Language Learning Styles And Strategies English Language Essay

Language Learning Styles And Strategies English Language Essay Dr Georgi Lazanov, a Bulgarian advocate of the quickened learning attested that human learning is the fundamental and natual work simpler than breathing and strolling (as refered to in Prashnig, 2004). This is by all accounts right to learning a language as a native language since we were brought into the world with a similar capacity of learning our first language so the greater part of us gain and get familiar with our first language effectively and normally. Be that as it may, the desire isn't the equivalent to getting and learning a second or unknown dialect. In my vocation of English language educating, I have seen various understudies who gain next to no ground in their language learning though the others get improved rapidly and obviously. Althought most understudies have gotten commonly comparable language instruction at schools or colleges, they show contrasts in proficency and fitness in utilizing the objective language. Anyway, for what reason are some effective and the ot hers neglect to get great accomplishment in their learning? For what reason do those understudies can talk well in the objective language however the others can not impart fluenctly and certainly? Is it since some are more brilliant than the others? what makes the distinctions among these understudies? Various investigates on these issues have demonstrated that every understudy favors diverse learning styles and their learning styles sway on the trategies they apply to their learning. This outcomes in learning styles just as learning methodologies influencing the understudies learning accomplishment (Ehrman Oxford, 1988). This revelation affirms Georgi Lazanovs conviction that learning involves attidude not apptitude. The significance of learning styles and stategies have been generally perceived in language learning and increasingly more examination has been done on them . Meanings of terms. As indicated by Brown (2000, p. 113). Style is the term used to allude predictable and rather suffering inclinations and inclinations an individual has. Styles are attributes of scholarly working that make an individual extraordinary. Styles described a people ordinary method of thingking and feeling Technique is the term used to allude a strategy for moving toward a prolem and an activity used to accomplish a specific objective. Various individuals utilized fluctuated techniques to tackle their own issues and the methodologies they use probably won't be a similar time by time. A decent language student to Joan Rubin ( 1975, pp. 46-48): is a willing and precise guesser. He utilizes proper approaches to see and procedure data. He acknowledges vulnerability and he is adaptable and agreeable in applying his capacity of speculating to investigate for and get the importance of the correspondence from the pieces of information that he is offerd in the setting in mix with utilizing his social and semantic schemata. has solid inspiration to convey. He is happy to include himself in imparting by utilizing any methods, for example, circumvention, motions, spelling, summarizing, innovatively framing new words from the first ones.to express his significance or to communicate as the need should arise. isn't hindered. He is eager to commit error since he accepts botches are a piece of language learning process. He gains from his own missteps by attempting to get them and abstain from rehashing them. is set up to go to frame. While a typical student tends to percieve what they are instructed in the course readings or exercises in the study hall, a decent language student looks for something different past them. He is continually searching for designs in the language by dissecting, classifying and incorporating it. rehearses what he has realized or obtained. He discover the chances to utilize the language when possiple in class as well as outside the study hall. screens his own discourse and the discourse of others. He assesses his exhibition by mornitoring his own discourse and getting input from the audience members. He additionally mornitors the others to perceive how they utilize the language in comparision with the norms he has been educated. takes care of significance. He focuses on the types of discourse or sentence structure as well as the significance of the language by arranging the importance of the message in differenct settings. Proclamation about the foundation of the students in the examination and the exploration questions The students are ongoing alumni or experienced architects from various pieces of Vietnam enrolled to work for tasks of Petrovietnam. They have gotten almost identical English language instruction at school and at college. Notwithstanding, after graduation they are at various English capability levels. Like a large portion of the other Vietnamese understudies, they can barely communicate in English. Some of them even can not peruse out loud an English perusing text easily. This is the most widely recognized issue for English language students in Vietnam. They are sent to PVMTC to take a unique course to improve their specialized information and English abilities, particularly aptitude, to play out their activity along with outside specialists in their field at modern offices or in workplaces. They have five classes per week and each class goes on for four hours. They are very roused in light of the fact that after the course, they are relied upon to accomplish at any rate 650 checks o n TOIEC and to be acceptable at correspondence in all conditions so as to be designated to various proper situations at their working spot. The learning targets of the course are clear and CLT approach is picked to apply in encouraging the understudies with the goal that they can improve their open abilities in English. Before doing the course, the school give them a situation test to classify their English capability levels and put them in the diffirent fitting classes in like manner. The understudies have various mentalities and behaviuor to their language learning as is their learning adequacy. The high capability understudies generally seem to gain better ground, their learning result shows up superior to the low capability understudies, and particularly, their talking abilities get improved clearly. Along these lines, my investigation serves to discover the responses to the accompanying inquiries: What has the effect between the understudies of low and high language capability level? What is the distinction of language learning system use between EFL understudies of high and low capability levels in learning English talking in Petrovietnam Manpower Training College (PVMTC) in Vietnam? What can an instructor do to help these leaners of diffirent learning styles use and consolidate various kinds of techniques in their English talking learning? Being not the same as learning styles, language learning methodologies can be most likely prepared to the students. Ideally, the finding of the examination and its pragmatic ramifications could help language educators in their instructing. Liturature Review Language learning styles Learning styles are prefered ways to deal with learning, nature of a student and the manners in which the person in question sees and procedures data, the particular ways that an individual obtains, holds, and recovers data (Felder Henriques, 1995), intrinsic and inescapable qualities of a specific individual or a gathering of individuals (Willing, 1988), liked or habital examples of mental working and managing new data (Ehrman and Oxford, 1990), methods for procuring knowdlege and aptitudes, propensities, methodologies, normal mental practices concerning learning an individual presentations (Pritchard, 2008). Or on the other hand as per Keefe (as refered to in Griggs, 1991), learning styles are the composite of trademark intellectual, full of feeling, and physiological components that fill in as generally stable markers of how a student sees, collaborates with, and reacts to the learning condition. Various specialists have various meanings of the learening styles relying upon their view of learning and instruction brain research. So there are additionally unique component of learning styles and in excess of twenty dimentions of learning styles have been known so far concentrating on social, physical, environtmental inclination, character type, intellectual capacity. In this paper, I might want notice the two models of learning styles that are generally identified with language learning. VARK-Visual, Aural, Read-Write and Kinethetic Neil Fleming (1987) arranged students as per their inclination in the methods of getting, holding and preparing the contribution just as playing out the yield. Visual students learn through observing and like utilizing the words that they can imagine their pictures. In the homeroom, they are typically fretful. They tend to interupt the others while they are talking however they are acceptable at talking and convincing. Sound-related students are great audience members. They like verbal clarification and data in expressed words. They think in a direct manner and they talk gradually. Peruse compose students appreciate composing and perusing. They feel increasingly great with any information or yield in type of writings. Kinethetic students learn through manual activity utilizing faculties. They attempt new things and they gain from the mistakes they make. They will in general like managing genuine issues yet they are not exceptionally hazardous in settling on choice. The Index of Learning Styles The well known model of Learning Styles created by Richard Felder and Linda Silverman 1988 devived the learning styles into four measurements demonstrating the manners by which the students see the world. Detecting and instinctive (Perception measurement): Detecting students lean toward learning the realities. They learn best with certain and genuine data. They will in general take care of issues in a typical manner and they abhor inconveniences. Natural students lean toward finding posibilities and connections. They will in general like finding the significance. Data of origination, creation and hypothesis pull in them most. They don't care for repeatition. Dynamic and intelligent (Processing measurement) Dynamic students lean toward doing. They see well and keep in their psyche the given

Review of the Book Economics in One Lesson Essay

Audit of the Book Economics in One Lesson - Essay Example Lamentably, more often than not this reality is constantly covered up in light of the fact that terrible credits made by the administration are covered up in most government spending. Then again, when banks breakdown because of terrible advances, it is reported everywhere throughout the news. Political contemplations further conceal the awful credits because of government loaning. This doesn't occur in the private division except if the firm being referred to is influenced by a politically roused enactment. The people group fortification act is a case of an enactment that advocates for credits to people who don't qualify. The book refers to the Bush organization tries to guarantee that banks loan more cash. In view of the present occasions, Hazlitt contends that levies, for example, NAFTA are hurting the economy. Hazlitt expresses that the two customers and makers are harmed by the levies. His contention is something contrary to the normal thought that levy influences customers as it were. He clarifies that duty powers buyers to pay a lot higher than they could have needed to pay without it. This implies the additional dollar spent because of the levy could have been utilized somewhere else. Hence, this prevents makers from claiming different merchandise and ventures that dollar. Taxes are planned for shielding nearby ventures against rivalry from outside merchandise. Then again, imports are acceptable on the grounds that they give different nations nearby cash essential for purchasing local merchandise Hazlitt tends to the monetary effect of government activities and stays quiet on protectionism because of national security. He expresses that the genuine addition from remote exchange for any nation lies in its imports and not its fares (Tom the Redhunter para 11). He bolsters his announcement by contending that businesspeople imports items since they are less expensive for the customers contrasted with residential products.... This paper offers a thorough survey of the book Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt. The book acquaints the regular man with straightforward and clear financial idea. The creator doesn't question open program spending yet dismisses the utilization of open ventures as an arrangement of infusing cash into the economy. He contends that open undertakings ought to be legitimized dependent on their significance to the economy. In light of the present occasions, Hazlitt contends that levies, for example, NAFTA are hurting the economy. Hazlitt expresses that the two customers and makers are harmed by the levies. His contention is something contrary to the basic idea that duty influences purchasers as it were. He clarifies that levy powers buyers to pay a lot higher than they could have needed to pay without it. Hazlitt tends to the monetary effect of government activities and stays quiet on protectionism because of national security. He expresses that the genuine addition from outside exchange for any nation lies in its imports and not its fares. The book likewise addresses the error that cost of creation decides the market costs. Hazlitt contends that request and flexibly decides the market cost. Bailouts are important to spare falling businesses. The book lays accentuation on the significance of broad investigation of both essential and auxiliary outcomes of proposed approaches. The free economy should be restored by evacuating superfluous government intercession yet at the same time keep up significant interventionism. The administration needs to gain from past errors in order to settle on better educated choices later.

Improving Your Working Memory When You Have ADD

Improving Your Working Memory When You Have ADD ADHD Living With ADD/ADHD Print Improving Your Working Memory With ADD By Keath Low Keath Low, MA, is a therapist and clinical scientist with the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities at the University of North Carolina. She specializes in treatment of ADD/ADHD. Learn about our editorial policy Keath Low Updated on February 15, 2020 ADHD Overview Symptoms Causes Diagnosis Treatment Living With In Children Thomas Barwick/Stone/Getty Images Research suggests that mental exercises may increase working memory in individuals with ADD/ADHD.?? Read on to learn more about working memory and ways to improve it. Many people with ADD/ADHD have difficulty with working memory. They may have difficulty with recall, focusing, organization, and distinguishing between important and unimportant cues. They may distract easily, become forgetful, or have difficulty getting started on tasks. Lengthy multiple-step directions are often frustrating and impossible to follow. Training working memory can help improve a persons ability to concentrate, control impulsive behaviors, and strengthen problem-solving skills. What Is Working Memory? Working memory is a “temporary storage system” in the brain that holds several facts or thoughts while solving a problem or performing a task. Working memory helps individuals hold information long enough to use it in the short term, focus on a task, and remember what to do next. Dr. Torkel Klingberg, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and a leading researcher on working memory, notes that working memory deficits in individuals with ADHD “can explain why they forget the ‘internal plan’ of what they are supposed to do next, or forget what they should focus their attention on.” How Memory Works Dr. Klingberg’s research paper, Computerized Training of Working Memory in Children with ADHD, indicates that working memory can be strengthened.?? Working memory is like plasticâ€"flexible, moveable, and trainable, similar to our muscles. It can be improved with “exercise” and training. You can find various working memory challenges online. You may be tested for your ability to recall visual patterns or to recall auditory information. How to Work on Your Working Memory Try the following sites. The Memory Gym: The memory gym includes challenges with flashing numbers, spoken numbers, flashing cards, flashing shapes, flashing words, and counting dots. How well can you do? Be sure to click on the tips for memorizing.Brain Teasers: Teasers from SharpBrains.com; “It is always good to stimulate our minds and to learn a bit about how our brains work.” Check out the site to try challenges involving attention, memory, pattern recognition and planning, visual teasers, logic, and math. The site even includes fun experiments to help demonstrate how our brains work. 7 Easy Ways to Improve Your Memory

The Problem Of Child Welfare Agencies Essay - 2171 Words

Child welfare agencies today are facing numerous amounts of challenges that are affecting children who are increasing entering into the system and their families. One of the main problems that children and their families are facing is the attention, services and resources to strengthening their family and the decline in foster care for children who needs adequate care. Sacramento, California has seen a drastic drop of children in the foster care for the past decade, but there has also been a decline in need for high quality foster care parents (Gutierrez, (2013). California’s decreases its’ cut of children going into the system by nearly half during the past decade, even though there is still a significantly high amount of children in the system. California is the leading nation with the largest foster care population in the country. In four major bay area counties such Santa Clara, San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa were among the leading cities in California to cutting their numbers of children going into foster care. With Alameda in the lead at sixty-six percent, Santa Clara at sixty-one percent, San Francisco at fifty-nine percent and Contra Costa in fifty-four percent; that is seventy-three hundreds fewer kids in the foster care system for those counties (Gutierrez, (2013). There were other counties that came in behind the other four counties that nearly cut their number of children going into the foster care system by a fourth, were Fresno and SacramentoShow MoreRelatedStrengthening The Foster Care and Adoption System Essays1319 Words   |  6 Pagesheartbreak, anguish and other problems that can be associated with adoption. There is an imbalance in the Nations foster care system and the system needs to be strengthening and the quality of services improved. 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The Vaccination Of A Vaccine - 1586 Words

Every day, someone is saved because of a vaccination. A vaccine is a preventive drug that uses a small ratio of a dead or weakened virus and is designed to improve a person’s immunity and chances of survival. A vaccine is administered in one of three ways: (1) via syringe and needle injected into a muscle, (2) a nasal spray though the sinus canals, or (3) a liquid that is ingested via mouth. If a person is getting a polio vaccine, for example, then the vaccine would be made up of the the weakened or dead virus of polio and administered as mentioned above. The body then reacts to the virus creating an antibody to be produced and used by your immune system; the antibody’s job is to identify and neutralize the virus if the body is ever exposed to again. While no vaccine is 100% effective, most routine childhood vaccinations are approximately 85% to 95% effective (CDC). 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Political Decentralization and the Local Government System Free Essays

The final tier of elected government is the district (Gila) council. The district council insisted of all the (directly elected) union council Nazism in the district. The head of district council, the district Nazism and district naif-Nazism are indirectly elected. We will write a custom essay sample on Political Decentralization and the Local Government System or any similar topic only for you Order Now Another aspect of representation in Devolution Plan is the creation of Citizen Community Boards (CBS) in both rural and urban areas. The CBS were expected to initiate and manage their own development projects, with 25 percent of the district development funds set aside for their use. They are Voluntary organizations’ formed by citizens themselves. Source: (Schema, Jaws, Qatar, 2005) 3. 3 Characteristics of Current Local Government System . Restructuring of Government Pakistan. † (Abaft Hussy, 2010). Schema, 2005 discussed that the elected government and provincial administration have been integrated at the district and Thesis levels, the division abolished altogether and the local level provincial administration has been made accountable to elected officials at the local level. Moreover, majority of public services that were previously under the provincial government have been transferred to local government increasing their scope and responsibilities. B. Provincial to Local Decentralization with No Federal Decentralization The other side of he picture is, all the authority and power which have been distributed in local governments came from provincial government, no power transferred from federal government to either provincial or local governments. C. Integration of Rural and Urban In pre-devolution period, there was a sharp distinction between rural and urban governments. But in post-devolution, it is no longer there as the administrative unit is union council which includes several towns and villages. D. Electoral Process Prior to devolution, members of urban local councils and district councils were directly elected and then they elected their heads of respective councils. Under the devolution, both the members and heads of the lowest level of government, the union council, are elected through public vote as before. But the new legislation has created inter-governmental linkages by ensuring that the majority (two-thirds) of the members of the Thesis and district councils are these elected heads. However, within the devolved departments, â€Å"not all functions were devolved and certain activities remain within the provincial purvey. † (Schema, Jaws, Qatar, 2005). A closer look at these changes and differences has been provided below. 3. 4 Changes under Political Decentralization Schema (2005) discussed in detail the changes brought in by devolution of power plan. These are the changes in level of decision making, administration, accountability and fiscal resources available. While this paper only covers changes in level of decision making and accountability of representative governments as focusing on political decentralization. A. Change in Decision Making Level Before devolution, provincial government was more powerful and took all the decisions. But devolution plan distributed this power of decision making among local elected governments. For example, a service may have been under purvey of rabbinical elected government but after devolution it is transferred to local elected government. One thing to be noted is that this involves change in level of decision level of decision making power can be different depending upon the scale of service. Schema (2005) described the level changes in many different categories as under: a. Province to province b. Province to district c. Province to Thesis/Town d. Urban/ Rural Local Council to Thesis e. Urban/ Rural Local Council to District b. Change in Accountability Devolution also changed the decision maker’s accountability keeping the decision making power on the same level. These are the changes where decision of a particular service is now made by the agent who differs in his accountability to public. Prior to devolution, provincial bureaucracy was accountable to their non- elected provincial secretariat, while under the new system they are accountable to the elected heads of district and Thesis governments. For example, decision of some service might be taken at district level by bureaucrats before devolution, while decision are still made on the district level but by the elected district representative. So accountability of that service is now closer to the voters who elected their preventatives. The most significant accountability change is that the De facto head of district administration under the previous system, the deputy commissioner (DC), used to report to the non-elected provincial bureaucracy, whereas in the present system the head of the district administration, the District Coordination Officer (DOC) reports to the elected district Nazism. Schema 2005 summarized the discussion stating â€Å"the ultimate decision maker changed from a provincial government district officer who reported to the provincial bureaucracy, to an elected Nazism who ultimately is answerable to his district’s constituents. 3. 5 Analysis Critics on Current Local Government System and POLO 2001 Devolution plan is a revolutionary step in the history of decentralization in Pakistan but the structure of system of representation created a number of problems also (Abaft Hussy, 2010). Direct election in a particular constituency limited the attention of union Nazism to union specific develop ment schemes and they did not pay attention to their role as Thesis and District council members. This resulted in holistic and fragmented union council level projects rather than district or Thesis bevel. The structure of the electoral system also caused reverse campaigning; instead of directly elected union councilors campaigning for elections, there are cases of union Nazism campaigning for their respective union councilors. This secures the future re-election of union Nazism if the union councilor of his choice gets elected as Nazism are to be selected later indirectly (Hessian, 2008). Since political parties had been bypassed and caste-based candidates were now pitted against each other, the elections reinforced traditional hostilities at the local level. To a large extent, â€Å"such a yester of patronage and hostility defeated the opportunities for rural areas to participate in decision making and to demand better services from the state† (Abaft Hussy, 2010). Another major problem with the system of representation that was promulgated through the Devolution plan was the lack of checks and balances between and across elected bodies. The accountability of district Nazism is almost council headed by naif-Nazism rarely goes counter to Nazism. The most important issue facing elected bodies was the clash of interests with representative provincial governments. The Devolution plan of 2000 had been prepared without consultation with stakeholders particularly provinces, at the time national and provincial assemblies had been dissolved. When these assemblies were revived, local tier had been added according to devolution plan. On that time there was no political ownership of newly created local governments which led provincial governments to interfere in both policy making and implementation at the district level (Abaft Hussy, 2010). Citizen Community Boards (CBS) were a great way for the representation in local government, but they became functional to a certain degree, to quite in the way envisioned in the Devolution plan. Usually â€Å"CBS have become splinter groups lobbying for small investment projects and often captured by local elites or contractors looking for project funding† (Abaft Hussy, 2010) 4. To characterize decentralization in the country â€Å"all these components (political, fiscal and administrative) must complement each other to produce more responsive local governments that will deliver effective, efficient and sustainable services and maintain fiscal discipline† (Never, 2001). Never provided a set of questions for each component of decentralization in order to assess the level of decentralization. Considering the scope to this paper only political decentralization is being assessed in context of Pakistan using the indicators given by Never. With the descriptive answers, every situation has been given marks out of 10 (’10’ is best/strong yes while ‘O’ is worst/strong No) in relevance to the description. 1 . Are governments elected? Yes generally governments are elected as long as military take over and dissolved in the ill situation of law and order and bad governance. 10) 2. Are there multi-party elections? Yes elections are multi-party; there are a number of small medium and large, old and new political parties which participate in general elections. (10) 3. Are ballots cast secretly in government elections? According to constitution, ballots are and should be cast secretly in all the areas. Exception prevails at some electoral stations which are under a high influence of some political parties but such areas are very few in number. (08) 4. Are elections held at regular intervals? 2008-13 is the first time in history of Pakistan when elected National government employed its 5-years tenure and elections were held after exact five years that is in May 2013. Before this, military has been taking over in the situation of bad governance and ill law and order. (03) 5. Are elections free and fair? There has been a big question mark on the fairness of elections as there are a few old political parties which have been controlling the country politics for a long time. Moreover, every party has its area of influence in which it can use its power and influence people and sometimes elections also. (05) 6. Is the head of local government elected directly, indirectly or appointed? According to electoral process defined by the Devolution plan which has been discussed earlier, head of local at keeping a check on local corruption? In real practice, civil society has no power to keep check and balance on local elected representatives. They are Just elected locally but they are not in control of or accountable to the general public as envisioned in the Devolution Plan. (00) 5. The Devolution of Power Plan which has been promulgated through Local Government Ordinance 2001 is a revolutionary step in the history of decentralization in Pakistan. Mustard introduced a number of reforms which helped in reducing the AP between state and civil society. All the powers distributed to the newly created lower tiers came through provincial government without distributing the powers of federal government. Provincial governments which used to be very powerful tier become less authoritative as local tiers were directly connected with the center. Initially local governments were given constitutional protection of six years against any kind of amendments but later some political powers, which got affected by the direct linkage of local government with center, made amendments to recover some of the lost powers. The reverse campaigning because of structure of government affects fairness of electoral process as Nazism campaigns for their own union councilors to secure their future elections rather than union councilors campaigning for the elections. This promotes sense of self benefits among the union councilors and the interests of community are ignored. Though the Devolution plan transferred powers to local tiers and empowered local communities at very bottom level but still there are some issues which hinder the efficiency of plan and limited the benefits to the citizens of Pakistan. The assessment of political decentralization in Pakistan on the basis of Never indicators shows that political system is well decentralized at least on the policy documents but in real practice issues of transparency and accountability exist. There are still some gaps in the real practice as civil society is still lacking the actual power to keep checks and balances on the representatives. 6. RECOMMENDATIONS All the powers and authority distributed at local level has been taken from province while center keeps all the authority and decision making power as it is including sisal authorities. There should be distribution of powers of center as well in order to develop a balance between center-province and province-district relation. In real practice, plan has not work up to the mark because of absence of transparency in the system particularly in financial matters. There should be complete transparent system which allows common public to look into the country’s on-going matters. Voters should have power to keep check and balance on the decisions made by their representatives as they are the one who elected them through electoral process. How to cite Political Decentralization and the Local Government System, Papers

Roman Religion free essay sample

Roman religion played a fundamental role in most aspects of Roman society. It was a polytheistic religion with many gods, each with their own specific role. The Roman religion emerged from the worship of Numina and was combined with elements from the religions of surrounding countries. It could be divided into state and private religion. The two strands of religion each have their own ceremonies and significance. Fate is another important strand of Roman religion which had an impact on the Roman people. The main belief of Roman religion was that if the gods were happy, then they would ensure that the Romans had good fortune. Roman religion emerged from the beliefs of the early Roman people combined with other neighbouring country’s beliefs. The early Roman people lived in an agricultural society. Their livelihood depended on the weather and other elements which were out of their control. Drought could lead to crops failing and food shortages while the dangers of child birth affected the birth rate of the population. We will write a custom essay sample on Roman Religion or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Numina were their way of explaining these dangers as they didn’t have science. Numina were nature spirits which lived in streams, rocks, trees and other aspects of the natural environment. They were believed to have the ability to control nature and event in human life. They were neutral and could harm or help whoever they wanted. The Romans believed if they prayed or sacrificed to the Numina at small alters then they could gain their favour or at least avoid offending them. It was from this early Roman religion that the main view of worship as a contract came. If you worshipped the gods then they would help you. From the Etruscans to the north came temples and divination while from the Greeks who lived in Italy came the 12 Olympians and their myths. The Olympians became the Pantheon gods who were important in state religion. It was the second king of Rome, Pompilius who established the Roman state religion and the gods which were worshipped. The state gods had major influences upon the Romans. There were 12 main state gods. Jupiter, who was the king of the gods and the enforcer of fate. Juno, his wife who was the queen of the gods and the goddess of womanly things. Mars, the god of war. Vesta, the goddess of the hearth and domestic fire. Neptune, god of the sea. Minerva, goddess of wisdom. Ceres, goddess of crop fertility. Diana, goddess of the hunt. Apollo, god of healing and prophecy. Venus, goddess of love and beauty. Mercury, the messenger of the gods and lastly Vulcan, god of uncontrollable fire and metalwork. These 12 gods each had their own temples and the Romans would give offerings to them there. The four most important gods within the main 12 were most likely Jupiter, Juno, Mars and Vesta. Jupiter was portrayed as being the Paterfamilias of the empire. He was the chief god and defender of the state and could be asked for help in war. The portrayal of Jupiter as the father of the empire meant that Romans looked to him for the health of the state. Juno as Jupiter’s wife could be seen as the Matrona of the nation. She was responsible for the birth rate of the nation as well as female concerns such as childbirth and marriage. Because of this she was often prayed to by the Roman women and was important in many ceremonies and rituals. Mars became important to the Romans in terms of empire building. He was seen as a protector and defender of Rome as well as a promoter of military victory and glory. He was prayed and sacrificed to for good success in war and conquests. Vesta was important in that she personified domestic fire which was essential for daily life. Her priestesses, the Vestal Virgins, attended to a fire that burned in her temple. It was believed that while the fire burned, Rome was safe. 3 The Romans were influenced by the state gods as they were able to ask the gods for help within the area of power that the god had control over. All of the 12 state gods, along with many other minor gods and goddesses were able to help the Romans through prayer and sacrifice. Prayer influenced the Romans as a prayer was the Romans way of contacting a deity. There were four distinct stages to a prayer. Firstly, they must persuade the god to listen. This was done by making sure the go was correctly identified. For example, a pregnant woman would pray to Juno Lucina, not just Juno. If the god isn’t correctly identified, they don’t have the obligation to listen and answer the prayer. Secondly, they must convince the god it is within their power to answer the prayer, either through flattery or by recalling similar deeds that the deity had done in the past. Thirdly, they would ask the god for what they wanted, making sure the request was humble. Lastly, they would promise an offering in return. 4 Prayers were made to the relevant deity. For example, a prayer for love would be made to Venus. If there was even the smallest mistake in the prayer, then this could be fatal to the fulfilment of the prayer. Prayer influenced the Romans as it led to the belief that if the Romans followed the correct prayer procedures then the gods would answer their prayer. This led to a contract style relationship. Often prayer was accompanied with sacrifice. For sacrifice, the animal or animals are selected and led to an alter outside the temple. Silence apart from a flute player’s music is called for. The priest then removes any decorations from the animal and sprinkles sacred flour over the animal and the knife. The person says the prayer and then the animal is struck over the head to stun it and its throat is slit. The blood and organs are collected while the rest of the meat was cooked and eaten. 4There was a number of specific things that the sacrifice has to follow. Most important was the selection of the animal. If the god was male hten the animal should be male and vice versa. If it was an underworld god then the animal should be black, otherwise it should be white. Also, the animal would have to be in perfect condition, otherwise it would offend the gods and likewise if the animal struggled through the ceremony. The sacrifice ritual was a way of establishing a route of communication with the deity. The prayer was used to send the request to the god. The god’s answer would be interpreted either from the inspecting of the organs or from the success or failure of the ceremony. For example, if the animal struggled while its throat was being slit then this would be a bad omen and a sign of the sacrifices failure. 6 Sacrifice influenced the Romans as they believed that in order for a god to do something for them, then they would have to give it an offering in return. This reinforced the contract style relationship with the gods that prayer created. Priests generally conducted sacrifice ceremonies and were responsible for other important matters in state religions. The priesthoods of Rome controlled Roman religion meaning they had large influences upon the Romans. There were two main priesthoods, Pontifices and Augurs. The pontifices were in charge of the running of the religion and of lesser priesthoods while the augurs were to make sure an action undertaken by the state had the approval of the gods. The head pontifice was the Pontifex Maximus. Julius Caesar assumed this role during his reign to control popular worship and Augustus followed this by taking the title. This trend continued with the title being given to the Roman emperors as it was deemed too important for an ordinary Roman citizen. 2 The pontiffs controlled worship and performed the important state ceremonies. They made the rules for public worship, regulated state events and had the power to punish inferior priests. Priesthoods which the pontiffs controlled included the flames and the vestal virgins as well as others. The flamines were priests that were assigned to a certain god or goddess. The flamines had to look after the temple and they performed the sacrificial rituals. The vestal virgins were responsible for caring for the fire that burned at Vesta’s temple. They also guarded special religions objects which were kept in Vesta’s temple. There were only six vestals at any one time that were chosen between the ages of 6-10. It was a great honour to be a vestal virgin. 4 Augurs interpreted the flight patterns of birds. They were consulted before any major state decisions were taken to ensure that the gods approved. If the augurs saw a sign that was a bad omen then the activity would be stopped or delayed. 4 Priesthoods influenced the Romans as they gave the wealthy opportunities for positions with powers and responsibilities. They also influenced Romans by offering a sense of prestige. For example, wealthy Roman whose daughter was a Vestal Virgin would be looked upon with great respect and admiration. As well as managing worship, priests also played a part in festivals and the religious calendar Roman festivals influenced the Romans by offering them an opportunity to worship their deities in a large scale. Roman festivals were controlled by the Roman calendar. About half the days on the Roman calendar were festivals or days of worship as the Romans didn’t have a weekend. Some of the festivals had a fixed day, while others could be moved (similar to our Easter) One of the most popular Roman festivals was the Lupercalia which occurred in February. It was a purification festival which promoted fertility. Two teams of young men would meet at a cave on the Palatine hill. Goats and a dog would be sacrificed and the two team leaders would have their foreheads smeared with their blood and milk. After this was done they had to let out a loud laugh. There would then be a feast where lots of wine was drunk and the young men wearing only the goats skins would race along to the bottom of the Palatine hill. They would use pieces of goatskin to whip anyone they met as they ran. This was believed to promote fertility. As well as festivals which occurred annually, special festivals could be held for crises. Crises could include war, famine, epidemics or bad omens. Festivals offered the Romans many things. They gave them days off work, excitement and something to look forward to and offered tradition. Most importantly they allowed for the worship of a deity by the whole state which would most likely ensure the goodwill of the gods. Festivals influenced Romans as they gave the Romans a break from their daily lives and allowed them to have fun while they worshipped their gods. While state religion offered a connection between the state and the gods, private religion offered the individual a chance to incorporate the gods into their daily lives. As state religion had its gods which guarded the state, so did private religion. The father of the family took on the role of ensuring that the family took the proper steps to ensure co-operation from the gods in their daily lives. It was important that the Romans received this co-operation and few Romans would make any major decisions in their lives without consulting the gods first. Most Romans felt they had a personal connection with one of the gods and it would be to this god that they would generally pray to for assistance. The four main household gods were the Genius, the Lares, the Penates and the Janus. The Genius was a spirit which protected the head of the household. The Genius would be honoured on the head of the household’s birthday. During Augustus’ reign, he created a cult to his Genius and turned this idea into a form of a state cult which developed into emperor worship. Worshipping the Genius showed the Romans respect towards the head of the household. The Lares represented the family’s ancestral spirits. They watched over the home and were the closest things the Romans had to personal gods. However, they didn’t have individual personalities and so remained anonymous and the Romans didn’t have a personal relationship with them. 3 The Lares were worshipped at the Lararium which was a small cupboard where small statuettes which represented the Lares stood as well as other precious items. Any offerings such as incense or wine could be placed in there. Worship of the Lares showed the Romans’ fear of death and the belief that they had to respect the dead encase they became haunted by them. The Penates watched over the pantry. The Romans honoured these spirits as they ensured that the family had enough food to eat each day. 9 The Penates alter was the hearth which they shared with Vesta. Worship of the Penates show the Romans belief that food is essential for survival and that without it starvation can occur. By worshipping the god of the pantry, they can show their thanks that they have food. The Janus was the spirit which guarded the doorway to the home. He had 2 faces and therefore could look in two different directions. He is unusual in that he is completely unique to Roman religion, unlike the majority of other Roman gods. The Janus was worshipped so that the Romans could give thanks to the gods for that their homes were protected. 10 Romans worshipped these gods to give thanks for their role in helping the Romans in their daily lives. Romans would give a small daily offering of thanks but on festival days the offering may be bigger and the help of that particular god would be celebrated. For example, the first day of every month was dedicated to the Janus and so a particular offering to the Janus may have been given on that day. Private religion is also seen throughout the Romans life through rites of passage and not just in daily worship. 4 Rites of passage celebrated the achievements of Romans such as surviving birth and getting married. The gods played a large role in these rites of passage and so it was important the Romans acknowledged their role. Childbirth was a dangerous and risky process in the ancient world. It was believed that the co-operation of the gods and in particular Juno Lucina was essential for its success. Rituals surrounding birth included the picking up f the baby by the father to accept it into the family, the ritual purification of the home by three men to cleanse the home of evil spirits and the offerings made to Juno and Hercules for thanks and protection. These rituals symbolise the uncertainties of childbirth and the belief by the Romans that they needed the gods’ assistance for the child to survive and that they had to give thanks for that assistance. To help protect the child from any evil spirits a bulla or protective amulet would be placed around their neck. 4 The next rite of passage where the gods played a major role was marriage. There were a number of rituals which took place within the marriage ceremony which were designed to ensure that the gods approved of the marriage. These included examining the organs of a sacrificed animal for any omens, the procession to the groom house where Fesceninne jesting took place to ward off evil spirits and bad luck and the carrying of the bride over the threshold to avoid her tripping which would be a bad omen. All of these rituals were to ensure that the gods approved of the marriage and that no bad spirits or omens would spoil the ceremony. 4 Death was the final rite of passage which a Roman went through. There were many rituals to ensure that the person got to the afterlife without the living becoming contaminated by contact with the dead. Some rituals from the funeral include, the laying of the dying person on the ground to symbolise their returning to the earth, the lighting of the pyre by a close relative who would turn his face away from the pyre so he wouldn’t be contaminated by evil spirits and the cleaning of the house and offerings to the Lares after the eight day mourning period. The Romans knew little about death and so were afraid of it. Performing these rituals made them feel that the dead person would be able to move into the afterlife and that the living wouldn’t be contaminated by the contact with the dead. All of these rites of passage, along with the daily sacrifices to the household gods show the influence of Roman gods on the Romans. 4 The fates were three goddesses who presided over the fate of the Romans. They were described as being in control of the spinning and the management of the thread of life. Clotho held the distaff, Lachesis turned the wheel and Atropos cut the thread. They were the daughters of Jupiter and Themis. They determined the length of a person’s life and any important incidents or events that may occur within their life. They had absolute power meaning that anything they said would happen would happen. The gods were able to meddle in this and change how the person arrived at that event but they couldn’t change the event or prevent it from happening. Jupiter was in charge of making sure that the gods didn’t prevent the events from happening. He did this as one of his roles as being the king of the gods was to enforce the will of fate. The fates were always of the same mind and they spared nobody. They affected both common and wealthy Romans. It was believed that the three of them symbolised that all things have a beginning, progress and an end. Fate influenced Romans in a number of ways. Firstly, fate meant that a Romans life was predetermined at birth which meant that the events in a Romans life were already determined. The Romans reacted to this in two ways. Firstly, although the main events in their life are predetermined, how these events happen and what happens in between them can be influenced by the gods. Because of this, they would still pray and sacrifice to the gods as they still wanted to ensure the goodwill of the gods. They didn’t take the attitude of ‘what’s going to happen will happen so there isn’t much point in asking the gods for help,’ as this was an arrogant attitude and may offend the gods. The second way they reacted was by trying to interpret omens which were sent by the gods so that they could have some control over their own life. They interpreted omens through divination. Forms of divination include augury, haruspicy, lightning, consulting the Sibylline Books astrology, dream interpretation and interpreting unsought omens. A Roman may have a dream that he is going to be a soldier. He would interpret this as an omen from the gods that he was fated to become a soldier and when he was ready, enlist. Even though fate is still happening and he is fulfilling his destiny by becoming a soldier, he knew it was going to happen which gave him control over his destiny. It was in this way that divination made the Romans feel that they had some control over a situation where their lives are completely planned for them and they have no free will. It was in these ways that fate influenced the Romans. The Roman gods and fate influenced the Romans in a number of ways. The state gods influenced prayer, sacrifice, priesthoods and festivals while the household gods affected Roman’s daily lives as well as the rites of passage which occurred throughout their lives. Fate influenced the Romans as it led to them using divination to try and discover what their fate might be. The influence of the gods and fate on the Romans is apparent in most aspects of their lives. Bibliography 1: http://www. roman-colosseum. info/roman-gods/ancient-roman-religion-ceremonies. htm (3) 2: These were the Romans second edition. G. I. F Tingay and J. Badcock. Published in 1989 by Hulton Educational. (12) 3: Class notes 4: Year 13 Classical studies study guide. Roman religion section written by Gwen Hunter. This edition published in 2006 by ESA Publications (NZ) Ltd. 5: http://www. roman-colosseum. info/roman-architecture/roman-temples. htm (5) 6: http://ic. galegroup. com/ic. whic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow? displayGroupName=Referenceamp;disableHighlighting=trueamp;prodld=WHICamp;action=eamp;windowstate=normalamp;catld=amp;documentld=GALE%7CBT2357000084amp;mode=view (6) 7: http://www. roman-colosseum. info/roman-gods/roman-priests. tm (4) 8: An Introduction to the Romans. Lesley and Roy Adkins. Published by Eagle editions ltd in 2002. (8) 9: The Romans and their Gods. R. M. Ogilvie. Published by Hogarth Press in 1986 (13) 10: The Roman world people and places. Nigel Rodgers, consultant Dr Hazel Dodge FSA. Published by Lorenz books. (11) 11: http://www. roman-colosseum. info/roman-gods/the-fates. htm (1) [ 1 ]. http://www . roman-colosseum. info/roman-gods/ancient-roman-religion-ceremonies. htm [ 2 ]. These were the Romans second edition. G. I. F Tingay and J. Badcock