-mail: aikonomi@psed.duth.gr

Lunguodidactical Archeology
Лингводидактическа археология

1)Инна Тодорова, 2)Веселин Димитров 1)Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“ 2)Софийска духовна семинария „Св. Иван Рилски“

„Румъно-българският речник“, съставен от А. Марчинков – директор на Кюстендженското училище, е издаден през 1914 г. в София в издателството на П. Глушков. Необходимостта от един „Румъно-български речник“ най-много се е усещала между българските колонии в различните краища на Румъния и Добруджа, както и измежду тези, които периодически по-сещават тази страна. При създаването на този речник А. Марчинков се позовава на известния „Румъно-френски речник“ на Фридрих Даме, като същевременно адаптира и обогатява речниковия словник с оглед на потребностите на българските ползватели. Необходимо е да се спомене, че А. Марчинков се явява автор на още две румънски книги и един български превод на комедията „Парите, славата и жените“ на А. Флехтенмахер. Придобитият опит и богатата му педагогическа практика го превръщат в успешен лексикограф, съчетаващ филологически с лингводидактически усет за създаване на успешен двуезичен речник с педагогическа насоченост. Въпреки изминалите сто години от съставянето на „Румънобългарския речник“ и днес този лексикографски труд продължава да е актуален и полезен за обучението по практически език. Речникът впечатлява с обема си от 846 страници и включените около 33 000 думи, които покриват всички сфери на ежедневната комуникация.

Речникът съдържа въведение в румънската граматика. Известно е, че граматичното описание е сложна задача, изискваща отлично познаване на езиковата структура. В същото време е с особена ценност за усвояването на всеки език, което я превръща в ключов елемент при организирането на учебния процес по овладяване на чужд език. Авторът на речника А. Марчинков успява да представи една кратка, но полезна с практическата си насоченост граматика, която съдържа ясни и точни обяснения и примери на различни граматични категории и явления, като член (articol), съществително име (substantive), местоимение (pronume), причастие (participiu), наречие (adveriul), прилагателно име (adjectiv), степени за сравнение (grade de comparațiune) с примери за сравнителна и превъзходна степен. Авторът е поместил подробни обяснения за същността и поведението на глаголите (verbe) в румънския език, включвайки сведения за формообразувателните процеси в зависимост от описаните основни румънски глаголни времена.

Направеният лингводидактически анализ на „Румъно-българския речник“ на А. Марчинков и приложението му в учебната практика от първата половина на ХХ век показва, че речникът изиграва своята важна роля за съответното време, което се дължи на авторовата интуиция да открива необходимата и достатъчна информация за провеждане на успешен учебен процес, съчетанас богат житейски опит и познания.