american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 published by american center of science and education, usa 24 the dermis of millivora capenesis samad muhammed mohd department of medical laboratory analysis foundation of technical institution, pakistan. dalal abdul hussain kadium department of medical laboratory analysis foundation of technical institution, pakistan. ashwaq kadium ebed department of medical laboratory analysis foundation of technical institution, pakistan. hussain sattar rebat alzerfi department of medical laboratory analysis foundation of technical institution, pakistan. received: january 29, 2019 accepted: february 3, 2019 online published: february 11, 2019 abstract the present study was conducted on the dorsal skin of three (millivora capenesis)., dermis were collected from healthy animals,formalin fixed and carried out routein histological procedure,then section at thicness six micrometer and stained by hematoxylin and eosin stain . histologically,the dermis was composed of the papillary and reticular layers , the papillary layer was formed from loose connective tissue, composed of a bundant collageneous fibers, few elastic fibers, net work of blood capillaries, large artery , large vein and meissner , and pacinian corpscules (tactile corpscules) , the deeper layer of dermis was contain dense connective tissue that included skin appendages such as hair , sebaceous glands , sweat glands , there was two types of hair follicles , primary and secondary follicles , the sebaceous glands which surrounded the hair follicles , these glands were alveolar glands , while sweat glands were simple saccular glands that lined by low cuboidal epithelium from another hand , the ducts of sweat gland was lined by stratified cuboidal epithelium .the meissner corpscule was singly located in the papillary layer of the dermis, while the pacinian corpscule was found in the reticular layers ,our findings were showed these corpscules as onion shapes.the dermis of millivora capenesis consist of papillary and reticular layers with skin layer appendage; sweat gland, sebaceous glands, primary and secondary hair follicles with meissner and pacinian corpscules. key words: millivora capenesis, dermis, collagenous fibers, skin, hair follicles 1-introduction the dermis is divide in to main two layers , the first layer is papillary layer , consist of fine fibers locate beneath the basement membrane (1) . the second layer is reticular layer , distinguished in thickness and more abundant in the fibrous elements , contains on large bundles of collagenous fibers , elastic fibers with few of reticular fibers (2). many previous studies were observed good blood supply for the skin dermis , that represent of the large subcutaneous arteries extension which branched and supply the all parts of the dermis , these blood vessels were terminated as capillaries plexuses , that nurish the dermal papillae , hair follicles and skin glands (3) . the skin is supply via large number of sensory nerve fibers , these fibers surrounded by myelinated sheath . which extend to the blood vessels , hair follicles and skin glands (4) . the most afferent sensory nerve fibers in the dermis is response to different stimuli due to increase or decrease in the temperature and www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 25 external pressure , the nerve ending were described in the different regions of dermis which included meissner and pacinian corpuscles (5) .the mammals dermis consist of dense regular connective tissue , extend to subcutaneous region and divided into a superficial papillary and deep reticular layers (6) . the skin appendages are projects out of the body surface , that includes the hairs , and some skin appendages such as sweat glands and sebaceous glands , they provides a variety of functions like enviromental protection and adaptation (7) . millivora capenesis belonge to family ; mustelidae , subfamily ; millivorinae ; genus millivora and species capensis , the distribution of animal around the argriculature regions . millivora is distribute in south western asia and africa (10). the purpose of present study is to determine the normal histological structure of millivora capenesis dermis . material and methods 2 three females of millivora capenesis used in this present study , these animals killed via farmers live . the average age of millivora capenesis (3.5) years old , the age was estimated according to (11) . the skin of animals were removed by skinning process . the dorsal skin specimens were fixed in (10%) formalin solution . the histological preparations carried out on skin specimens, like dehydration with graduate ethyle alcohol (70% , 80%, 90% , and absolute ethyle alcohol , after that clearing in xylol then embedding in medical wax paraffin to prepare histological blocks , and cutting via rotatory micrometer in thickness after that the histological section were stained by hematoxylin and eosin (12) . 3-results and discussion the dermis of millivora was thicker than epidermis . the dermis consist of dense irregular connective tissue ; composed of fibrous connective tissue , mainly collageneous fibers ( fig. 1), showed the projection of epidermal papillae that extend in to the papillary layer of dermis. from another hand , there are smooth muscle bundles , blood vessels , lymphatic vessels , nerve and nerve ending . the epidermal appendages, such as sweat glands , sebaceous glands and hair follicles were found in the reticular layer of dermis , those observations were similar to previous studies (13, 14, 15). the dermis of millivora was divided into the superficial layer formed from loose connective tissue consisting abundant collagenous and few elastic fibers . the papillary layer of dermis was located superficially, its contain a net work of blood capillaries . large blood vessels were found in deep layer of millivora dermis ( fig. 2, 3) were revealed layer vein and large artery. millivora hairs was consisted of keratin strands , hair follicles , hair cortex , internal sheath , hair shaft, internal root sheath and hair medulla , the hair follicle was surrounded by sebaceous gland , there are two types of hair follicles in the dermis of millivora capenesis ; that involved primary and secondary hair follicles (fig. 4 ,5) , noticed the hair follicles and sebaceous gland were located in the reticular layer of the dermis , these findings was varied from hairs of goat , was devoid from hair medulla (16) . the sebaceous glands in the dermis of millivora were related to the hair follicles . our observations about the sebaceous glands were appeared multilayered gland devoid from the lumen , this finding was agreed with current result (17) was carried out on the human skin , who mentioned , the sebaceous gland was consisted of alveolar gland with out lumen , they are basophilic cells and light cells with pyknotic nuclei are visible in the inner sebaceous acini . www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 26 figuer1:millivora capensis dermis,epidermis papilla(1).papillary layer(2). hematoxylin and eosin.400x figure2: millivora capensis dermis, show large vein(1)near to the sweat gland(2) hematoxylin and eosin.200x figuer3: millivora capensis dermis, appear large artery, tunicaintima (endothelium) (1). tunicaintima (smooth fibers)(2).tunica adventitial(c.t) (3). hematoxylin and eosin.200x www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 27 figer4:millivora capensis hair follicles primary ,consist of hair medulla(1). internal sheath(2).hair cortex(3). hair follicle.that surroundy by sebaceous gland(5).hematoxylin and eosin.200x fiuger5:millivora capensis hair follicles (primary),consist of hair medulla(1). internalsheath(2).haircortex(3). hair follicle.that surroundy by sebaceous gland(5).second hair follicle(6). hematoxylin and eosin.200x the sweat glands in the millivora dermis were found in the reticular layer , sweat glands were simple tubular , that similar to saccules , these saccules were lined by low cuboidal epithelium (fig. 6) . from another hand the sweat gland duct (fig. 7) was colied and extended in to the superficial layer in order to open at the epidermis , the duct was lined by stratified cuboidal epithelium , these observations were accordance with previous histological studies (18,19) , they mentioned , the sweat gland in sheep and in domestic animals were simple tubular or saccular , but the secretory cells of sweat glands were lined with a simple squamous to cuboidal epithelium . the millivora dermis was supplied by sensory nerves , its formed from nerve fiber enclosed by myelin sheath or with out myelinated sheath . in this present study was recorded tow types of nerve ending corpscules – 1meissner corpscule ( fig. 8) were lamellar bodies with out perineural capsule , this tactile corpscule was occurred singly under the epidermis -2pacinian corpscule (fig. 9) was layer lamellar corpscule , that located in the papillary layer of dermis , these findings were identical with previous investigations (20) , who found two kinds of cut aneous sensory nerve corpscules , he mentioned , the afferent nerve fibers reached to the meissner corpscule , while the sheath of terminal nerve ending of pacinian corpscule was arranged in onion . like , due to concentric of cytoplasmic processes (perineural lamellae ). www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 28 figuer6: millivore capensis,sweat gland, compsed of simple tupular or saccular, alveoli(1) that lined by low cubudal epithelium(2).hematoxylin and eosin.200x figuer7:millivora capensis,sweat duct, appeared as coiled duct(1).extened in the papillary layer(2)of dermis,the duct that lined by stratified cuboidal epithelium.hematoxylin and eosin.200x www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 29 figuer8: millivora corpscule(1)in millivore capensis medium size artery(2). hematoxylin and eosin.100x figuer9:pacinian corpscule(1)in millivore capensis consist of lamellar body (2)perineural sheath(3). hematoxylin and eosin.400x references (1)-arao , h . ; obala , m . ; shimada , t. and hagisawa , s. (1998). morphological characteristics of the dermal papillae in the development of pressure sores . j . tiss . viabil . , 8: 1-7 . ( 2)kanitakis , j . (2002) . anatomy , histology and immunohistochemistry of normal human skin . eur .j . dermatol . 12 : 390 -401) . (3)boverman , i . (2000) . the cutaneous microcirculation . j . invest . dermatol . symp . proc . ; 5 : 3-9 . (4)egan , c. viglione , m. ; wash, l. (1999) . characterization of un myelinated axons uniting epidermal and dermal immune cells in primate and murine skin . j . cutan . pathol . , 25 : 20 -29 . (5)rook , a. ; wilkinon , d. and ebling , j . (1989). text book of dermatology . black well , 1st ed . oxford . (6)aughy , e . and frye , f. (2001) . comparative veterinary histology with clinical correlates . 1st ed . manson . london . pp : 129 – 130 . (7)widelitz – randall , b . ; tingxin ,j .; alexander ,n. , sheree , a. ; tingberreth , e. ; hansung, j. and cheng – ming , c. (1997) . molecular histology in skin appendage morphogenesis . microsc. res . tech ., 38: 452 465 . (8) – begg , k. ; beeg , c. and abramov, a . (2008) . millivora capenesis in iucn (2008) . red list of threatened species : pp :1 . www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 30 (9) – baryshnikov , g . (2008) . a new subspecies of the honey badger millivora capenesis from central asia . acta theriologica ; 45 : 45-55 . copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 published by american center of science and education, usa 12 the effect of educational tools exercises on certain joints’ angles in javelin performance and achievement hager mohed s department of physical education and sports sciences faculty of education, pakistan mohammed jasim m department of physical education and sports sciences faculty of education, pakistan raghdeh esmaeel k department of physical education and sports sciences faculty of education, pakistan received: january 29, 2019 accepted: february 3, 2019 online published: february 11, 2019 abstract the study included a number of axes that concentrated on selecting the exercises used in the educational process by the physical education professors and mixing them using wires and plastic nets. these methods help achieving the goals of the educational exercises. the educational exercises included all the technical stages of the javelin, and have simultaneously concentrated on its difficult aspects, since some of the stages require more than spears and medical balls, but rather tools that help the students learn the initial applications from holding the javelin to the release step, and help the students be precise with the track of the spear through the movement of the plastic, spearlike sticks in certain measurements through parallel-fixed wires, and curved-fixed as well. these tracks well help the students focus on how to perform in the technical stages without much thinking about carrying the tools or the gravity, and concentrate on struggling with steering the spear while running. after mastering the fixed tracks, the javelin is now performed on the plastic nets. then, the student do the javelin using the legal tools on the legal field. the educational exercises along the helping tools were applied on the experiment group for four weeks, an average of two educational units per week. then it was compared with the original group, and as the statistics show, the experimental group has exceeded the original group. key words: educational exercises, educational tools, kinetic variables, learning to perform introduction the general concept of sports has become a science as well as an art that has its distinctive rules from other sciences, since it depends on physics, chemistry, and medicine(1). the importance of the modern educational tools not only lies in these tools by themselves, but they rather achieve behavioral goals, the lessons’ objectives, problem solution, and an increase in the students’ acceptance of the educational process and the educational material. the reliance of any educational system on the educational tools is no more a luxury, but a necessity to ensure a successful educational process and it is now an integral part of its system(2). the educational tools are anything that is used in the educational process that helps the students reach the study objectives with high precision(3). the educational tool is everything that is used to facilitate and improve the learning process. some learning materials are used as educational tools(4). exercises are of great importance in educating the students physically and mentally in the different sports, each sport aside. the exercise is defined as the smallest learning unit and the sum of these units is the learning program, and consequently, the curriculum(5). the bio-mechanics is concerned with applying the mechanical principles on the bio-systems, or it is a science that describes the calmness and movement conditions under the effect of certain forces(6). athletics are considered the most common sports in the world. around 180 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 13 countries belong to the international amateur athletics organization, which is the international organization that administrates the games and organizes the events. returning to the general history and the sports history, it is clear that these games where developed thousands of years ago. the first man practiced these games since the beginning of the human race and he used it in his hit-and-run, climbing and jumping over the obstacles, running and throwing stones and javelin defending himself in order to adapt to his life. the javelin activity should be in sync with the various regulationsthat rules the activity which are similar to the discus throw, which are: speed, height,releaseangle, and the air resistance factor that affects the spear(7). the practical part procedures of field research the two researchers adopted the experimental method using two equal groups (the original and the experimental). the experimental are concerned with what will happen when the researcher changes some variables(8). the researcher chooses the sample from the study community, then he/she designs the results he performed on the sample to the community from which the sample was chosen(9). on this basis, the researchers chose (40) students,a sample from the first-year students of the dept. of physical educationand sports sciences, faculty of education for girls, kufa university. the other sample was (20) students chosen randomly, and divided into two groups of (10), one group is an experimental one, and the other is an original one (the experimental undergoes the researcher’s exercises, and the original undergoes the professor’s exercises). then the special experimental tools were prepared, such as 60m wires of 0.25inch diameter, plastic nets (4m×5m), 20 spears weighing 600g each. the experiments and measurements were the performance evaluation form, two japanese sony video camera with arm set (200 frames/sec), two made-in-china hp laptops. the experiments the javelin experiment the experiment objective:recording the experiment for evaluation and extracting the studied kinetic variables, as well as the achievement measurement. the used tools: one spear weighing 600g, with a 30m measurement tape. registration method: the distance between the spear’s tip point and the inner border of the throw arch, but the measurement tape should be extended to the running area center, approximately 8m from the throw arch. the whole performance is video-recorded, and each student is given three attempts. recording procedures two camera were used in order to record the studied kinetic changes. one camera was put 10m to the pitcher’s right, 1.2m height so that it will be vertically positioned on the virtual running area, covering the distance from junction stage to three meters after the throw is performed. the camera is useful in determining the variables such as the shoulder angle and the wrist angle at junction stage, and the release variables of the javelin. however, the second camera is put 10m on the right, 1.06m height so that it will be vertically positioned on the virtual running area, covering the distance from approximate running process to the junction. the second camera is used to determining the shoulder and the wrist angles while running normally, and the direction of the javelin. preliminary experiments and measurements the preliminary experiments and measurements were performed on 20th of october, 2016, which included the technical performance of the javelin and its achievement, and the studied kinetic variables. educational units eight educational units were applied on both of the study groups, two units each week. the exercises using the wires and plastic nets were used for the experimental group, whereas the exercises of the professor were performed by the original group. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 14 the helping methods first: the wires. the two researchers prepared 0.25 inches-thick wires that can be fixed from both ends, putting through them a javelin open from both sides. the students learn holding, carrying, and running with the javelin in the wire and on certain levels between the two ends in this learning stage, and in the second, the javelin throwing is performed while the javelin is still in the wire, and is on the approximately perfect inclination release angle. second: the nets. after giving the students enough time learning the perfect lunch inclination and position of the javelin, the student starts throwing out of the wire after fixing two plastic pieces on the javelin at both ends,, knowing that the nets have fixed corks on certain, studied heights. provided that the nets are fixed with corks circles with studied heights in order to help the student direct the javelin towards the proposed angle. third: the regular javelin. after preparing the student in previous stages, she will be ready to use the real javelin in the regular field and making the needed corrections. the posty experiments the posty experiments were conducted on the 18th of december, 2016, including all the variables that has been included in the preliminary experiments. the statistical methods the spss statistical program was used. the results and discussion after unloading the data collected by the two researchers and statistically processing them, and in order to validate the hypothesis, the results of both groups in learning the technical performance and achieving the digital level according to certain kinetic variables in the javelin and according to the experimental design of the study were out. then, the data were statistically analyzed using the statistical package (spss) in order to compare the average of the preliminary and posty experiments for both groups using the t. test for the related and independent samples in order to know the significance of the variations of the arithmetic means between the two groups. and checking the effect of the helping tools of the technical performance learning process of the javelin. the researchers have had enough data on the field experiment which was performed on the experimental group. the results showed a great difference in spirit between the preliminary and posty experiments of the study variables. the study showed a great progress for the experimental group. table 1 shows the arithmetic means, the standard deviation, calculated and morale t value, and the statistical results of the research variables. the variable measurement unit experimental grp original grp t value sig. statistical result shoulder angle while running degree 78 2.33 67 2.91 3.02 0.039 morale wrist angle while running degree 79 3.11 54 2.54 2.96 0.042 morale www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 15 javelin direction angle while running degree 16 0.65 25 1.02 3.21 0.033 morale shoulder angle at the junction degree 69 2.23 58 1.89 3.34 0.03 morale wrist angle at the jnction degree 163 1.78 134 2.44 4.07 0.021 morale javelin direction angle when junction degree 41 1.03 46 1.56 2.88 0.046 morale javelin direction angle at the throwing degree 33 0.98 28 1.12 2.94 0.044 morale technical performance degree 80.40 3.04 73.80 3.42 3.22 0.012 morale achievement meter 19.75 1.63 17.46 1.32 3 0.041 morale the table (1) shows that the statistical difference is morale between the results of the two groups in the posty experiments favoring the experimental group. it is because the morale value is less than the proposed (0.05). this difference is due to application of the exercises using the wires and nets because these wires helped the students become familiar with the proper holding and lunching angles of the javelin above the lunching arm at a close angle from the right angle, with an almost similar angle at the wrist joint. fixing these angles forces the student to raise their hands at that level controlling the arm lowering while running in the first approaching stage. these applications were done using the one level wire between the two ends from the fixed. whereas the applications on the inclined wire between the two ends (35° 40°) for the junction stage(10). the student apply holding the javelin inside the wire and repeats the junctions, then the process of throwing the javelin inside the wire. fixing the javelin direction is done through this stage because most of the students have various differences in the angle of direction because the concentration in the junction stage is on the legs and how to run sideways which ultimately loosens the focus on the javelin angle which greatly affects the proper angle of spear’s direction as well as not being able to plant the javelin in the ground… etc(11). the application on the nets inside the gym gave the students a great chance to perform all the previous technical levels out of the wire on certain areas inside the nets in order to help them steer the javelin to the proper angle. these applications are easy and helps the students focus on the technical levels along lunching the javelin without focusing on the throw distance. this process gave us a feedback and decreased the time and effort needed to the learning process, as well as helping preventing injury in the shoulder and wrist(12). the arm should be lifted to certain level from the shoulder when the spear is fluctuating to the front, in order to increase the vertical speed of the javelin(13). the study follows the direction of the javelin from the first approximate run, through the junction stage, and to the throwing and after the throwing has great role in directing the javelin according to proper release angles. this was achieved by the experimental group when compared to the original group. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 16 conclusion using the determined tracks for the technical stages enhances the javelin skills for learners and gives better results. using the wires and plastic nets as helping tools helped achieving the objectives of the educational exercises. using the kinetic analysis of performance helped determining the points of strength and weakness for the learners. recommendations the helping tools that achieves the objectives of the educational exercises should be used. the kinetic analysis of the performance, exercises, and tools should also be used in order to scientifically and accurately determine the technical error and the repairing tools. using the studied tools with another sample of beginners and with advanced enhances the technical performance of the javelin sport. references 1mohamed jassem m, bio-mechanics fundamentals, 1st edition, dar al-ahmadi press, 2010.p12. 2mahmooddwood al-rubaiee, learning and teaching in the physical and sports education, 1st edition, dar al-baidhaa press, 2011.p253. 3mahmood mohammed hulya, organizing teaching: theory and practice, 4th edition, dar al-maseereh press, amman, 2008.p174. 4wisam salah abdul, samir yusuf miteb, movementaleducaiotn and application in the physical and sports education, 1st edition, scientific books, beirut, 2014.p91 5ahmed ebrahimqandeel, modern tech teaching 1st edition, books world, cairo, 2006.p11 6susan hill, bio-mechanics fundamentals, 2st, the physical education library press, u.s.a,1995.p9 7amersaeed al-khegani, aymenhadi al-juboori, the guide in writing scientific thesis and papers, dar albaidhaa press, an-najaf al-ashraf, 2016.p155 8munther al-dhamin, the fundamentals of the scientific research, 1st edition, al-maisir press, amman, 2007.p160 9mohammed j.m .biomechanics analysis ., 2016.p41-42 10roger bartlett. introduction to sports biomechanics analysing human movement patterns. (2nd) . taylor & francis group. u.s.a. 2007.p233 11nihtozkaya.(et al).fundamentals of biomechanics equilibrium, motion, and deformation. (3rd) . springer , u.s.a. 2012.p233 12james.hay.the biomechanics of sponts techniques second edition .u.s.a.1984p5-2. 13islam, k. m. a., & salma, u. (2016). the role of private universities in higher education of bangladesh: an empirical investigation. international journal of finance and banking research, 2(4), 121-128. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 published by american center of science and education, usa 1 united states, turkey, saudi arabia and middle east politics after khashoggi’s murder yusuf ibrahim gamawa department of political science bauchi state university, nigeria email: yusufgamawa@ymail.com received: january 9, 2019 accepted: january 13, 2019 online published: january 24, 2019 abstract there is no doubt that the murder of jamal khashoggi has brought about dramatic changes in the politics of the middle east, and the key players; u.s., saudi arabia and turkey are all playing different roles in shaping opinion in the region in the aftermath of the murder. while turkey continues to push for justice for the murder of the journalist, the u.s. is seen to be divided between support for saudi arabia and call for justice, and saudi arabia on its part is pushing hard to see that it overcomes all attempts to undermine its government and leadership. this article argues that the murder of the journalist has pushed saudi arabia into taking steps that would ensure its survival and dominance in the region. the saudi regime appears to be stepping up its power in the region and has reached out to neighbors and renewed its ties with its gulf partners and wider middle east, including syria to neutralize all attempts by turkey to undermine its regime. keywords: u.s.. saudi arabia, turkey, middle east, politics the murder of saudi u.s. based journalist at the saudi consulate in istanbul has continued to generate reactions across the world. the murder itself has remained mysterious, especially since the journalist’s body is yet to be seen despite confirmation that he has actually been killed. the saudi regime was blamed by turkey and crown prince mbs was later fingered by the cia to have ordered the killing [the guardian, 17.11.2018]. saudi arabia has denied the involvement of mbs but has arrested people it considered responsible for horrendous crime. turkey on its part has demanded the repatriation and trial of the suspects in turkey, a request that was turned down by saudi arabia. and in all these, the u.s. is being looked up to by both turkey and saudi arabia for justice. since the killing, the u.s. secretary of state was dispatched by president trump to saudi arabia to verify and look into how the murder happened. and mike pompeo went to ankara and then back to the u.s. without pointing any accusing fingers. donald trump emerged to say that mbs was not involved even though at some point it became clear that saudi arabia was responsible. trump made clear that even if saudi arabia is culpable in the murder, the u.s. is not willing to jeopardize its age old relation with the saudis. it was the u.s. senate that pursued the matter and the cia released its findings, saying mbs ordered the killing. the u.s. senate issued a resolution that accussed mbs of the murder and threatened sanctions against saudi arabia not only for its role in the murder of the journalist but also for its involvement in the war in yemen and its accompanying humanitarian crises [c. foran, t. barrett, m. raju, 14.12.2018]. saudi arabia on its part criticized the u.s. senate for accusing the crown prince of ordering the killing of the journalist. saudi foreign ministry insisted that the claims by the u.s. senate remain unsubstantiated mailto:yusufgamawa@ymail.com www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 2 and saw such as dabbling into the affairs of the kingdom and undermining its regional and international role [k. smith, k. sullivan, 17.12.2018]. turkey has remained unhappy on the stance of the u.s. in the matter, and has continued its campaign for justice over the murder of the journalist who was engaged to a turkish citizen hatice before he was killed. hatice herself had appeared in many television programs, including bbc, appealing for justice [https://m.youtube.com, 29.10.2018]. the murder had been condemned by almost all countries across the globe, and particularly by western nations. many european states threatened sanctions or travel ban on saudi officials involved in the matter. the expectations and hopes of turkey with regards to justice, is for the perpetrators to be brought and tried in turkish courts. this is the justice that seems most fitting to the saudi killers. however, the fact that the culprits had found their way out of turkey after committing the murders seems highly unlikely that saudi arabia will accept a trial in ankara. and from all indications there is no force that can force saudi arabia to comply with such demands and even if there is, it is not forth coming and so what do we expect? the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu had while commenting on the matter reiterated the importance of saudi arabia and the special position its enjoys across the world as sacred place for muslims. netanyahu maintained that in the interest of peace, thought not supporting the murder, netanyahu was quoted in the haaretz news of 12.12.2018 saying ‘what happened in istanbul is nothing short of horrific. but it is balanced by the importance of saudi arabia’. netanyahu insisted that destabilizing saudi arabia could destabilize the world [noa landau, 12.12.2018]. there is absolutely no doubt about netanyahu’s assertion that destabilizing saudi arabia would destabilize the world. and it is absolutely understood that nobody or nation will ever support such gruesome murder. however, international law itself has its flaws, and the idea of nation states, and of sovereignty, has given protection to states and as a result wisdom will have to be put to use to deal with certain issues in international politics. saudi arabia in trying to survive, has found itself taking certain measures and behaving a certain different ways. while turkey continues with its campaign for justice across the globe, the saudi regime began to undertake a proactive foreign policy, relying on soft power as seen in the tour of arab states by mbs shortly before the g20 meeting. mbs visited bahrain, uae, egypt, tunisia and algeria before heading to argentina for the g20 meeting [seth j. f., 11.29.2018]. the tour by mbs was to gain support of arab neighbors with regards to the international condemnation of saudi arabia by western nations. after mbs’s return from argentina, king salman summoned the gcc countries to a meeting in riyadh. it was at the meeting that a new chief of the region’s joint military command was announced. lt general eid awwad al shulawi, a former commander of the saudi royal land forces was announced as the new chief and member states made a commitment to work together to achieve regional security and stability [naser al wasmi, 9.12.2018]. the summit lasted just a day and was attended by all gcc states. qatar, a gcc member with close ties to turkey and iran was invited, and the invitation was seen as a move by saudi arabia to normalize relations with the state after a blockade on the gulf state by saudi arabia in 2017. turkey is said to have a military base in qatar. and during the diplomatic row between saudi arabia and qatar, turkey’s parliament approved the deployment of about 3,000 troops to qatar [al jazeera, 26.12.2017]. the riyadh meeting discussed the need for economic integration in the region and deal with other issues affecting the region, including the war in yemen. all gcc states of bahrain, kuwait, oman, saudi arabia and the uae were represented by their rulers except qatar, which was sent its foreign minister to represent its amir. all the countries expressed full support to the measures taken by saudi arabia concerning the murder of jamal kahashoggi. and in response to the condemnation of saudi arabia, the gcc maintained that they reject ‘the exploitation of the issue to prejudice the sovereignty, security and stability of saudi arabia, an integral part of the security and stability of the gulf cooperation council’ [gulf news, 9.12.2018]. saudi arabia appeared to have reached out to its regional allies for support despite counting on u.s. support and specifically that of president trump, which had been all too clear all along. however, by far, a step taken by saudi arabia diplomatically and that puts it in a position of advantage is its offer to rebuild syria. saudi arabia had not www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 3 been involved in syria. the u.s., iran, russia and turkey have been the countries that have been involved in syria, and struggled for influence and control in the country. u.s. president donald trump revealed on his twitter handle that saudi arabia has agreed to pay the necessary money needed to rebuild the war torn country [al jazeera, 25.12.2018]. at the moment, the u.s. is pulling out its troops from syria but is dealing with a problem that concerns its two allies in syria; the ypg kurdish fighters and turkey, its nato ally. the united states insists that its pull out must be backed by a guarantee of safety for the ypg kurds by turkey. turkey on its part considers the ypg a terrorist group that is linked to the pkk, another kurdish group in turkey that it also considers a terrorist group. turkey has disagreed with the u.s. demand for protection to the ypg and there has been a deadlock on the issue between turkey and the u.s. turkey issued a statement on 10.01.2019 that it will go ahead with its planned offensive against the kurds in north eastern syria whether the u.s. pulls out or not [cnbc, 10.01.2019]. clearly a confrontation or disagreement of some sort is developing between the two countries. and in all this, which country will have more influence in syria in the aftermath of the syrian war, especially between saudi arabia that will help rebuild the country and turkey a military actor in the syrian war? is saudi arabia reasserting its power in the middle east in the aftermath of the khashoggi murder? references the guardian, cia finds saudi crown prince ordered jamal khashoggi killing-report, www.theguardian.com 17.11.2018. c. foran, t. barrett, m.raju, senate rebukes trump, condemns saudi crown prince for khashoggi murder, cnn politics, www.edition-m.cnn.com , 14,12,2018. k. smith, k. sullivan, saudi arabia rebukes us senate resolution condemning saudi crown prince for khashoggi murder, cnn politics, www.edition-m.cnn.com , 17,12.2018. jamal khashoggi’s fiancee, hatice cengiz on murder-bbc, https://m.youtube.com , 29.10.2018. noa landau, netanyahu on khashoggi murder: destabilizing saudi arabia would destabilize the world, www.haaretz.com, 12.12.2018. seth j.f., all eyes on saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman at g20, the jerusalem post, 11.29,18. naser al wasmi, gcc appoints new chief of joint military command at riyadh summit, the national, 9.12.18. al jazeera, turkey sends more troops to qatar, 26.12.18. gulf news,, king salman inaugurates the 39th gcc summit in riyadh, 9.12.2018. al jazeera, trump: saudi to ‘pay necessary money’ to help rebuild syria, 25.12.18. cnbc, turkey will attack kurdish fighters in syria regardless of us withdrawal, foreign minister says, 10.01.19. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). http://www.theguardian.com/ http://www.edition-m.cnn.com/ http://www.edition-m.cnn.com/ https://m.youtube.com/ http://www.haaretz.com/ american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 40 creative map instruction: an experimental effect on biology students’ mental ability augustinah nireti duyilemi professor department of science education faculty of education adekunle ajasin university, akungba-akoko, ondo state, nigeria e-mail: duyilemitina53@yahoo.ie grace titilope babafemi department of science education faculty of education adekunle ajasin university, akungba-akoko, ondo state, nigeria e-mail: babafemi.tritilope@gmail.com tel: 08100427311, 08022649536 abstract the study investigated the effect of creative map on senior secondary biology students’ mental ability. three research questions were raised and answered. the research design was a quasi-experimental pretest, posttest control group design. two randomly selected schools involving a total of 71 biology students participated in the study. biology achievement test (bat) and attitude towards biology questionnaire (abq) served data collection process. the sample were grouped into three ability levels (high, medium and low) using bat before and after treatment administration. the experimental group was taught using creative map package while the control group was exposed to lecture method. data collected was analyzed using frequency count, mean and analysis of variance. the result (f(1,61) =38.44; p<0.05, partial η2 = 0.39) revealed a positive influence of creative map on students’ mental ability with an upward movement from low and medium ability to high ability group. the study recommends the usage of creative map which offers to student the avenue to self-manage and actively participate in learning while enjoying equal platform to proceed with learning keywords: creative map, mental ability, attitude to biology 1. introduction creativity, the ability to produce work that is novel and appropriate (sternberg, kaufman & pretz, 2002), continues to relate to the social context as it varies from situation to situation. the creative map, which often emerged from engrossed brainstorming, involves generation of ideas, associations and relationships among concepts and phenomena being learnt. introduced by buzan, creative or mind map offers to its users the platform to construct meaning out of the learning materials. the map is termed creative tool as it provides the advantage of inventing ideas, internalizing ideas and communicating ideas to students. also, in order to achieve the goal of teaching for creativity, mind map is more practical to develop learners’ innovative ways of learning activities (khodabakhshzadeh, hosseinnia, moghadam & ahmadi, 2018). contrary to the report that the classroom does not appear to be a place where creativity occurs (plucker, beghetto & dow 2004; asih, 2014), these maps promises to prompt learners to use their cognitive, metacognitive and creative potentials, which are essential skills, for the 21st century world. with a shift from teacher-centeredness, mind maps appoint the learner as active participant during learning. students’ engagement, being passionately and successfully engrossed in a task of high quality (munns, 2007), continues to be the aim of the cognitive tools thereby enhancing interest, involvement, organization, understanding and concentration ( goodnough &woods, 2002; d’antoni & pinto zipp, 2005, and cain 2006). www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 41 research has revealed that the prevalent lecture method in nigerian schools inhibit students’ capacity, involvement and competence (akingbemisilu & babafemi, 2018; owoeye, 2016) and is not effective. this ineffectiveness is to the disadvantage of educational goal attainment of improving students’ mental ability. the concern for high mental ability stems from the fact that the global compatibility and competitiveness that the country, nigeria, aims to attain cannot be achieved without a sound foundation in science and technology. mental ability is related to mental perception, capacity for abstract thinking and capacity to recognize patterns in things (onabanjo, 2007). this may further influence citizens’ thought and pattern of data or situation analysis in favour of the nation building. high mental ability has shown prove in the improvement of students’ performance (sangodoyin, 2011; olagunju, duyilemi and adesina, 2013) thereby reflecting the aim of education. students with high memory capacity are addressed as high ability learners performing above average in school work, medium ability students revolve around average in information processing and interpretation while low learners do not display encouraging efficiency in their approach. there is a substantial need to identify pedagogical tools to better enhance students’ mental potential so as to offer students with varying ability the equal platform to proceed with learning. this need becomes expedient since a typical nigerian classroom consists of students represented in the three groups. differences continues to exist in the performance of students taught with varying methods of instruction (akingbemisilu & babafemi, 2018; owoeye, 2016), therefore indicating the significant role of pedagogical approaches in teaching and learning. the procedure employed by a teacher during instruction in addition to techniques and strategies connotes the method of teaching. it is therefore no doubt that these methods influence academic outcomes such as performance, attitudes and skills among others. various studies have shown the positive influence of mind maps on self-regulated learning (tanriseven, 2014), brain lobes usage (brinkmann, 2003), knowledge construction (dhindsa, makarimi & anderson, 2011), disposition (akinoglu &yasar, 2007), retention and conceptual understanding (babafemi & adewumi, 2019) but there is a need to reveal its effect on mental ability. creative map is rooted in ausubel’s theory of meaningful learning. the requirement for meaningful learning as stated by novak, (1998) are prior knowledge, meaningful material and the willingness to learn meaningfully. buzan initiated mind map, also known as creative map, as an advanced organizer which allows students to subsume or harmonize what is already known with what is being learnt. the map therefore becomes the pictorial display of students’ mental representation. figure 1 shows an example of a creative map figure 1: a sample of a creative map (source: thinkbuzan.com) figure 1reveals the technique of creative maps which involves a central projection into branches of stimulates, keywords, ideas, themes, and facts. the maps furthers harmonizes relationships, connections and associations between concepts. visuals including pictures, images and colours beautify the thinking process requiring active usage of both lobes of the brain. the system dysfunction of students not attaining maximum potential (balduf, 2009) necessitated the need to investigate the role of creative map in enhancing students’ mental ability. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 42 2. objective of this study the purpose of this study is to examine the effect of creative mapping on biology students’ mental ability in ondo state, nigeria. it also examined the interaction effect of creative mapping and attitude towards biology on students’ mental ability. 3. research questions  does creative mapping instruction significantly influence biology students’ mental ability?  does creative mapping instruction significantly interact with attitude towards biology to influence students’ mental ability?  will creative mapping instruction interact significantly with students’ mental ability to influence their performance in biology? 4. methodology the study adopted the pretest posttest control group quasi-experimental design. the population of the study was all senior secondary school biology students in ondo state, nigeria. the target population was all senior secondary school two biology students in akoko south local government area from which seventy-one (71) randomly selected students participated in the study. the experimental group contained 39 students while the 32 students were assigned to the control group. 5. instrumentation three instruments were used in this study: the biology achievement test (bat), student attitude towards biology questionnaire (sabq) and teachers’ instructional guide for each of the strategies. the validated instructional guide was developed by the researcher using the mental map model proposed by buzan. the bat contained 20 adapted multiple choice questions from the wassce past questions. pest and disease control and reproduction were the content area of the bat. bat reliability yielded 0.85 using pearson product moment correlation. the sabq contained 15 items on a four likert-type response ranging from strongly agree (sa), agree (a), disagree (da), and strongly disagree (sd). in scoring the sabq, positively structured statements were done in this order: sa-4, a-3, d-2 and sd-1 while negatively structured statements were done in this order: sa-1, a-2 d-3, and sd-4. the instruments was trial-tested and cronbach alpha was used to obtained r=0.81 6. treatment administration the data collection procedure was in three main phases and last for six weeks. research assistants training and pretest administration took place in the first week ( bat and sabq), students were exposed to creative mapping in the experimental group and lecture method in the control group from 2nd to 5th week and only the bat (posttest) was administered during the 6th week. the pretest score (bat) was used to group students into three mental ability level; high, average and low. students who score 15 and above were assigned to high ability level, 8 to 14 were average ability level and below 8 were low ability level. 6.1 treatment procedure: experimental group the research assistant was the facilitator here while students coordinate and reflect on content area. step one: research assistant introduced the topic and guided the students in identifying the concepts in the topic step two: students embarked on brainstorming activities to understand each concept. step three: students create a central idea (starting point of the mind map) step four: students identify relationship and add branches and keywords to their map (first level branches) www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 43 step five: students colour code the branches and include images and symbol (connection) and add second level branches step six: research assistant request students to pause and reflect on the activities step seven: each student present their maps in class while other students react to the constructed map. 6.2 control group the treatment for each lesson was in form of lecture. 7. result the obtained data was analyzed using mean, frequency table and three-way analysis of variance. rq 1: does creative mapping instruction significantly influence biology students’ mental ability? table 1: analysis of variance of students’ mental ability by treatment and attitude source type iii sum of squares df mean square f sig. partial eta squared corrected model 8178.728 9 908.748 10.52 .000 .608 intercept 38622.351 1 38622.351 447.02 .000 .880 treatment 3321.226 1 3321.226 38.44 .000 .387 attitude towards biology 69.219 1 69.219 .801 .374 .013 mental ability 279.511 2 139.756 1.618 .207 .050 treatment * attitude towards biology 4.241 1 4.241 .049 .825 .001 treatment * mental ability 675.411 2 337.705 3.909 .025 .114 attitude towards biology * mental ability 158.743 2 79.372 .919 .405 .029 error 5270.427 61 86.400 total 79101.000 71 corrected total 13449.155 70 a. r squared = .608 (adjusted r squared = .550) the result (f(1,61) =38.44; p<0.05, partial η2 = 0.39)revealed that creative mapping significantly influence students’ mental ability with a p-value less than 0.05. the effect size is 39%; this means that 39% of the variance observed in students’ mental ability is due to the treatment. the difference in the mean scores and number of students in the three ability group after exposure to treatment is presented below in table 2 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 44 table 2: a descriptive analysis of students’ mental ability within the treatment group, before and after experiment mental mean before mean after (n) before (n) after st. d st. d ability treatment treatment treatment treatment before after low mental ability 7.69 9.00 13 2 1.55 .000 medium mental ability 14.00 20.00 16 2 3.23 .000 high mental ability 28.40 41.34 10 35 2.72 9.834 total 39 39 table 2 indicated that there is a difference in the mean scores of students in the three ability groups in favour of the high ability learners. the result further revealed that after exposure to creative mapping, there is a shift from low and medium ability groups to high ability group with nvalue rising from 10 to 35 at the end of the treatment procedure. also the estimated marginal mean analysis reveals that students exposed to creative map outperformed those taught using lecture method as seen in the table 3 below table 3: estimated marginal means of treatment and control group treatment mean std. error 95% confidence interval lower bound upper bound creative map 38.255 1.771 34.713 41.798 lecture method 20.469 2.145 16.177 24.760 research question 2: does creative mapping instruction significantly interact with attitude towards biology to influence students’ mental ability? table 1 showed that creative mapping does not significantly interact with students’ attitude towards biology to influence students’ mental ability (f(1,61) =.049; p>0.05). this implies that the mental map instructional strategy has no significant relationship with students’ attitude towards biology in affecting students’ mental ability. research question 3: will creative mapping instruction interact significantly with students’ mental ability to influence their performance in biology? table 1 indicated that creative mapping significantly interact with students’ mental ability (f(1,61) =.049; p>0.05). this implies that after exposure to mental map instructional strategy while considering students’ ability level, their performance in biology was aided. 8. discussion findings from this study showed that creative mapping instruction had a significant effect on students’ mental ability as students in the creative mapping group had enhanced mental ability than the conventional group after treatment. this position of significant appears to be associated with the capacity of mental maps in requiring students to actively participate in learning while discovering the budding asset embedded in concepts being learnt. this budding asset further leads to discovery of meaning and generation of idea in the process of knowledge www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 45 construction. also, the advantage of coordinating and self-pacing learning which these maps offers may be responsible for this trend. this result is buttressed by erden (2017) who identified mental map as a lifelong learning tool for all levels of education and for any set of people. the research findings of al-jarf (2009) which revealed the effectiveness of mental map in improving students’ writing skills after a 12 week course further supports this study. treatment and students’ attitude towards biology does not interplay to influence their mental ability. this therefore suggests that creative map instructional strategy is not sensitive to students’ attitude towards biology. 9. conclusion and implication the study concludes that creative map significantly enhanced students’ mental ability with an upward improvement from low and medium mental abilities to high ability level. attitude towards biology does not influence students’ mental ability. finally, creative map significantly interact with students’ mental ability to affect their performance in biology. by implication, employing creative maps in nigerian classrooms promises to improve citizens’ mental ability which is an indispensable necessity in attaining the global compatibility and competitiveness the nation aspires. 10. recommendation the study recommends the usage of creative map in teaching as it offers the avenue to be actively involved in learning while enjoying equal platform to proceed with learning. references akingbemisilu a. a. & babafemi g.t (2018). implications of flipped instructional strategies and gender on students’ attitude to biology. journal of research in science education (jorise) a publication of the department of science education, ekiti state university, ado ekiti. 2(2), 28-34 akinoglu, o., & yasar, z. (2007). the effects of note taking in science education through the mind mapping technique on students’ attitudes, academic achievement and concept learning. journal of baltic science education, 6(3), 34-43 al-jarf, r. (2009), ‘enhancing freshman students’ writing skills with a mind mapping software’. paper presented at the 5th international scientific conference, elearning and software for education, bucharest, april 2009. asih, d. (2014). teachers' beliefs about creativity in the elementary classroom. (thesis, doctor of education). pepperdine university balduf, m. (2009). underachievement among college students. journal of advanced academics, 20, 274–294. retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com/home/joa brinkmann, a. (2003). graphical knowledge display mind mapping and concept mapping as efficient tools in mathematics education. mathematics education review, 16, 3548. cain, m. e. (2001/2002), ‘using mind maps to raise standards in literacy, improve confidence and encourage positive attitudes towards learning’. study conducted at new church community primary school, warrington. d’antoni, a. v., and pinto zipp, g. (2005), ‘applications of the mind map learning technique in chiropractic education’. journal of chiropractic education, 19:53-4. dhindsa, h. s., makarimi, k., & anderson, o. r. (2011). constructivist-visual mind map teaching approach and the quality of students' cognitive structures. journal of science education and technology, 20(2), 186-200. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10956-010-9245-4 erden, a. (2017). mind maps as a lifelong learning tool. universal journal of educational research. vol.5, no. 12, pp 1-7. goodnough, k. & woods, r. (2002), ‘student and teacher perceptions of mind mapping: a middle school case study’. paper presented at the annual meeting of american educational research association, new orleans, 1st to 5th april 2002. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 46 khodabakhshzadeh, h., hosseinnia, m., moghadam, h. a., & ahmadi, f. (2018). efl teachers' creativity and their teaching's effectiveness: a structural equation modelling approach. international journal of instruction, 11(1). munns, g. (2007). a sense of wonder: pedagogies to engage students who live in poverty. international journal of inclusive education, 11(3), 301–315. olagunju, a. m; duyilemi, a. n. & adesina, a. e. (2013). the relationship between pre-service teachers‟ attitude, self-concept, mathematical mental ability and knowledge of agricultural economics in selected nigerian college of education. east african journal of educational research and policy (easjers). 9:57 – 73. onabanjo, c. r. (2007). cognitive and affective factors as correlates of senior secondary schools female students‟ achievement in mathematics. an unpublished ph.d thesis, university of ibadan, ibadan. owoeye, p.o. (2016). effectiveness of problem-solving and advance organizer strategies on secondary school students’ learning outcomes in biology. unpublished doctor of philosophy (ph d) thesis. ekiti state university, ado-ekiti.ekiti state, nigeria plucker, j., beghetto, r., & dow, g. (2004). why isn’t creativity more important to educational psychologists? potentials, pitfalls, and future directions in creativity research. educational psychologist, 39(2), 83-96. sangodoyin, i. a. (2011). effects of computer graphics and animation presentation modes on senior secondary school students learning outcomes in biology in southwestern nigeria. a ph.d thesis, university of ibadan, ibadan. sternberg, r. j., kaufman, j. c., & pretz, j. e. (2002). the creativity conundrum: a propulsion model of kinds of creative contributions. new york: psychology press. tanriseven, i. (2014). a tool that can be effective in the self-regulated learning of pre-service teachers: the mind map. australian journal of teacher education, 39(1) copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 published by american center of science and education, usa 17 preparation of series schiff bases and studying of their liquid crystalline behavior bari muhamd islamallah lasir department college of pharm physical chemistry pakistan received: january 29, 2019 accepted: february 3, 2019 online published: february 11, 2019 abstract our study deals with preparation of two types of imine compounds differ in the type of terminal group, where one of them has a terminal carboxyl group cooh while the other contains methoxyoch3 as a terminal group. in the first part of this research it was identification by spectroscopy methods using infrared ir and nuclear magnetic resonance h nmr spectrum, besides elemental analysis shows the exact chemical structure of the expected synthesized compounds. in the second part was the study of liquid-crystalline behavior by polarized optical microscopy pom and differential scanning calorimetry dsc that showed a liquid crystal phase in the compounds that has odd number of carbon atoms in the terminal chain compounds in the first series, while the second series compounds showed liquid crystal phase in the compounds that containing even number of atoms of carbon in the terminal chain. keywords: calom , pom introduction heneazomet are a new phases of mater add to the three well-known phases (solid, liquid and gas)[1].the differences between these three well-known states can be attributed to the temperature of the substance. temperature is a measure of the randomness of the molecules and therefore the higher of temperature is the less order they exist. increasing temperature will cause the transition from a solid to a liquid and then to a gas. however, many materials exhibit more than a single transition when passing from solid to liquid, which proves the presence of one or more intermediate phases[2]. the new phases have mechanical, optical and structural properties between those of crystalline solid and the corresponding isotropic liquid. these phases are referred to as liquid crystalline phases[3,4]. thermotropic liquid crystals is one of two types of liquid crystals (and the second is called lyotropic ) , most thermotropic liquid crystals are rod-like molecules having a rigid core composed of two or more aromatic rings and one or more flexible terminal chains. the liquid crystal mesogen must contain a side-chain to give a linear that required to the liquid crystalline behavior.schiff base ( also known as imine ch=n ) is a linking group used to connect between core groups. it has been received overwhelming response in liquid crystalsresearch ever since in 1970 where kelker discovered the 4methoxylbenzylidene 4’-butylaniline (mbba) which exhibit nematic phase at room temperature . in this our studies, schiff base and alkyloxy terminal moieties are incorporated into a new series of homologous compounds with two different group in the other side of chain , 4-(-alkoxybenzylideneamino)benzoic acid and 4-methoxy-n-(4-alkoxybenzylidene)aniline. experimental: preparation of n(4-hydroxyphenyl) actamide 118.3 ml of concentration hydrochloric acid and , (0.22mol, 23.98 gm) of para-amino phenol were introduced in a beaker containing 500ml of distilled water. the mixture wasstirred until the amine completely passes in to solution . www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 18 2to the resulting solution 25.6ml of acetic anhydride with (three drops of h2so4acidconcentration) were added and stirred and then immediately was poured in a solution of (33gm, 0.402mol) of crystallizedsodium acetate in 100ml of water. the solution was stirred vigorously and cooled in ice. 3the n(4-hydroxyphenyl) acetamide was filtered with suction washed with a little distilled water ,and dried upon filter paper in air melting point was (169-170) c° . [5,6] preparation of n-alkali bromides 1 in a round bottomed flask equipped with a separation funnel and a condenser set downward for distillation, (71ml) of hbr acid (48%) and (16.5ml) of concentration h2so4acid drop wise was added with stirring. 2after cooling(0.5mol) of appropriate alcohol was added in portions (the end of the condenser was connected to an adapter dipping in to water contained in a 250ml flask, the later was surrounded by ice) then (2.5ml) of concentration h2so4 acid was introduced gradually through the separation funnel and the mixture was distilled slowly until no more oily drops pass over . 3the organic layer was separated ,washed successively with water ,10 % na2co3solution and then with water ,dried overanhydrous calcium chloride .it is used without further purification.[6]. preparation of n-(4-methoxyphenyl) actamide 1(3.75gm, 0.025mol)of 4-actemido phenol were dissolved in 15ml of ethanol in aconical flask and with added potassium hydroxide solution (1.85gm, 0.033mol),in a lest volume of (~ 1.5ml)by stirredmagnetic stirrer . 2-a solutionofappropriate methane bromide (0.025mol) in 12.5mldissolved in added ethanol, 3-the mixture heated by using appropriate condenserfor more then one hour(then6ml distilled water added and the product was washed recrystallizefor ethanol,melting point (129c°), [7]. prepare of 4-methoxy aniline 1in conical flask4 n(actamide – methoxy phenyl)(0.025mol) is dissolved in (12.5ml) ethanol and heated 2add to the mixture (3.75ml) potassiumhydroxide solution (20m) .the mixture was heated for three hours, 3the solvent wasdistillation by using evaporator rotator. 4the product was extractof benzene then dried byanhydrous magnesium sulfate. 5-the benzene was evaporatedbyrotary evaporator , the product has a melting point 58c0 [5.6]. prepare of 4-alkyloxy banzaldehayd 1(3.77gm)( 0.025mol,) of 4-hydroxy banzaldehayd dissolved in 15 ml of ethanol in aconical flask to the stirred solution and slowlywas added solution of (0.033 mol) for koh (1.85gm dissolved in less volume of water a (~ 1.5ml ) 2-then it was added of a solution of appropriate alkyl bromide ( 0.025mol) in 12.5ml ethanol. 3-the mixture was heated with stirring continued stir for more than one hour.6ml of water was added to mixture and then the product was extracted bypetroleum ether and 4then washedthe extract with distillatedwater and the solvent was evaporated, the pure product was liquid yellow color , [7]. prepare of schiff bases: we prepare two chain schiff bases : the first chain :4-(4-alkoxybenzylideneamino)benzoic acid 1 equal moles number of 4amino benzoic acidand 4-alkyloxy banzaldehayd dissolved inabsoluteethanol with three drops of glacialacetic acid 2the mixture was heated reflux for three hours, 3the mixture was cooled and washed with a small amount of ethanol and then dried the resulting 4.thecompoundwas purified by ethanol about three once . the second chain4-methoxy-n-(4-alkoxybenzylidene)aniline 1 equal moles number of 4methoxy aniline and 4-alkyloxy banzaldehayd dissolved in absolute ethanol with three drops of glacialacetic acid 2the mixture was heated reflux for less than hours, 3the mixture was cooled and washed with a small amount of ethanol and then dried the resulting. 4 the compound was purified by ethanol about three once .[8] www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 19 figure (1) infrared spectrum of the compound4-mehoxy actamide figure (2) infrared spectrum of the compound 4-alkoxy aniline figure (3) infrared spectrum of the compound4-alkoxy banzaldehayd www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 20 table (1) chemical structures and melting point , color and yield of the prepared compounds results and discussion identificationof prepared compound: 1-chn analysis: all data of analysis of compounds in this table (2 table (2): physical properties of compounds&elemental analysis www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 21 2ft.ir-spectra : which gave good indicators about all data of functional groups in prepared compounds figure (4) infrared spectrum of the compound c5 1. absorption bands at 1118 due to a group -o-ch2-ch2 2. absorption bands at 1618 due to imine group ch = n 3. absorption bands at 1737 due to the carbonyl group carboxylic 4. absorption bands at 2918 due to aliphatic ch 5. absorption bands at 2600-3198 due to oh of the carbonyl 6. absorption bands at 3032 due to aromatic ch figure (5) infrared spectrum of the compound c7 from ir spectrum of a compound most important absorption bands represent functional groups are: 1. absorption band at 1170 due to a group -o-ch2-ch2 2. absorption band at 1630 belonged due to imine group ch = n 3. absorption band at 1735 due to the carbonyl of carboxylic group 4. absorption band at 2983 due to aliphatic ch 5. broadband absorption at 2574-3200 due to oh of carbonyl group . 6. absorption band at 3034 due to aromatic ch www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 22 figure (6) infrared spectrum of the compound m4 1. absorption band at 1116 due to ether -o-ch2-ch2 2. absorption band at 1154 due to ether -och3 3. absorption band at 1624 due to imine group ch = n 4. absorption band at 2968 due to aliphatic ch 5absorption band at 3043 due to aromatic ch figure (7) infrared spectrum of the compound m6 1. absorption band at 1168 due to ether -o-ch2-ch2 2. absorption band at 1618 due to imine group ch = n 3. absorption band at 1207 due to ether -och3 4. absorption band at 2912 due to aliphatic ch 5absorption band at 3032 due to aromatic ch www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 23 3hnmr spectra : all peaks appeared in figures figure (8), nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum of the compound c5 1. peaks at (0.90-1.80)ppmdue to alkyl groups (ch3ch2 ch2 ch2) 2. peaks at (6 2.5) ppmsolvent due to dmso-d 3. peaks at ( 3:41) ppmsolvent due to o-ch2 4.peaks at (6.62-7.84)ppm due to phenyl ring 5. peaks at (8.41))ppm due to (ch = n) 6. peaks at (13:28) ppm due to carboxyl group references 1gehadg mohamed, mohamed mohamedomar ,ahmed mohamed hindy ," metal complexes of schiff bases: preparation,characterization, and biological activity", turk. j chem, 2006; 30 , 361382. 2o.lehmann,"liquid crystal" ,ber 1908;41:3774 3maier w. and saupe a.; saupe "eineeinfachemolekularetheorie des nematischenkristallinflussigenzustandes". z. naturforsch. a (in german)1958.13: 564-566 4g.w.gray,"the chemistry of liquid crystal ",philosophical transaction of the society of london1983 ,series.a,ch.1,p.77, 5s.t.,l.k. ,ong, s.t. ong, g.y. yeapandj.p.w. wong ., " synthesis andmesomorphic properties of new schiff base esterswith different alkyl chains". chin. chem. lett., 2009, 20: 767-770 6 anthony s. travis "manufacture and uses of the anilines: a vast array of processes and products" in zvirappoport., the chemistry of anilines 2007 part 1. wiley. p. 764. isbn 978-0-470-87171-3 7a.i. vogel , ''practical organic chem. longman "., fifth edition group ltd .,london , 1989 8g.w. gray ,m. hird ,d.l. acq and k.i.toyne ,"behavior of organic compounds in liquid crystal phase " , mol. cryst. liq. cryst., 1989; 172,165 copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/international_standard_book_number https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/special:booksources/978-0-470-87171-3 american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 29 factors contributing students motivation toward english language learning ahmad anwari english literature and language department education faculty of kandahar university kandahar, afghanistan e-mail: ahmad.anwari1198@gmail.com abstract the purpose of this research is to identify those factors that students are motivated toward english language learning. furthermore, the study applied quantitative approach and the instrument was questionnaire to collect the data, and the questionnaire have been adopted, the software for analyzing the data were spss and calculated the percentage for the findings. moreover, the major findings revealed as follow; first, english helps/will help me meet foreigners, second, english will be helpful for my career, third; english helps/will help me in my travel overseas and fourth; studying english can be important for me because it will help me to further my studies. keywords: factors of motivation, english language learning, at high school, kandahar city 1. introduction english is a west germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval england and eventually became a global lingua franca. through the worldwide influence of the british empire, and later the united states, modern english has been spreading around the world since the 17th century. english may not be the most spoken language in the world, but it is the official language of 53 countries and spoken by around 400 million people across the globe. being able to speak english is not just about being able to communicate with native english speakers; it is the most common second language in the world. if you want to speak to someone from another country, then the chances are that you will both be speaking english to do this. english is the dominant business language and it has become almost a necessity for people to speak english if they are to enter a global workforce (sneddon, 2003). research from all over the world shows that cross-border business communication is most often conducted in english and many international companies expect employees to be fluent in english. many of the world’s top films, books and music are published and produced in english. therefore, by learning english you will have access to a great wealth of entertainment and will be able to have a greater cultural understanding. (elc, 2013). according to a https://www.elc-schools.com/english-courses/brighton/business-english www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 30 report by education first, english is the language of the internet. an estimated 565 million people use the internet every day, and an estimated 52 percent of the world’s most visited websites are displayed in the english language. learning english is important as it gives you access to over half the content on the internet. knowing how to read english will allow you access to billions of pages of information which may not be otherwise available (elc, 2013). according to the moe language policies, english language education is emphasized in secondary school, but there is some support given to key primary schools which are mainly in urban areas (cheng, 1999). the online oxford dictionaries define motivation as “a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way with interest or enthusiasm” (online oxford dictionary, 2013). motivation is one of the main determining factors of success in developing a second or foreign language. motivation is an internal process that makes a person move toward a goal. motivation, like intelligence, can't be directly observed. instead, motivation can only be inferred by noting a person's behavior. gardner and lambert (1972) argued that motivation to learn a second language distinguishes itself from motivation to learn other subjects. they reasoned that a second language learner not only learns new knowledge such as grammar and vocabulary, this learner needs also show willingness to be integrated with the community speaking this second language. researchers have proposed theories that try to explain human motivation. however, motivation is a complex phenomenon and the more its constructs are understood the better we are able to understand the extent to which we can influence it. teachers can cultivate student motivation to varying degrees and play a central role in activating and sustaining it. motivation is internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to do something with interest. motivation is very important in learning special in language learning (business dictionary, 2019). motivation’s definition by stating that integrative motivation refers to “positive attitudes and feelings toward the target language group”. furthermore, the author stated motivation is rather a “process whereby a certain amount of instigation arises, initiates action, and persists as long as no other force comes into play to weaken it and thereby terminate action, or until the planned outcome has been reached” (dörnyei, 2007). english as a foreign language (efl) has no particular communicative function nor has it “any special status or use over any foreign language” (bhaskaran n.d). as most teachers of a foreign language can attest to, the level of a student’s motivation plays a central role in their foreign or second language learning and acquisition. although there is no empirical evidence to prove that motivation leads to a successful outcome, it is accepted that motivation is one of the main determining factors of success in developing a second or foreign language. the difficulty for educators and researchers is in trying to capture the construct of motivation for clearly it is a complex phenomenon (scheidecker and freeman 1999). that being said, the more these constructs are understood, the better we, as teachers, are able to see the extent to which we can exert influence and be in a better position to improve motivation in our students. https://www.ef.co.uk/epi/insights/english-and-technology/ www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 31 1.1 problem statement motivation in english language is one of the effective factor for learning, which students could learn with interest and enjoys, the problem for this study conform that students are not motivated as well as possible and the author want to find the level of motivation for learning english language. magid (2011) has argued the same problem among chinese learners. 1.2 significance of the study this research will help all the teachers and students of high schools and higher educations to know about the level and the factors that students are motivated toward english language learning, and to use different strategies for improving motivation toward language learning. 1.3 purpose statement the major aim for this research is to identify the factors that students are motivated toward english language learning 1.4 objective to figure out the major factors that students are motivated toward english language learning. 1.5 research question what are the factors that students ate motivated toward english language learning? 2. literature review in this part of the study the author wants to describe all those factors that students are motivated toward english language learning in other scholars’ views. a study that has conducted by lamb (2004) argued is his study that the respondents have responded that majority of them are motivated toward english language learning because of the follow factors: they thought that english will help their careers in the future, it’s a pleasure to study, can help me meet foreigners & learn about foreign counties, my parents encourage me to learn it and it’s an important school subject. recently, liu (2007) conducted a study on the motivation of university students in china toward learning english and the result shows that most of the respondents agree with that they can learn about foreign cultures and countries and english will help them to connect the foreign people and english help them to travel on every side of the world. the survey conducted by matsukawa and tachibana (1996) most of the chinese participants had a strong interest in www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 32 english, were involved in their english studies, and exhibited positive attitudes toward learning english. the main finding was that the most important reason why the chinese participants studied english was because they believed that being fluent in english would be beneficial for their future. tachibana et al. (1996) conducted a survey with 442 senior middle school students from china who were given a similar questionnaire to the one that was used in the survey carried out by matsukawa and tachibana (1996). the results from both surveys were quite similar. according to gao (2004) his doctoral dissertation on the motivation of chinese learners of english is an example of a study employing a broader framework and identified the following five motivational dimensions of chinese learners of english: integrativeness, appraisal of english class, linguistic self-confidence, instrumentality, direct contact with foreigners. according to the study of magid, (2011) has conducted a study on students’ motivation toward english language learning at chain’s schools and argued that follow factors: to learn english is interesting, like to have foreign friends, english fluency is good for the future. according to the study of ngo (2015) and figured out in the result of his study the follow factors that students are motivated toward that: to learn english because of interest, to learn english due to being required to do so or to learn english to avoid negative feelings such as guilt, these t major findings of the above research that students are motivated toward english language learning. a study that has conducted by lin and detaramani (1998) about the foctors that students are motivated toward english language learning and claimed that respondents have responded that they are learning english because they think that english will broaden my future option. a study that has conducted by gardner (2001) claimed that most of pupil are motivated toward english language learning for the follow integrative motivational factors: i learn english to know more about the world, i learn english to communicate with others and english helps me in my travel overseas, and defined them as major factors in his study. another study has shown that students are motivated for learning english language because they are trying to communicate with non-native speakers of english language in an international environment (crystal,2003). a big body of literature has conducted by sifakis (2004) even argued in his study that english is an international language, which students are motivated toward it because of this reason that english is an international communication language. yashima (2002) has conducted a study about motivational learning of english language and claimed that students are motivated for learning an international language in which includes the students feel that they can work or study, www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 33 readiness to interact with global. the lack of identification with native speakers of english as a significant motivating factor was demonstrated in a number of studies in a variety of settings (lamb, 2004; warden & lin, 2000). ngo (2015) has claimed in his thesis that the relationships of lectures are positively affected learners’ motivation toward learning of english language, which the factors for relationships have numbered as follow; feel related/close to lecturers, feel competent and autonomous in their learning, feel safe in the learning and be open and welcome students’ feedback and/or criticisms. a study that has conducted by kitjaroonchai (2013) and the participants have answered that they motivated in learning english language because they of the follow factors: studying english can be important for me because other people will respect me more, studying english can be important for me because it will help me to get an ideal job in, studying english can be important for me because it will help me to further my studies, studying english is important to me because it will help me when i travel abroad, studying english can be important for me because it will make me a more knowledgeable person. in dubai, qashoa (2006) examined students’ integrative and instrumental motivation for learning english in uae state secondary school, and the findings showed that the students have a higher degree of instrumental motivation than integrative one. these students indicated that they learn english because they want to obtain a better job since the labor market offers higher-paying job for those who are competent in english. in thailand, choosri and intharaksa (2011) investigated the vocational students on the relationship between motivation and their language learning achievement and they indicated that english is necessary for their future study as well as career opportunity. 3. methodology 3.1 research design as the present study tried to identify the factors that students are motivated toward english language learning at kandahar city schools. the study is descriptive in nature in which a quantitative questionnaire has been used to collect data. descriptive quantitative approach examines the phenomenon by collecting the data numerically. moreover, “survey research designs are procedures in quantitative research in which investigators administer a survey to a sample or to the entire population of people to describe the attitudes, opinions, behaviors, or characteristics of the population” (creswell, 2012). www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 34 3.2 population & sampling the participants of the study were 100 students (ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth) form …. high school, which has been selected based on (morgan) through simple random sampling. according to creswell (2012) in simple random sampling, the researcher selects participants for the sample so that any individual had an equal probability of being selected from the population. the intent of simple random sampling is to choose the individual to be sampled who will the representative of the population. 3.3 instrument this study adopted a questionnaire on motivation toward english language learning scale designed by véronique saheb (2014). the questionnaire comprised of 10 items. in addition, the first part of the questionnaire comprised of demographic information of the participants and the second part comprised of items based on five-point likertscale, which were the factors for motivation of english language learning. 3.4 validity and reliability of the questionnaire before the dividing of the instrument (questionnaire) among learners, for the establishment of the questionnaire’s validity, the researcher consulted with supervisor and instructor lecturer for creative feedback and comments. the lecturer advised for the structure, statements and likert scales of the questionnaire and the adjustments with objectives. after entering the data to spss, the consistency of the questionnaire items was 0.69 cronbach’s alpha. it seems that the questionnaire was reliable. 3.5 data collection procedure prior to data collection, the researcher sought consent from the head of the faculty. students were also informed of the nature of the study and they were assured that their participation is voluntary and their names would not be revealed in the publication of this research. after seeking the consent of the research participants, the questionnaire was distributed among them and they were directed to fill up the questionnaire in the presence of the researcher. all the research participants were assured that they would be given access to this study once it is completed. all the participants responded to the questionnaire and handed over to the researcher. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 35 3.6 data analysis procedures in order to answer the first and second research questions, data were performed in spss (version, 24) in which researcher calculated percentage to determine the causes of english the factors that students are motivated toward english language learning among the participants. 4. findings the follow table 1 shows the demographic information of participant in the categories of gender, age, native language and classes of participants. table 1 the following tables revealed the result for the research question which aimed to determine the factors the students are motivated toward english language learning. characteristics no of participations percentage gender male 100 100% age of participants 15-20 80 80% 21-25 17 17% 26-30 2 2% upper30 0 0% native language pashto 96 96% dari 4 4% other 0 0% classes of participants ninth 25 25% tenth 25 25% eleventh 25 25% twelfth 25 25% www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 36 table 2: shows the finding of the research question with mean and standard division. the above table shows the factors that students are motivated toward english language learning, the first and highest factor is that when meet foreigners, it encourages them to learn this language (m=1.5000, sd=0.78975), the second finding is that english will help them to improve their careers and jobs (m=1.5051, sd=0.61235) and the third finding is that students are motivated to travel over the world and could speak as well by english (m=1.7576, sd=0.88168). 5. discussion in this part of the study the researcher is going to discuss the major findings that students have shown their agreement toward them and they are motivated toward the learning of english language learning: first, students statmetnts n mean std. deviation english helps/will help me meet foreigners 98 1.5000 .78975 english will be helpful for my career 99 1.5051 .61235 english helps/will help me in my travel overseas 99 1.7576 .88168 studying english can be important for me because it will help me to further my studies 99 1.7677 .98797 english helps/will help me learn about other cultures, values and thoughts 97 1.7938 .99936 i need to know english to enter university 98 1.8163 .98804 my family/friends encourage me to learn english 97 1.8454 .91674 i study english because i like it 100 1.9500 1.02863 learning english is easy 97 2.4845 1.27568 outside the class, i watch films, listen to songs or read in english 98 3.0612 1.33792 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 37 motivated toward english language learning for meeting foreigners, it means that students encouraged toward the learning of english language learning to meet those people who speak english as a native speaker and they like to speak with them, because here in afghanistan when american soldiers attacked on the regime of taliban most of afghans’ motivated toward learning of english language and wanted to become a translator with americans. the finding is in the line with saheb (2015) and islam and salma (2016). second: the second major find for the research question is that students are motivated toward the learning of english language be its helpful for their careers and jobs that they want to apply for in the future, it means that english language is very necessary for appling for job, now a day if some don’t know english he/she couldn’t work as an educator, so that is the reason that students are motivated toward english language learning. the finding is in the line with jenkins & nelson (2005). third; the third highest result for the research question, which students are motivated toward english language learning is that english will help them to travel everywhere without need to a translator, it means the facilities of travels and journeys encouraged students to learn english. similarly, the finding is in the line with the findings of tantip kitjaroonchai (2012). fourth; the fourth major result for research question is that are motivated toward english learning because it’s important for their further studies, it means that students are motivated to improve their further studies. the finding is in the line with the finding of kyriacou, & kobori, (1998). 6. conclusion english language is an international language, which everyone need to learn for more generalization, furthermore, motivation is one beneficial strategy for learning this language. moreover, quantitative method approach has applied in the study and instrument was questionnaire to collect the data from participants. the major findings revealed such as: students are learning english to meet foreigners, english is helpful for their career and jobs, help them to travel over the world and english is benefit for their further studies. 7. recommendation the following solutions could be addressed by this study in order to solve the problems of learners’ motivation toward english language learning:  the government should prepare motivational seminars to aware the parents to encourage their children for learning english language. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 38  parents have the responsibility to support students economically and spiritually.  qualified teachers should be aware of different types of motivation.  further study may be conducted to explore other factors that students are motivated toward english language learning. references dörnyei, z,. 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(2016). the role of private universities in higher education of bangladesh: an empirical investigation. international journal of finance and banking research, 2(4), 121-128. ngo, t. h. (2015). an investigation into students' motivation to learn english in higher education in vietnam (doctoral dissertation, queensland university of technology). lin, a., & detaramani, c. (1998). by carrot and by rod: extrinsic motivation and english attainment of tertiary students in hong kong. language in hong kong at century’s end, 285-301. sneddon, j. n. (2003). the indonesian language, its history and role in modern society. sydney: nsw press. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 39 kitjaroonchai, n,. (2013). motivation toward english language learning of students in secondary and high schools in education service area office 4, saraburi province, thailand. international journal of language and linguistics, 2013, 1(1): 22-33. choosri. c. & intharaksa, u. (2011). relationship between motivation and students’ english learning achievement: a study of the second year vocational certificate level hatyai technical college students. qashoa, s. h. (2006). motivation among learners of english in the secondary school in the eastern coast of the uae. tantip kitjaroonchai, n. k. (2012). motivation toward english language learning of thai students majoring in english at asia-pacific international university. catalyst, journal of the institute for interdisciplinary studies, 7(1), 21-40. kyriacou, c., & kobori, m. (1998). motivation to learn and teach english in slovenia. educational studies, 24(3), 345-351. jenkins, e. w., & nelson, n. w. (2005). important but not for me: students’ attitudes towards secondary school science in england. research in science & technological education, 23(1), 41-57. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 81 a multicultural comprehension of traditional dancing in ghana and china: a genealogical analysis aphu elvis selase college of public administration huazhong university of science and technology wuhan, hubei, china430074 e-mail: i201722111@hust.edu.cn / elvis.qapito@yahoo.com abstract this paper uncovers both ghanaian and the chinese various traditional dances in as much as multicultural comprehension is concerned. there is no denying of the fact that, china has a lot of rich and genealogical traditional dances as applicable to ghana. both countries have a peculiar historical traditional ways of doing things most especially dancing, in so far as their respective jurisdictions are concerned. traditional dancing is not left out of the witness box when accounting for the genealogical analysis on both china and ghana. gone were the days when traditional dancing brings people together as one and also even provides a platform for people in meeting their life partners. this handful significance is still in existence. keywords: traditional dance, ghana, china, multicultural, genealogical analysis. 1. introduction on march 6, 1957, the nation of ghana declared its independence, becoming the first formerly colonized subsaharan african nation to do so. formed from the combination of the gold coast and togoland, two former british colonies, ghana stretches from the dusty edge of the sahara to the lush rainforests of the atlantic coast. prior to contact with european colonialists, numerous ethno-linguistic groups, each with distinct historical and cultural identities, inhabited these lands. though colonial rule and subsequent african nationalism created a new political and geographical order, the cultural experiences of ghana's people are still deeply tied to older ways of life. traditional chiefs continue to retain power over many small claims and domestic issues in rural areas, and ghana's cultural heritage still reflects its grounding in the greater history of west african civilization. as a result, music remains as integral to the everyday lives of ghanaians as it has been for centuries. intensely rhythmic and suffused with meaning, ghana's many traditions of song, dance, and drumming remain intimately attached to the survival of its communities. music marks the cycles of life, animates religious rituals, and communicates social values. dance in china is a highly varied art form, consisting of many modern and traditional dance genres. the dances cover a wide range, from folk dances to performances in opera and ballet, and may be used in public celebrations, rituals and ceremonies. there are also 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in china, and each ethnic minority group in china also has its own folk dances. the best known chinese dances today are the dragon dance and the lion dance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/china www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 82 ghana and china maps in perspective figure-1 maps of ghana and pr china showing the various regions and provinces respectively 2. traditional dances in ghana each ethnic group has their own traditional dances and there are different dances for different occasions. there are dances for funerals, traditional festivals, celebrations, storytelling, praises and worship. these individual dances give a diverse picture of the history and relevance behind traditional dance. collectively each dance does not contain the same traditional relevance, but with the movements and history of each dance the author was able to point to the traditional relevance of each dance. nonetheless, as a unit they give a broad picture on how these diverse dances have been re-appropriated in modern-day ghana under the label traditional dance. 3. bamaya dance bamaya first originated in the northern region of ghana by the dagomba people. this is the story behind the bamaya dance. there was a drought in the dagomba community because the gods were unhappy with the people of the community. the gods were dissatisfied because the people were not offering sacrifices to them. as an apology to the gods, people began to sacrifice animals as a way to rid the community of drought. in accordance with the sacrifices, the gods also demanded that a ritual take place at the river. when performing the ritual it began to rain. out of joy at seeing the rain the men performing the ritual began to turn from side to side shouting, “baa maaya, baa maaya,” which means “wet stream” in dagbani. at this sight of the men others began to join in. later due to the actions of the men, it was considered as a dance and referred to as bamaya dance. when first performed, bamaya was a dance for the royal clan that was only performed by men since it was discovered by men only. bamaya was performed for festival, naming ceremonies, enstoolment of chiefs, etc. in homage to the women of the community, the men performing bamaya would sometimes dress in women’s clothing. over time the restrictions on where and who could perform bamaya had changed. bamaya is no longer a dance only for the royal clan. also, women are allowed to participate in the dance. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 83 figure 2. bamaya dance being performed although bamaya is a dance performed in a host of social contexts such as funerals and naming ceremonies, it is a dance, which stays true to its original form. as times passes and artistic liberations are taken with the moves a dance can stray from its original structure. each move is grounded in the twisting of the body a waist much like the original story describes. since movement around the body’s central axis is so essential to the essence of the dance, great flexibility is required of the dancer in that region. the movement around the central axis creates a great deal of opposition within the dance. the twisting of the body creates a 2-part division of the body. the movement is an exaggerated twisting naturally happens in the body when walking. throughout the dance a fan is used as a stylistic prop. the motion created by the wrist in order to keep the fan moving mimicked the movement of the body at the waist. in all, the dance demanded fluidity in movement that was stretch beyond a person’s inherent opposition. 4. kpatsa dance kpatsa originates in the ga-adamgbe community located in the greater accra region. the dance is performed during festivals and when there is a full moon. mainly, the danced serves as a time when the kids in the community can come together, when there is a full moon, as a way to entertain them. the story behind kpatsa in brief: when on an expedition, a hunter becomes very lost. as he travels deeper into the forest he happens come across some dwarfs performing a dance. the hunter is able to keep himself hidden and learn the dance of the dwarfs. when the hunter returns to the village he teaches the dance of the dwarfs to the other villagers. the name kpatsa refers to the “limping gait” movements in the dance that are thought to resemble the actions of dwarfs. over time kpatsa had been greatly influenced by the agbadza dance of the ewe people. agbadza stems from the southern volta region. many of the movements of the agbadza dance have been incorporated into kpatsa. in the performance of kpatsa, songs can be tailored to convey a specific message to the audience. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 84 therefore, there is no standard song that is performed with the dance. it is the job of the cantor to make up the different song. if a cantor is very skillful then his skill will emanate through his singing abilities. figure 3. kpatsa dance unlike bamaya there was a division between the choreography for the men and women. on the opening step the men’s step differs entirely from the women’s step. during other parts of the dance the steps for the men and women will be the same, but the positioning for the men will differ from the positions of the women. kpatsa demands a high level of energy throughout the dance. each movement demonstrates a quickness of the feet and hands that did not allow for smooth transitions between moves. this quickness of the movements also made each move smaller and less dramatic. also, unlike bamaya, the hands and feet tend to move together and there is less opposition. the lack of opposition meant the flexibility needed in the torso for bamaya isn’t necessary in kpatsa. in all, kpatsa is more cardiovascular in nature and do not require the same precision in movement or flexibility required as in bamaya. 5. adzewa dance adzewa is a dance of the fante people originating in the central region. adzewa is performed during the enstoolment of chiefs, festivals and the funerals of paramount or prominent chiefs. originally, adzewa was a dance only performed by females but in its modern context the dance will feature men as well as women. the use of men in adzewa has predominantly been used as a dramatizing element. the dramatization of adzewa can come as the result of the song sung during the dance. like kpatsa, adzewa doesn’t have one standard song associated with the dance. thus depending on the message of the song the role of the men in the dance will change. the inclusion of men in the dance is rooted in new way(s) to present traditional dances. in their modern context, traditional dances are being influenced by the changes of gender roles in society as a whole. for example, in the agoro dance company men participate in adzewa, a traditionally female dance, while women are utilized as drummers. historically, the role of drummer was reserved for men only. in this way, dancing companies are giving traditional dances a more modern social context for how the dances are performed. adzewa is performed by a sequence of solo dancers. there are main moves to adzewa but a dancer may improvise during the dance. adzewa is a very fluid dance. each movement is much grounded but possesses a light quality. the movements are much hunched and close to the ground but the dancer are expected to contain an airy quality. the second movement in particular adds to the light feel of the dance due to the birdlike quality of the movement. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 85 however, even during the second movement the body is never fully upright adding to the centered feel of the dance. during the 2nd move the arms move in and out in soft waves. when moving the arms out the elbow is never fully extended but there is care taken to elongate the movement to its outermost point and retract the arms in one fluid motion. the extension never looks like it comes to an end. figure 3. adzewa dance lots of improvisation takes place within the dance, especially between the 5th and 6th step. between these steps the relationship between the dancer and master drummer is most intense. also, this is a time when improvisational characters such as a spider and chief are acted out. basically, whatever the dancer is moved to dance by the drums is what comes out. when coming out, the dancer is not confined to a particular style or step. in addition, it is only the responsibility of the first dancer to bow to the audience. 6. traditional dances in china there is no denying of the fact that, china has genealogical traditional dances in various forms and types in as much as their respective provinces are recognized and taken into consideration. up next is a concise history about the numerous and a handful of beautiful traditional dances associated with the people’s republic of china. 7. history of chinese dance there is a long recorded history of various forms of dance in china. the earliest chinese character for "dance" , written in the oracle bones, is itself a representation of a dancer holding oxtails in each hand. some chinese dances today such as dancing with long sleeves have been recorded since the very early periods, dating from at least as early as the zhou dynasty. the most important dances of the early period were the ritual and ceremonial dances. in six dynasties era (220 589 ce), there were strong influences from central asia in music and dance. the art of dance reached a peak in the tang dynasty, but declined in later dynasties. in more recent times, the art of dance in china has enjoyed a resurgence, and modern developments in chinese dances are continuing apace. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/file:%e8%88%9e-oracle.svg www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 86 figure 4. lion dance 8. traditional dance many of the traditional dances have a long history. these may be folk dances, or dances that were once performed as rituals or as entertainment spectacle, and some may have been performed in the imperial court. among the bestknown of the chinese traditional dances are the dragon dance and lion dance, and both dances were known in earlier dynasties in various forms. a form of lion dance similar to today's lion dance was described as early as the tang dynasty, the modern form of the dragon dance however may be a more recent development. figure 5. dragon dance in some of the earliest dances recorded in china, dancers may have dressed as animal and mythical beasts, and during the han dynasty, some forms of the dragon dance were mentioned. the dragon dances of han dynasty however do not resemble modern form of the dance. dragon dances mentioned include a dance performed during a ritual to appeal for rain at time of drought as chinese dragon was associated with rain, acts in the baixi variety shows where performers dressed up as a green dragon playing a flute, and acts where fish turned into a dragon. modern dragon dance uses light-weight structure manipulated by a dozen or so of men using poles at regular intervals along the length of the dragon, and some forms of the dragon can be very long and involve hundreds of performers. there are more than 700 different dragon dances in china the lion dance has been suggested to have been introduced from outside china as lion is not native to china, and the chinese word for lion itself, shi (獅), may have been derived from the persian word šer, detailed description of lion dance appeared during the tang dynasty and it was then recognized as a foreign import, but the dance may have existed in china as early as the third century ad. suggested origin of the dance include india and persia, and during the northern and southern dynasties it had association with buddhism. a version of lion dance resembling modern lion dance was described by tang poet www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 87 bai juyi in his poem "western liang arts" (西凉伎), where the dancers wear a lion costume made of a wooden head, a silk tail and furry body, with eyes gilded with gold and teeth plated with silver, and ears that moves. there are two main forms of chinese lion dance, the northern lion and southern lion. a form of the lion dance is also found in tibet where it is called the snow lion dance. 9. folk dance folk dances are important historically in the development of dance in china, some of the earliest dances in court rituals and ceremonies may have evolved from folk dances. rulers from various dynasties collected folk dances, many of which eventually became court dances. however, at various times there had also been antipathy towards some folk dances and some emperors attempted to ban them. many of the folk dances are related to harvest and hunting and the ancient gods associated with them. for example, the constellation dance was performed to procure as much seed grain as there are stars in the sky, while the harpoon dance was associated to fuxi who according the mythology gave the han people fish net, and the plough dance was connected to shennong, the god of agriculture. some examples of chinese folk dance are yanngge (common in northern china) and lantern dance (common in southern china). figure 6. folk dance 10. the significance of traditional dancing to both countries and beyond dancing is a holistic celebration of deity, communal events, and personal relationships. within this genre are dances to praise god, to lament calamities, to prepare for war, to appreciate the victors, to encourage hard work, to prepare for marriage, and to release frustration. this artistic activity is holistic so much so that it allows individuals to integrate physical, emotional, ideological, and spiritual aspects of life and one’s being. dancing gives meaning and satisfaction to one’s self and others. according to webster, to dance is "to move rhythmically to music, using improvised or prescribed gestures and steps." further, the importance attached to the dance does not lie only in the scope it provides for the release of emotion stimulated by music. the dance is also a social and artistic medium of communication. it can convey thoughts or matters of personal or social importance through the choice of movements, postures and facial expressions. through the dance, individuals and social groups can show their reactions to attitudes of hostility and cooperation and friendship held by others toward them. they can offer respect to their superiors, or appreciation and gratitude to well-wishers and benefactors. they can react to the presence of rivals, affirm their status to servants, subjects, and others, or express their beliefs through the choice of appropriate dance vocabulary or symbolic gestures. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 88 11. author’s perception on traditional dancing. the author thinks that literature, music, and the arts are all necessary for the development and flowering of a student to form an integrated total personality. this proves that it is not only for the maintenance of one’s identity but shapes personality likewise. such education enables student to fully experience the joy of teaching-learning. it also enables them to fully appreciate and experience the beauty of the universe and helps in their healthy development. looking at past experiences, children learn faster through actions and song or in other words, they learn faster through the inclusion of dances and music while learning. this depicts the greatness and importance of such basis if included in formal education. interestingly, all these traditional dances need timing since they involve more than one person in the process. this is due to the fact that, coordination and uniformity in the dancing are essential since timing makes it look nice, uniform and entertaining. as aphu. e.s & cheng x. indicated, “if you inject time as an antidote in your daily dealings, you will always have healthy moments cum fruitful results” its therefore very essential to take time into consideration in everything we do as humans in as much as dancing calls for uniformity and timing by those dancing groups. that’s why there are dancing groups and these groups always practice together before going for an event or occasions. dancing is a natural method for learning and a basic form of cultural expression. dancing embodies one of our most primal relationships to the universe. children learn movement pattern as readily as they learn language. just as all societies create forms of visual representation or sounds into music, all cultures organize movement and rhythm into one or more form of dance. yet, while our educational systems for early childhood include drawing and singing, they often neglect to include dance. it is essential that education provide our children with the developmental benefits and unique learning opportunities that come from organizing movement into the aesthetic experience of dance. 12. conclusion in the nutshell, we can easily fathom from the perspective that, traditional dancing is really a laid down tradition handed over to us by our forefathers in as much as china and ghana were the focus of this paper. these really portray the cultural heritage of the two countries and thereby, bringing people together as one, unification of ethnic groups and a podium where people get their life partners. dancing is therefore a powerful helper for developing many of the attributes of a growing child a form of exercise too. references a. alfred. ( 2016). awuni concise and facilitated social studies for senior high schools. aphu e.s & cheng. x, (2015). the study of time management in civil service institutions in ghana: a case of accra metropolitan assembly. european journal of business and management s. kuwornu. (2015). african history for all. google map macmillan dictionary copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 1 the effect of outdoor environmental education program on secondary school students’ knowledge, attitude and practices towards water pollution in riverine area of ondo state samuel olanrewaju oladapo phd adekunle ajasin university akungba akoko, ondo state, nigeria e-mail: lanree2007@gmail.com bright ogunfunmilakin phd adekunle ajasin university akungba akoko, ondo state, nigeria j.d. kukuru phd adekunle ajasin university akungba akoko, ondo state, nigeria abstract water pollution has been a major problem facing people living in riverine area all over nigeria. this has become life threaten to majority of people living in the area as well as visitors to the area. a descriptive action research design was adopted foe the study and 3 instruments were developed for the collection of data. the population of the study comprises of all secondary school students in riverine area of ondo state while 200 respondents were randomly selected from 10 schools 5 on the land and 5 on water. the questionnaire titled environmental knowledge scale (eks) environmental attitude scale (eas) and environmental practice scale (eps) were used to collect data for the study. data generated were analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean, standard deviation and t. test. the result of the study shows that there was significant effect of treatment on participants’ knowledge, attitude and practice towards water pollution and that location of school doesn’t have significant effect on participants’ behavior after the treatment based on the findings, it is therefore recommended that participation programme be encouraged at a level of education for solving environmental problems that is peculiar to any community. keywords: ilaje/ese odo, water pollution, riverine area, environmental attitude 1. introduction pollution can be said to be a human problem or one of the problems that emanates through human activities especially, while interacting with their environment .it is observed that before 19th century industrial revolution, people lived more in harmony with their immediate environment. the spread of industrial revolution to all continents including africa brought about different environmental pollution depending on the part of the earth one is residing. in nigeria hence, we have land degradation in areas such as south west, south east and some part of south south nigeria while water pollution in riverrine areas and desertification in the northern part of nigeria are obvious. ajitoni & oladapo(2014) one of the major environmental pollution that people living in river rine areas are facing is water pollution and land degradation. in ondo state, ilaje and eseodo are the two major local governments in the riverine areas, and are faced with water pollution. water pollution occurs as a result of one or more substances built up in water to such an extent that they cause problem for human beings and animals. most water pollution doesn’t begin in the water itself it is as a result of human activities. around 80 percent of ocean pollution enters our sea from the land. virtually any human activity can have an effect on the quality of our water environment. for instance, when farmers fertilize the fields, www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 2 the chemicals they use are gradually washed by rain into the ground water or surface water nearby. people most times see water body as a convenient place of dumping their waste. ilaje and eseodo local governments are one of the most populated local governments in ondo state with a population figure of two hundred and seven thousand and fifty four (207,054). it has a shore live covering about 280km (bent) the longest coastline in nigeria crude oil producing areas. the local governments which were created by the federal government on oct.1, 1996, consist of over six hundred towns and villages are being faced which include: land degradation, oil spilling and water pollution. the government of nigeria has several sources of funds for environmental protection activities. these include the ecological fund, through which 1% of the federation account is set aside for the amelioration of ecological problems such as soil erosion and flood control, desertification, drought and general environmental control (refuse, solid waste, water hyacinth, industrial waste). this amount was recently increased to 2% and paid into a special ecology fund. in addition, the government has earmarked 3% of the revenue accruing from crude oil in the country to tackle some ecological problems through the defunct oil minerals producing areas development commission (ompadec) and which has now metamorphosed to niger-delta development commission . financial contributions from non-governmental organizations and the private sector also provide assistance for conservation efforts. bilateral and multilateral financial assistance from such agencies like the world bank, undp, unep, fao, iucn, unicef and adb equally covers such problems as desertification control, capacity building and so on (oladapo, 2012). environmental pollution is a function of the amount of toxic waste and pollutants or contaminant in the atmosphere. the amount and nature of greenhouse gas is space determine the environmental balance and climate change of a place. an increase or reduction of these gases in the atmosphere has adverse effects on the environmental challenges of a place. greenhouse gases (ghgs) comes from a variety of sources e.g. (machines, automobiles, bush burning, waste, fertilizer, ashes, lava, stem). the manufacturing sectors and other related fields (fossil-coal, industrial waste, oil and natural gas) also constitute mainly to environmental pollution thomas, (2009) and cunningham and cunningham, (2012).furthermore, the use of fossil fuels to meet world‘s needs is another contributor to increase in greenhouse gases e.g. (carbon dioxide (co2 ), chlorofluorocarbon and methane).in nigeria, the aegis of environmental rights action (era) shown that about 1,000 oil spills are recorded annually in the niger delta region, the operations of the oil industries have endangered conflicts and impacted wetlands, water and sanitation problems (ige, 2012). in nigeria, the cardinal regions with heavy industrial concentration e.g. south-west, northcentral, and south-east are pruned to environmental pollution sand ecological challenges than any other parts of the country. in south-south region for example where large oil and gas exploration takes place, the activities of environmental degradation, challenges and pollution has been on the rise in recent years. the struggle for justice and mercy on the effects on environmental degradation, ecological challenges and environmental pollution has led to the death of seasoned icon and environmental activist sir, ken sarowiwa among others. of late, in october 19th 2013, oil spill from the platform of mobil oil company in eket local government area in akwa-ibom state constitutes severe damage than good on the ecosystem and the communities. the people of these communities are yearning with the governments at the various levels to end this scourge and proffer ameliorable solutions on the negative impacts these activities have caused on the ecosystem and the lives of these citizenry. the implication of these is the consequence effects on food chain, water pollution and death of aquatic life etc. furthermore, the explosion in january 16th 2010 claimed the lives of a harmful expatriate and many indigenous staff of the multinational company (ige, 2012. these chemical parameters such as burning fuel (coal, petrol, wood) volcanoes (ash, aerosols) pool of water, respiration, decaying and putrefaction of plants and animals. the carbon gs, one of the atmospheric blankets of gases circulates in form of carbon dioxide to living organisms. nitrogen and oxygen remain in fixed proportion throughout in the lower physics of the atmosphere and increase in heights over forty miles over the earth surface. since the air thins with high-altitude (mountains over 3000ft or above 900m) the proportion of oxygen remains the same ayo, (2009). the recent fire outbreak in australia and the great storm in philippines were attributed as natural phenomena and evolution of the ecosystem (okpara, 2011). www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 3 2. hypotheses the following hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance ho1:there is no significant main effect of treatment on participants’ (i) knowledge on water pollution; (ii)attitude towards water pollution; and (iii) practices towards water pollution. ho2: there is no significant main effect of location of schools on participants’ (i) knowledge on water polution; (ii) attitude towards water polution; and (iii) practices towards water polution. ho3:there is no significant interaction effect of treatment and schools’ location on participants’ (i) environmental knowledge; (ii) environmental attitude; and (iii) environmental practices. 3. scope of the study this study was designed to determine the impact of the programme on the environment-related knowledge, attitude and practices of 200 selected students in 10 schools in in ilaje local government area of ondo state. 4. research design a descriptive action research design was adopted for the study. the study also adopted a pre-test, post-test, control group quasiexperimental design to determine the participants’ environmental knowledge, attitude and practice on water pollution in ondo state, nigeria. ho1: there is no significant main effect of treatment on participants’ (i) environmental knowledge; (ii) environmental attitude; and (iii) environmental practices. table 1: t – test showing main effect of treatment on participants’ environmental knowledge, attitude and practice type test var. treatment n mean sd t df p remark control k pre post 25 25 8.62 10.10 1.12 1.59 -3.128 48 .003 s a pre 25 37.10 4.55 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 4 post 25 37.42 3.73 1.115 48 .011 s p pre post 25 25 37.90 38.45 3.97 4.43 -0.446 48 .026 s experimental k pre post 25 25 9.45 9.86 1.90 1.52 -2.813 48 .020 s a pre post 25 25 37.62 38.34 3.81 4.69 1.603 48 .010 s p pre post 25 25 38.48 38.59 5.30 4.29 1.078 48 .015 s *s = significant, k = knowledge, a = attitude, p = practice table 1 revealed the main effect of treatment on participants’ environmental knowledge, attitude and practice as follows; for control knowledge mean scores 8.62±1.12 and 10.10±1.59 for pre and post respectively with (t = 3.128, p<0.05), attitude mean scores 37.10±4.55 and 37.42±3.73 for pre and post respectively with (t = 1.115, p<0.05) and practice mean scores 37.90±3.97 and 38.45±4.43 for pre and post respectively with (t = 0.446, p<0.05). while for experimental knowledge mean scores 9.45±1.90 and 9.86±1.52 for pre and post respectively with (t = 2.813, p<0.05), attitude mean scores 37.62±3.81 and 38.34±4.69 for pre and post respectively with (t = 1.603, p<0.05) and practice mean scores 38.48±5.30 and 38.59±4.29 for pre and post respectively with (t = 1.078, p<0.05). these results revealed a significant main effect of treatment on participants’ knowledge, attitude and practice of environmental. ho2: there is no significant main effect of location of schools on participants’ (i) environmental knowledge; (ii) environmental attitude; and (iii) environmental practices. table 2: t – test showing main effect of location on participants’ environmental knowledge, attitude and practice type test var. location n mean sd t df p remark ctrl k land riverine 25 25 9.32 9.64 1.79 1.82 -.625 48 .535 ns a land riverine 25 25 35.40 38.92 1.84 4.86 -3.388 48 .001 s p land riverine 25 25 37.44 39.00 4.17 4.19 1.318 48 .194 ns exptal k land riverine 25 25 9.20 10.04 1.65 1.78 1.733 48 .090 ns www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 5 a land riverine 25 25 36.96 39.12 3.84 4.29 -1.876 48 .067 ns p land riverine 25 25 38.44 38.64 5.34 4.42 .144 48 .896 ns *s = significant, ns = not significant, k = knowledge, a = attitude, p = practice table 2 revealed the main effect of location of school on participants’ environmental knowledge, attitude and practice as follows; for control knowledge mean scores 9.32±1.79 and 9.64±1.82 for land and riverine locations respectively with (t = 0.625, p>0.05), attitude mean scores 35.40±1.84 and 38.92±4.86 for land and riverine locations respectively with (t = -3.388, p<0.05) and practice mean scores 37.44±4.17 and 39.00±4.19 for land and riverine respectively with (t = 1.318, p>0.05). while for experimental knowledge mean scores 9.20±1.65 and 10.04±1.78 for land and riverine respectively with (t = 1.733, p>0.05), attitude mean scores 36.96±3.84 and 39.12±4.29 for land and riverine respectively with (t = -1.876, p>0.05) and practice mean scores 38.44±5.34 and 38.64±4.42 for land and revirine respectively with (t = 0.144, p>0.05). these results revealed that no significant main effect of location on participants’ knowledge, attitude and practice of environmental. ho3: there is no significant interaction effect of treatment and schools’ location on participants’ (i) environmental knowledge; (ii) environmental attitude; and (iii) environmental practices. table 3: t – test showing the interaction effect of treatment and school location on participants’ environmental knowledge, attitude and practice treatment test var. location n mean sd t df p remark pre k land riverine 50 50 8.88 10.00 1.44 1.76 -3.483 98 .001 s a land riverine 50 50 35.52 38.28 2.31 4.86 -3.630 98 .000 s p land riverine 50 50 37.94 39.20 4.33 4.08 1.498 98 .037 s post k land riverine 50 50 9.12 9.98 1.26 1.64 -2.950 98 .004 s a land riverine 50 50 36.78 39.08 4.05 4.28 -2.759 98 .007 s p land riverine 50 50 38.24 38.56 4.79 4.40 1.348 98 .029 s *s = significant, ns = not significant, k = knowledge, a = attitude, p = practice www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 6 table 3 revealed the interaction effect of treatment and school location on participants’ environmental knowledge, attitude and practice as follows; for land knowledge mean scores 8.88±1.44 and 10.00 ±1.76 for land and riverine location respectively with (t = 3.483, p<0.05), attitude mean scores 35.52±2.31 and 38.28±3.73 for land and riverine location respectively with (t = -3.630, p<0.05) and practice mean scores 37.94±4.33 and 39.20±4.08 for land and riverine location respectively with (t = 1.498, p<0.05). while for experimental knowledge mean scores 9.12±1.12and 9.98±1.64 for land and riverine location respectively with (t = 2.950, p<0.05), attitude mean scores 36.78±4.05 and 39.08±4.28 for land and riverine location respectively with (t = -2.759, p<0.05) and practice mean scores 38.24±4.79 and 38.56±4.40 for land and riverine location respectively with (t = 1.348, p<0.05). these results revealed a significant interaction effect of treatment and school location on participants’ knowledge, attitude and practice of environmental 5. discussion the result presented in table 1 mainly revealed the effects of the treatment on participants’ environmental knowledge, attitude and practice and the result revealed significant main effect of the treatment participants’ knowledge, attitude and practices towards water pollution. the treatment changes the participant negative practice towards water pollution. this is finding is in line with the findings of oladapo (2012) and islam and salma (2016). in which it was revealed that participants learn when they participate in finding solution to issues that concern them. the result presented in table 2, which looked into the effect of location on participants’ knowledge, attitude and practice towards water pollution. the results revealed that there is no significant main effect of location on participants’ knowledge, attitude and practice towards water pollution. this finding is in line with the finding of akintola, (2004) in which it is revealed that locations are most times determinant of learning outcome. findings in table 3 show the interaction effect of treatment and school location on participants’ environmental knowledge, attitude and practice. the result revealed a significant interaction effect of treatment and school location on participants’ knowledge, attitude and practice towards water pollution. the result shows that students in riverine location didn’t perform better than those on the land. references ajiboye, j.o. and ajitoni, s.o. 2008. effects of full and quasi-participatory learning strategies on nigeria secondary students’; environmental knowledge:implications for classroom practice. international journal of environmental and science education, 3(2). akintola, b.a. 2004. environmental information requirement: utilization and dissemination in solid waste management organizations in oyo state,nigeria. unpublished ph.d thesis faculty of education, university of ibadan, nigeria. islam, k. m. a., & salma, u. (2016). the role of private universities in higher education of bangladesh: an empirical investigation. international journal of finance and banking research, 2(4), 121-128. gbademosi, v.t. 2012. effect of service learning and educational trips instructional strategies on primary school pupils’ environmental literacy in social studies in oyo state, nigeria. unpublished ph.d thesis faculty of education, university of ibadan, nigeria. ogundipe, r. 2006. introduction to environment issues, causes, effects, and solution. ikofa commercial press ltd, shomolu, lagos. oladapo, s.o. 2012. effect of a participatory environmental education programme on traders;’ knowledge, attitude and practices in waste management in oyo state, nigeria. unpublished ph.d thesis, university of ibadan, ibadan. sridhar, m.k.c. 1986. heavy metal contests of some solid waste in ibadan, nigeria. water, air and soil pollution (usa) 29:51-56. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 58 impact of motherly affection in chokher bali and sons and lovers: a comparative study salma parvin suma assistant professor department of english bangladesh army international university of science and technology cumilla cantonment, cumilla, bangladesh e-mail: salma_979@yahoo.com abstract rabindranath tagore’s chokher bali and d.h lawrence’s sons and lovers are two famous novels in the early 20th century from two different social culture. both these novels have particular important issues in them to be discussed. as in chokher bali we find tagore has presented his idea in feminism, man-woman relationship, woeful condition of widow in his contemporary society etc. in the same way in sons and lovers lawrence has talked about critical mother-son relationship, social bondage among the characters, description of nature, problems in the lives of working class etc. though chokher bali and sons and lovers are from different social context but they can be compared through the commonly discussed issue in them that is complex mother-son relationship and the impact of motherhood to the sons. this paper is going to discuss the impact of excessive motherly affection to the life of son, similarities and dissimilarities in mother-son relationship in chokher bali and sons and lovers. keywords: motherly affection, tagore, lawrence, chokher bali, sons and lovers. 1. introduction d.h. lawrence explores oedipal affinity (son loves his mother more than he loves his father) between mrs. morel and paul which is the central theme of the novel sons and lovers. mrs. morel was not satisfied in her life with her husband and for her emotional fulfillment she turns to her son, first she turns to her eldest son and after his death she turns towards paul, her second son. her love for paul is excessively possessive and also, she dominates and controls his life. paul on the other hand has similar excessive love for his mother. mother-son love relationship is very normal and divine but lawrence presents both mrs. morel and paul by their excessive concern for each other which is very abnormal. paul is fully controlled by his mother even after he has become adult and this has a disastrous consequence on paul’s practical life. on the other hand, tagore’s chokher bali (eye irritant) is the story of a rich jamindar (landlord) family. the family is maintained by rajlakshmi, the widowed wife. mahendra the only son of rajlakshmi is the sole successor of the jamindar (landlord) property as well as of his mother’s love. mahendra is an apple in his mother’s eye. in this novel we find how mother rajlakshmi influences son mahendra’s perceptions and his future course of action throughout. this paper will show this excessive mother-son relationship in chokher bali which is a common and well criticized topic in the novel sons and lovers and also, will show the impact of this possessive motherly affection to the son. 2. authors in brief rabindranath tagore (1861-1941), the only indian to get nobel prize in 1913, the greatest poet, philosopher, novelist, painter and inventor of short story. through his writings he pointed the feudal customs which enhanced the miseries of woman, specially the widows in the society and he believed in progress of women and their liberation from feudal bondage. through the man-woman and mother-son relationships in different stories his target is to give proper position of the women in the society. d.h. (david herbert) lawrence (1885-1929), was an english playwright, poet, journalist, novelist. his writings have talked about british working-class people, complexities of mailto:salma_979@yahoo.com www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 59 relationships, sensuality and industrialization. he spent most of his life as a vagabond and he searched for cooperative culture and landscape. all of his works recorded that search and reveal its remarkable unity of purpose. 3. discussion mother’s love for her son is always divine, special and powerful. though this love is divine and special but the mother should know when to let go of her son and allow him to face the world. the mother-son relation will last forever but that doesn’t mean that one will always control the other. in this regard we find in an article, “it is not healthy for a son to rely on the help of his mother to make decisions. if a son still considers his mother to be the main priority in his life, before even his partner, the relationship is very unhealthy. this can cause the son to feel regret and guilt if he doesn’t stay in contact with his mother but also resent her expectations. as resentment can become guilt and vice versa, a horrible cycle start”. (unhealthy-mother-son-relationships, 12.12.18) in another article we find, “each must let something precious go, but the mother usually feels the sacrifice more because at least her adolescent son has the excitement and satisfaction of growing older to look forward to, while she may mourn the years of easy attachment that have been lost. she will never have her son as little boy again”. (the-challenge-mothering-adolescent-son, 12.12.18) in lawrence’s novel sons and lovers, the mother-son relationship is presented in a profound way. why mrs. morel the mother becomes so compulsive in her relation to her son. it is because the problems she has faced in her own life. her husband mr. walter is an alcoholic, abusive man and does not help her in raising her children. mrs. morel is very protective to her children and she gives her children the love, self-confidence and ambition that they need in order to grow and be happy. apparently, these things are very good about a mother’s love for her son but it has its bad effect too. regarding this there is a critical opinion from chodorow: “fairbairn considers the child’s relationship with its mother as one foundation upon which all his future relationships with love objects are based. his theory of personality and clinical evidence he discusses elaborate and support this claim. even freud whose clinical work and theory provide more insight into later relationships emphasizes the way the mother, through her influence on all subsequent relationships remains as an important inner object throughout her growing infant’s life.” (chodorow p.79) mr. and mrs. morel are representing the cruelty and misfortune of the capitalist industrial civilization. mr. morel is a poor miner and mrs. morel had a middle class, educational background. after marriage they had also happy time but the poverty of life, hardworking and low quality of accommodation had shocked mrs. morel. she was disappointed to her husband and started to pour all her love to her sons. specially to her second son paul. as paul is affected by mrs. morel so he started to hate his father and to him his father is brutal and savage. mrs. morel’s control over paul was so strong that even when he was a grown-up young man and had relation with miriam, he was unable to have a normal affection for miriam. because when he stayed with miriam, he always missed his mother. his true love and affection were only for his mother. even for his mother he decided to separate from miriam, then she says, “i think it will be best….i don’t think she is suited for you,” (lawrence, p. 333) and paul says, “and i shall never meet the right woman while you live…” (lawrence, p. 472) another woman in paul’s life is clara who was a married and sensual woman. though paul was bewildered in the love affair with clara but in this case, he also was failed. in this regard plummer says, “the erotic life of such people remains dissociated, divided between two channels, the same two that are personified in art as heavenly and earthly (or animal) love. where such men love they have no desire and where they desire, they cannot love”. (plummer: 2002, p. 177) he could not really love a woman because his mother influences him too much, which makes him worse in love affair. whenever paul is with his girlfriend, he started to find his mother’s reflection in her. during his relation with the two ladies his body and mind divided into two parts. when he is with his body to his lovers then his mind is with his mother. mrs. morel’s personal abnormal affection to paul was the direct reason of paul’s failure in his love affairs. in order to occupy paul’s whole soul mrs. morel even said to paul—” i have never-you know paul-i have had a husband…” (lawrence, p.218) because of mrs. morel’s abnormal love for paul, his feeling in love relation with other ladies become abnormal. he was fickle, sensitive; feminine even we find lack of masculinity. paul had little communication with other boys. this also becomes the reason of his loneliness after his mother’s death. to paul losing mother is losing everything. so, because of loveless marriage relation between mr. and mrs. morel, mrs. morel has to turn to her son for her emotional fulfillment of love. she didn’t want her son to be like her husband, she wanted her son to be well established. her every thinking about her son was positive but unfortunately her over-protective control over her son creates a bad effect on him, which didn’t give him proper chance to grow physically and mentally that leads him to a tragic life. https://www.learning-mind.com/make-decisions-others/ https://www.learning-mind.com/guilt-complex/ www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 60 chokher bali is a novel of immense sensitivity and awareness of human emotions, weaknesses and wisdom coming in through the way of mistakes. at the same time the novel has presented nice description of man-woman and mother-son relationship. the story of the novel was set around the end of the 19th century and was published in 1903. at that time many women would be widowed at an early age because of the custom of child marriage. society forced the widows to live in discipline. but tagore in chokher bali concentrated the minute attention to mind of the woman characters. in chokher bali tagore relates the story of a rich jamindar family of kolkata. the family is maintained by rajlakshmi, the widow wife of late jamindar with the assistance of annapurna another widow wife of rajlakshmi’s husband’s brother. mahendra is the only spoilt son of rajlakshmi, who has no care for household burden or other job because he is much loved by his mother. as rajlakshmi is an early widowed lady and as the life of the widow was so restricted at that time so rajlakshmi paid her full attention to her son mahendra. at the beginning of the novel mahendra is presented as true child of his mother. even we find though mahendra is a matured man but he does not decide to get married because he thinks this could make a break between him and his mother. by hearing this rajlakshmi pretends that she is very troubled but secretly she feels happy to see that her son is so worried for her. after rejecting so many marriage proposals lastly mahendra gets ready to see a girl for his friend behari, who was like another son to this jamindar family and finally mahendra himself marries that girl. and ironically that marriage was against rajlakshmi’s wish. she didn’t like the married girl asha as she thought that annapurna her widowed sister-in-law cunningly brought asha in the house as a bride so that she could take complete hold over mahendra because asha was annapurna’s niece. mahendra after getting married with asha has completely occupied with asha. his dedication for his mother vanishes quickly. asha an orphan girl had been brought up by the care of her uncle so, she did never get any motherly guidance, care and love, now again she suffers that loss of maternal love in her in-law’s house because of mahendra’s excessive care for her. previously rajlakshmi was angry to asha because she didn’t agree this marriage and now because of mahendra’s full concentration on asha she becomes angrier to her. mahendra forgot everything around him except asha. his need of physical proximity almost maddened him for this reason he could not tolerate that his mother engaged asha into household works all the time. to get asha all the time with him he planned that asha should learn to read. mahendra’s decision regarding asha’s study and her removal from household chores deeply offended his mother who could not tolerate that her son stood in front of her for his wife’s sake. asha became happy with this behavior of her husband but being a novice, she could not understand about her coming miseries. mahendra aloof himself with asha from all of his well-wishers. he never truly understood that love can only give constant happiness to a person if it is not set aloof from the society and reality, otherwise romance and attraction fades away as soon as it becomes a regular practice, instead of a desired and craved for thing. their unlimited romance was offensive for the family members, where the groom and bride have to respect elders and shy away from display of their affections to each other. rajlakshmi fully heartbroken on seeing the violation of moral rules of household by mahendra and his bride so, she decides to leave house for some time so that mahendra could understand true worth of his mother. rajlakshmi after visiting her birth place return to kolkata by bringing with her a relative widow named binodini, who was previously selected by rajlakshmi to get marry with mahendra but at that time mahendra refused. binodini is an educated, beautiful lady soon becomes friend to asha, whom asha called chokher bali or a constant eye irritant. binodini’s beauty, wit, humor and her efficiency in household works very soon exposed in front of mahendra. though mahendra at first avoids binodini but soon he falls in love with her because he found in every sector binodini is higher than timid asha, now asha becomes valueless to him. even rajlakshmi started to think that her son refused to marry such a gem instead of colorless asha. even rajlakshmi feels happy by finding mahendra’s interest in binodini just because of her jealousy to asha but she didn’t know this binodini will be fatal for her. binodini was jealous to asha as she was cared by both mahendra and behari and also binodini thought she could be in the position of asha. so, binodini took it as a challenge that mahendra should desire for her and she did it. on the other hand, rajlakshmi was also jealous to asha that her loving son is away from her because of asha. as a mother-in-law rajlakshmi should take the responsibility to let asha know about her household duty rather she feels jealous to her even she because of her anger to asha was careless about mahendra’s illegal attraction to binodini. when she comes to know about mahendra’s relation with binodini she started to rebuke asha. even at this time she doesn’t find any fault to her son, all faults are with asha and binodini. mahendra decides to leave the house with binodini where asha is nothing to him, then rajlakshmi again tried to find asha’s fault that asha is unable to attract mahendra properly. mahendra’s time of leaving house his mother was very sick but he didn’t care about it. rajlakshmi should think about this fault of her son rather she is searching for asha’s fault because a mother with her motherly affection does never find any fault with her child and for this reason binodini understood mahendra much more than rajlakshmi, she says, “at one time you thought you www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 61 were in love with asha. it was false. now you imagine you are in love with me. it too is false. you love only yourself.” (chokher bali) after mahendra’s leaving of home rajlakshmi was fully heart broken and becomes sicker, she secretly starts to avoid medicine and was just going to die. in this stage of the story asha has got a great change and rajlakshmi started to understand asha’s innocent love for mahendra. lastly after understanding his fault when mahendra come back to her mother, she forgives her son and prays for a smooth life for her son and daughter-in-law .sons and lovers mrs.morel attached with her son because of her unhappy life with her husband who was fully careless for her and the family. mrs. morel wanted to get her social status, financial establishment and fulfillment of personal dreams through her sons what she didn’t get from her husband. but mrs. morel didn’t understand that because of her unlimited expectation and extreme control over her son she has made a great effect in his life. in her death bed when she was suffering from cancer then paul himself give excess morpheme to his mother and in her sleep she died. paul himself is responsible for his mother’s death and after her death he becomes alone and depressed. but at last he decides to turn back towards life and it happens for the first time in his life after his mother’s death. in this regard we can say, “maternal absence is suffered far more than maternal abuse.” (chesler 76) in chokher bali rajlakshmi also wants to get full control over her son as she is a widow. she has lost her husband earlier and according to the social law she didn’t marry again so, her only soul-mate becomes her son, who is an apple in her eye, whom she doesn’t want to lose. up to mahendra’s marriage his surroundings were covered with his mom, aunt and his sole friend bihari. but when she gets asha as his wife he forgot about his surroundings and about his duties and usual behavior. which becomes tough for rajlakshmi to tolerate. according to the irish proverb “a man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest”. (amazing-quotes, 12.12.18) for this reason at the end of the novel everything becomes satisfactory. before the death of rajlakshmi, mahendra understood his fault about his relation with binodini and rajlakshmi also understood the change in asha, who is now perfect for mahendra and for her family. in sons and lovers mrs. morel up to the end of the novel wanted to control her son’s life and wanted to live more with her son. but in chokher bali rajlakshmi at the end of the novel becomes very indifferent about her son. rajlakshmi is now feeling happy by watching her son’s settled life where there is no jealousy and anger. because according to honoré de balzac “the heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness”. (amazing-quotes, 12.12.18) this idea of balzac becomes true for rajlakshmi. 4. conclusion mother’s love can never be destructive; it is always unconditional, divine and powerful. but excessive everything is bad. both mrs. morel and rajlakshmi are over-protective mothers. both these mothers influenced their sons’ future course of action throughout. but every relation has its limitations and if limitations are crossed then obviously it will not bring good result. as paul at the time of her mother’s sickness hastens his mother’s death by giving her extra medicine. may be paul has lost his patience though the description is that paul wanted to release his mother from her death pain. and after his mother’s death though at first, he was depressed but lastly, he is very hopeful about his future because now he is going to get new relations which were denied by his mother. so now he is feeling free from his motherly control. on the other hand, rajlakshmi’s over-protective attitude to her son, made him self-centered and careless about the family member, family honor and even to his loving mother. as we find mahendra became careless at the time of his mother’s sickness and went away with binodini for his own refreshment without thinking about his mother. so rajlakshmi’s excessive motherly love affection spoils her son’s natural instincts, because from the very beginning of the novel we find mahendra’s tendency is to get all things whatever he likes, he did never think about another’s problem. though at the end of the novel both rajlakshmi and mahendra understood their fault and turns tolerable even, rajlakshmi forgives binodini, she says, “everybody has strengths and weaknesses, but she was fond of me. no one could feign such devoted service” (chokher bali). so, we find excessive nothing is good. mother-son relation is divine and it should let divine. mother should let their child free where it is necessary for building a harmonious family and social life as rajlakshmi did at the end of the novel before her death by leaving her son free. references chodorow, nancy j... the reproduction of mothering: psychoanalysis and sociology of gender. berkeley: california up, 1994. print chesler, phyllis. woman’s inhumanity to woman. new york: nation, 2001.print. https://www.learning-mind.com/unhealthy-mother-son-relationships/ (12.12.18) https://quotabulary.com/amazing-quotes-about-mother-son-relationship (12.12.18) https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/surviving-your-childs-adolescence/201011/the-challenge-motheringadolescent-son (12.12.18) https://www.learning-mind.com/unhealthy-mother-son-relationships/ https://quotabulary.com/amazing-quotes-about-mother-son-relationship https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/surviving-your-childs-adolescence/201011/the-challenge-mothering-adolescent-son https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/surviving-your-childs-adolescence/201011/the-challenge-mothering-adolescent-son www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 62 lawrence, d.h. sons and lovers. london: penguin, 1948. print. plummer, kenneth. (2002) sexualities: some elements for an account of the social organization of sexualities. oxford: taylor & francis. tagore, r. radha chakravarty (trans) chokher bali. random house india. new delhi. 2012 copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 7 effectiveness of the use of indigenous language in disseminating climate change information for sustainable environmental development in nigeria adekunle olatumile phd department of adult education adekunle ajasin university akungba-akoko, nigeria e-mail: adekunle.olatumile@aaua.edu.ng phone no: +2347065049411 bola tunde-awe phd department of arts education adekunle ajasin university akungba-akoko, nigeria e-mail: bolajoko.tundeawe@aaua.edu.ng phone no: +2348038082052 abstract climate change has undoubtedly brought with it many seemingly intractable challenges and is already having significant impacts in nigeria, and these impacts are expected to increase in the future. rural dwellers environmental behaviour is not all that positive, because the language used in disseminating environmental issues, is mostly english and not the indigenous language. information disseminated in english language in most cases is not easily comprehended, because most of the rural dwellers are not literate in it. the instrument used is a selfconstructed test. the study adopted the quasi experimental method. purposeful sample was used to select two groups, with twenty people in each group. the two groups were taught the causes and effects of climate change, one group was taught using english language and the other group using yoruba. a test was administered to each group to determine their level of comprehension. data were analysed using mean and standard deviation. yoruba group are more in-depth in their knowledge of climate change than english group. the use of mother tongue is germane in the dissemination of information regarding environmental sustainability, however climate change messages will be most effective if there is mix of english language and yoruba language as there is no segment of the society that will be left out. keywords: climate change, language, mother tongue, adaptation, mitigation. 1. introduction the issue of climate change seems to be the most dominating social discourse in the 21st century because it has undoubtedly brought with it many seemingly intractable challenges. climate can simply be defined as ‘average weather’ and is described in terms of the mean and variability of relevant characteristics such as temperature, precipitation and wind over a period of time ranging from months to thousands or millions of years. climate reflects how weather behaves over the long-term, it is different from weather which is regarded as a particular meteorological condition that humanity experience daily, it is often characterized by precipitation, temperature, wind, and so on. meteorological conditions, like the annual average temperature at the earth’s surface, change over time, and a small change in these conditions can result in ice ages, or warm periods. over the past century, an increase of the earth’s average surface temperature of about +0.76°c has been observed. several natural factors that can influence the climate, include changes in the earth’s orbit around the sun, volcanic eruptions, or heightened or diminished solar activity. however, mailto:adekunle.olatumile@aaua.edu.ng www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 8 the current global warming that humanity is experiencing has been primarily linked to an increased concentration of heat-trapping greenhouse gases (ghgs) such as carbon dioxide (co2), methane (ch4) and nitrous oxide (n2o) in the atmosphere (unesco/unep, 2011). the 2007 intergovernmental panel on climate change (ipcc) assessment report confirms that the warming of the global climate is unequivocal and this is due to human activities (also known as anthropogenic activities) which have been increasing since the dawn of the industrial age. these activities include, among others, the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), clearing of forests, and agricultural practices all of which lead to increased ghg concentration in the atmosphere. the impacts of global warming manifest in conditions such as melting glaciers, increased frequency of extreme weather events such as droughts, cyclones or heavy rainfalls, sea level rise, and changes in plant growth which affect agriculture and food production. these and other observed changes are expected to intensify and inflict a significant impact on human societies and the environment around the world especially if no drastic efforts are undertaken to reduce the emissions of ghgs into the atmosphere (unesco/unep, 2011). there is a discernible human influence on the global climate; put simply, humans have contributed to observed global warming. the current consensus of the scientific community is that the following fundamental conclusions provide only a glimpse of the changes that future generations will have to accept and face (unesco/unep, 2011):  the planet is warming due to increased concentrations of heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere.  most of the increase in the concentration of these gases over the last century is due to human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.  natural causes always play a role in changing earth’s climate, but are now being overwhelmed by humaninduced changes.  warming the planet will cause many other climatic patterns to change at speeds unprecedented in modern times, including increasing rates of sea level rise and alterations in the hydrologic cycle. rising concentrations of carbon dioxide are also making the oceans more acidic.  climate change impacts are already being observed, including more frequent and extreme weather patterns, changes in plant growth affecting agriculture and food production, loss of plant and animal species unable to adapt or migrate to changing conditions, changes in the spread of infectious diseases in terms of the rate and the expansion of ranges, changes in the flow of ocean currents, and changes in seasons.  the combination of these complex climate changes threatens coastal communities and cities, our food and water supplies, marine and freshwater ecosystems, forests, high mountain environments, and far more. the effects of human activities have also been identified in many other aspects of the climate system, including changes in ocean heat content, precipitation, atmospheric moisture and arctic sea ice. 2. mitigation and adaptation proactive efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions – mitigation – and lessen the harm of climate change impact – adaptation – are two different but complementary approaches towards dealing with climate change. mitigation tackles the causes of climate change while adaptation tackles its effects on society and the environment. mitigation is necessary as a means to avoid climate change impacts. the idea that less mitigation now will result in greater climatic change and consequently require more adaptation later is the basis for the urgency surrounding ghg emission reductions. if no action is taken to reduce emissions, the concentration of ghgs in the atmosphere could reach double that of pre-industrial levels by 2035, virtually binding the planet to a global average temperature rise of over 2 °c. in the long term, there would be a greater than 50% chance that the temperature rise would exceed 5 °c. this rise is equivalent to the change in average temperature from the last ice age (10,000 to 12,000 years ago) to date. such a radical change would lead to major changes to where people live and how they live their lives. it would also mean radical changes that will likely impact negatively on each of the world regions. unesco/unep (2011) suggested that the following strategies are necessary to reduce the risks of climate change:  mitigation – the causes of climate change are removed by reducing ghg emissions.“avoid the unmanageable…”  adaptation – www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 9 the effects of climate change are dealt with by coping with their negative impacts. “… and manage the unavoidable” (kropps and scholze 2009). adaptation to observed and projected future climate change is already taking place, though only on a limited basis. some examples of adaptation measures that are being implemented include the introduction of drought tolerant crops, building of houses which are more resistant to weather events, introduction of flood and coastal defences, and restoring mangroves to reduce vulnerability to storm surges and sea level rise (unesco/unep, 2011). 3. climate change impact in nigeria the impact climate change is assuming alarming dimension in nigeria. flooding, cyclone, desertification, ocean incursion, acid rain and so are in the increase and are already having significant impacts in nigeria, and these impacts are expected to increase in the future. recent estimates suggest that, in the absence of adaptation, climate change could result in a loss of between 2% and 11% of nigeria's gdp by 2020, rising to between 6% and 30% by the year 2050. this loss is equivalent to between n15 trillion (us$100 billion) and n69 trillion (us$460 billion). this large projected cost is the result of a wide range of climate change impacts affecting all sectors in nigeria (federal ministry of environment, climate change department 2011). a study by dfid (2009) predicts a possible sea level rise from 1990 levels to 0.3 m by 2020 and 1m by 2050, and rise in temperature of up to 3.2°c by 2050 under a high climate change scenario. this is based on ipcc climate change assumptions, latest research findings and results of a consultation exercise in nigeria. the low estimate predictions are for sea level rise of 0.1 m and 0.2 m by 2020 and 2050 respectively, and a temperature increase of 0.4 to 1°c over the same time periods. sea level rise of 1m could result in loss of 75% of the niger delta (ministry of environment 2010). the national environmental, economic and development study (needs) document identified paucity of information as one of the challenges facing climate change policy formulation in nigeria. it stressed that up-to-date data that is critical for climate change analysis and information dissemination, as well as improve our understanding of the climate problem in the context of sustainable national development, is not readily available in nigeria in a coherent and accessible manner. the country will need to reinforce its efforts at putting in place a comprehensive climate change information management system that is updated periodically and readily accessible (ministry of environment 2010). 4. need for specially packaged information model for climate change information climate change by its peculiar nature calls for a special climate change information design. for example climate information and support services play a critical role in providing early warning systems (eas) as well as increasing awareness for building the capacity and disaster preparedness to a changing climate. choice of of the dissemination channels can influence access and use of climate information and service disseminated to enable the vulnerable groups exposed to climatic hazards build adequate response capacities (cherotich, saidu and bebe 2012) according to menny, osberghaus, pohl, and werner (http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp11060.pdf) climate change is the triggering mechanism for a variety of changes, but it cannot be experienced in itself. the consequences triggered by climate change happen very slowly and can only be determined through statistical analysis of temperature and precipitation data, and by continuous monitoring of their variations and the effects induced on the natural environment such as extreme weather events. these observations and analyses have to take a long view, therefore generating long-term predictions. perusing literature, menny, osberghaus, pohl, and werner (http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp11060.pdf) discovered that all these factors create an image of climate change as a phenomenon in which most people can believe or not since they mainly must rely on scientific models, expert judgments, and media reports. personal http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp11060.pdf http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp11060.pdf www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 10 experiences with potential effects of climate change, e.g. longer drought periods for farmers or more frequent flooding of homes, are rare. therefore it can be assumed that the majority of people rate the risk of climate change on an abstract, cognitive level which might lead to an underestimation of the hazards of climate change. information dissemination is a two way process, passing information, knowledge or ideas from a (source) one person or a group of persons to another person or group of persons (receiver) in a cyclic manner in which the source may turn the receiver and vice-versa. an examination of environmental messages by authors and authorities shows an alienation of most of the people who the messages are meant for. the reason is that the messages are packaged in the language that most people do not understandenglish language. the newspapers content, and most radio and television programmes are designed in english language, not only does the language of packaging make the messages foreign and elite-oriented, it results in the ex-communication of the people for whom messages are meant. olusola (2007) itemised the following significance of indigenous languages to environmental communication: language is primarily a means of conveying meaning from one person to another i.e it is a means of communication. however, it does not exist independent of culture. in other words, language is situated within a socio-cultural setting or community. it is an integral part of culture, a reflection of many features of a given culture. like culture itself, it is a learned behaviour, which can be facilitated or enhanced through direct or indirect context of acculturation. the inseparable nature of language from culture makes it of much significance to environmental communication. as noted by soola (1998) cited by olusola (2007) the success of any development message will be determined by the extent to which such communication is “predicated on an understanding of the society’s culture, its peculiar syatem of values and attitudes” wallace 1996 cited by olusola (2007), also noted that cultural context and intimacy with culture will give a deeper meaning to the understanding of language and the circumstances in which it occurs will determine believability or sense of reality. this aligns with oladipo’s 1995 cited in olusola (2007) view that the meaning of a linguistic expression cannot be established outside the context of the form of social interaction which shapes it. it follows then that indigenous language being a part and carrier of culture is best suited for communicating environmental messages. owens-ibie 2002 quoted by olusola (2007) identifies the acceptability of language of communication to the audience as one of the criteria for thriving environmental awareness campaign. this stresses the significance indigenous language to environmental communication because it is most acceptable language to the audience being an integral part of the culture of the people. wallace 1996 as recorded by olusola (2007) emphasised the point that native language when used in the media, writing or the arts is powerful in bringing about changes in the lives of people. he also stated that the native language heals; it sets the mind positively in whatever endeavour being undertaken and that it is critical to being whole and well. he adds that the native language is a catalyst toward strengthening the concept of becoming; that is, the recognition of the importance of self, getting to know and accepting self. indigenous language has been proved to be very potent in creating a critical mass of real communication for substantial change (burnay, 1997 cited in olusola 2007). fafunwa cited in adekunle 1995 and quoted by (olusola 2007) also noted that indigenous language can be used to raise the standard of living in the rural areas by using them in adult education programmes to teach basic technology. folarin and mohammed 1996 quoted by olusola (2007) had also called attention to the fact that indigenous language press can be a veritable instrument in mobilising the vast majority, who are unlettered in english language, to be involved in the political process. going by the foregoing, it is incontrovertible that climate change information dissemination seems defective in nigeria, hence the submission of mbah and ayegba (2013) that lack of proper information dissemination, is the major problem militating against proper management of human environment. he further argued that a good number of people are yet to be aware of causes and effects of climate change because of lack of proper information dissemination. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 11 5. statement of the problem a perusal of environmental messages shows a disconnect of the target audience of such messages, this is because the messages are disseminated through a language that is not commonly understood by the majority of the vulnerable people. environment messages in newspapers and most radio and television programmes are usually disseminated in foreign language “ not only does the language of packaging makes the message foreign and elite oriented, it results in ex-communication of the people who the messages are meant for”. even the the indigenous language newspaper (alaroye) gives very low coverage to environmental sustainability. a study on development content of yoruba newspapers (salawu, 2002) shows that all the development issues combined take 27.3% of editorial content issues of newspapers analysed. olatumile (2014) content analysed some community newspapers and found that environmental issues were not part of their editorial content. one major challenge facing implementation of policies in nigeria is inadequate dissemination of information, especially to the marginalised rural dwellers. the imperative of communication to environment as it concerns creation of awareness and attitude change demand urgent attention, because the magnitude of environmental problems underscores the urgent need for a more determined approach to solving the problems. rural dwellers environmental behaviour is not all that positive, because the language used in disseminating environmental issues, is mostly english and not the indigenous language. information disseminated in english language in most cases is not easily comprehended. therefore this study is set to make a case for the use of indigenous language in disseminating information on climate change among rural dwellers. 6. purpose of the study  ascertain the difference in the use of mother tongue and english language when disseminating information on climate change among rural dwellers  ascertain the difference in the use of mother tongue and english language when disseminating information on climate change among rural dwellers on the basis of sex  ascertain the difference in the use of mother tongue and english language when disseminating information on climate change among rural dwellers  ascertain the difference between yoruba and english language in the understanding and assimilation of information as regard environmental sustainability 7. research question  is there any difference in the use of mother tongue and english language when disseminating information on climate change among rural dwellers?  is there any difference in the use of mother tongue and english language when disseminating information on climate change among rural dwellers on the basis of sex?  is there any difference in the use of mother tongue and english language when disseminating information on climate change among rural dwellers on the basis of age?  is there any difference between yoruba and english language in the understanding and assimilation of information as regard environmental sustainability? 8. research method the population of the study is inhabitants of akungba-akoko in ondo state nigeria. akungba-akoko is a heterogenous community that is assuming an urban status because it houses a university. with the influx of university students, the population is becoming explosive and it is not devoid of the implication of environmental www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 12 challenges. the instrument used is a self-constructed test. the study adopted the quasi experimental method. purposeful sample was used to select two groups, with twenty people in each group. the two groups were taught the causes and effects of climate change, one group was taught using english language and the other group using yoruba language. yoruba is one of the three major languages spoken in nigeria, it is the language of the people of south west nigeria. data were analysed using mean and standard deviation. research question 1: is there any difference in the use of mother tongue and english language when disseminating information on climate change among rural dwellers? table 1: cross tabulation showing difference in the use of mother tongue and english language when disseminating information on climate change among rural dwellers language scores 40% 60% 80% 100% total english f 4 7 5 4 20 % 20.0 35.0 25.0 20.0 100.0 yoruba f 0 5 5 11 20 % 0.0 25.0 25.0 55.0 100.0 total f 4 12 9 15 40 % 10.0 30.0 22.5 37.5 100.0 the result in table 1 above revealed that most of the participants that got the information in englisg language assimilated with an average performance of 60%. the distribution was such that 4 (20%) of the participants that got the information in english language had 40% on the rating, 7 (35%) had 60% rating, 5 (25%) had rating of 80%, while 4 (20%) had rating of 100%. the findings of participants that got the information in yoruba showed that none had rating of less than 60%. 5 (25%) had rating of 60%, 4 (20%) had rating of 80%, while 11 (55%) had rating of 100%.. these imply that majority of those that got information in yoruba language performed better compared to those that got the information in yoruba performed better compared to those that got information in english language. therefore dissemination of information on environmental sustainability is better delivered using mother tongue. research question 2: is there any difference in the use of mother tongue and english language when disseminating information on climate change among rural dwellers on the basis of sex? table 2: mean and standard deviation summary showing the difference in the use of mother tongue and english language when disseminating information on climate change among rural dwellers on the basis of sex language sex mean std. deviation n english male female total 3.13 3.67 3.45 6.41 1.231 1.050 8 12 20 yoruba male female total 4.57 4.15 4.30 .787 .899 .865 7 13 20 total male female total 3.80 3.92 3.88 1.014 1.077 1.042 15 25 40 from the table above, it was depicted that both males and females that received information on environmental sustainability in english language had similar mean score they all ranged around three. although, there were little difference such that females (m=3.67; sd=1.231) scored higher compared to males (m=3.13; sd=0.641). the findings from the retention of information disseminated in yoruba language indicated that both males and females www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 13 had similar mean score, but contrary to that of english language, males (m=4.57; sd=0.787) performed a little higher compared to their female counterparts (m=4.15; sd=0.899). research question 3: is there any difference in the use of mother tongue and english language when disseminating information on climate change among rural dwellers on the basis of age? table 3: mean and standard deviation summary showing the difference in the use of mother tongue and english language when disseminating information on climate change among rural dwellers on the basis of age. language age mean std. deviation n english 21-30 years 31-40 years 41-50 years 51-60 years total 3.71 3.36 3.00 3.45 1.380 .924 .000 1.050 7 11 2 20 yoruba 21-30 years 31-40 years 41-50 years 51-60 years total 3.00 4.33 4.67 4.00 4.30 .707 .816 1.155 .865 1 9 6 4 20 total 21-30 years 31-40 years 41-50 years 51-60 years total 3.00 4.06 3.82 3.67 3.88 1.063 1.074 1.033 1.042 1 16 17 6 40 the result in table 3 above showed the influence of language on disseminating of environmental sustainability information on the bases of age groupings. the result of those exposed to information in english language revealed that they all had similar mean score ranging around 3. the differences were such that those within the age ranges of 31 and 40 years had the highest impact mean score of 3.71. this was followed by those within the age ranges of 41 and 50 years with mean score of 3.36. lastly were those within the ages of 51 and 60 years. this implies that using english language impacted more in younger individuals better compared to older ones. the result of those exposed to environmental sustainability in yoruba indicated that most of them fall within the mean score of 4. the highest observed were those within the age range of 41 and fifty years with mean score of 4.67. this was followed by those within the age ranges of 31 and 40 years with the mean score of 4.33. the least were those within the age range of 21 and 30 years with the mean score of 3.00, while they were followed by those within the ages of51 and 60 years with mean score of 4.00. the result indicated that the highest dissemination and assimilation of environmental sustainability information in yoruba was among individuals within the ages of 31 and 50 years, while those below and above these groupings were less impacting. research question 4: is there any difference between yoruba and english language in the understanding and assimilation of information as regard environmental sustainability? items response language english yoruba total what is climate change? right f 9 17 26 % 45.0 85.0 65.0 wrong f 11 3 14 % 55.0 15.0 35.0 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 14 one of the human factors that cause climate change is? right f 18 18 36 % 90.0 90.0 90.0 wrong f 2 2 4 % 10.0 10.0 10.0 what method could be used to reduce climate change? right f 16 18 34 % 80.0 90.0 85.0 wrong f 4 2 6 % 20.0 10.0 15.0 what are green house gases? right f 7 16 23 % 35.0 80.0 57.5 wrong f 13 4 17 % 65.0 20.0 42.5 what are the effects of climate change? right f 19 17 36 % 95.0 85.0 90.0 wrong f 1 3 4 % 5.0 15.0 10.0 the result in table 4 above showed the extent to which language could affect the dissemination, assimilation and understanding of information on environmental sustainability. it was indicated on the first item enquiring about knowledge of climate change, majority of the participants (55%) that got the information on english language did not understand it properly. on contrary view, majority of those that got the information in yoruba (85%) understood it, while just 15% did not assimilate the information properly. this implies that it is preferable to pass information on definite meaning of climate change through mother tongue than the use of other formal language. the question about the human factor that causes climate change indicated that participants in both group (english and yoruba) understood and assimilated the information rightly. this was with majority of 90% each getting the message in the right forms. this implies that the dissemination of information on the human factor causing climate change could either be disseminated in mother tongue or english language, this is because it will be well assimilated by the target audience. the response on the method that could be used to reduce climate change indicated that participants that got the information in yoruba understood it better than those that got it in english. this was such that 90% assimilated properly in yoruba while 80% did in english language. this implies that the dissemination of information on method to reduce climate change can best be done using mother tongue since individuals will understand and assimilate better when enlightened through the medium of yoruba. the test on understanding of what greenhouse gas means indicated that majority will better understand this concept if explained in their mother tongue. this was with the findings that showed that most of the participants that got the information in english language were not able to explain the concept (65%). just 35%. from the list of those that got the concept in yoruba language, 80% were able to explain the concept rightly. this implies that information on greenhouse gases are better disseminated in yoruba than in english language. lastly, the table revealed that most of the participants that got the information on the effect of climate change in both languages understood it. although those that got it in english language were higher than those that got it in yoruba language. this was with 95% in english language and 85% in yoruba language. this implies that information on effect of climate change will better be disseminated in english language. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 15 9. discussion findings of the study corroborated the findings of other researchers. for instance, okafo and noah 2014 found that 98.07% of the total respondents opined that the language used in carrying out developmental projects is of great significance to the success of the project. 97.11% respondents believed that when local languages are used in the execution of community development projects, participation is enhanced. 100% of the respondents agreed that the use of local language of the target group is better than the use of foreign language for the purpose of community mobilization. oyero (2007) and islam and salma (2016) in his study found that indigenous language is significant in broadcasting, 88% of the respondents understand radio programme better in their indigenous language. 95% agreed that they derive better meaning from the radio messages when the indigenous language is used. 10. conclusion knowledge is key to sustainable environmental development, as such knowledge of people about climate change is key to the development in the area of sustenance of the environment. the use of mother tongue is germane in the dissemination of information regarding environmental sustainability more in particular the use of mother tongue in dissemination of information seems to be more effective in rural communities who seem more vulnerable, however climate change messages will be most effective if there is mix of english language and yoruba language as there is no segment of the society that will be left out. 11. recommendations  climate change messages should be packaged using a blend of english language and indigenous languages in nigeria.  mother tongue and the its components like folklore, tales, proverbs, riddles songs and the likes should be used in packaging of information regarding environmental sustainability for rural dwellers.  media outfits, environmental professionals, ngos, and environmental activists should translate climate change messages to the indigenous languages of the immediate environment in nigeria..  local government should organise seminars, workshops, and talks in languages of the environment for the purpose of sensitising people about the need to be environmentally conscious.  female children should be encouraged at tender age to cultivate the habit of using mother tongue  production of billboards, posters, handbill, flyers with climate change messages in the language of the environment should be encouraged references centre for european economic research. retrieved from http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zewdocs/dp/dp11060.pdf on 22 may 2016 cherotic v k, saidu o, bebe b o (2012) access to climate change information and support services by the vulnerable groups in semi-arid kenya for adaptive capacity development. african crop science journal 20 (2) 169-180 of the roles of discussion paper no. 11-060 federal ministry of environment (2010) national environmental, economic and development study (needs) for climate change in nigeria (final draft). abuja: federal ministry of environment. federal ministry of environment climate change department (2011) national adaptation strategy and plan of action on climate change for nigeria (naspa-ccn). abuja: federal ministry of environment. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 16 ipcc (intergovernmental panel on climate change), 2007 climate change 2007: impact, adaptation and vulnerability. contributions of workinggroup ii to t5he 4th assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. m l parry,o f canziani, j p palutikof, p j van der liden and c e hanson eds cambridge university press. cambridge, 976 pp islam, k. m. a., & salma, u. (2016). the role of private universities in higher education of bangladesh: an empirical investigation. international journal of finance and banking research, 2(4), 121-128. mba, e e and ayegba m (2013) proper dissemination of information on climate change: a comparative study of the roles of official and indigenous language in nigeria. international journal of physical and human geography. 1 (2): 21-30. menny c, osberghaus d, pohl m, and werner u (n. d) general knowledge about climate change, factors influencing risk perception and willingness to insure. okafo m and noah p (2014) the role of local languages in sustainable community development projects in eboyin state, nigeria. european scientific journal. 10 (35): 272-283 olatumile, a. (2014). “impact of rural newspapers for adult education and development in ondo state, nigeria.” akungba journal of historical studies, 13&14. oyero , o. (2007) dynamics of indigenous language in environmental communication. lagos papers in english studies 1 (1): 228-235. salawu, a (2002) development communication in yoruba newspapers in soola e. o. (ed.) communicating for development purposes. ibadan: kraft books limited. unesco/unep 2011 climate change starter’s guidebook. paris unesco copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 63 nigeria’s population explosion and its underdevelopment imperatives adedokun jonathan olusegun ph.d federal university oye-ekiti department of public administration oye-ekiti, ekiti state, nigeria e-mail: olusegunadedokun2@gmail.com tel: +2348033523021 gabrielfavour eke ph.d department of political science and sociology western delta university oghara, delta state, nigeria e-mail: ekegabrielfavour@gmail.com tel: +2348056175436 abstract this paper discussed the increasing danger of population explosion in nigeria and its implication to available food supply and social infrastructures. the objective of the paper is to show that over population is the reason for high level of illiteracy, wide spread unemployment, poverty and violent crime. the study reveals that with the rate of population increase in nigeria if nothing is done, time will come when it will result to environmental hazards, malnutrition and other infectious diseases. it observed that while other countries of the world like china and india with increasing rate of population like nigeria are making serious efforts through laws and legislation to combat this population increase. the nigerian leaders are not putting any effort to fight this menace rather what is taking centre stage in nigeria is this issue of corruption and embezzlement of government funds. the paper was of the opinion that this attitude of our leaders is what has resulted to unemployment armed robbery, kidnapping, underdevelopment and crises of killing and marginalization. it concluded by suggesting a way forward which includes reduction in early marriages which leads to increase in child bearing, corruption and poverty. finally, it recommended that the government should encourage the people to do away with outdated customs and traditions which make it possible for people lay more emphasis on male children to the extent that unless they have male children, they will not be satisfied. keywords: nigeria population, explosion, underdevelopment. 1. introduction the rate of population increase in nigeria since the end of the civil war in 1970 has become very alarming. nigeria is now seen as the fastest growing country in the world with an estimated population of one hundred and seventy million people (170, 000000). it is seen to be the sixth largest in the world in relation to population (npc 2015). the most ugly and dangerous aspect of this population phenomenon is that as the population of nigeria continues to increase in this fastest rate, the level of underdevelopment continues to widen instead of decreasing. most observers are of the opinion that if nothing drastic is done time will come when the population will grow to the extent that the nigerian leaders will be very confused and will not know what to do about it. as it stands now, nigeria is the most populous country in the sub-saharan africa, and also the tenth most populous in the world after china and india npc (2015). the danger of this is that while other countries of the world like china and india are making serious efforts to grapple with the rate of population in their own area, the nigerian government is not doing any significant thing to handle this population increase rather what is taking most centre stage in nigeria is the high rate of corruption and underdevelopment of the citizens and the country. this level of population explosion is more in the youth who are affected by both poverty and unemployment. the (undp 2007) mailto:olusegunadedokun2@gmail.com www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 64 reported that the youth below the ages of 21 and above constitute (49%) fourth nine percent while their dependency rate is estimated at 89%. most nigerian states are presently experiencing one of the most crushing and widespread incidence of poverty in the world with close to 70% of her population living below the poverty line, with low level of industrial development and large number of unemployment. this notwithstanding, the value of live has deteriorated and social infrastructures are completely absent. (nddc 2006). the reason why any reasonable nation must fight population increase is because of its direct consequence on food consumption and other serious consequences or outcome which includes malnutrition problems, lack of social institutions high level of illiteracy and widespread unemployment, ignorance and political apathy. the most harmful aspect of it is that the people will be frustrated because of hunger and will antagonize and molest anybody believed to be directly related or connected to the government which they believe is the cause of their suffering. this is the reason you noticed widespread chaos, anarchy, violence crisis in countries with over population and high rate of underdevelopment. the nigerian situation is worse in the sense that nigeria with its abundant mineral and natural resources especially high crude oil exports which account for 6o percent of its gross domestic product. also nigeria is the sixth world’s largest producer of oil and the nigerian oil is the second best in the world (sodaro 2001). it is estimated that the nigerian government has taken more than 320 billion worth of crude oil since the ends of the 1970. arolowo (2006), with all these, should the nigerian state still be talking about poverty, hunger and underdevelopment. the nigerian population is expected to increase to 200 billion 2019 due to high fertility rate bureau for statistics 2015). yet nothing, no serious effort is been made by the government to handle this population increase. the population will continue to increase in those countries with high rate of fertility and unemployment. it will also increase the level of crime and criminality because available statistics have shown that population increase is mostly more in the area of youth and people below the age of 21 years who have no job and when the government of the day has not made any necessary provision for their future. most urban centers in nigeria have started experiencing the effects of over population, some are now living under very dirty environment and the government has few resources to grabble with this and to conduct an adequate census population to know the real figure. in such towns like lagos, onitsha, aba, kano and ibadan etc more than twenty people share one apartment and one bathroom and toilet, in fact the population has shifted from the rural to the urban areas. those living in these areas each day continue to feel the impact of over population. people shifts to the town, because the enabling environment to survive in the villages are not there. no water, electricity and others. the major objectives of this paper is to state the effects of over population and its consequent impact on the economy leading to underdevelopment. the paper is structured into the following, conceptual clarification, reasons for over population and its effects, underdevelopment theoretical framework of analysis, conclusion and the way forward. 2. conceptual clarification the issue of population explosion has become a very serious problem in nigeria, it has equally affected most urban centers in nigeria with effect that these cities have become over populated and people are overcrowded in small apartment and the area constituting a problem in terms of environmental hazards, death problems and the spread of infectious diseases. obueh (2015) sees population explosion to occur where there is a dramatic decline in death rates, dramatic rise in birth rates and a consequent sharp increase in the average life expectance. he also stated that a population is the total number of people in a given country. while aluko (2011) agreed that the phenomenal growth of our towns and cities has given rise to conurbation and metropolitan increase. it has equally resulted into traffic congestion, slums, shady towns, waste management, housing, pollution, poverty etc. these has affected the availability of houses, and resulted to scarcity of houses and growing increase in slumps and environmental hazards and other health problems. reacting to dangers of population explosion emine (2011), was of the opinion that there is great fear of the adverse effect of this population increase on the economy of nigeria while the npc (2015) stated that population is said to have over increased when the rate of increase in population surpasses the rate of increase in per capital output that the poverty level threatens the economy. makama (2011) observed that over population can be an advantage but if it is not controlled and planned, it may become a problem to the economy of the nation. the english dictionary of the 18th century defined population explosion as a sudden large increase in the number of people in an area. it also sees population or over population as a situation where a large number of people live in an area while population is the total number of people living or concentrated in a particular area or city. considering the negative consequence of population explosion adonri (2003), outlined some other consequences of population explosion in the area of health and reproductive life circle particularly on women. he went on to state that population and health care are closely related in relation to the danger and risk in women pregnancies and delivery, and if nothing is done at this level to control and manage the risk involved by planning so as to prevent www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 65 high level of pregnancies the impact will be too much. this has affected or resulted in the housing problems in most nigerian cities, it has resulted into crisis situation manifesting itself in quantitative and qualitative form like rudimentary infrastructure, congestion, unhygienic condition, high densities and absence of organization as it is seen in most urban areas. in akhiojemi (2001), sees the effect of population explosion as enormous in the sense that it will affect the economy negatively both in the quality of education and economic development, it will impasse on housing facilities, labour, training and health. the gap between the low and high income rate in terms of the quality of education will have adverse effect in the educational pursuit. population reference bureau prb (1997), sees over population as the condition of having more, people than can live on the earth in content, happiness and health and still leave the world a fit place for future generation. 3. reasons for over population it is not news to state that the rates of population increase in nigeria in recent times have become very alarming and astonishing in comparison to the availability of resources at present. the (npc 2015), stated that in the early sixties and after the independence of nigeria the population was around 55 million and even with result of the first population census that was conducted in nigeria immediately after independence, but now the estimated population of nigeria is about 200 million. there are many reasons for all these increase. the number one reason for increases in population is the increase in technology which has given rise to the reduction in death rate and has increased the number of birth. some have agreed that the greatest threat of the future of humanity is the case of population explosion. the united nation population fund (2000) was of the opinion that the total number of people in 1980 was 4.4 billion and the rate will get to 6 billion in the year 2000 and it is likely to reach 10 billion by the year 2025 and get to 14 billion by the end of the next century unless birth control drastically reduced. in some countries like china the birth rate has been fixed to one child pay family, but in nigeria nothing is significantly being done. the birth control system is not working at all. here you still see a family having up to seven to eight children not minding where the resources to take care of these numbers will come from. most environmental scientist predict that the world’s population will be between 10 and 20 billion within the next 50-100 years, white nigeria with an average population growth rate of 2.56% and contributing 4% of the world yearly population. nigeria growing population 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 the estimated total population of nigeria in the year near future (globalise interactive world, may 2005). the danger to this population explosion issue is that time will come when the resources available will not be able to cater for this massive increase and the ecosystem will be over heated or over used. another reason for this population explosion particularly in nigeria is this traditional believes system. before the independence and immediately after the civil war, it is believed traditionally that a man who has many children is a very rich man because those children will help him to cultivate the farm and this will lead to increased food crops or agricultural production. this is because by the year 1970 and before agriculture was the main stay of t o ta l p o p u la ti o n i n m il li o n 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2005 2015 2050 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 66 nigerian economy. this made most men to marry many wives and produced many children. also by this time emphasis was not placed on western education. but now, it has become necessary to send children to school and to reduce the illiteracy rate. the cause of things or living has been too high that families have beginning to find it difficult to cope with the cause of living. another factor is the emphasis placed on the value of male children the female will marry while the male children will continue the family lineage. this is the reason why many people who have not gotten male children continue to produce children until they are able to have the male child. in africa and nigeria in particular they believe is that if you have not gotten a male child it is assumed that you have not started, this is the reason for families having many children more than they can cope with. most people have come to believe that one of the greatest factors is the improvement in health facilities. people can now survive all kinds of ill health and diseases. the thousands of people who would have died now survive the attacks and all kinds sickness, comparing this to early times when only malaria alone was a very serious disease that can kill any time but now it no longer a threat, most of those dangerous diseases like cholera, hiv disease, malaria can now be handled and people living with these disease can still survive under serious medication unlike before now. poverty and unemployment, these two go together. there is no controversy or argument over the relationship between these two factors. when somebody is unemployed, that person is poor, as long as they stay at home without going to work, the tendency is for them to sleep and make love with their wives and husbands. poor people see sex as the only source of enjoyment. check all poor people around have the highest number of children, with the highest number of illiteracy. this is the reason why the illiteracy rate is very high among the poor and jobless group. it is also at this level you see a high level of broken homes and single parent groups with high level of crime rate. “an idle mind they say is the devils workshop” if the government wants to control population increase and birth rate, attention should be directed on the jobless and poor people in the villages who have different mentality as concern child bearing. early marriages; this factor is also located around the jobless and poor people. although some religions and traditions encourage early marriages not only that this increases the number children it also has negative effect on the health of the girl child that in given into early marriage when she had not yet known what marriage is all about. in most cultures, women marry earlier than men. considering the age of their innocent girls who are given into early marriages they have nothing to contribute to the economy of the nation chinweike (2011). most of these young women who have no job to do and have no opportunity to go to schools turned themselves into commercial sex workers obueh (2015). some also decides to take greater risk to go to abroad for sex job, this also while doing this produce unwanted babies we have seen this from many of the girls repatriated from libya and other african countries, came back with babies and pregnancies. 4. effect/impact of population explosion in nigeria from the time of industrial revolution to the independence of nations, people have been afraid of the rising abnormal growth of population. the great economist malthus in (1803) looking at the rate population growth posed the question whether the rate of population increase will match with the availability of resources. this resulted in what he called the optimum population of a nation. people like adonri (2003) and onwuka (2003) have also stressed the implication and effect of population explosion, they were afraid with the rate of women pregnancy rate in nigeria with its resultant effects in the number of child’s birth. they were of the opinion that if nothing is done, not only that it is going to have negative effect on demographic change, but the health implications will be very dangerous. they went on to advice that reducing the rate of pregnancy increase wills equally creates impact on the quality of mothers and their child in nigeria. some people in the past have made a case after increase population; however, the recent over burden on the earth surface have contributed to the dysfunction of earth surface which many have been talking about the protection of the ozone layer. it has also affected the rate of fertility and birth rate. in most of our urban centre today is overheated with population explosion some places like lagos, onitsha, and ibadan etc. people live under bridges and slums, most of our health centers are more shadow of itself. some specialist hospitals are now more consulting clinics this is as result of over population and large number of people to be attended to. in nigeria today people live below 51 dollar per day. the condition of lives have become too critical for most homes that have many children to carter for, because of is difficult to take more than one square meal per day. in most houses, 10-20 people share one toilets and one bathroom, the quality of food is very poor with low nutritional value and lack of balance diet. it has very serious negative effect in energy consumption, carbon emissions, air pollution and serious disease infections. taking lagos and onitsha alone with the level of environmental degradation in nigeria one can reason and estimate the level and the state of environmental condition www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 67 these towns will be in the next 15 years. as the number of people increase and double the space available remain the same and the available food resources remain stagnant, this will result to a lot of serious diseases and other dangerous factors which the government of the day will not be able to contain. for example the available geographical factor of nigerian area remains limited to (923,768 square kilometer) and the current growth rate of population continues to increase on this fixed factor, this will result to a very serious negative factor. other negative factors as stated by hughes (1997) that population explosion was responsible for about 54% of human environmental problems. they were of the opinion that population density contributes to deforestation which is responsible for environmental depletion. in recent times, people have attributed population increase to be responsible for endemic unemployment in nigeria. according to (federal republic of nigeria 2004) the figure has risen to 17 percent perineum to 60 percent for the youth without jobs. increase in population is one of the factors responsible for many road accidents in our roads, most vehicles carry overloads to accommodate many, the reason for this is because of pressure from home to meet up with the high demands for food at home. in less developed areas, particularly our village’s population explosion will place a high demand upon the economy for social amenities. it will have negative effect on health and sanitation facilities which are in short supply. in our schools high rate of population increase will affect medical facilities and training of health personnel since most of these facilities are in short supply. some claim that high population always has some positive effects on the economy. this is not the case of the third world countries, there is no third world country in recent times that there high population has helped. most of them are languishing in hunger and poverty with high rate of corruption. the increase in population which supposed to have helped them tap their mineral resources, have only ended up in explosion, the cities and most urban centers with large number of people living in one concentrated area looking for the job that is not available. it is true that such high population could have helped them if not that their leaders are agents of the international capital who service their godfathers abroad, whom they make return to at the detriment of their citizens. they steal and embezzle government money and transfer it abroad for self-keeping. this is the reasons why there are no jobs and it increases the level of unemployment. 5. theoretical framework of analysis in considering this work, demographic tradition theory will be more relevant in the analysis of this study. this theory provides a historical insight into the population problems of most developing countries of the world. it tries to explain why all developed countries in contemporary times have passed through three stages of population history. it postulates the following sequence of demographic patterns based on population changes which were generally observed in advanced countries. stage i: the pre-industrial or pre-transition phase. this stage had a very slow growing population as a result of high birth rates accompanied by high but slightly fluctuating death rates. this is the feature of the preindustrial society that is before economic modernization. the second stage which is the transition stage, this had a rapid growing population or population explosion as a result of high birth rates and low death rates. this is what is noticed in the economy at the industrial take off stage. this occurs with presence of modernization with the improvement in the public and private health better diet and high income etc. many of the third world countries are found in this stage of this population explosion phase. the last stage is the post transition stage. this is marked with declining in birth rate and low death rates. the argument against this demographic transition theory is that it is a fact and not a theory. the argument is that it is a fact which is relevant to the european experience and should not be applied to the african and the third world nations. the argument went on to state that high birth rate is not the only measure of fertility as a theory try to prove. while the different causes of population decline may be different in different countries this theory was a follow up to reverend thomas malthus in 1798. at the time of this theory, population has become a problem in england which influenced this theory. at that time there was a rapid increase in population while food supply was increasing at a very low rate, wages were equally very low while cost of living was very high, there was suffering especially with people with low increase rate because at this time population tended to outgrow the food supply. he argued that with population increased at a geometric progression example 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 etc, food production increased only at an arithmetical progression example 2, 4, 6, 8 10, 12 etc. he therefore thought that in future if nothing is done there will be shortage of food to feed the increasing population. 6. conclusion i have stated here that with the rate of population increase in nigeria together with its resulted increase in underdevelopment and the level of youth unemployment in nigeria, the least to say is that nigeria as a nation state www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 68 is seating on a tent peg waiting for explosion. the accompanying increase in chaos, anarchy. youth restiveness, armed robbery, kidnapping and crisis of killing in nigeria has become a sad story. there is no day you listen to the radio and television in nigeria you will not hear one story of killing or armed robbery case particularly in the states like benue, taraba, plateau, edo and even states in the eastern part of nigeria. the reasons for all these are very clear over population with effect on absent of social infrastructure and issues of lack of development and marginalization. as long as the youth are rooming about without jobs, that is increasing unemployment and they are hungry then the resultant effect would be crisis and armed robbery. this is the reason most of them hide under the guise of religion to commit crimes. as of now these is no serious law stopping anybody from having plenty children. some family still produce up to ten and eleven children. the issue of control of population is not in the big book or part of the policy of the present government and the past ones. most of our leaders are too corrupt that what could have led to the provision of infrastructure and developing the area have been stolen and take abroad, whether population is increasing or not is not there problem. having looked at the factors that lead to population explosion such as poverty, the truth is that most families that are poor see sex as the only source of enjoyment and this always lead, to more children. the issues of customs and tradition which is linked to belief system always encourage more children without looking at the necessary consequences or the after effects of it. the behavior of our leaders both present and the past not making any serious effort to handle the issue of over or increasing population rather they are only interested in looting the treasury for them own selfish purpose. the government should encourage people or families to embark on family planning and should issue out laws or policies to compel families to reduce the number of children to a very barest minimum. if no drastic thing is done, the rate the population is increasing now, nigeria may head to a disaster and chaos as a result of unemployment hunger and underdevelopment. 7. recommendation all over the world today, particularly, china, india etc these government are doing much to control their population, so, the government of nigeria should embark on electronic and other necessary medium to encourage and sensitize the citizens to do family planning. another necessary factor that can reduce over population is for the people do away with some of these outdated customs and traditions whereby if a man has not gotten a male child, he would not believe that he has children, this is a serious factor that lead to polygamy and many children. it is however recommended that early marriage should be discouraged. the most dangerous factor that encourages over population is corruption. it is this that leads to underdevelopment. when the people have no job to do and are at home the only source of enjoying is sex which leads to pregnancies. the illiteracy level in nigeria particularly in the north and in the eastern part of the country is very high, when they do not read and write and do not know how to control child birth they will continue to produce. another one is the issue of early marriages particularly in the northern part of the country where young girls marry before they know anything this also encourages over population. their culture also permits early marriages. however, technological improvement, which has drastically reduced death rate has equally given room for over population. on this note, the whole blame is on the leader and government of the day, to reduce corruption and make both policies that will improve the living condition of the people and make better policies that will reduce over population. references adonri, o. 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(2015). world population data sheet of the population reference bureau, washington. sodaro m.j. (2001) comparative politics, a global introduction, mc. grawhill higher education new york. undp (2001). population, environment and development: the concise report, new york united nations. unpf (2000). world population policies new york, united nations. yesufu, m. (2000). the human factor in national development nigeria ibadan spectrum book. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 38 implications of short message service (text messaging) on english languge writing and learning among secondary school students: a case study of some selected secondary schools in olorunda local government area of osun state, nigeria atoyebi adeola olusegun department of educational foundations and counselling obafemi awolowo university, ile-ife, nigeria e-mail: adeola671@gmail.com adesina taiwo rebecca department of educational foundations and counselling obafemi awolowo university, ile-ife, nigeria abstract the study investigated commonly used abbreviated words among the sampled population. it also determined the difference between those that abbreviated words and those that did not abbreviated words. the study revealed the list of abbreviated words in the study. and also ascertained which gender abbreviated words most. these were with a view to provide information on the implications of sms language on english language writing and learning of the students. the study adopted quantitative survey research design. the population for the study comprised 83 senior secondary school students in olorunda local government, osun state. the sample size comprised 100 respondents, selected using multistage sampling technique. one local government area (lga) was selected from thirty local governments in the state using simple random sampling technique. from the lga, four senior secondary school was selected using simple random sampling technique and from each school, 25 students were selected from senior secondary school ii using simple random sampling technique. the students were taught for forty minutes on how to write a letter devoid of using abbreviated words and after the lesson, the students were asked to write a letter to their father informing him about social amenities in your school. those letters were collected, marked and converted to data for this study. data collected was analyzed using simple percentages. those letter were collected, marked and converted to data for this study. the result showed commonly used abbreviated words by the respondents such as, pls (please) 9 times by 9 students, u (you) 26 times by 10 students , and fyn (fine) 5 times and so on. the result also revealed 51 students (representing 61.4%) did not abbreviated words in the letter writing and 32 students (representing 38.6%) abbreviated words in the letter. the result showed that female gender was the gender that abbreviated words most in the letter with 49% and male with 35%. lastly, the result also revealed percentage of students that used abbreviated words 38.6% of the students used abbreviated words while 61.4% of the 100% total population did not used abbreviated words the study concluded that use of abbreviated words did not have effect on english language learning and writing among secondary school students in olorunda local government, osun state. keywords: english language learning and short message service. 1. introduction 1.1 background to the study the school is a formal organization established for the teaching and learning of reading, writing, numeracy and communicative skills. secondary school education is education between primary education and tertiary education. all students must pass through secondary school education before he or she can gain admission into tertiary institution. the federal republic of nigeria (frn) (2013) in the national policy of education recognized english language as a compulsory cross-cutting subject along with other subjects namely: general mathematics, www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 39 trade/entrepreneurship subject and civic education. therefore, english language has remained a medium of instruction for all subjects from basic levels to tertiary level in nigeria and other countries in the west-african subregion. consequently, english language has remained the official language of communication and instruction for all subjects from basic to tertiary levels in nigeria and many other countries. it is a core subject that must be offered and passed (with a minimum of a credit) at the junior and senior secondary school level as a prerequisite for admission to study any course in higher institutions. the knowledge of english language at all levels of education helps in understanding other subjects taught at school except indigenous languages like french, yoruba, igbo and hausa language. despite the laudable importance and use of english language as a medium of instruction and language of communication in the wider society of nigeria, it has been noted that english language competence of the nigerian secondary school students has been on a steady decline over the years (fakeye, 2012). the general weak command of people in the use of this important language also reflects in the day-to-day use of the language among people of diverse age groups and socio-economic status. unfortunately, this decline is quite noticeable in the mass failure of students in english language in public examinations and which may be due to abbreviation of words when writing. it has been noticed by researchers that the report had it that students failed english language in particular because of the following deficiencies such as weakness in skills of writing, construction of loose sentences, transliteration from the mother tongue, abbreviation of words and abuse of the basic rules of grammar. many candidates scored zero under mechanical accuracy aspect of the essay. candidate’s errors were listed under wrong spellings, wrong usage of concord, tense usage, poor construction of verb and abbreviation of words in particular whereby the examiner (marker) will not understand what the abbreviated words means thereby scoring the students zero. these unwholesome situation remained the same in 2009 as 356,981 (25.9 %) of the 1,373,009 candidates that sat for wassce made distinctions and credit grades. in 2010, the percentage of students who made distinctions and credit grades in english dropped to 24.9% because only 337,071 made credit and distinctions grades out of 1,351,557 candidates that sat for the examination. the chief examiner’s reported for 2009 showed that failure of the subject was due to the following problems: spelling errors, ignorance of the proper use of punctuation marks, ignorance of the proper use of capital letters and small letters and used of abbreviated words in many parts. others are ignorance of the difference between the present and past tenses, inability to re-state the ideas of a passage in different words and expressions and the inability to identify parts of speech and their functions in sentences. the foregoing remark by the chief examiner suggested that spelling errors, ignorance of the proper use of punctuation marks, and ignorance of the proper use of capital, small letters and abbreviation of words can be attributed to various limiting factors that students often hold tightly to over the years. these limiting factors include but are not limited to use of slangy languages, pidgin english and even the recent short message service (sms) texting language style that unconsciously interferes with ones spellings in formal writings. short messaging service (sms) texting is a practice that involves the sending of messages through the short messaging service (sms) of a mobile phone using abbreviated words and sentences shortened into alphanumeric formats. it is a general term that is used to refer to the short written messages usually sent through phone and other portable devices via a telecommunication network. sms according to oladoye (2011) was first used in december 1992 by a 22-year old named neil papworth. he says that the concept of sms was developed by friedhelm hillebrand, bernard ghillebaert and oculy silaban in 1984, in the franco-german gsm cooperation. since the invention, the mobile telephone has been the latest way to communicate quickly. sms is a generic part of a phone, web or mobile communication system that supported the exchange of short messages between people. dansieh (2011) defined text messaging as the practice whereby users of mobile and portable devices exchange brief written messages via cellular networks. it is used in place of voice calls in circumstances where it may be impossible or inexpedient. tomita (2009) defined the technology of sms as a communications protocol used to deliver short text messages, up to 160 characters, via global systems for mobile communication (gsm) enabled mobile phones. uhunmwangho (2009) defined a text message as “any linguistic event, usually a written form of speech that is imbued with meaning”. ong’onda, matu and oloo (2011) observed that the european journal of language studies terms ‘text messaging’ or just ‘texting’ referred to the brief typed messages sent using the short message service (sms) of mobile/cell phones, personal digital assistants (pdas), smart phones or web browsers. the sms (short message service) is one of the latest and quick forms of written communication since the invention of mobile phone technology. the effectiveness of this medium of communication depends on the appropriate combination of the alphabets, letters, template pictures, figures and even punctuation marks by one known as ‘the sender or texter’ to another ‘the message recipient’. this communication technique is currently in used in advertisements, newsletters, television and by people on social media. many people generally believed that www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 40 mobile phones unlike the conventional landline telephone system that were in existence before now have revolutionized communication because of the many facilities embedded in the phones. apart from engaging in voice communication, substituting as cameras, clocks, radio sets and a host of other utilities, it offers users the opportunity of sending text messages popularly referred to as short message service (sms). the ‘sms’ is a miniature and abridged style of transmitting written information. text messaging as a form of communication involved communicating through a composed message or a piece of information typed using the phone’s alphabetical keys which is then sent to the intended recipient who reads the visual written message or information. this style of communication became prominent in nigeria with the introduction of the mobile phones (handsets/gsm). this sms style of communication is used for different communication purposes such as exchanging information on events; invitation to religious, social, political, academic meetings, making business contacts and sending goodwill messages among others (taiwo, 2009). scholars argued that this form of communication has systematically revolutionalized human communication system the world over and has systematically transformed written communication (atanda & umar, 2006; oluga & babalola, 2012). it is observable that people generally spend a greater part of their time communicating in one form or the other. aside making phone calls, sending messages has become second nature of communication for many people. this mode of communication through texting is a common habit especially among youths who constituted students in secondary and tertiary institutions in nigeria. many reasons adduced for this form of communication include that; it saves time and energy, it is quick in message delivery, it does not adhere to the rules of english grammar, it is relatively cheap, it is more convenient than making calls, it allows for creativity in writing, it is used in establishing new and re-enforcing old relationships etc. young people in particular are increasingly prone to texting and the implication is that the speed at which texting takes place, is the speed at which mistakes and short hands used in texting are becoming common place in most of their writings including academic works. in as much as mobile phone usage and telecommunication has been one of the many successes of the twenty-first century, many people especially teachers have expressed concern at the rate at which literacy levels are dropping among youths and children. educationists also have observed that text messaging is completely devastating the english language. according to dansieh (2011) some teachers, parents and students themselves are expressing concerns that students’ writing skills stand the risk of being sacrificed on the altar of text messaging. it is arguable that before this mobile technology came into existence, school children in the 1960s and 1970s were far more literate in terms of usage of the english language and essential writing skills than school children of today. in recent times, the average school child struggles more with spelling, grammar and essay-writing. these essential skills were before now considered key to a good grasp of the english language. scholars still insist that sms language has seemingly destroyed the way school children read, think, and write the conventional english language. o’connor (2005) reported that the more students use tools like instant messaging, the less they are able to separate formal and informal english. for instance, they abbreviate “y-o-u”, as “u”. he also observed that another major problem currently being noticed is that students no longer punctuate accurately but instead, their text messages often contain run on sentences and hardly punctuations. he further argues that papers are being written with shortened words, improper capitalization and punctuation, and characters such as &, $, @ and so on. one may therefore rightly argue that sms language (abbreviated words) discourages complex vocabulary and prevents the creation of longer, more sophisticated phrases. a pertinent question that society must answer therefore is – has text message usage affected the way students presently use and learn the english language? and if it has, is it for better or for worse? 1.2 aims and objectives the aims and objectives of this study are  to examine the influence of sms on the spelling skills of the selected students,.  investigate the extent to which sms language influences the writing performance of the sampled population.  to determine the gender that abbreviated words most in writing(male or female) 1.3 research questions the following research questions will guide the study:  what is the level of texting messaging of secondary school students in osun state?  what gender makes use of abbreviations of words most while writing?  what are the commonly used abbreviated words by participants?  what is the difference between students that abbreviated words and those that did not abbreviated words in the study? www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 41 2. methodology a qualitative methodology was chosen for this study. it was used because of the nature of this study because it requires students’ responses in letter writing. the population for the study consisted 100 respondents, selected using multiple sampling technique. one local government was selected from all the local government in the state using simple random sampling technique. from the local government, 4 schools were selected using simple random sampling, 25 senior secondary school ii students were selected using simple random sampling technique from olorunda local government area of osun state. experimental design studies characteristics and opinions of relatively small samples of a population through which it seeks to determine the incidence and distribution of such characteristics and opinions in the larger population. this study adopted this research design because it sought to obtain information from a representative sample of the population which the information was gotten via letter writing. the dependent variable was english language learning. the independence variable was short message service. this study seeks to find out the effect of short message service on english language learning. the data for this study was collected through teaching of the ss ii students letter writing for forty minutes on how to write a letter devoid of abbreviations. after the forty minutes teaching the student were given this topic to write on; write a letter to your dad informing him on social amenities in your school and they were given 30 minutes to write it. those letters were collected, marked and converted to data for this study. 3. results: the results of the study were presented based on the research questions and hypotheses generated for the study. four research questions and three hypotheses were raised. the results are presented in the order of arrangement. note: 100 participants were used for this study but only 83 responses were gotten 3.1 used of abbreviated words and corrected words by respondents abbreviated words corrected words 1@, ur at, your 2 fyn, u, u, pls fine, you, you, please 3 mom, dad mummy, daddy 4 ao, ur, 5n, 5n how, your, fine, fine 5 ur your 6 u, fyn, y, dat, dey you, fine, that, day 7 u, fyn, ok, au you, fine, okay, how 8 dis, 2marrow this, tomarrow 9 u you 10 2, 4 to, for 11 pls, 2, 4, u, 2 please, to, for, you, 12 to 13 ok okay 14 2, u, pls, 4word, skulto, you, please forward, school 15 fyn, u, dat, skull, dat, d fine, you, that, school, that, the 16 ur, pls, d, 2, u, 2 your, please, the, to, you, to 17 how, u, dat, d, 2day how, you, that, the, today 18 u, u, ti you, you, till 19 u, u, u, d, u you, you, you, the, you 20 how, u how, you 21 fyn, 2day,pls fine, today, please 22 gud, u, ur, ok, d, skull, u good, you, your, okay, the, school, you 23 pls please 24 u, hw you, how 25 u, edu you, education 26 hw, u how, you 27 u you 28 u you 29 5n, 4, u fine, for, you 30 ur, u, 4, u, skul your, you, for, you, school 31 pls please www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 42 32 2, dat to, that male students that participated = 34 (representing 41% of the total population) female students that participated= 49(representing 59% of the total population) note: these are the number of students that used abbreviated words in their letters and the total of number of students that participated in the study was eighty-three (83). the remaining 51 students did not abbreviated words. source: field work by the researcher in 2018 3.2 research question 1: calculate the difference between students that abbreviated words and those that do not abbreviate words. total number of students = 83 number of students that abbreviated = 32 number of students that didn’t abbreviation= 51 result = highest – lowest 51-32 = 19 answer = 19 this means that 19 students falls between students that abbreviated and those that did not abbreviate. 3.3 research question 2: list of commonly used abbreviation words number of students number of times used pls 9 9 u 22 26 fyn 5 5 please 8 8 3.4 research question 3: which gender abbreviated words most in the study? total number of males that participated was 34 1) male gender that abbreviated words 12 × 100 34 × 1 answer = 35.3% 2) female gender that abbreviated words 3) 24 × 100 4) 49 × 1 5) answer = 49% therefore, female students was the gender that abbreviated words most 3.5 research question 4: implications of abbreviation on letter writing total number of students = 83 students that abbreviated words = 32 students that did not abbreviated words= 51 (i) percentage of students that used abbreviated words 32 × 100 83 × 1 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 43 answer = 38.6% this means that 38.6% of the total population of the students used abbreviated words in this study. that is, used abbreviated words in their letter writing. (2) percentage of students that didn’t used abbreviated words 51 × 100 _________________________________________________________________ 83 × 1 answer = 61.4% this indicated that 61.4% of the students used in this study did not used abbreviated words in their letter writing. finally, this means that abbreviation of words did not have effects on english language learning and writing 4. discussion of findings according to (ling 2010), young adults 19 to 21 years of age have reached the peak of using text messaging in their life phases. (craig 2003) argues that young people who use instant messaging – and therefore enter into a practice of using slang and phonetic replacements subconsciously increase their knowledge of metalinguistic the skill of understanding language and culture – thus experiencing “tangible increases in overall literacy”. this shows that it is not all a waste of time but texting actually causes learners to improve in the culture of the language since no language is learned without the culture of the people who speak it. from the examination of sms and the input of other schools of thought, we realize that sms has come with its own lexicon which is somehow different from the english language contracted forms that we know. the use of sms in communication has greatly eased communication in the last ten years. according to research question one; large number of students did not abbreviate words. the use of sms cannot only be seen as a negative force in the academic world. with constant use of short forms, students can take down classroom notes faster. however, students should be attentive when it comes to examinations. no examiner or employer will excuse a candidate who uses short forms in an examination situation because that will only be tantamount to lack of knowledge on the field of study. it was also observed that whereas the general cry is that sms has ruined students’ work, the contrary is true. although students may not speak english most of the time, they are constrained to use letters of the english alphabet to write text messages. therefore, unlike seeing sms as an evil, educationists should see what good thing has come out of it and remind students of the need to discriminate between formal and informal situations. grammar rules are flaunted because sms texts are mostly written in haste; therefore teachers should consider the aspects of grammar as crucial for classroom emphases. the use of punctuation marks requires further manipulations on the phone which hinders many users which is why many sms users are young people. another aspect of sms usage in society which can be mentioned is its anti-social nature. many people who text messages block out from others in society. it is regular to travel around the western world today and not able to carry a conversation with anyone as they are all buried into their phones chatting with people all over the world. in cameroon today, the same trend is coming up in homes and social gatherings where people get silent and concentrate on sending or receiving messages through sms. sms texting can therefore be seen as a double-edged sword; helping in one way and spoiling on the other. this paper set out to examine the implications of sms text messaging on english language writing and learning skills of students at the secondary school. having examined the various schools of thought and seen some of the ways in which students use short forms and the impact they have on their formal writings, it can be concluded that sms text messaging has come to stay. as every innovation, it has its good and bad sides and the user has to be able to distinguish when it is appropriate to use short forms and standard forms and even when to use it in society. it was also brought out that though one school of thought thinks it is so bad, another school sees it as a way of getting students to write more which was already failing in many a classroom. craig’s 2003 argument that young people who use instant messaging subconsciously increase their knowledge of metalinguistic – (the skill of understanding language and culture) is thus founded meaning that texting should actually be encouraged in young people i.e. students – who experience “tangible increases in overall literacy” – and therefore enter into a practice of using slang and phonetic replacements when necessary and which may be part of the culture of those who speak the language. the sms text messaging could just be seen as a necessary evil of the 21st century which could redeem the dying writing skill in our students worldwide. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 44 5. conclusion the present study established that majority (51 students) of secondary school students’ did not abbreviate words in the study. it was also realized that the female gender abbreviated words most in the study. the study revealed the list of abbreviated words of the participants. finally, the study concluded that text messaging did not affect english language writing and learning. 6. recommendations arising from the findings and conclusion of this study, various recommendations were proposed to further enhance english language writing and learning of secondary school students, which will result to academic excellence and high performance of the students. therefore, this study should be applied in various educational and counseling settings. these recommendations are given subsequently. there is a need for students to make realistic commitments to their academic pursuits with the intension to be successful academically. it is also important that secondary school students should develop high motivation and this will also aid their english language writing and learning which may result in academic success not academic failure. school counselors should organize periodic academic seminars for secondary school students on how to develop and maintain high reward, motivation and this will enhance their english language learning. teachers, school owners and parents should also encourage students to develop positive value on english language writing and learning and towards their academics and this will help them to be successful at school. references akinlosotu, t. n. 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[online]. available:<http://www.reading/org/downloads/wc_handouts/weiss.ppt> [accessed 14 march, 2015].writing of studentswhat do we need to panic about?” elixir linguistics. & translation. 55 1288412890. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 published by american center of science and education, usa 4 turkey’s e.u membership: perception, brexit, implications and possibilities yusuf ibrahim gamawa department of political science bauchi state university, nigeria email: yusufgamawa@ymail.com received: january 9, 2019 accepted: january 13, 2019 online published: january 24, 2019 abstract turkey’s attempt to join the european union has remained as controversial as ever, even at this point when countries like u.k are leaving the eu, turkey’s membership to the union has remain a concern and is being discussed in many circles. this paper tries to analyze turkey’s attempt at becoming an eu member, and looks at the chances of turkey’s membership and the implications that may accompany it, for turkey and for europe or the world. the research contends that membership for turkey cannot be completely ruled out irrespective of what consequences it would have for turkey or europe. the change in perception on both the side of turkey and the eu justifies such a position. the paper it is expected will contribute to the existing debate about the eu and its expansion, brexit and its implication for europe, the world and turkey, and how countries like turkey might fit. keywords: turkey, e.u, perception, brexit, implications, possibilities 1. introduction the history of turkey has led many to view and consider it a muslim country. the history of a nation and its destiny always move hand in hand, though dynamic changes could always occur. turkey’s ottoman roots makes it difficult for country create a new identity separate that obtained in its history and that is known to the world. it is a past alive, and which kept hunting the advances that turkey has constantly been making in recent times to be part of the eu, amongst many other reasons. it was difficult for many people to understand why turkey should be in the eu. and the reason is turkey’s history and links to the ottoman empire, which was known to be an islamic empire. this helped form a perception about turkey and its peoples in the eyes of the world and not just europe. turkish citizens have sometimes found themselves confused when confronted with the question of turkey’s identity and whether it is a european state or not. africans, europeans, arabs and many other peoples could not completely come to terms with the idea that turkey is a european state, despite the fact that the location of the country is claimed to be in europe.ging to the eu. this more than anything else echoes and re-echoes and re-echoes each time the issue of turkey’s membership to the eu is mentioned, it remained unsettled in the minds of many. the arab media from the early times consistently criticized turkey for attempting to be a member of the european union. such attack is mainly due to the fact that many people including arabs did not properly understand the concept of the european union, and as such turkey’s 1987 application for membership could not be comprehended and as such came to have what the media called a “bombshell” effect on the arab world. to many arabs and muslims, it was impossible for turkey to be in the eu, seeing the eu membership as amounting to accepting christianity, and or betrayal of the islamic world or heritage. and there is no doubt that this perception exists with regards to turkey’s eu membership, and may have contributed in a way to many of the fears of turkey being in the eu, despite the fact that religion isn’t part of the conditions for membership. the membership application of turkey seemed to have raised the issue of identity in the debate for accession, though not openly. it is mainly the complex mailto:yusufgamawa@ymail.com www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 5 history of turkey that is making its candidature controversial though not impossible, and has generated reactions from every part of the world, from leaders of nations in africa, the middle east to europe, which tended to preserve the status quo, owing mainly to reactions from the middle east. reactions continued to come from scholars and even from ordinary people across the globe, with different opinions mainly negative regarding the issue. while many disagreed with turkey’s bid, yet others supported the bid of turkey, and another group remained indifferent, but yet followed the development; the membership bid with keen interest, contemplating its reality or not. however, no matter the controversy the membership bid may have provoked, as well as the reactions it generated, the turks have indicated their interest to be part of the eu long before now, and have taken concrete steps which demonstrated their commitment to actualizing their long term ambition of becoming members of the eu. and though there is significant change in perception over the years regarding the issue, and many people and nations came to understand what membership of the eu actually means to member nations. in 2005 when turkey renewed its bid, the negative reactions could not be compared with that of 1987, and today there is a lot of improvement in the way many nations and people both within and outside europe think regarding turkey’s eu membership and many seemed to have come to terms with turkey’s ambition in this globalised world. turkey’s attempt in 2016 has remained somewhat quiet, but has not received much criticism as its previous attempts, the last being in 2010. turkeys president tayyib erdogan was quoted saying “we will not be the side which gives up”, saying turkey no longer had the need for eu membership but that it refused to walk away from discussions on the membership. tom batchelor [2018]. although certain developments like the attempt by the uk to exit the eu in recent times have sometimes made turkey’s attempt appear more controversial and difficult, it is believed that brexit may have implications for turkey’s membership to the union somehow, economically and politically. and what is important at this critical stage now is to look at how far turkey has progressed on the march towards its ambition over many years and why it has not yet become a member, despite several years of relationship with europe, and at present despite many years of negotiation with the european union. there are some of the questions we should be asking, and if we are able to find answers, then probably more may come up, which may be futuristic in nature, such as; will turkey become an eu member and when? this is apart from many other questions which we may not want to discuss in this paper. many have wondered why turkey wants to join the eu, and on the other many wonder why it is still not a member? the two questions cannot be dismissed easily, because just as many argue that the turks haven’t a place in europe, others argue that the turks have a prominent role and not just a place in the eu. while many see turkey as having much to offer to the eu, others see nothing at all. the former us president barrack obama was quoted by yasser abu hilale of jordan’s al-gad newspaper in april 2009 as saying “turkey must be part of the eu and that turkey’s geo-strategic importance, its culture and its influential foreign policy will enrich europe show his greatness”. open society [2009]. it is for these reasons that we as scholars must dig into the reasons and be able to come up with a concrete position on why turkey is aspiring to become a member of the eu, and then look at the possibility of membership despite whatever problems we may have discovered in the process of our study, that may have been staining the relationship between turkey and the eu and take a look at the future of this relationship. 2. membership bid of the republic of turkey turkey first applied to join the european commission in 1959. turkey, since its founding in 1923, followed a policy of westernization under mustapha kemal [ataturk] with the intention of re-organizing their society to change their position in the world politics. turkey had applied to be a member of ec at that time. however, it should be known that the turks have had relations with europe even before the founding of the republic. turkey’s relations with europe flourished since ottomans times. the ottoman empire was part of the paris peace conference of 1856 and the berlin conference of 1878 respectively. it is significant to note that the two conferences were attended only by european states. alber jens [2007]. not only that, during the first world war the ottomans were part of an alliance that germany and austria belonged to, in the aftermath of the war between turkey and greece. part of the explanation for turkey’s application to join the ec in 1959, was to check greek influence in the region, it was a move that was necessitated by modern international politics. and in 1963, though membership was not granted to turkey, an agreement was signed in ankara, regulating turkey’s association with the european commission. the ankara agreement as it came to be known dealt mainly with trade and financial matters. the prospect of full membership was offered during the agreement, but without any specified date. this was surely a milestone in the history of turkey’s relationship with the european commission, then the eu had not been formed. turkey’s intentions of joining europe had been clear right from the beginning. it would appear that the turks have journeyed long to become part of the european community and have sacrificed their culture and identity by embracing that of www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 6 europe, all in an effort to be accepted. the greek concern led turkey to join the european community, as the country is surrounded by european nations. apart from the ankara agreement, in 1970 an additional protocol establishing a twenty two year transition leading to a customs union was signed between turkey and the european commission. however, at this time relations between turkey and the ec began to witness some problems as a result of turkey’s intervention in cyprus in 1974, following a coup that was alleged to have been backed by greece. it was much after the tensions had gone down between turkey and the ec that in 1987, turkey made a new attempt to be a member. turgut ozal, who was then the turkish prime minister, felt uncomfortable with the membership of greece to the ec and believed that it was unfavorable to turkey and for such reason tried to re-establish turkey’s position as a stable country and hoped membership to the ec or eu at the time will help promote trade and turkish products in the mediterranean area. e.u center [2008] the 1987 bid did not succeed for a number of reasons; among such reasons was the fact that the ec was occupied with the creation of a european single market and as a such could not accommodate new membership. the issue of human rights and rights of minorities, that include the kurdish people in the southern anatolia, did not favor turkey. the ec was also concerned about the ability of turkey to implement the reforms required for membership. enlargement had also been suspended at the time until 1993. it was not until the copenhagen summit of 1993 that turkey became hopeful of aspiring for membership. it was at the summit that the decision to accept central and eastern european countries was taken since end of the cold war in 1991. it was at that time that a blue print containing economic and political criteria for membership was produced. in 1997, turkey’s membership was not accepted by the european council summit in luxembourg, negotiations came to a halt during the summit. the reason being the cyprus problem. turkey, on its part believed religion and culture were reasons its membership was rejected. turkey’s belief may have been influenced by certain remarks, such as one made by the european christians democratic union to the effect that “the european union is in the process of building a civilization in which turkey has no place”. e.u center [2008]. the european union soon changed its position at the summit that held in helsinki in 1999. it was the summit that turkey was again recognized as a candidate for membership. turkey only need to fulfill the copenhagen criteria of 1993 and bring to an end its conflict with greece regarding cyprus to be a member. a lot of changes took place between 1991 and 2002 that appeared to have favored turkeys attempt to be an eu member. these include among others a change of government in germany that led germany to support turkey’s membership, the support of the united states, and in general, improvement in the relations between turkey and greece. and within turkey, factors such as the emergence of new party to power and its pledge to continue the implementation of the eu reform program, as well dealing with the kurdish issue and human rights also favored turkey’s bid. turkey during this period accepted a un plan known as the anan plan to deal with the dispute over cyprus. as a result an agreement was made in 2002 at the copenhagen european council that accession negotiations could start in mid 2005, if turkey could abide by the copenhagen criteria that included the following three major areas; 1. a functional market economy with competitive pressures. 2. stability of institutions, guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, good governance and human rights with respect for and protection of minorities. 3. capacity to take obligations of membership, including adherence to aims of political, economic and monetary union. turkey had followed a policy of reform years before the copenhagen summit. many believe that reforms began since the founding of the republic under mustafa kemal, and those governments that came after mustafa kemal followed such reforms diligently and in all areas. the reforms and policies embarked upon made it easy for turkey to fit into and adapt itself to the requirements of the criteria. this is because turkey had already emerged in the group of market economies. a lot of the new members of the eu did not have a better market functional economy than turkey, including greece and spain. with regards to the second criteria, which concerns good governance, turkey operates a parliamentary system of government and a multy party democratic system with checks and balances. two international nongovernmental organizations; freedom house and transparency international monitored the observance of good governance and human right and corruption in turkey. and the ratings of these organizations show that turkey improved its rating year after year, steadily even though it was yet to meet the european standards of good governance. the progress turkey was making was also recorded in the eu progress report on the accession process in 2006. the report indicated that there was a progress in the fight against corruption, though it faulted issues of human right and minorities, including freedom of press, independence of the judiciary and rights of trade unions which it said remained impaired, and wanted turkey to consider changes in www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 7 those areas before full membership can be considered. it was however argued that there were countries which are members of eu whose rating in terms of political rights were far below that of turkey, a country like romania was rated as the eu worst by the freedom house in 2007 and transparency international in 1997 and 2007. alber jens [2007]. turkey’s most recent attempt in 2016 after that of 2010 is also receiving similar fate as a result of many problems both within and outside turkey. according to the financial times of september 20, 2017, turkey’s 2016 membership bid is in serious trouble, the poor relations, was explained to be the result of factors within and outside turkey. on the outside, changing mood across europe; the rise of nationalism, populism etc and the growing aversion to globalization, mass immigration is seen to strain the social and political fabric of europe, these were also compounded by the decade financial crisis of 2008 and all these were to affect the enlargement process of the eu. within turkey on the other hand, deterioration in politics at least since 2013 have affected turkey’s relations with the eu. the gezi park protests, the july 2016 coup attempt and erdogan’s general attempt to concentrate power around an executive president that was affirmed by a referendum in april, 2016, are all factors that have helped in creating a difficult process for turkey’s membership to the eu. indications are that turkey’s membership bid may eventually fail and those opposed to turkey’s bid continue to capitalize on the political situation in turkey. turkey on its part believed that the eu had never considered turkey’s accession serious and said its membership is constantly being vetoed by france, germany, austria and others that always sight geo-political tensions along turkey’s border and polarization within turkey as issues of concern on turkey’s membership to the union. timothy ash [2017]. 3. brexit, turkey and the eu in general, the exit of the uk from the eu according to analysts is expected to have or affect uk’s power on world politics, uk’s economic relations with european states and with regards to turkey, brexit comes along with severe consequences for both uk and turkey. politically, brexit may likely help strengthen russian influence in world politics, despite the fact that nato may help check such influence. the relations between the uk and the united states viz a viz europe, no doubt served as a counter balancing force against the growing influence of russia in world politics, and brexit may see to the wanning of such power against the russians. uk may after the exit may not be able to intervene in crucial matters in europe and as such a europe without the uk will appear more vulnerable. economically brexit will mean the uk will have to re-negotiate its economic relations with other european states. imports and exports of goods between europe and the uk will greatly change and new tariffs may now apply since the uk will no longer be part of the common market that has been envisaged, and is among major reasons that the union was created for. polat urundul [www.bitaf.org]. brexit has been subjected to different analysis and interpretations as seen above, and specifically regarding turkey’s membership to the eu. however, from whatever angle one looks at it, perception with regards to turkey’s membership to the eu and trade relations between the two remain important issues. turkey is concerned that brexit may have a negative effect on its membership bid to the eu. though it is still not clear how the exit of the uk will enhance turkey’s chances of the joining the eu or ruin it on the other hand. britain had been a supporter of turkey with regards to its membership bid, and may lose such support among other european states that are opposed to its membership. many argued however, that turkey’s attempt to join the eu in 2016 did help swing the votes in the uk referendum to exit the union to up to 52%. the swing as explained was despite the fact that the chances of turkey joining the union even by 2030 were very remote. as matter of fact turkey’s membership to the eu at a point dominated debate in the uk as to whether or not the uk should exit the union. james ker-lindsay [2018]. the issue of immigration according several sources is largely responsible for the decision of the uk to exit the union. a video circulated in 2016 by the ukip claimed that turkey would be part of the eu by 2020 and that about 15 million of its population will move to eu states in its first 10 years of membership. such claims led boris johnson, a member of the parliament to write a letter to the prime minister asking for his guarantees that turkey would never join the eu. however, after the referendum boris johnson began and continued turkey’s membership to the eu. james, ker-linsay [//blogs.ise.ac.uk/brexit]. it is for such reasons that many believe that turkey’s membership bid may suffer lack of support due to brexit. and it is here that the issue of perception has become clear regarding turkey’s membership to the union. it is believed that brexit may have social effects on public opinion in europe. brexiters were said to have abused turkey’s membership process and referred to the turkish people as “devils” in their campaigns and many see the spread of such information as a setback for turkey’s www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 8 membership bid and that it may influence opinion of other eu states in accepting turkey’s membership. polat urundul [www.bitaf.org]. 4. consequences of turkey’s membership for the eu many writers and political observers both within and outside europe that have been following turkey’s accession process into the eu see another side regarding the reasons why turkey has failed to become a member of the eu. many mention the fears other eu nations concerning turkey and tended to look at the issues of reforms as mere excuses to stop the turkey from becoming a member. it is reported that many countries did not understand why turkey wants to be in the eu, and it is generally agreed by many analysts that these fears do exist but the eu has never formally accepted and presented these reasons formally, but has constantly used non full compliance with the copenhagen criteria as a formal reason with other informal reasons hidden or underneath. some analysts see such criteria as deliberately crafted to block the membership bid of turkey and for this many have wondered as to the actual reasons why turkey is not considered in the eu, what are the fears if they really do exist? and the speculations are that 1. size: turkey’s population stands at about 70 million, and may likely be 100 million by 2020. turkey will become second to only germany of 25 eu states, it may become the largest eu member state in future if it becomes a member. 2. economic development: the turkish economy is not considered very good and is seen as far below that of any 10 of the new eu states that became members in 2004. the gdp of turkey is just 2% of the eu25 gdp per capita which is 28.5%. 3. geographical location: turkey is geographically located in asia, and has long borders with states that are potentially unstable or unfriendly to the eu. 4. islamism: turkey is overwhelmingly an islamic country, turkey’s membership will increase the eu’s islamic population from 3% currently to around 20%. nugent neil [2005] turkey’s threat to the eu is seen from different perspective by different analysts and political observers. they argue that turkey’s accession would have a great impact in the eu and its institutions, it would have great effect also on other eu member countries, and many countries will lose presence in the eu. in fact even the decision making process in the eu is seen to change due to the influence of turkey if it becomes a member state. it is also thought that the size of turkey and its economic under development will result in turkey becoming the major beneficiary of eu’s funding program. but also the nature these of concerns vary among the individual eu states, though it is generally agreed that there is stiff opposition to turkey’s membership among the relevant actors within the eu. germany has been traditionally opposed to turkey’s bid until recently, while france till now remains opposed to turkey joining the eu, sarkozy openly showed his strong opposition to turkey’s membership. the uk and the u.s. have shown strong support for turkey. whereas greece was opposed to turkey’s membership, but recently took a turn to support turkey, following pressure from uk and us. austria is also opposed to turkey’s membership, and the current chancellor angela merkel was quoted as saying “turkey in the eu would mean the end of eu”. nugent neil [2005] but even as these fears are raised by eu member countries, of the threat of turkey, yet many analysts see the positive aspects of the implication of european integration of turkey. it is argued that, the population of turkey, which is about 70 million, is a large market for the eu, and as a result of the customs union, all barriers to trade have long been eliminated. yet another advantage is seen in terms of labor market. the turkish population is seen to have much younger work force population than the eu 25. the commissions projections shows that the eu 25’s total population will increase by 2% [449-458 million] between 2005 to 2025, its working population falling by 21%, from 2005 to 2030, the number over 65 years will rise by 52.3%, while 14 -64 age group will decrease by 6.8% resulting in the ratio of dependent and old people. in turkey the working age group will increase from 49% in 2005 to 66% in 2030 [european commission]. the turkish work force can complement human resource in many of the eu 25 nations in different fields. even the issue of islamism is viewed from another perspective. the uk’s support for turkey stems from the thinking that admitting an islamic populated country like turkey to the eu will serve to demonstrate that islam, democracy and western capitalism can mix, to encourage moderate islamism, and may also help eu member countries have softer influence and understanding for other islamic populated countries. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 9 5. the future of turkey’s eu membership the article published by the european commission in its progress report on turkey, on 10 october, 2012 by stefan fule, quoted fule from the beginning saying “orhan pamuk said that turkey’s eu project has fallen apart. these words coming from a nobel prize winner and a writer of books i admire made a big impression on me. as european commissioner responsible for enlargement policy, i deal on daily basis with various aspects of eu-turkey relations and i can certainly say that our joint project has not been abandoned; on the contrary, important initiatives have injected new energy and new hope. but i do think pamuk’s words reflect the mood often felt on both sides and they come at the right moment. i see them as a wakeup call, at a time when the eu and turkey are at crossroads and need to take decisive steps forward on their common path”. stefan went on to highlight many of the challenges facing the eu and turkey, but at the same time insisting that a lot of progress has been made in many areas and what remains to be finished should be finished saying “when i ask my turkish partners where they see turkey in five, ten, twenty years from now, they all say anchored in europe. when i put the same questions to my interculators and politicians in the eu, the answer is the same; they see turkey’s future as a modern european state. mr. stefan concluded his article with the following words “when i first came to turkey as eu commissioner nearly three years ago; i believed turkey can become a member of the european union. we have a joint commitment towards this goal”. fule stefan [2012] based on the above, one can say with some confidence, that turkey becoming a member of the e.u is a possibility that cannot be ruled out, despite whatever problems that may exist. and many agree unlike before, that the resistance to turkey’s membership has reduced drastically over the years. in the pre 2000 period, many reasons including islamism were given, and there were stiff oppositions from all sides. as mentioned in the introduction a very strong perception was formed about turkey with regards to the eu, which many tried to see from a religious perspective. even among muslim nations, turkey’s membership of the eu could not be entirely understood. an article by the tribune media services titled “does europe want turkey? posted on the internet in 2005, was quoted as saying “the paris october 11, 2005 european union’s decision to open talks with turkey is another act of polite duplicity, another social lie, so to speak, in the eu’s dealings with turkey”. and in another part, it said “that is why it was no service to europe or to turkey for eu leaders to have encouraged a turkish bid for membership in a europe that does not want turkey. why not? turkey is not europe. it is intimately involved in europe’s history, but the defining qualities of europe derive from artic greece and christianity, to both which turkey is foreign. this clearly expresses such negative perceptions regarding turkey and the eu over the years. tribune media [2005]. yet, another graduate student of mathematics, from idaho state university in u.s., back in 2005 posted an article on the internet titled “the real reasons why turkey is not allowed in the eu”. in the article, this graduate student appeared to be attacking one mr guaugliardo, who had earlier written an article on the 1st of october, 2004 giving reasons for turkey’s non admittance into the eu to include religion. but the graduate student in his article on www.math.isu.edu, dismissed the issue of religion and insisted that mr guaugliardo’s article was misleading, and maintained that the cyprus dispute and human right issues remain the only stumbling blocks to turkey’s membership in the eu. aristidou michael [2004]. and today everything looks different. even in the arab world today turkeys bid is seen in a positive light, and likewise in europe, considering the recent support from germany, uk and the u.s. as well as greece, the ancient old rivals, are now all in support of turkey’s membership. the negotiating framework has made it clear that candidates whose accession could have substantial financial consequences [i.e. turkey] the talks could only be concluded after 2014, which is the date for the establishment of eu’s new financial framework. this also gives more hope to the eu-turkey joint membership project. there are about four scenarios analyzed regarding the future of turkey and the eu. the first scenario sees popular disenchantment with enlargement ceding, and demographic pressure could convince eu member states to admit turkey.eu center [2008]. the second is that poor economic projections in europe in the future will lead to strong opposition from eu member states that turkey be admitted. third, is that turkey implements in full all reforms, which may lead it to qualify for membership, economic reforms lead to a boom in turkey’s economy and it becomes a regional power, with its neo-ottoman tendencies, rejects the eu membership. the final scenario is the rejection of the european project from the turkish society, arising from what it perceives as anti muslim discrimination and chooses to no longer pursue eu membership. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 10 6. conclusion as things stand now, there is no indication that in this time scenario four could happen, it appears that scenario four had already passed when turkey was turned down in 2004 that was when popular support for the membership dropped from within the turkish society, but that has not made the turks to abandon the project. if any of the scenarios will come to play, it may likely be scenario one or three. scenario four can only be possible if another attempt is made by turkey and it receives a negative response from the eu, then it will be almost certain that the entire turkish society will withdraw from the membership project, but even this may not happen if we remember erdogan’s comments in 2018, that; “turkey is no longer in need of the membership to the eu, but turkey will not be the side to give up”. this simply means that turkey will remain in talks and is willing to be part of the union now or in the future. however, it is clear from erdogan’s statement that the turks have become somewhat indifferent to their aspiration and have kept an open mind to whatever may be the outcome at any time, now or in the future. again as discussed in the introduction, the issue of perception and turkey’s identity has remained a problem for its acceptance whether one likes it or not. europe sees turkey as more to the east than the west, and even non europeans too, and have become critical of turkey, though such perception is changing. however, the recent claims by brexiters that turkish people are “devils” still brings us back to the issue of perception. the fact that such campaigns helped swing votes during the referendum at a time when turkey was renewing its bid to join the eu says a lot, and is seen as a factor that may likely influence other european states to refuse turkey’s bid. many believed the turkey’s 2016 bid is among major reasons that led the uk to exit the union. here, we see two perceptions about turkey among europeans and non europeans. one regarding its muslim traditional ties and its ottoman past, which is shared by europeans and non europeans, and another as voiced by the brexiters, that the turks are devils. though such may not be true, but it means this is how the brexiters perceive the turks. the eu stands a better chance of making changes inside turkey if it is a member of the union, and all outstanding issues, including that of cyprus and the kurds could be resolved within the framework of the eu, but then it is highly unlikely for the republic of turkey to cooperate in resolving both the kurdish issue and that of cyprus once it becomes a member of the eu. new dimension has been added to the issues hindering turkey’s membership apart from the cyprus issue and that of the kurds. in 2016, shortly after turkey opened talks with the eu, relations between the eu and turkey turned sour after the crackdown by turkey’s erdogan in the aftermath the july 2016 coup in which hundreds of people were arrested in turkey. the eu maintains that the arrests made were unconstitutional. reuters [2016]. there are indications however that turkey might likely become a member of the eu by 2030, considering all the obstacles and issues, including that of brexit, even though the chances were described as slim, however, this does not rule out a possibility of membership now or in the future. 6. references dorothee schimid, (2011) turkey, the eu and the middle east puzzle; cooperation or mutual testing ahead, atlantic council. european union centre (2008) north carolina, eu briefings, turkeys quest for eu membership. gokhan saz, (2012) the political implications of european integration of turkey: political scenario’s and major stumbling blocks, vienna.. ion berindan, (2010) when turkish greatness meets eu values; how the perceptions influence turkey-eu relationship, romania. james ker-lindsay, did the unfounded claim that turkey was about to join the eu swing referendum? www.blogs.ise.ac.uk/brexit james ker-lindsay, did the unfounded claim that turkey was about to join the eu swing referendum? turkish studies, vol 18, no 1, 2018. jens alber, (2007) where turkey stands in europe and why it should be admitted into the eu. berlin. kemal kirisci, (2003) the kurdish question and turkish foreign policy. michael aristidou, (2004) the real reason’s why turkey is not allowed in the eu. neil nugent, (2005), turkey’s membership application for eu, florida. open society foundation, (2009) refections of euturkey relations in the muslim world. istanbul. polat urundul, brexit: the impact on the eu and turkey, british insitute of turkish affairs. www.bitaf.org/brexit stefan fule, (2012) turkey and the eu: common challenges, common future, european commission. seyma akyol, eu membership process of turkey; the effects of human right violations and lack of democracy in turkey’s eu membership process. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 1; 2019 11 sule toktas, bulent aras, (2009) the eu and minority rights in turkey. political science quaterly, vol 124. timothy ash, turkeys eu assession: way forward, financial times, september 20, 2017. tom batchelor, turkey still wants full membership says erdogan, www.independent.co.uk march 26, 2018. tribune media services, (2005) does europe want turkey? ukip campaign video, cameron wants turkey to join the eu, february, 2016. zalmay khalilzad, ion o. lesser, stephen larrabee, (2000) the future of turkishwestern relations; towards a strategic plan, santa monica. ziya onis, (2004) turkey and the middle east after september 11: the importance of the eu dimension, istanbul. 29th meeting of the eu-turkey joint consultative committee, (2011) joint declaration, istanbul. factbox: (2016) turkey’s collapsing www.reuters.com copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 89 voter education on radio as determinant of voting pattern of indigenous elderly women in akoko land, ondo state, nigeria oluwatoyin dorcas ayimoro phd department of adult education adekunle ajasin university akungba-akoko, ondo state, nigeria e mail:ayimorooluwatoyin@gmail.com tel: +234-816-256-5765 abstract indigenous nigerian society respect and believe so much in her elderly. males and female elderly are transmitters of traditional norms and values in a sustainable manner in each community. as such, they are the sage and kingmakers appointing, decision makers through careful and flawless selection from character check overtime, delving into family history and divination of the traditional oracle. after coronation, such leaders are never corrupt; they live up to expectation by promoting the wellbeing of the masses. however, this practice has been eroded by colonization and westernization for a democratic way of appointing leaders through voting; as such countries design voter education for her citizenry. this study thus examined voter education as a determinant of voting pattern of indigenous elderly women in akoko land through these research questions: (i) what is the demographic characteristics of the elderly women in the study area? (ii) what kind of voter education programmes is available on the selected radio stations? (iii) what is the level of participation of the women on the programme on radio? (iv) to what extent has the women benefited from their participation in voter education programme on radio? (v) how has the voter education received influenced the voting pattern of the women? the study adopted the descriptive survey research through multi stage sampling technique by purposively selecting sixty indigenous elderly women from areas of the four local government ( okorun, ese, agbaluku, iwaro-oka, supare, oba, erusu, okeagbe. findings of the study showed that voter education in the study area impacted minimally on the respondents resulting in their skewed knowledge and voting pattern (grand mean 2.71+2.46+2.19+2.13=116.9/4=29.2). it is recommended among others that voter education should include indigenous education, a larger coverage and quality. keywords: voter education, radio, indigenous elderly women. 1. introduction indigenous nigerian society respects and believes so much in her elderly and the aged. males and female elderly are transmitters of traditional norms and values in a sustainable manner in each community. as such, they are known as the sage because they build the philosophy of the society through their wealth of experience. indigenous nigerian society is very rich in cultural values and norms that dictate the ethics whereby the elderly had a wide span of control, build communalism and peaceful co-existence in a continuous manner throughout life. in other words, the elderly are the custodian of knowledge and active members of decision making processes. male and female elderly are kingmakers; they do this through careful and flawless selection from character check overtime, delving into family history and divination of the traditional oracle. after coronation, such leaders are never corrupt; they live up to expectation by promoting the wellbeing of the masses and progress of the people at large. however, this practice has been eroded by colonisation and westernisation. nigeria has witnessed different types of governance and decisionmaking processes through colonisation and westernisation. orthodoxy in the realm of politics and decisionmaking has given way for westernised system of governance since colonisation. presently, nigeria practice a more formal way of governance in the name of democracy which informs the voting process. voting is known to be an act of exhibiting freedom as a member of a group either in speaking, associating or taking part in public affairs after due registration. it is an act as well as instrument for recruiting leaders in democratic politics. according to zabia and youns (2014), voting is a function of electing representatives by casting votes in an election. there are different modern ways of voting but the commonest in developing countries is by secret balloting. this is alien to traditional selection/voting patterns of the www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 90 indigenous people. there is no doubt that the present system of selecting representatives is greeted with grave misgivings in nigeria. given the technicality of voting, countries design ways of informing its people of their civic responsibilities. one of these is through voter education which we consider an aspect of sustainability literacy that seeks to foster values, behaviours and lifestyles required of a sustainable future by learning to make long term decisions concerning the economy, ecology and social wellbeing of others by all and of course through education that promotes good citizenship culture (unesco, 2002 p.8). further, it reiterated that informed and active citizenship is a primary objective of educating for sustainable future. the global spread of democracy has expanded electoral enfranchisement and meant that education for citizenship is also expanding. voter education is thus a right of every citizen including the elderly. voter education can be given through several medium which include the print media, audio like radio, internet, campaign, and so on. this paper adopts the radio medium because of its ability to reach a wide audience irrespective of proximity to the cities’ infrastructure. the radio is an expansive channel of communication which carries and spread information. apart from these, it is also instructive. according to alese (2013) the radio is a visible instructional material for sustaining women’s participation in democracy. the pattern of voting among the electorates in nigeria and especially, women call for a model of sustained literacy programme which the radio can adequately address because of the affordability, instructive and expansive coverage. women, especially the elderly are often coerced into voting for the candidates that are not their choice. often times, they lack knowledge of the candidate they are voting for, the ability to represent them well, the seats these candidates are vying for to mention a few. this is against good democratic practice. it has been identified that politicians buy votes during elections. these days, the slogan ‘e dibo, e se be’, meaning vote and prepare soup is an indication of a serious level of poverty and ignorance among the electorates. whereas, before elections are held, voters are expected to be ready, willing and able to participate in election as informed citizens irrespective of sex from the accepted age upwards. they are expected to have information on eligibility to vote, how to register, checking of voters list to ensure inclusion, the type of election being held, the candidates, where and how to vote, filing of complaints in cases of foul play and the like . universal suffrage is the right of all adults including women to vote in political elections, despite, global movements on the attainment of human rights, women in nigeria are still faced with acts of being disenfranchised. there had been a continued effort on the need of achieving a good political representation through universal suffrage, the radio, a communication tool is accessible and affordable to many and a medium of giving constituents voter education. it is against this background that this study examines voter education on radio as a determinant of voting patterns of indigenous elderly women for sustainable development in akoko land, ondo state, nigeria. 2. statement of the problem voting in nigeria is still beset with challenges. during elections there are anomalies which include vote selling and buying, coercion, snatching of ballot boxes, thuggery which result in vote manipulations. elderly women are the worst hit because they are fragile to withstand the storm, as such voting apathy and coercion among them is pronounced. is it that, there is no enough education on voting or a faulty preparedness? it is against this background that this study accesses voter education as a determinant of voting patterns of indigenous elderly women in akoko land. 3. research objectives ultimately, the study seeks to examine voter education on radio as a determinant of voting patterns of indigenous elderly women in akoko land. specifically, this study is set to:  find out the demographic features of indigenous elderly women that participated in the study.  find out the type of voter education available on the selected radio stations.  establish the level of participation of the women on the programme on radio.  ascertain how the women have benefitted from their participation in voter education.  identify the specific influence of voter education on the voting pattern of the women. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 91 4. research questions  what are the demographic characteristics of the elderly women that participated in the study?  what kinds of voter education programmes are available on the selected radio stations?  what is the level of participation of the women on the programme on radio?  to what extent has the women benefited from their participation in voter education programme on radio?  how has the voter education received, influenced the voting pattern of the women? 5. literature review 5.1 experiential learning theory experiential learning simply connotes learning through direct experience that is, learning for reflection through the experience gained overtime. kolb (1984) states that knowledge is gained continuously through personal and environmental experiences. he affirmed that genuine knowledge is gained from an experience by possessing four abilities (kolb, 1984)  willingness to be actively involved in the experience by the learner  he or she must be able to reflect on the experience;  the possession and utilization of analytical skills to conceptualize the experience by the learner and  the possession of decisionmaking and problem solving skills to be able to use the new ideas o gained from experience p. 21 a cursory look at this is indicative of sherry arnstein’s citizenship participation. education acknowledges salient roles played by experience in the learning process. individual learners are directly involved in an experience and a reflection on the experience by utilizing analytical skills to have a better understanding of this new knowledge while retaining the knowledge for a very longtime. this also foster further experiences and reflections through critical thinking. experiential learning is a cognitive enterprise and an ideology needed to confront diverse challenges of adult education (miethinen, 200). perhaps the reason kolb (1984) is suggesting a holistic integrative perspective on learning which combines experience, perceptive, cognition and behaviour which micthinen (2000) called electric procedure and method. again, fajonyomi (2014) perceived experiential learning as informal learning, transformative learning, implicit and accidental learning and problem-solving method because of its reflective ability on the learner which is also supported by cultural practices and methodologies that could be utilized to acquire knowledge, skills or value. it is therefore, not out of place to make use of indigenous experience of the elderly which is acclaimed to be forthright in choosing decision-makers. 5.2 democracy it is the general belief that democracy is a form of government that gives power to the people. however, questions like how, when and to which people often arise. it is also a truism that democracies include direct, liberal, participatory, radical, representing and socialising. the direct school of thought believes that citizens must participate directly in government decisions by themselves ( janda, berry goldman & schinkaraut, 2005) liberal democracy is presumed to be most compatible with liberal capitalism (moghadam,2018) whereas practical observers expect people to govern indirectly through elective representatives (janda et al, 2005 ) although, this informed choosing leader through elections and formal procedures of voting. it is also arguably that such practice is a narrow definition of democracy and which according to moghadam (2008) may be risky in a fledgling democracy where parties coalesce around sectarian interest and against citizens interest which ought to be deliberated on before policies are made. effective democracy ensures that people’s voices are heard and their wishes too must be fulfilled. democracy creates a platform for fairness, equity and justice through collective decisionmaking (okon, 2013) a democratically governed nation is likely to secure peace, deter aggression, expand open markets, promote socio economic development and uphold human rights( okon,2013) according to the un platform on global issues, democracy provides an environment for the protection and effective realization of human rights. democracy is competitive political system where competing leaders and organizations define alternations of public policy to enable the public participate in decision -making process. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 92 5.3 voter education in a representative democracy, voting is the medium in which the voice and decisions of the people are heard and made. voting is done through education, it is imperative to educate the people on voting, which is an act of exercising franchise. voter education is an initiative designed to create awareness and sensitize constitutes on the readiness, willingness and ability to participate legitimately in the electoral politics. it provides information on eligibility to vote, where and how to register, checking of voters list to ensure inclusion, the type of election being held, where and how to vote, filing of complaints and knowing the candidates vying for electoral offices. the main objectives of voter education thus include:  making information available and accessible to all constituents  encouraging people to vote  seeking to achieve universal coverage of the electorate by reaching out to all groups of people including the disadvantaged, idps minority and mainstream voters.  taking note of high illiteracy rate where necessary  using different language (local) to pass information to the target audience.  launching special educational campaigns at women.  teaching confidentiality of votes that is secret and independent.  discouraging family voting since this will not reflect the will of the people.starting voter education early and to continue throughout the election process even during the election day. 5.4 voter education, women and elderly women having discussed voter education, it is necessary to see how it affects the elderly women and women generally. women constitute about fifty percent of the world’s population yet they are still struggling to be heard and participate fully in decision-making processes which are expected to avail them of their human rights opportunities. a democratic society that seeks to foster peace and bring down the level of conflicts, aggression and restiveness among the citizenry need to have a well packaged voter education for her people. voting takes place in election, it is thus the responsibility of the government, to give civic education to the citizens irrespective of sex, race, tribe, ethnicity, group and others. this needed to be complemented by pressure groups and international organizations in order to foster peace and enhance a democratic and civic society. through voter education people understand their rights, they are being asked to decide on the contests. voter education is crucial in enhancing the participation of all and especially women. it is expected that special education campaigns will be launched at women and the elderly who are often apathetic to election. according to unesco (2002), informed and active citizenship is a primary objective of educating for a sustainable future. efforts are being made to integrate citizenship objective into educational curriculum. it went further to appreciate citizenship education within the context of sustainable development through international understanding which will assist in bringing an understanding in linkages between local and global issues. the global spread of democracy has expanded electoral enfranchisement and meant that adult education for citizenship is expanding. 5.5 voter education and sustainable development voter education should teach living together in peace and harmony to enhance sustainable development. this could be enhanced through other medium aside formal. that is, voter education for sustainable development for all could be given through informal, non-formal and the use of all forms of adult education skills that build critical and creative thinking, collaboration and cooperation, conflict management, decision-making, problem solving and planning, civic participation and action should be built into voter education for the citizenry after all unesco(2002) puts it succinctly that seeking sustainable development through education requires educators to: … place an ethic for living sustainably, based upon principles of social justice, democracy, peace and ecological integrity, at the centre of society’s concerns. …. encourage lifelong learning, starting at the beginning of life and grounded in life, based on a passion for a radical transformation of the moral character of society. …. encourage new alliances between the state and the civil society in promoting citizen’s emancipation and the practice of democratic principle p.10 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 93 5.6 voter education and voting patterns of elderly women voter education should be such that will address democratic anomalies by imparting fundamental human rights, knowledge and democratic values, such knowledge should impact in people the ethics of appreciating oneself and improving self-concept\ self-esteem. the need to encourage the fundamental freedoms of conscience and religion, expression peaceful assembly and association that ensure access to democratic participation and meeting basic human needs. the right of all people to access channels for community decisionmaking (unesco, 2002p.19) efforts geared towards achieving these will stem issues eroding confidentiality in voting. for instance, a widely practice apathetic voting is family voting among women. often time, women are hired to vote for people they do not know at all through which the husband or member of the family will assist in voting for all members of the family. vote selling and buying, violence are issues women are confronted with while voting. 5.7 voter education and radio the radio is an example of mass media that performs different functions in any country. these function include entertainment, reporting, news, identifying public problems, social using news generations, providing political forum and making profits (bardes et al, 2013-2014 edition).the radio is known to be cheap and accessible to all. it is a viable instructional material brought to nigeria by the british during colonization to serve as an instrument for public health, rural development and agriculture (alese,2013) as a stimulus to educating the people especially because of its accessibility and affordability by many. it has a significant political impact on developing nations including nigeria, national political figures plan public appearance and statement to attract media coverage including the radio. although, voter education messages can also pass through other forms like posters, direct mailings to voters, street theatre, role playing, songs, comic, strips, internet campaigns, the radio is a veritable medium. for instance, okon (2013) highlighted that some messages and news items could pass as of voter education, showing political parties and their ideologies. 6. research methodology the study was conducted in akoko land, ondo state, nigeria. akoko consist of four local government areas akoko south-east, akoko south-west, akoko north-east and akoko north-west. the available projected population of the study area is 947,300 (national population commission, 2016). agriculture, food processing, craftsmanship, entrepreneurship and trading are the mainstay of the economy of the people. this provides food, shelter, employment and industrial raw materials (cocoa, kola nut and palm oil). the climate favours the growth of food crops like maize, cassava, plantain, yam and cash crops like cocoa and palm oil. the population of the study comprised of all women in the area. multi stage sampling technique was utilized in the selection of respondents for the study. the first stage involved the selection of females from the population, the second stage is a simple random selection of adult females while the third is a purposive selection of elderly women, five elderly women from the age of sixtyfive each were selected in three localities from each local government area (okorun, ese, iboropa, ikun, supare, oba, erusu, okeagbe, ogbagi, ipesiakoko, sosan and epinmi). the total sample size was sixty indigenous elderly women. three out of the five radio stations in ondo states were picked, one for the federal government, one for the state and one that is privately owned. they are positive fm, ondo state radiovision and adaba fm respectively. a structured interview schedule with open and close ended questions was used to collect the data. the demographic features of the respondents include their age. thirty (50%) of them were between sixty-five and seventy years old; twenty-six (43.3%) were between seventy-five and eighty while only four (6.7%) were eightyfour years old. marital status, thirty-six (60%) of them are widowed while twenty-four (40%) of them are married. twenty (33.3%) are christians, thirty (50%) are muslims while ten (16.7%) are traditional worshippers. also, thirty (50%) of them are illiterates, sixteen (26.7%) attended the adult basic learning community centre class, seven (11.66%) have basic education while seven (11.66%) had secondary education. all of them have adult children that live in cities like akure, lagos and ibadan. their participation in the voter education was measured on how they listened to the programme as not at all, rarely, some of the time, all the time. their voting pattern was seen as benefit derived from the radio programmes they listened to. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 94 7. results and discussion of findings research question 2 table 1: the kind of voter education received by the respondents s/n items not at all (1) partially (2) seriously (3) mean f % f % f % 1 i was sensitized on how to register 5 8.3 15 25 40 66.7 2.58 2 i learnt the danger/ evil of not registering 10 16.6 8 13.4 42 70 2.53 3 i was taught how to vote 3 5 12 20 45 75 2.70 4 the programme led me to where to vote 7 11.7 45 75 8 13.3 2.02 grand mean 9.83÷4 =2.46 field survey: november, 2018 – february, 2019 about 40 (66.7%) of the respondents said they were seriously sensitized on how to register. 15 (25%) said they were partially sensitized while 5 (8.3%) believed they were not sensitized at all. of the 60 elderly women, 42 (70%) said they seriously learnt the danger of not registering to vote, 45 (75%) said they were seriously taught how to vote while only 3 (5%) said they were not. about 45(75%) said they were partially led to where to vote, while 7 (11.7%) said they were not led to where to vote at all. the grand mean of the kind of voter education received in 2.46. the results above indicated that the women did not receive a total package of voter education. they were only exposed to registration for voting, how to vote and where to vote on the radio programme. this is inadequate and contradicts unesco (2002) which opined that informed and active citizenship is a primary objective of educating for a sustainable future. research question 3, table 2: level of participation of respondents s/n items not at all (1) rarely (2) some of the time (3) all the time (4) mean f % f % f % f % 1 i listen to the radio 2 3.3 2 3.3 08 13.4 48 80 3.70 2 i tune to the radio at the right time 3 5 7 11.7 20 33.3 30 50 3.28 3 i forget to tune at the right time 2 3.3 40 66.7 8 13.3 10 16.7 2.43 4 i cook during the period 10 16.6 10 16.7 10 16.7 30 50 3.00 5 i take care of the family during the time 10 16.6 40 66.7 08 13.4 2 3.3 2.03 6 i respond to the discussion 6 10 50 83.3 2 3.3 2 3.4 2.00 7 often times we were not allowed to respond to the programme 10 16.7 50 83.3 2.50 grand mean 18.94÷7=2.71 field survey: november, 2018 – february, 2019 table 2 showed that only 2(3.3) of the respondents do not listen to the radio at all; 2 (3.3) rarely listen; 8 (13.4) listen all the time. also 5% do not tune in for the programme, 11.7% rarely does, 33.3% tune in some of the time while, 50% tune in all the time, 16.7% forget to tune in all the time. 50% of the respondents cook all the time during the programme. only 3.3% take care of the family during the programme. only, 3.4% of the respondents respond to the discussion during the programme while 83.3% said they were not allowed to respond during the programme. the grand mean is thus 2.71. this is an indication that although, the elderly women participated in the voter education radio programme, the level of participation is minimal in that there is communication gap, they did not have the opportunity to respond during the programme. it appears that the timing of the programme is also not suitable for the respondents as 50% of them cook while listening to the programme. this is against sherry arnstein’s philosophy of participation that seeks to elicit the participation of all in such programmes that affect the citizens. also, the experience of these respondents were not tapped, a good rapport between the facilitators of the programme and www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 95 participants is not elicited. this negates klob (1984) and fajonyomi (2014) that believe in the willingness and active involvement of the learner and the experience gained overtime for a reflective, transfortive and problem-solving ability research question 4, table 3: benefits of participating in the radio programme s/n items not at all (1) partially (2) seriously (3) mean f % f % f % 1 it enabled me to listen to radio unlike before 7 11.6 13 21.7 40 66.7 2.55 2 listening to the programme enabled to go for registration 2 3.3 18 30 40 66.7 2.63 3 it taught me the significance of voting 0 0 12 20 48 80 3.06 4 it taught me how to vote 3 5 10 16.6 47 78.4 2.73 5 it led me to check my name at the voting centre beforehand 2 3.3 10 16.7 48 80 2.76 6 it led me to identify where to vote before the election day 5 8.3 10 16.7 45 75 2.66 7 it taught me that voting well means casting vote alone with confidence 25 41.6 15 25 20 33.3 1.91 8 it taught how to cast valid vote 10 16.6 18 30 32 53.4 2.36 9 the programmes on radio does not include the display of ballot paper 60 100 1.50 10 i saw the ballot paper the day i casted my vote 60 100 1.50 11 i know the prominent parties (all progressive congress and peoples democratic parties) 4 6.7 10 16.6 46 76.7 2.70 12 i knew all the political parties 43 71.6 15 25 2 3.4 1.35 13 the political parties were many 0 0 15 25 45 75 2.75 14 i knew the candidates that vied for the elective positions 20 33.4 25 41.6 15 25 1.92 15 i voted for the candidates because i knew them 25 41.6 20 33.4 15 25 1.83 16 we were taught how to file complaints 55 91.6 3 5 2 3.4 1.11 17 i casted my votes well 3 5 10 16.6 47 78.4 2.73 18 i am more confident of voting now 10 16.6 20 33.4 30 50 2.33 19 it taught me how to vote well and avoid voided votes 10 16.6 20 33.4 30 50 2.33 20 the time allocated for voter education on radio was adequate 50 83.3 8 13.3 2 3.4 1.20 grand mean 43.91÷20= 2.19 field survey: november, 2018 – february, 2019 for benefits of participating in the radio programme 40 (66.7%) said it enabled them to listen to radio unlike before, only 7 (11.6%) said the contrary. also, 40 (66.7%) said it enabled them to go for voter registration while only 2(3.3%) did not. 48 (80%) of them were taught the significance of voting through the radio. the programme taught 47 (78.4%) how to vote, only 3 (5%) held a contrary opinion. it led 48 (80%) respondents to check their names at the voting centre earlier. 45(75%) of the respondents identified their voting centre before election day. however, only 20 (33.3%) seriously learnt that voting well-meant casting vote alone with confidence. 32 (53.4%) seriously learnt how to cast valid vote. all the respondents said the radio programme does not include display of ballot paper as such all of them saw the ballot paper the day they casted their vote. 46(76.7%) of them knew only the prominent political partiesapc and pdp, while only 2(3.4%) knew all the political parties. 45(75%), of the respondents opined that the political parties were too many. only 15(25%) knew the candidates that vied for elective positions, 25(41.6%) knew them partially while 20(33.4%) did not knew them at all. 15(25%) of them voted for the candidates before they knew them, 20(33.4%) did partially while 25(41.6%) did not at all. 55(91.6%) said they were not taught how to file complaints at all. 47(78.4%) casted their vote well, 30(50%) of them are now confident of voting. also, 30(50%) said they learnt how to vote well and avoid voided votes seriously. 50(83.3%) opined that the time allocated for voter education on radio was not at all adequate. the grand mean for these results is 2.19 the results above stressed the value of voter education on radio as a veritable mechanism to educate citizens on their rights, importance and benefits of voting. however, the benefits would have been more if these respondents were adequately educated on voter education. this is in agreement with alese and okon(2013) on the benefit of adequate voter education on radio. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 96 research question 5, table 4: influence of voter education that decided the pattern of voting of respondents. s/n items not at all (1) partially (2) seriously (3) mean f % f % f % 1 the programme enlightened me on casting valid votes 2 3.3 20 33.4 38 63.3 2.60 2 it taught the secrecy of voting 5 8.3 50 83.3 5 8.4 2.00 3 it enlightened me on the available political parties 10 16.6 48 80 2 3.4 1.86 4 it enlightened me on the prominent ones (apc and pdp) 10 16.6 12 20 38 63.4 1.57 5 it taught me how to lodge complaints if any 50 83.3 10 16.7 1.17 6 i learnt the evil of collecting money to vote 10 16.6 20 33.4 30 50 2.33 7 now, i do not collect money to vote 20 33.3 20 33.4 20 33.3 2.00 8 i still collect before voting 10 16.7 20 33.3 30 50 2.50 9 my husband still decides who i should vote for 10 16.7 20 33.3 30 50 2.50 10 my children decides 10 16.7 15 25 35 58.3 2.42 11 opinion leaders decide 20 33.3 20 33.3 20 33.4 2.00 12 my eyes are wide open on my right to vote 15 25 15 25 30 50 2.25 13 i am happy that i have the right to choose my representative/leader 30 50 30 50 2.50 grand mean 27.7 ÷13 =2.13 field survey: november, 2018 – february, 2019 38(63.3%) of the respondents said the radio programme seriously enlightened them on casting valid votes, 20(33.4%) said partially. 50(83.3%) said it partially taught them the secrecy of voting. 48(80%) said it partially enlightened them on the available political parties while 10(16.6%) said not at all. 38(63.4%) said it enlightened them seriously on the prominent ones. 50(83.3%) said the radio enlightenment did not teach them how to lodge complaints at all. 30(50%) seriously learnt the evil of collecting money to vote, 20(33.4%) said partially while 10(16.6%) said not at all.20(33.3%) no longer collect money to vote, 20(33.4%) do not collect at all. 30(50%) of them still have their husbands deciding who they should vote for seriously, 20(33.3%) partially, 10(16.7%) not at all. 35(58.3%) said their children decide seriously who they should vote for, 15(25%) partially, 10(16.7%) not at all. it was on the average for opinion leaders. 30(50%) opined that their eyes are now wide opened on their rights to vote, 15(25%) partially and 15(25%) not at all. 30(50%) of the respondents said they were very happy that they now have the right to choose their representative, while 30(50%) also said they were partially happy to do this. the grand mean is thus 2.13 while the grand mean of all the research question is 2.71+2.46+2.19+2.13=116.9/4=29.2. 7. conclusion the results above conclusively showed the voting pattern of these respondents. it is an indication that the voter education received yielded average impact. which disagrees with the objective of voter education and the opinion in unesco (2002) which places emphasis on living sustainably through democracy by encouraging new alliances between the state and the civil society in promoting citizens emancipation and the practice of democratic principle. references alese, o. (2013). sustainable women’s participation in democratic process in nigeria: the community education option. journal of international education research 1 (1) 30-42. cornwall, a & goetz, a.m. (2005). democratizing democracy: feminist perspectives journal of democratization 12(5) 783-800. d01:10.1080/13510340500322181. taylor and francis dewey, j. (1938). experience and education new york; macmillan. www.unwomen.org janda, k; berry, j.m; goldman, j; schildraut, d, j. (2007). the challenge of democracy american government in global politics. thirteenth edition. kolb, d. (1984). exponential learning. experience as a source of learning and development. (englewoodcliffs, n.j: prentice hall). http://www.unwomen.org/ www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 97 miettinen, r. (2000). the concept of experimental learning and john dewey’s theory of reflective thought and action. international journal of lifelong education 19(1( page 54-72. d01:10:1080/02 6013700293458 https://www. researchgate.net/publication/28368072http://hdl.handle.net/10224/3680 moghadam, v.m. (2008). democracy and women’s rights. reflections on the middle east and north africa buenos aires, 24-26 september, 2008. okon, g.b. (2013). voter-education by the nigerian broadcast media: a normative appraisal of three radio stations in port harcourt metropolis. 28(1). 57-81. schmidt, s.w; shelley ii m.c & bardes, b.a. (2013-2014 edition) american government and politics today. wadsworth cengage learning. unesco. (2002). education for sustainability from rio to johannesburg: learnt from a decade of commitment. united nations. (2005). women and elections: guide to promoting the participation of women in elections. united nations department of public information copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). https://www/ http://hdl.handle.net/10224/3680 american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 47 impact of disaggregated public expenditure on unemployment rate of selected african countries: a panel dynamic analysis approach aphu elvis selase college of public administration huazhong university of science and technology wuhan, hubei, 430074, china e-mail: elvis.qapito@yahoo.com abstract the study demonstrated the impact of disaggregated public expenditure on unemployment rate in selected african countries with panel data spanning from 2000 to 2017. the data were majorly sourced from the world bank indicator. the study employed generalized method of moments (gmm) techniques for empirical analysis. the findings of two-step system gmm showed that expenditure on infrastructure and education reduce unemployment rate, while expenditure on defense and health increase unemployment rate in the region. the short-run elasticity estimate showed that infrastructure and education expenditures reduce unemployment rate by 9% and 1.83%. a unit rise in defense and health expenditure increase unemployment rate by 5.2% and 84.5%. the long-run elasticity of infrastructure and education expenditure reduce unemployment rate by 3.8% and 7.89 %, while the long-run defense and health expenditure elasticity’s increase unemployment rate by 22.22% and 364.58% in the selected african countries. the policy implication is that, the positive relationship between expenditure on health and unemployment could be attributed to mismanagement of government funds due to corruption, while that of defense and unemployment could be high rate of insecurity and crimes in the region. therefore, the study recommended among others a drastic measure to further improve the education sector through adequate investment in education that will help in skills, development and training. keywords: african countries, expenditure rate, health, defense, education, infrastructure, unemployment. 1. background to the study public expenditure plays an important role in aggregate economy in multiple dimensions and has remained a crucial issue in economic development, and most especially in the less developing countries of sub-saharan africa (peter, 2015).public expenditure has occupied a strategic position in various economies of the world and it is an important instrument in public sector policy. no economy exists without incurring public spending for the benefit of its citizens and to stimulate economic activities. in an underdeveloped country, public expenditure has an active role to play in reducing regional disparities, developing social overheads, creation of infrastructure of economic growth in the form of transport and communication facilities, education and training, growth of capital goods industries, basic and key industries, research and development, reducing unemployment rate and so on (bhatia, 2002). government role in the economy has been subjected to series of debate over the years. some argue against large governments others believe that without government’s participatory role to guides the economy, countries could be endangered with unstable growth which may lead to prolonged recessions and massive rates of unemployment. nwosa (2014) opined that the role of government includes the financial bail-outs of the entire economy or a particular sector of the economy which is to increase the government expenditure. but challenges still remain, despite increase in government spending especially for the structural transformations to create more jobs and reduce poverty by deepening investment in agriculture and developing agricultural value chains to spur modern manufacturing and services in african countries. african economic outlook (2018) portrayed that african countries growth rate have not been accompanied by high job growth rates, employment grew at an annual average of 2.8 percent between 2000 and 2008 roughly half the rate of economic growth. algeria, burundi, botswana, cameroon, and morocco experienced employment growth of more than 4 percent. between 2009 and 2014, annual employment growth increased to an average of 3.1 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 48 percent despite slower economic growth. but this figure was still 1.4 percentage points below average economic growth. slow job growth has primarily affected women and youth (ages 15–24). africa is estimated to have had 226 million youth in 2015, a figure projected to increase 42 percent, to 321 million by 2030. the lack of job growth has retarded poverty reduction. although the proportion of poor people in africa declined from 56 percent in 1990 to 43 percent in 2012, the number of poor people increased. inequality also increased, with the gini coefficient rising from 0.52 in 1993 to 0.56 in 2008. the effect of government expenditure on employment generation has been subject to considerable interest in recent years. there has been growing concern about the extent to which government expenditure has impacted the unemployment rate in african countries. the rising cost of governance remained a challenge by african countries; the public expenditure size has expanded which has generated interest in both developed and developing world to optimize the size of government. the need to provide and expand the tentacles of public goods becoming too obvious and unavoidable recognized, mismanagement and misappropriation of public expenditure in the economy cannot be underestimated, coupled with the pressing demand to expand and cater for the rising population via provision of employment opportunities. employment is generated when job opportunities are provided by the government through their expenditure arm of the provision of social and economic infrastructural amenities in the economy. hence, jhinghan, (2008) opined that the provision of infrastructural facilities through public funds has dual purpose of generating employment opportunities directly while at the same time using the amenities towards encouraging the productive sectors in order to produce and provide employment opportunities for the populace/labour force (araga, 2016). although, high rate of unemployment is not peculiar to less developed countries but also developed ones. the macroeconomic problem is severe in ldcs’ including african countries. lack of employment opportunities aggravates unemployment situation in which some employable persons, in the labour force, with requisite qualifications, skills and ability are willing and seeking to work but cannot get jobs (adawo, essien and ekpo, 2012). in related terms, deficiency in employment opportunities (jhingan, 2008) leads to involuntary idleness of persons who are willing to work at the prevailing wage rate but unable to find work. the level of employment (nwosa, 2014) measures the proportion of the available labour force that is employed in the economy. amidst the unresolved foregoing controversies, most african countries are still faced with rising rate of unemployment where employable persons, in the labour force, with required qualifications, skills and ability are willing and seeking to work but cannot get jobs (adawo, essien and ekpo, 2012). therefore, the policy makers emphasized on the roles of public sector expenditure as important instrument which the government can apply to restore some economic problems such as reduction in inequality, poor living standards, high rate of unemployment, dwindling oil price and the desire to restore the economy on the part of full employment, increase in economic growth etc. however, it has been argued that, the rising state of public expenditure contributed to employment generation, this has continued to generate series of debate among scholars, the empirical and theoretical positions on the subject is quite diverse and still remain mixed. according to empirical evidences of estache, ianchovichina, bacon and salamon, (2013); holden and sparrman, (2013); faramarzi, avazalipour, khaleghi and hakimipour, (2014); carmignani, (2014), government expenditure can enhance the level of employment and reduce unemployment in both developed and developing countries. however in spite of the huge government expenditure being spent on productive sectors such as infrastructures, defense of the citizenry, education and healthcare in africa, there has been continuous rise in the level of unemployment in the continent. therefore, it is against these issues raised above that this study examine whether gross public expenditure has any impact on unemployment rate in selected african countries. hence, the study provides answers to the impact of public expenditure of selected african countries on the unemployment. the study is structured to the following arrangement, section one captures the background to the study, section two focuses on detailed theoretical propositions and empirical review. section three explains the method adopts to analyze the data while section four shows outcome of results and interpretations. finally, section five entails summary, conclusion and policy recommendations. 2. literature review 2.1theoretical review the theory of employment has always centered on two major arguments and strand of literature, among them are classical and keynesian theories of employment. at the forefront of this theory, the classical economists assumed a full employment of labour and the flexibility of prices and wages to bring about the full employment in the case of any deviation. the classical assumption of full employment is based on the belief that over-production and general unemployment are impossible. in case of any unemployment, it is believed to be abnormal and will not continue for long since there are economic factors (self-adjusting mechanism) that inherently work towards bringing it back to www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 49 equilibrium (onodugoet al, 2017). to this end therefore, the economy does not need government intervention through spending to achieve full employment since there is the existence of full employment. another strand of argument follows the keynesian theory of employment which states that in the short run, economic growth through full employment is strongly influenced by total spending in the economy. hence, the economy is being regarded as inherently unstable and required active government intervention through spending to achieve full employment. he is also of the view that public expenditures can contribute positively to economic growth by increasing government consumption through increase in employment, profitability and investment. this theory believes that active government intervention in the market place through government expenditure was the only method for ensuring full employment by ensuring efficiency in resources allocation and regulation of markets (sangkuhl, 2015). in support of this theory, abu and abdullahi (2010) asserted that in the keynesian model, an increase in government expenditure leads to a higher economic growth. hence, fiscal policy is a technique to attain and maintain the level of full employment by manipulating public expenditure and revenue in such a way so as to keep equilibrium between effective demand and supply of goods and services. in like manner, dewett and navalur (2012) posit that if depression occurs, fiscal policy should help in increasing demand and an increase in demand leads to increase in output. as such, the government can increase its expenditure and spend more on public works which will provide employment to more people. and a budget deficit during a depression they believe is a positive help in fighting unemployment and stimulating output growth. this work will adopt keynesian theory of employment just like araga (2016), because (a) most empirical evidence revealed that government intervention is inevitable in every economy around the world today. this was demonstrated during the recent economic recession that lead government providing funds to bail out some failed banks in uk, usa, nigeria, etc.(b) government intervention is required in providing basic social and economic infrastructural facilities such as roads, schools, hospitals, etc. for the development of the economy(c) government expenditures in capital public projects bring about the development of infrastructural facilities which can improve productive sectors of the economy and as such create employment opportunities for the populace, to mention but a few. 2.2 empirical review 2.2.1 studies on the relationship between unemployment and government expenditures in non-africa holden and sparrman (2013) empirically analyzed the effect of government purchases on unemployment in 20 oecd countries from 1980 to 2007. using ex post factor methodology, the findings revealed that an increase in government purchases reduced unemployment by about 0.3 percentage point in the same year. the effect was also observed to be greater in downturns than in booms, while greater under a fixed exchange rate regime than a floating regime. faramarziet al (2014) examined the long run impact of government expenditure and tax on liquidity and employment in iranian economy with time series data spanning 1976-2009. employing vector auto regressive model (var), vector error connection (vecm) and co-integration techniques, the results indicate that government expenditure have positive impact on both employment and liquidity while tax has negative effect on employment. monacilliet al. (2010) analyzed the effect of fiscal policy on labour market variables in the united states. using a var model, the result showed that hour and employment also rise significantly in response to a government spending stock. also, increase in government spending of 1 percent of gdp generated output and unemployment multiplier around 1.3 and 0.6 respectively, implying that each percentage point increase in gdp produces an increase in employment of about 1.3 million jobs. kasau, et al (2015) examined the effect of government spending and investment towards job opportunities in eastern and at the kbi both direct and indirect as well as the total influence in both regions from 2007 to 2013. the panel data was analyzed using sem (structural equation modeling) and the result revealed that government spending has significant positive effect on the investment and employment either indirectly or in total aziz and leruth (1997) analyzed the effect of changes in the composition of government expenditure between consumption and investment goods on the long run and short run fluctuations of the u.s economy. using quantitative research methodology, the result revealed that the effects of changing the composition of government spending through government purchases can have efficiency effects as well as affect short run volatility of macroeconomic variables such as output and employment. anthanasios (2013) using the svar methodology to analyze unemployment effects of fiscal policy in greece, found a negative relationship between unemployment and government purchases and a positive relationship between tax and unemployment. in like manner, tagkalakis (2013) examined the unemployment effects of fiscal policy changes in greece from 2000-2012. adopting the blanchard and perotti (2002) svar methodology, he found that unemployment reduced when there was an increase www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 50 in government purchases, government consumption, the government wage bill and government investment, but it increased when there was a cut in government purchases and its components. mahmoodet al. (2014) investigated the causes of unemployment in pakistan. they discovered that budget deficit significantly increased unemployment. the study had employed variance inflation factor analysis and stepwise regression. their results were similar to his conclusion as they found out that fiscal expansion increased output, private consumption and private investment and reduced unemployment. battaglini and coate (2011) explored the interaction between fiscal policy and unemployment in oecd countries with panel data from 2006 to 2010. using ols of fixed effect technique, the result revealed that government spending has positive relationship with unemployment. laokulrach (2013) examined the effect of fiscal policies on service sector employment in thailand. adopting multiple regression method, he found out that fiscal policy had no significant relationship with employment rate. umut (2015) examined the effect of fiscal policy in netherland, adopted a var technique. the result showed that fiscal shocks exert significant impact on gdp, unemployment rate, consumption and investment. hence, unemployment rises in response to a fiscal contraction and falls to fiscal expansion. samira and khalil (2015) studied the effect of government civil expenditures on unemployment rate in iran from 1997-2013. employed johansen co-integration test, (var) and vecm techniques. the result showed long run relationship and a negative impact on unemployment rate. 2.2.2 studies on the relationship between unemployment and government expenditures in africa nwosa (2014) explored the impact of government expenditure on unemployment and poverty rates in nigeria for the period 1981 to 2011. employing the ols estimation technique, he observed that government expenditure significantly and directly influences unemployment rate but inversely and insignificantly affects poverty rate. okoye, evbuomwan, modebe and ezeji (2016) investigated the effect of fiscal deficit on unemployment in nigeria from u used the vector error correction model (vecm) and granger causality test and found a significant negative and causal relationship. the study also applied the ordinary least square econometric technique. araga (2016) examined the implications of public expenditure pattern particularly in road infrastructure, agriculture sector, road construction, and education sector on employment rate in nigeria from 1980-2014 by adopting the vecm and cointegration. the result revealed that agriculture expenditure (agrex) and road construction expenditure (rcexp) have significant negative effect on employment (empr) while transport expenditure (trexp) and education expenditure (edexp) have positive significant effect on rate of employment (empr). emeka (2018) analyzed the budget deficit and unemployment nexus in nigeria with a time series data spanning1997 2017. employing linear regression and vector error correction mechanisms (vecm), the findings revealed that government annual deficit has a significant positive effect on the unemployment rate in nigeria. murwirapachena, et al (2013) investigated the effect of fiscal policy on unemployment in south africa from 1980 to 2010. employing vector error correction model and co-integration techniques, the findings showed that government recurrent expenditure and tax has positive relationship on unemployment whereas capital expenditure had a negative effect. chimeziri (2016) examined the effect of federal government expenditure on unemployment in nigeria from 1981 to 2014. using ols technique, the result indicated that federal government expenditure variables (expenditure on administration, economic service, social and community service, and transfer) jointly have positive and significant impact on unemployment in nigeria. individually, only government expenditure on economic services affected unemployment significantly and negatively. ubi and inyang (2018) analyzed the fiscal deficit and its implication on nigeria’s economic development from 1980 to 2016. using quantitative technique, they observed that fiscal deficit did not reduce unemployment rate. egbulonu and amadi (2016) investigated the relationship between fiscal policy and unemployment rate in nigeria for the period 1970 to 2013. using co-integration test and a parsimonious error correction model (ecm), the result showed a long run relationship between unemployment rate and fiscal policy tools (government expenditure, government debt stock and government tax revenue). also there existed a negative relationship between expenditure and government debt and unemployment rate in nigeria while government tax revenue indicated a positive relationship with unemployment rate. however, the granger causality test showed that there was no causality running from either of government expenditure or unemployment. wosowei (2013) empirically studied the link between fiscal deficit and unemployment rate in nigeria with time series data spanning 1980-2010. using ordinary least square and co integration techniques, the findings revealed a bi-directional causal relationship between unemployment and deficit. in a similar study employing the same method of analysis, egbulonu and amadi (2016) analyzed the fiscal policy and unemployment rate association in nigeria from1970 to 2013. their findings revealed a negative relationship between unemployment and fiscal www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 51 policy in long-run. onodugo, et al. (2017) empirically examined the impact of public sector expenditures (cexp and rexp) together with private sector investment (pinv) on unemployment in nigeria from 1980 to 2013. using a regression model capital expenditure and private sector investment have negative effect on unemployment in the medium and long-run. abubakar (2016) investigated the effect of fiscal policy shocks on output and unemployment in nigeria under the keynesian framework from 1981-215. using the structural vector auto regression (svar) methodology and co-integration, the result revealed that shocks to public expenditure have a long-lasting positive effect on output growth. also revenue is found to reduce unemployment in the short run, while public expenditure is found to produce no significant effect on unemployment. finally, there exist long run equilibrium relationships among the variables. fagbohun (2017) examined the impact of budget deficit on economic performance in nigeria from 1970 to 2013. employing the least square method, he found that budget deficits did not increase the employment rate in nigeria. in same manner a study carried out by ayogueze and anidiobu (2017) revealed that government budget deficit had had a positive and insignificant impact on unemployment rate in nigeria within1986 – 2015. the methodology used was ordinary least square method. 3. data and methodology 3.1 data and measurement the selection of the sample period and countries are based on the availability of annual data, ranging from 2000 to 2017. the selected african countries are classified by world bank. hence this work makes use of a balanced panel data of 20 african countries (four from each sub-region); angola, benin, botswana, cameroun, central african republic, chad, egypt, equatorial guinea, ethiopia, ghana, kenya, mauritius, morocco, namibia, nigeria, south africa, sudan, tanzania, togo and tunisia. the study considered panel series data on real unemployment rate, defense expenditure, health expenditure and education expenditure obtained from world development indicator (wdi) online database which was published by the world bank. the variables above are measured as follows; unemployment rate (unemp): unemployment refers to the condition of having no job. the international labour organization (ilo) defines the unemployed as numbers of the economically active population who are without work but available for and seeking work, including people who have lost their jobs and those who have voluntarily left work (world bank, 1998). unemployment rate is the percentage of the working population that is not currently employed. the percentage only takes into account the number of unemployed persons who are actively seeking employment. those who are unemployed and not seeking jobs are considered to be “voluntarily” unemployed. annual growth of gross fixed capital formation (gfcf) based on u.s dollar. this includes plant, machinery, and equipment purchases; and the construction of roads, railways, and the like, including schools, offices, hospitals, private residential dwellings, and commercial and industrial buildings. defense expenditure (dexp) measured in u.s dollar, this is the military expenditure (% of general government expenditure). this includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces, defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects. health expenditure (hexp), this is the general government expenditure on education (current, capital, and transfers), is expressed as a percentage of total general government expenditure on all sectors (including health, education, social services, etc.). it includes expenditure funded by transfers from international sources to government. general government usually refers to local, regional and central governments. (onuoha and agbede, 2019). 3.2 model specification given that the goal is to investigate the dynamic relationship between public expenditures and unemployment rates in africa. building on the works of nwosa (2014) and araga (2016), we exploit the cross section and time series dimension of our data by using the generalized method of moments (gmm) estimation. the gmm developed by hansen (1982), provides a convenient framework for obtaining asymptotically efficient estimators in this context, and first-differenced gmm estimators for the ar(1)panel data model were developed by holtz-eakin, newey and rosen (1988) and arellano and bond (1991). hence, unemployment rate (unemp) depends on expenditure variables (expenditure on infrastructures-gfcf, defense expenditure-dexp, health expenditure-hexp and education expenditureedexp). the initial dynamic model which is autoregressive in nature is specified as; yit = yit−1 + βx’it + ( + εit)i=1,2……..,n,t=1,2……, t.(1) re-writing with our variables, we have; www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 52 unemp it = unempit−1 + βi1gfcfyit + βi2dexppit + βi3hexpdit + βi3edexp +ditvi + ψt + εit (2) where i denotes the country (i=1,y,…….20) and t denotes the time period (t=2000, y, 2017). eq. (1) is a fairly general specification which allows for dynamic macroeconomic (unemp) effect, individual fixed country effects (v), fixed time effects (ψ), and a stochastic error term (ε), by apriori, β1, β2, β3, β4<0 eq. (1 and 2) are examples of linear dynamic panel model (arellano and bond, 1991). this model contains unobserved panel-level effects which may be either fixed or random. by construction, the unobserved panel-level effects are correlated with the lag(s) of the dependent variable and this makes most standard estimation approaches inconsistent (arellano and bond, 1991). from the aforementioned details, to handle the econometric issues and control for the potential endogeneity of unemployment rate we have applied the dynamic panel estimator of arellano and bover (1995) and blundell and bond (1998). although we could use an instrumental variable estimator for this purpose, this dynamic panel estimator also allows us to control for the endogeneity of all the other regressors in the model and at the same time control for the econometric problems that arise from the inclusion of the initial selected unemployment rate variables as an explanatory variable. this estimator involves estimating the equations in levels and in differences. for the levels equations lagged values of all explanatory variables are used as instruments while for the differenced equation we use the lagged values in levels of all explanatory variables as instruments. the two equations levels and differenced are then combined to give the gmm system estimators. these instrumental variables are called internal instruments because they rely on previous realizations of the explanatory variables and we test their validity using the sargan test and their consistency using the second-order serial correlation test. 3.3 the long-run gmm estimates the mathematical computation of the long run elasticity coefficient for the kth parameter is specified as; βit (1) where β is the short run coefficient of the explanatory variables, is the coefficient of the lagged dependent variable. 3.4 justification of the utilization of the model the method of gmm is chosen because our panel is of n>t (n=20, t=18) size. however, two-step system gmm was chosen over one-step system gmm for the following reasons;  it is the augmented two-step difference gmm  it is more robust to one-step system gmm  it is more efficient and robust to treating heterosckedasticy and autocorrelation following bond (2001)’s rule of thumb for selection between difference gmm or system gmm, decision is based on the following criteria:  pooled ols-> estimate biased upwards  fe-> estimate biased downward  diff. gmm-> estimate lies below or close to fe estimate. it is biased downward and  use system gmm estimator, our model indicate that system gmm is preferable for analyzing our dynamic model. 4. empirical results 4.1 selection between difference gmm and system gmm based on blundell-bond (2001) rule of thumb, the estimated one-step and two-step difference gmm are both less than fixed effect estimate. this implies that difference gmm is downward biased and as such blundell and bond (1998) proposed use of system gmm. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 53 table 1: bound test estimators (involving pool, fe, diff. gmm and sys. gmm) estimators coefficients pooled ols 0.97345 fixed effects 0.88352 one-step diff.gmm 0.72452 two-step diff. gmm 0.60144 one-step sys. gmm 0.78624 two-step sys. gmm 0.76818 `source: author’s computation 4.2 two-step system gmm estimation regression results the results of the two-step system gmm estimation is considered more appropriate as indicated by the bound testresult in table 1proposed by bond (2001). the result indicates that a unit increase in gfcf and edexp bring about 0.009 and 0.0183 decrease in unemp respectively. also, a unit increase in dexp and hexp bring about 0.0515and 0.8451increase in unemp respectively. statistically, all the explanatory variables significantly influenced unemp (unemployment rates) in the selected countries of africa. this implies that expenditure on infrastructure (gfcf) and education (edexp) reduce unemployment rates rate in the region under study, while expenditure on defense and health increase unemployment rate. the overall statistics is significant which implies that the variables are stable. in like manner, number of groups is greater than the number of instruments which means that the model is good. however, sargan and hansen tests of over identification restrictions indicate that p-values are not significant (0.78 and .803). this implies that we will not reject the null hypothesis and so we conclude that all instruments as a group are pure exogenous. hence, the instruments used in the model are desirable. finally, the arellano-bond tests for ar (2) in second order autocorrelation tests is insignificant (0.129). this means acceptance of null hypothesis and we conclude that error term of the differenced equation is not serially correlated at 2nd order. table 2: comprehensive gmm results variable pool regression fixed effect one-step d.gmm two-step d.gmm one-step sys. gmm two-step system gmm unemp(1) 0.9734*** 0.884*** 0.7245*** 0.6014** 0.7862*** 0.7682*** (0.0000) (0.0000) (0.005) (0.041) (0.000) (0.000) gfcf -0.0086*** -0.0089* -0.0067 -0.0049 -0.008* -0.009** (0.001) (0.07) (0.176) (0.318) (0.076) (0.044) dexp 0.0053 0.0182 0.0062 0.0102 0.046 0.0515** www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 54 (0.331) (0.257) (0.657) (0.459) (0.135) (0.043) hexp 0.1679*** 0.1338*** -0.2525** -0.2514** 0.8068* 0.8451*** (0.012) (0.008) (0.024) (0.037) (0.07) (0.002) edexp -0.0072* -0.0099 0.0184 0.0096 -0.0181** -0.0183*** (0.076) (0.432) (0.185) (0.451) (0.054) (0.010) diagnostic test ar(1) 0.126 0.205 0.004 0.004 ar(2) 0.075 0.091 0.092 0.129 sargan test 0.316 0.316 0.780 0.78 hansen test 0.335 0.335 0.803 0.803 obs 323 323 304 304 323 323 prob>f 0.000 0.000 0.0015 0.000 0.000 no of groups 19 19 19 19 no of instruments 6 6 8 8 ***designate the significance at 1% significance level, **designate the significance at 5% significance level while *designate the significance at 10% significance level. the regression coefficients are estimated using the arellano and bover (1995) and blundell and bond (1998) two-step system gmm estimation approach. ar(1) and ar(2) are arellano and bond (1991) tests for autocorrelation indifferences. sargan test (arellano and bond (1991)) and hansen test for over-identification restrictions. p values for these tests shown in parenthesis. estimation uses the xtabond2 (roodman, 2009) and two-step robust no diff sarganin stata 15. gmm type instruments for the difference equation include fourth and fifth lags of unemployment rate and collapse. standard-type instruments for the difference equation include the first differences of gfcf, dexp, hexp, edexp, variables. gmm-type instruments for the level equation include the lagged first difference of unemployment rate variable and collapse option. source: authors computations 4.3 unemployment rate variable elasticity estimate calculated using the estimates of table 2 table 3: long run gmm elasticity estimates unemp prob* short run gfcf -0.009** (0.044) dexp 0.0515** (0.043) hexp 0.8451*** (0.002) edexp 0.0183*** (0.010) long run gfcf -0.0388 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 55 dexp 0.2222 hexp 3.6458 edexp -0.0789 ***designate the significance at 1% significance level, **designate the significance at 5% significance level while *designate the significance at 10% significance level. source: author’s computation 4.4 analysis of short and long-run elasticity the short-run unemployment rate elasticity indicates that a 1% increase in gfcf and edexp reduced unemp by a value of 9% and 1.83% respectively. also, the short run dexp and hexp elasticicies are 0.0515 and 0.8451 which implies that a 1% increase in dexp and hexp increase unemp by a value of 5.2% and 84.5%respectively. the long-run elasticities are obtained by dividing the short-run elasticities by one minus the estimated coefficient on the lagged unemp variable. the long-run gfcf and edexpelasticitiesare0.0388 and 0.0789indicatingthat a 1% increase in gfcf and edex produced unemp by a value of 3.8% and 7.89 % respectively. also, the long-run dexp and hexp elasticities are 0.2222and 3.6458which indicate that a 1% increase in dexp and hexp increased unemp by 22.22% and 364.58% respectively. 4.5 discussion of findings the short-run unemployment rate elasticity indicates that a 1% increase in gfcf and edexp reduced unemp by a value of 9% and 1.83% respectively. the finding corroborates with the study of okoye et al (2016). also, the short run dexp and hexp elasticicies are 0.0515 and 0.8451 which implies that a 1% increase in dexp and hexp increase unemp by a value of 5.2% and 84.5% respectively, this finding is in line with the work of chimeziri (2016). also, the long run effects of gfcf and edexp on unemp are 0.0388 and 0.0789. this means that a percent change in infrastructural expenditure (gfcf) and education expenditures (edexp) are associated with 0.0388% and 0.0789% reduction in unemployment rate in the long run. this finding is in agreement with the studies of mahmood et al(2014) and samiral and khalil (2015) but against the work of araga (2016) in terms of infrastructural expenditure. hence, infrastructural and educational expenditures have larger inverse effect on unemp in the long run (0.0338 and 0.0789) than in the short run (0.009 and 0.0183). on the other hand, the long run effects of dexp and hexp on unemp are 0.2222and 3.6458. this means that a percent change in defense expenditure (dexp) and health expenditures (hexp) are associated with 0.2222%and 3.6458% increase in unemployment rate in the long run, as established by faramarzi et al (2014) study. hence, defense and health expenditures have larger positive effect on unemp in the long run (0.2222and 3.6458) than in the short run (0.0515and 0.8451), this result is in line with the studies of murwirapachena et al (2013) and emeka (2018). 5. summary, conclusions and recommendations the major objective of this research work is to examine the impact of gross public expenditure on unemployment rate in selected african countries with panel data from 2000 to 2017. the study employed dynamic panel approach of two-step system generalized method of moments (gmm) techniques for empirical analysis. the findings from the two-step gmm result shows that gross fixed capital formation and education expenditure have an inverse relationship with the unemployment rate in selected african countries. the study also finds that expenditure on defense and healthincrease unemployment rate in the region. however, all the variables investigated are statistically significant.the inability of defense and health expenditure to meet up with a priori could be attributed to high rate of insecurity and crime as a result of joblessness, and mismanagement of funds meant for health sector due to corruption in the region. in conclusion, the study unravelled that unemployment rate in selected african countries had created the emergence of militants groups, constituting hiccups to security of lives and properties in the region. therefore, the study recommends stiffer constraints for cases of mismanagement of government funds by economic managers in order to limit the occurrence of repeated cases. also, adequate attention should be given to infrastructural development in order to build up productive capacity through government expenditure. there is need for drastic measures to improve the educational sector through adequate investment in education that will help in www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 56 skills development and training. finally, more effort should be given to the health sector at all levels with the government and private sector in order to improve the capacity for additional opportunities. references abu, n., & abdullahi, u. 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(2018). fiscal deficit and nigeria’s economic development. international journal of economics, commerce and management, 6 (5), 137 – 150 umut, u. (2015). the unemployment effects of fiscal policy in netherland. the journal of faculty of economics and administrative sciences, 20(1), 143-153. world bank, (1998). report on unemployment. available (on line) at: http://www.worldbank/unemployment/report.org. wosowei, e. (2013). fiscal deficits and macroeconomic aggregates in nigeria. kuwait chapter of arabian journal of business and management review, 33(858), 1-11. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 3; 2020 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 9 a mother’s account about lactation in the context of perinatal death gláucia maria moreira galvão school of medicine federal university of minas gerais, brazil e-mail: gmmgbh@gmail.com eduardo carlos tavares medicine department of puc-minas, betim, minas gerais, brazil e-mail: eduardoctavares@gmail.com ethyene andrade costa psychoanalysis institute of brazilian society of psychoanalysis minas gerais, belo horizonte minas gerais brazil e-mail: ethyenepsi@gmail.com gláucia rezende tavares psychology department of fumec university belo horizonte minas gerais brazil e-mail: glauciartavares@gmail.com maria candida ferrarez bouzada department of pediatrics, school of medicine federal university of the state of minas gerais, belo horizonte, brazil e-mail: bouzada@medicina.ufmg.br steven eric byrd department of society, culture, and languages university of new england, biddeford/portland, maine, usa e-mail: sbyrd@une.edu abstract objective: to discuss the importance of listening and having a humanized intervention in regard to the donation of breastmilk in the context of perinatal death. methodology: content analysis of an interview with a mother in mourning that went through a traumatic lactation following a perinatal death. this case study is one of qualitative, longitudinal research, realized over two partiallystructured interviews with parents who had lost their babies with less than 22 weeks of gestation at a public hospital, in belo horizonte, brazil, from february to october 2019. mailto:ethyenepsi@gmail.com www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 3; 2020 10 results: the interviews in the case of “eva” (hypothetical name) presented significant suffering from lactation following the death of her child and her mourning process, which caught the authors‟ attention about the importance of this topic. conclusions: women who have lost their babies before, during, or after birth should be offered the option of donating their breastmilk, to allow them to choose what to do with it, and then to counsel them during the mourning process. keywords: mourning, professional training, neonatal death, human milk banks, disenfranchised grief. 1. introduction the brazilian human milk bank network (bhmbn) is available in every state of brazil and takes part of the brazilian healthcare system (referred to as „sus‟), it is a technical reference for many countries in consultation and assistance in breastfeeding and human milk donation. in 2007, the ibero-american program of human milk banks was founded, consisting of the countries from south america, central america and some countries from europe. in 2008, it also incorporated the lusophone african countries of angola, cape verde, and mozambique. the latter program, which collaborates with the bhmbn, assists the participating countries to achieve the goals of ods/2030, whose emphasis is the reduction of infant mortality. all countries are to follow donation norms according to statute rdc 171.1 (ortiz, 2012; global network of human milk, 2019). some mothers opt to donate milk following the loss of a child, as a way of alleviating their suffering, to honor the memory of their child, or to help other mothers in need of breastmilk. these mothers in mourning often find support in human milk banks (hmb) which has the means available to support donations and counseling. it is important that healthcare professionals that work with mourning mothers to share this information, so that these mothers understand the options available to them in such circumstances (human milk banking association of north america, 2020). it is important to understand the physiology of how breastmilk is produced: phase i of lactation occurs during gestation; phase ii occurs when the placenta is expelled after birth. therefore, when the death of a baby occurs during the second trimester of gestation (after 20 weeks), breastmilk production and breastfeeding can occur: that is, breastfeeding is not solely dependent on sucking stimulation from the baby. following a fetal or neonatal loss, the common practice in maternity wards is to prescribe drugs and to have women wrap their breasts with bandages or restrictive bras to suppress lactation (cole, 2012). medical professionals should be attentive and prepared for the question of mothers in mourning in order to counsel them on possible steps they can take in such situations (cole, 2012). some professionals raise the question: wouldn‟t donating breastmilk further complicate the mourning process? regarding the mourning of mothers who have lost a child, the social denial in assisting women who suffer this form of loss is unquestionable. there is a general practice of encouraging women to deny what happened to them in these circumstances, rather than embracing their loss and suffering. in fact, some practices involve minimizing and “objectifying” the loss and suffering, counseling the mother that she need not suffer, that she can have another child. not to mention that there are practices that aim at medicalizing emotional pain. in this way, we, somewhat, have framed practices that have created the impossibility of listening to these mothers in such moments of despair (cole, 2012). this style of interaction with this type of suffering is harmful for the mourning process, and points out that it should be considered “unusual” to behave in ways that socially dehumanize these situations (lang et al., 2011). to deny the suffering of a mother is a contradiction of the loss she had and creates an obstacle for making sense of the reality. this type of denial can compromise the mourning process, which is an elaborative one, and instead frames it as a type of disconnected mourning (attig 2004). indeed, there may be some “confusing language” with a mother who loses a child, and with people who have never gone through such an event generally – or have done so and no www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 3; 2020 11 longer recognize it anymore. in a sense, their backgrounds have made them immune to comprehending this type of traumatic reality, and they therefore relegate it to a level of disbelief, of impossibility, or of indifference. according to doka (1989), a society possesses norms and rules for the act of mourning, which outline who, when, where, for whom mourning may take place; and whereby those who are not in mourning may not make their feelings known, and are therefore condemned to silence. it is, therefore, possible to think about how this issue touches something rather primitive in humans: the fear of helplessness, of facing loss, and one‟s powerlessness in the face of such an event. in this sense, it is necessary to underscore that there is nothing that scars the human psyche more profoundly than the feeling of helplessness. it is the first pain that settles in. it is the first trauma, the first part of mourning. hence, it must be emphasized the importance of having a space to recognize and to receive this type of suffering – a place to receive the unspeakable suffering of now, which brings all past losses to light, as well as a place to receive the initial pain of loss. healthcare professionals can be facilitators (or not) in the way mothers cope with such loss, and can help with questions regarding what to do with breastmilk following a baby‟s death. given the professional shortcomings regarding mothers in mourning, and all the difficulties they face in dealing with the loss of a child, the objective of this article is to discuss the importance of listening and having a humanized intervention in regard to the decisions involved with breastmilk donations in the context of perinatal death. it attempts to enrich the possibilities of reflection on this topic through the analysis of interview excerpts with a mother in mourning that went through a traumatizing lactational experience following the loss of her child. 2. methodological preliminaries this case study is one of a qualitative, longitudinal methodology, based on two partially-structured interviews conducted with parents who lost babies with less than 22 weeks of gestation in the high-risk maternity ward, of odete valadares maternity of the hospital foundation of minas gerais state, reference for high obstetric risk in belo horizonte minas gerais, brazil, during the months of february to october 2019. the conducted interviews examine specifically the case of “eva” (hypothetical name), who went through considerable suffering from her lactation following the death of her baby and her subsequent mourning, which caught the attention of the authors about this subject. the first interview was realized during eva‟s admission into the maternity ward during the first 24 hours after her loss, whereby her demographic data were collected, which serve to support the analysis. the second interview was conducted one month following her loss, in eva‟s home – a place selected by her. in this interview, guided questions were used to verify her perceptions of that moment, her perceptions about her adaptation to daily life following her loss, and her perceptions about mourning and the quality of her professional activities. the interview was recorded and transcribed in its totality, and includes the following additional elements: interruptions, laughter, crying, pauses, changes of topic, etc., for content analysis in accordance with waitzkin (1991). a partially structured interview is utilized for the sake of facilitating questioning, as it does not restrict the researcher to a format of succinct data collection. it, instead, provides more extensive and more detailed information to be divulged, which, in turn, leads to a better comprehension of the point of view of the other – an objective of this case study. a partially structured interview is one which, by using basic questions supported by hypotheses and theories, expands opportunities for other fields of questioning. the material obtained was submitted for content analysis and later for thematic analysis of the data. the thematic analysis allows the discovery of nuclei of meaning, which are the basis of communication, and whose presence or frequency signify meaningful utterances. these categorized thematic nuclei of the obtained data are centered on words or meanings expressed in the speech of the interviewees (minayo, 2018). www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 3; 2020 12 3. results and discussion eva is 34 years-old, married, unfinished middle school, day laborer, no labor documentation, whose obstetric history consists of three pregnancies, with one previous delivery and two abortions. eva has a living daughter of eight years old. she had two prenatal consultations and was admitted to the hospital during her gestation for sepsis. she was diagnosed with amniorrexis (i.e. rupture of the amniotic membrane), acute oligohydramnios (i.e. deficiency of amniotic fluid), which eventually resulted in intrauterine fetal death. during the first interview, she was accompanied by her husband. during her second interview, one can note eva‟s suffering while in mourning: “it‟s like this, i cannot focus on anything else. every hour, i keep thinking about this for practically 24 hours. i sleep, i have nightmares, in the beginning i had horrible nightmares. i couldn‟t get to sleep at bedtime, i got, like, in a panic, i didn‟t want to and my husband went back to work.” “i lost 5 kg because i just couldn‟t eat. you know when you try to eat and you just can‟t. i only ate after the third day when i got home. i drank [beet juice], my mother made beet juice to help me get stronger. i didn‟t have any strength at first after what happened, i had a bad hemorrhage, due to what happened, i arrived home the color of my refrigerator, white.” from the excerpt above, it is possible to infer that eva did not solely address her physical pain: that is, even though it appears that she could not find the words to properly describe her feelings, she did address her psychological suffering and about the pain of losing her child. what we have here, therefore, is an incursion into narcissism. as freud (1974) notes, this is a retraction of the libido in direction of the ego, which is notable during the mourning process, complicated or not, and ceases to be linked to objects. this is, hence, best defined by the concept of “death drive” (i.e. freud‟s concept of “todestrieb”), in the sense that there is unbound psychic energy, manifesting itself in a devitalizing way. here, eva seems to seek in the interviewer someone to help her symbolize and validate the pain she feels. a mother‟s loss of a child, at least in the circumstances in which there is a disruptive state via psychic distress, will always be traumatic in our view. however, if there is no process of contradiction, no negation of the loss, this trauma can result in a painful process of reliving the loss, of reallocating libidinous investments, and hence turning it into a complicated mourning process. in cases in which there is need of another person and the need goes unfulfilled – that is, the response to the need of another is one of absence or negation –, a destructive slope of trauma can become validated, and the mourning process will encounter significant impediments over its course. maternal love possesses particularities in which there is an apex along the identity of femininity in becoming a mother: that is, motherhood has something related to feminine identity. thus, in the realization of the mother‟s narcissism (as it is reborn), as well as its manifestations of the “ideal me” or “ideal of me,” culminate during the maternal experience – motherly care and connection thereof, which maintains a strong persistence in the motherly psyche. maternity brings the possibility of a woman to experience or to care for her connections, which run rather deep. it is from these deep-rooted experiences – that is, reliving the trademarks of one‟s own lineage –, that a woman seems to guide her views toward her new relationship with her child, to project onto her child repressed ideals of her own psyche. in this study, it is worth emphasizing that the mourning process will also be influenced by the personal history of each woman. when a woman loses a child, usually – adjusted, of course, by the personal history of each woman/mother –, everything seems to come undone. the mourning process, in this form, will be compromised according to the situation in which the loss has occurred: that is, according to the traumatic episode in which the loss of a child is contextualized. with this in mind, we need to talk about the mourning process as it intersects with traumatic experiences. in the event of an unexpected loss, everything that a mother has constructed and lived through up until that moment collapses, and the mourning process may become compromised according to the disruptive nature of the loss. wounded narcissism becomes present. personal histories of each woman act upon how the mourning process will be undertaken. sympathetic listening to these personal aspects can be of enormous help, www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 3; 2020 13 so that a woman may comprehend what she is going through and can aid in decision-making – such as what to do with her breastmilk in accordance with her desires and feelings, which may aid in the mourning process. following freudian theories, one can argue that some women will go through the mourning process in terms of a gradual disconnection from the libido invested in the object. other mothers, however, according to their melancholic structures, will enter into a complicated mourning process, whereby, as we have seen, the object‟s shadow falls upon the ego in a way that includes the denial of the loss, demonstrating that the chosen object was made according to a narcissistic basis: that is, faced with loss, there is an identification with a regressive substitute for the lost object. according to hudson et al. (2012), complicated mourning is one which is characterized by people who experience a long period of disorientation, which impedes them to return to their normal activities prior to their loss. worden (2013) also details manifestations that may be present during a complicated mourning: expression of intense feelings that persist for a long time after the loss; frequent somatizations; radical changes in lifestyle that steer toward isolation; depression, low self-esteem, and impulsive self-harm. we contend that it is important to listen to mothers‟ feelings that they attribute to their babies, they loss they suffered, and, of course, ask: what does lactation represent for them? if the question is poised to a mother about what to do with her breastmilk, the answer will depend on each mother, depending on her feelings, expectations, idealizations in relation to her baby, the place of the mother, and the type of loss. in eva‟s case, such a practice was not adopted by the maternity personnel, leaving her with no counseling about lactation, which further complicated her mourning process: that is, the pain of her loss was further exacerbated by a sense of “wasting” her breastmilk. “i didn‟t know i would have breastmilk. my breastmilk came and it made me sadder, (cries) because i say that, oh my god, i really wanted to breastfeed, what i wanted, and then i was even planning to donate my breastmilk if there was any left, to give to children who needed it. i wanted to breastfeed so much, and then my breastmilk came and i had to stop it, it was more painful.” it‟s worth underscoring that proper counseling for eva about her loss, lactation, and donation options for breastmilk would have been helpful to her during her mourning process. “oh, that hurt a lot, i was crying a lot and asking god for forgiveness, my god how much i wanted [to breastfeed], now i have to bandage my breasts to stop my breastmilk (cries). then i had to take medicine, which was also painful, because i believe that everything is in god‟s nature and then you have to drink [sic] something to stop it. but i couldn‟t do anything about it.” “any mother that loses her child, she feels pain, but my pregnancy was aborted. there is nothing worse than this, a mother having to choose because she… the doctors, „eva your life is at risk, you have a bacterial infection, and you don‟t have fluids, and there is nothing we can do.‟ since i was in the beginning of gestation, there was nothing i could do, because the baby needed milk, milk and not amniotic fluid. i didn‟t have any more fluids.” asking for god‟s forgiveness, as well as saying that her baby needed milk instead of fluids, seem to suggest her feeling of guilt, her insufficiency to deliver a healthy baby. the realization of her sensation of “lack of fluids” at her diagnosis also possibly reemerged now she began producing breastmilk. her “fluids” were there, but without a baby to feed. there was also a feeling of guilt and regret in eva, which she seemed to also experience when she was “wasting” her breastmilk, in the same way that she felt when she lost her baby: that is, she somehow believed she had “chosen” to abort the pregnancy. the interviewer and doctor, however, made clear that eva‟s baby had no chance of survival, there was no “option” at all involved, and that she was assigning these words as a way to give new meaning to her loss and to the beginning of her mourning process. this analysis was made from one interview and, therefore, it cannot be regarded as a singular truth for all cases. however, this case and its possible analyses offer knowledge on how to engage in better listening skills and the counseling of mothers going through this type of suffering, which can then result in directing them to outside www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 3; 2020 14 services to assist them with their pain and suffering. breastmilk donation or suppression should be the personal choice of each mother. regarding the possibilities for mothers in mourning, breastmilk can be donated to hmb, which contributes to the nutritional needs of babies admitted to hospitals. some women share that, through their breastmilk donations, they feel that they are offering a personal and meaningful contribution for the survival of babies who they feel could be their own. in short, it is fundamental to humanize the counseling of such women, individualizing options according to each one‟s needs. special attention should be given according to women who have had babies that were born and survived for some time in neonatal intensive care, since, in these cases, their breastmilk was pumped several times a day. to counsel women about lactation is fundamental, as some can opt to donate their breastmilk gradually. but, in instances where women choose to donate their breastmilk, medical assistance is necessary to detect any health problems like mastitis, as well as to monitor their mental health. an informed choice on whether or not to keep breastmilk requires counseling on the possible risks and benefits, on the mourning process, on the individual needs, and on the available professional support systems. in cases where breastfeeding ceases to be possible (and also the learning of personal hygiene) (australian breastfeeding association, 2020), this may put a woman in an identity crisis that can overwhelm her psyche (figley, bride & mazza, 1997). a healthcare professional with a sympathetic ear to a mother in mourning will be able to counsel about services available to her, which can aid her in her mental recovery. specifically, in the case of lactation, counseling a mother about the possibilities she has can create a sense of support, assurance, and possible paths to help her make sense of her pain, both emotional and physical. how healthcare professionals approach the topic of mourning, the possible options for what to do with breastmilk, with counseling grounded in sympathy, can undoubtedly reduce anguish and aid in the mourning process. 4. conclusions the objective of this article is to argue that common healthcare measures of imposing feelings and practices upon mothers who have lost children during pregnancy or following birth is not helpful for the mourning process. for a mother in mourning, it is necessary to understand that gestation, birth, breastfeeding, and mourning extrapolate a variety of natural human aspects: these include feelings, emotions, and expectations. women who have lost their babies before, during, or after birth should be offered the option of donating their breastmilk, to allow them to choose what to do with it, and then to counsel them during the mourning process. the practice outlined herein, evidently absent in the case of eva, can make a difference in a mother‟s mourning process. allowing women to cry and feel pain will aid them on their road to recovery from such trauma. acknowledgments this study was approved by the committee of ethics at the hospital foundation of minas gerais state, and by the committee of ethics in research at the federal university of the state of minas gerais, brazil. research approval code: 2.727.563. disclosure of interest the authors report no conflict of interest. references attig, t. (2004). disenfranchised grief revisited: discounting hope and love. omega, 49:(3), 197-215. https://doi.org/10.2190/p4tt-j3bf-kfdr-5jb1 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 3; 2020 15 australian breastfeeding association. (2020). lactation after infant death. melbourne: aba. cole, m., international board of lactation consultant examiners ibclc, registered lactation consultant rlc. (2012). lactation after perinatal, neonatal, or infant loss. clinical lactation, 3-3: 94-100. doka, j. k. (1989). disenfranchised grief: recognizing hidden sorrow. lexington: lexington books. figley, c. r., bride, b. e., mazza, n. (eds.). (1997). the series in trauma and loss.death and trauma: the traumatology of grieving. london: taylor & francis. freud, s. (1974). mouring and melancholia. in freud s. on the history of the psycho-analytic movement, papers on metapsychology and other works (1914-1916). (the standard edition of the complete psychological works of sigmund freud, v. xiv). london: the hogarth press and the institute of psycho-analysis. global network of human milk. i brics (brazil, china, russia, india and south africa) (2019). workshop on human milk bank: introduction. rio de janeiro: executive secretariat of the global network of human milk bank. retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/ydzxlrhw hudson, p., remedios, c., zordan, r., thomas, k., clifton, d., crewdson, m.,… &bauld, c. (2012). guidelines for the psychosocial and bereavement support of family caregivers of palliative care patients. journal of palliative medicine, 15(6), 696-702. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2011.0466 human milk banking association of north america hmbana (2020). can i donate my milk if my infant has passed away? (bereavement donations.). fort worth: hmbana. retrieved from hmbana.org/aboutus/frequent-questions.html lang, a., fleiszer, a. r., duhamel, f., sword, w., gilbert, k. r., &corsini-munt, s. (2011). perinatal loss and parental grief: the challenge of ambiguity and disenfranchised grief. omega (westport), 63(2), 183‐196. https://doi.org/10.2190/om.63.2.e minayo, m. c. s. (2018). foundations, mishaps and dissemination of qualitative approaches. in: a. p. costa, l. p. reis, f. n. souza, a. moreira. (eds.) computer supported qualitative research: second international symposium on qualitative research (isqr 2017 (pp. 55-70.). cham: springer international publishing ag. ortiz, f. (2012). breast milk banks, from brazil to the world. rio de janeiro: inter press service. waitzkin h. (1991). the politics of medical encounters: how patients and doctors deal with social problems. new haven: yale university press. worden, j. w. (2013). grief counseling and grief therapy: a handbook for the mental health practitioner. new york: springer. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 1 an examination of information literacy skills on the use of library information resources among undergraduate students in university in adamawa state aishatu bello dahiru department of library and information science modibbo adama university of technology, yola, adamawa state, nigeria e-mail: aishabello1987@gmail.com abstract this study investigates the information literacy skill on the use of library information resources among undergraduate students in adamawa state. the objectives of the study are to find out the level of information literacy skill of undergraduate student in adamawa state, to determine the level of use of the information resources and to determine the challenges faced in the use of these information resources. quantitative method of data collection was used using survey research design. the study revealed that most of the student has high level of information literary skill and they use information resource for academic purposes to a high extent, it was revealed from the findings that inadequate current reading and research materials are the major problem facing the use of information resources in university libraries in adamawa. keywords: information literacy skills, use, university libraries. introduction students are faced with different kinds of information resources provided by their libraries for academic purposes. these information resources are available in different formats, raising questions about its value and authenticity. to be an information literate, undergraduate students will need to become a more prolific and independent learner and researcher in his field of specialization. hence, the need for information literacy programmes in libraries. student need the skill to use the libraries as education depends largely on information located, created, stored, retrieved and disseminate. in this view, the success, failure and mere existence of any given organization is determined by the availability and accessibility of suitable, important and precise information. therefore, information literacy skill is needed in order to find access and use information effectively. information literacy is a means of identifying information need and usage. in this regards, bundy (2004) has seen information literacy as a means of searching for, locating, evaluating, and selecting. organizing and using information to learn, analyses, synthesize, solve challenges, communicate, make decisions and create new knowledge. library and information professionals have been trying to teach students the skills and knowledge needed to collect and use information resources effectively as well as serving as information disseminators. university student are expected to have the skill and competences of locating information in order to utilize information resources provided in their libraries. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 2 literature review the benefit of information literacy skill cannot be over looked as today’s world is filled with information boom, users of the library finds it very difficult to access and use information resources in their individual field, therefore they need skill of understanding want they want and how they want the information to be presented. hadimani and rajgoli (2010) are also of the view that information literacy has a greater significance for economic growth, educational achievement, social culture and personal wellbeing. information literacy programs in academic libraries involves the process of imparting library users with the information skills that can help them identify their information need, locate, retrieve, evaluate and effectively use that information for problem solving (muruga, 2013). he further noted that, information literacy programs help achieve the objective of any academic library because the library users are trained to become independent learners hence maximize the use of the library information resources. as lifelong learners, students most have information literacy skill that will enable them achieve success in their educational objectives. wooliscroft (1997) stated that information literacy provides an important connection between information society and the learning society. he further stated that il skills assist people to learn and relearn, to train and retrain as he the various vicissitudes of living in a rapidly changing world require them to be adaptable and flexible with speed and competence barely imaginable few years ago. information literacy has several has several component as seen by bilawar and pujar (2011) information literacy has a bunch of “literacy” in terms of components, which includes basic literacy, library literacy, media literacy, ict literacy, computer literacy among others. ntiri (2009) notes that the new wave of global change and technological innovation has further pushed the boundaries of literacy and led to the growth of multiple literacy to address diverse audiences and needs. although each component is often treated separately, all literacy rely on each other and sometimes build on each other. statement of the problem in order to achieve high academic performance students’ needs the skill and ability to locate the required information. murugan (2013) mentioned that information literacy programs in academic libraries involves the process of impacting library users with the skill that can help them identify their information need, locate, retrieve, evaluate and effectively use that information for problem solving. despite the benefit of information literacy skills, observation have revealed that some undergraduate student lack the basic skill of locating information resources in their libraries. therefore, the study of information literacy skill on the use of information resources in libraries especially in adamawa state is inevitable. objectives of the study 1. to determine the level of information literacy skill of undergraduate student in universities of adamawa state 2. to find out the level of use of the information resources in the libraries under study 3. to determine the challenges faced in the use of the information resources in the university libraries under study https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 3 research questions 1. what is the level of information literacy skill of undergraduate students in universities of adamawa state? 2. what is the level of use of information resources in the libraries under study? 3. what are the challenges faced in the use of the information resources in the libraries under study? methodology the study was done using quantitative methodology and a cross sectional research design. this method was chosen because it has the potentials to provide a lot of information from a large sample of a population. the population of the study is 38,322, and a sample of 395 was drawn using yemani’ simplified formula of determining a sample size. although only 379 of the returned questionnaires found useful for the study results research question 1 what is the level of information literacy skill of undergraduate students in the use of library information resources in universities of adamawa state? table 1. level of information literacy skill of undergraduate student level of information literacy skill vh h l vl ability to identify my information need 259(68.3%) 50(13.2%) 45(11.9%) 25(6.6%) ability to retrieve information from internet 123(32.5%) 96(25.3%) 87(23.0%) 73(19.3%) ability to evaluate information resources 135(35.6%) 127(33.5%) 93(24.5%) 28(6.3%) ability to locate and use information resources 116(30.6%) 200(52.8%) 63(16.6%) table 1 above, present the level of information literacy skill of undergraduate student in universities in adamawa state. from the table it can be deduced that the student have high information literacy skill as indicated in the table. 259(68.3%) revealed that they have they have the ability to identify the information they need, also ability to retrieve information from the internet 123(32.5%) revealed they have a very high percentage, in the table also 135(35.6%) indicated they have the ability to evaluate information resources and lastly 200(52.8%) revealed they have a high ability to locate and use information resources. research question 2 what is the level of use of information resources in the libraries under study? https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 4 table 2. level of use of information resources in the libraries types of information resources always rarely never books journals newspaper magazine encyclopedia library catalogue microform electronic databases internet dictionaries cd-roms thesis/dissertation 345(91%) 331(87.3%) 326(86%) 301(79.4%) 282(74.4%) 36(9.5%) 25(6.9%) 22(5.8%) 357(94.2) 364(96%) 120(31.7%) 279(73.6%) 34(9%) 48(12.7%) 53(14%) 78(20.6%) 97(25.6%) 343(90.5%) 354(93.1%) 357(94.2%) 22(5.8%) 15(4%) 259(68.3%) 100(26.4%) based on the frequency and percentages that were computed, table 2 shows that majority of the respondents were of the view that library information resources such as books, journals, newspapers, magazines, encyclopedia, internet, dictionaries, were use always in the libraries while thesis/dissertations, electronic databases, microform and library catalogue are used rarely. research question three what are the challenges facing the use of information resources in the university libraries under study? table 3. challenges facing the use of information resources in the university libraries item responses percentages obsolete information resource 199 50.0 poor library management system 133 35.2 lack of internet connectivity 320 64.9 inadequate current information resources 188 49.9 table 3 shows the percentages of respondents.50.0% revealed that obsolete information resources are the major problems of using information resources, lack of poor library management system 35.2, lack of internet connectivity 64.9 and inadequate current information resources 49.9. thus it is clear that majority of the respondents indicate that lack of internet connectivity are the major problem of the use of the information resources available in the libraries. conclusion the undergraduate students in adamawa state universities have information literacy skill as indicated in the findings. although it was revealed that they don’t use their information literacy https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 5 skill in the identification and use of library information resources. the students need to be intensified with that will enhance their information literacy skill since there is a significant relationship with the use of information resources in libraries. references bilawar, p. b., & pujar, s. m. (2011). information literacy models: correlation and conceptual model for higher education. retrieved from http://wwwir.inflibnet,ac.in/bitstream/handle/1944/1632/40.pdf bundy, a. (2004). australian and new zealand information literacy framework. principles, standards and practice, 2. retrieved from http://www.caul.edu.au/infolitrtacy/infoliteracy framework.pdf hadimani, m. b., & rajgoli, i. u. (2010). assessing information literacy competence among the undergraduate students of college of agriculture, raichur: a case study. desidoc journal of library & information technology, 30(2), 70. murugan, b. s., & sornam, s. a. (2013). internet and online medical journal access skills of the medical practitioners of tamilnadu: a study. in challenges of academic library management in developing countries (pp. 75-82). igi global. mcnabb, e.d. (2009). introduction to research methodology. ibadan, africana first publisher ntiri, d. w. (2009). toward a functional and culturally salient definition of literacy. adult basic education and literacy journal, 3(2), 97-104. wooliscroft, m. (1997). from library user education to information literacy: some issues arising in this evolutionary process. retrieved from http://www.library.otago.ac.nz/pdf/tandlpapers-mjw.pdf copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). http://www.caul.edu.au/info-litrtacy/infoliteracy%20framework.pdf http://www.caul.edu.au/info-litrtacy/infoliteracy%20framework.pdf american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 17 social cohesion and cultural diversity in contemporary britain: impossible mission! hassen zriba phd assistant professor university of gafsa, tunisia e-mail: hassen_zriba@yahoo.fr abstract in contemporary multicultural britain, the concept of social cohesion has been a pressing priority for not only politicians and sociologists but also for the various british ethnic minorities. race riots like those of 2001 in northern britain and the events of 7/7 in london (2005) put into question the allegiances of different british ethnic populations. they equally shed light on the real or perceived lack of social and cultural communication between the established british host population and the british ethnic and immigrant communities. hence, social cohesion came to the fore as the new jargon of governance in contemporary britain.this article analyzes on the concept of social cohesion and its applicability within an officially declared multicultural community like that of great britain. the concept will be reviewed, defined and approached from different liberal political perspectives (robert dahl’s pluralist approach and arend lijphart’s consociationalism to the more recent will kymlicka’s group-differentiated citizenship) while paying special attention to the british context. bhikhu parekh’s conception of the different theoretical approaches to the issue of social cohesion that are pertinent to liberal capitalist societies in general and the british context, in particular, is investigated. the aim of this study is to highlight the complexity of the normative accounts of the political scientists regarding the challenges that face multicultural britain in coming to terms with its endeavour of creating “unity within diversity”. the 2002 white paper and security speech of david cameron (2011) political discourses are analyzed and evaluated to decipher how they understood national identity in relation to cultural diversity and social cohesion. keywords: social cohesion, diversity, british ethnic minorities, race. 1. introduction generally speaking, social cohesion is one of the most fundamental concepts in sociology. in fact, all sociologists dealt with this concept from their diverse and different perspectives. thus the ultimate task of sociology has been considerably dominated by the idea of how societies cohere, and what factors help construct social and societal harmony and cohesion. for example, emile durkheim was concerned with how society coheres through what he called mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity. in his landmark, the division of labour in society (1893) durkheim distinguished between two types of solidarity which he considered as important concepts in organizing societies and keeping them functional. he argued that there was no such social contract that did not rest on a common and generally shared normative value system (durkheim, 1964: 209-214). the same is for other sociologists such as max weber (1997), auguste comte (1976), talcott parsons (1971) and many others. within functional sociology, society is perceived as a group of individuals who maintain a degree of social solidarity and mutual expectations. to secure such solidarity and fulfil each other’s expectations, society is conceived as composed of multiple communities that are linked together by some shared societal and political values. even conflict-based theories of social relations such as marxism, though stressing the inevitability of struggle and conflict, postulate the need for a certain consensus to preserve communitarian ties and social cohesion. if marxists refuse the capitalist system, it is simply to replace it with an alternative system (allegedly a socialist one). however, such a socialist and communist society has to be cohesive from within in order to succeed as a system. there must be a value consensus that secures plausible degrees of harmony and cohesion. in this section, i try to define the concept of social cohesion. the different conceptions of the issue will be churned out. also, the www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 18 british theoretical tradition will be prioritized. i argue here that the british experience is, in many respects, unique in its broaching of social cohesion problematic. as will be clarified later, the concept has been elusive or to use one commenter’s phrase a “quasi-concept” (bernard, 2000: 3). it has been used with many different modifiers which stress the fact that it meant many things to many people; is it social cohesion, community cohesion or even national cohesion? arguably, different modifiers reflect different ideological assumptions and value orientations. generally, the british theorists and officials prefer to use the modifier “community” (worley, 2005). one major question is: what are the terminological differences between the above-mentioned modifiers of the headword “cohesion”. another question is whether such terminological differences convey categorical and absolute ideological propensities. i want to suggest in this article that social cohesion-although it can be easily related to other non-ethnicity related phenomena like generation gap, class system, globalization etchas often been invoked in relation to ethnicity and race relations: what i propose to name “the ethnicisation or racialisation of social cohesion”. within the classical sociological theory, when the issue of social cohesion is invoked, it is usually related to class relations. individuals are classically and simplistically divided into distinctive social classes depending on their economic positions in society. classical liberal thought was basically interested in individual natural rights the most important of which was the economic pursuit of happiness. when the radical politics of marxism came to the stage, they asked for a redistribution of wealth according to egalitarian and socialist criteria. class conflict was envisaged as the inevitable outcome of such a new utopian vision. the victim of such conflicts would be social cohesion which was theoretically expounded as the need to share compatible and harmonious values and world views. functionalist conceptions of the social system reflected (and perhaps constructed) a need to reach a consensus based on the acquiescence and consent of the majority of the population; a kind of social contract that would set up and preserve the rules of the game. such a consensus would be the basis of a common value system and of a socio-political safety valve against the social deviant values. however, the advent of mass immigration into post-colonial western countries posed new challenges to liberal thought and added new dimensions to the traditional conflict theories. the class thesis seems to have been relegated to a subordinate position vis-à-vis race thesis. the social conflicts have been read as cultural and racial conflicts. there seems to be a racialisation of social boundaries and an ethnicisation of the rhetoric of governance. the classbased social conflict has been largely replaced by a race-related one. the vertical class struggle is substituted by a horizontal racial one. the contemporary discourses of cohesion in western democracies in general and in britain, in particular, are replete with images of ethnic minorities as sources of striking value differences and hence a challenge to the social cohesion. in britain, the adoption of the phrase “community cohesion” highlights the myth that britain is a community that needs cohesion. the choice of the modifier “community” stresses, i believe, the ethnic dimensions of such official discourses. this article is divided into two parts. in the first one, i will review the various approaches to the concept of social cohesion from robert dahl’s pluralist approach, arend lijphart’s consociationalism to the more recent will kymlicka’s group-differentiated citizenship. in general, all those theories tried to normatively offer diagnoses and solutions to the problem of the lack of social cohesion. each of those theories provided a distinctive, though in many respects controversial, paradigm. the second part contextualizes the theoretical approaches to social cohesion within the relevant british tradition. however, it is vital to define the concept in question so as to highlight its controversial and multi-dimensional aspects. 2. the definitional problematic of social cohesion the concept of social cohesion has been defined differently by different political theorists and sociologists. the definitions of the concept are, to use james moody and douglas r. white’s phrase “often vague and difficult to operationalize” (2003:103). it is an all-encompassing quasi-concept as paul bernard suggested above. moody and white believe that the concept lacks adequate scientific rigour. in order to make the concept analytical, they distinguished what they called the ideational and the relational aspects of social cohesion. they spoke about relational togetherness and a sense of togetherness (ideational) which they considered two different components of social cohesion. such theoretical categorization was also expressed by mark mizruchi when he distinguished between the “shared normative sentiments” (ideational) and “objective characteristics of the social structure” (relational) of the concept of social solidarity (mizruchi, 1992). the conflation between the ideational (subjective) www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 19 and the relational (objective) aspects of social cohesion “limits our ability to ask questions about how a relational component of solidarity affects or is affected by ideational factors” (moody and white: 106). thus, such analytical distinction, i believe, would make it easier to deal with social cohesion as a mental concept as well as a social relation. being a social relation, social cohesion could be empirically measured through various social structures and institutions. consequently, cohesion becomes more than a subjective attitude and unfolds as a lived experience. the absence of relations between members of the same community is thus a symptom of the lack of cohesiveness. for the concern of this paper, i adopt jane jenson’s definition which is considered as a synthesis of different sociological traditions, namely that of alexis de tocqueville and emile durkheim as well as contemporary ones (stanley, 2003). the definition of jenson has also been borrowed by the british authorities in order to theoretically inform their politics of community cohesion. in the table below, jenson introduced the major theoretical traditions and theorists that broached the issue of social cohesion: box 1 three theoretical traditions social cohesion theories (examples: durkheimian and parsonian social theory, tories) social order results from interdependence shared loyalties and solidarities. classical liberalism social order results from private behaviour in private institutions such as markets. • tocquevillian liberalism (examples: tocquevillian social and political theory, putnamian social capital) social order results from private behaviour in private institutions such as markets, families and social networks. democracy theories (examples: social democracy, christian democracy, positive liberalism) social order – and change – results from active democratic government guaranteeing a basic measure of economic equality and equity. source: jenson’s mapping social cohesion: the state of canadian research (p12) jenson identified five dimensions of the concept of social cohesion. they are stated in binary oppositions; she shows what helps social cohesion and what hampers it. the binary oppositions are as follows: recognition / rejection, belonging/isolation, legitimacy / illegitimacy, participation / non-involvement, inclusion / exclusion (jenson, 1998: vi) those five dimensions refer to different types and degrees of involvement. the first two oppositions (recognition/rejection and belonging/isolation) refer to social involvement. the other two (legitimacy/illegitimacy and participation/non-involvement) tackle the issue of political involvement while the last (inclusion/exclusion) designates economic involvement. the value of equality in the distribution of social resources and benefits looms large in creating and maintaining social cohesion. dick stanley wrote: “if society fails to distribute its social outcomes equitably, social cohesion deteriorates and social outcomes suffer (2003: 8). hence, social cohesion is rather a “reciprocal function of equality” (8) which enhances the values of cooperation and solidarity. for cooperation to succeed there should be the willingness and also the capacity to cooperate. willingness and capacity are two concepts governed by two different but complementary processes. willingness emanates from a sense of belonging that propels individuals to cooperate. however, capacity is an objective ability based on the politics of empowerment to give free and equal access to socioeconomic opportunities so that individuals are empowered to www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 20 cooperate. the two processes have to coexist to fulfill successful cooperation and thus secure social cohesion. willingness (desire) without capacity (ability) or vice versa will hinder cooperation and undermines social cohesion. stanley expressed such formula when he stated: “social cohesion then is the sum over a population of individuals' willingness to cooperate with each other without coercion in the complex set of social relations needed by individuals to complete their life courses”. (stanley, 2003:9). jenson acknowledges the difficulty to define the concept. she wrote: “… definitional efforts are rare, however. it is much more common to deploy the term rather than to define it, to treat it as if “it goes without saying.” (1998: 5). however, she argued that interdependence and interrelatedness of the five dimensions make up the basic components of the whole social cohesion agenda. she stated: “the literature on the social economy hypothesizes that improving one dimension of social cohesion (inclusion) depends on coupling it with another dimension (participation). the two together will then generate stronger feelings of belonging and citizenship.” (30). jenson warns that the belief that “shared values” are the defining features of social cohesion has to be taken with caution. she insists that a stronger version of shared values cohesion can stifle the idea of social cohesion itself. she urges to differentiate between those values that have to be shared and those that can be confined to certain minorities or social groups. jenson commented: “we must know more precisely the consequences of these differences for social cohesion. this means knowing which values must be shared and which can differ without threatening the capacity to engage in “developing a community.” (31). in her treatment of social cohesion, jenson moves on to introduce what she called a “research agenda” that has to be followed by the future researchers in order to effectively address the social cohesion problematic. the table below charts the different research questions that have to be researched: box 2 the role of institutions in recognising diversity and developing a community of shared values a research agenda: 1. what are the consequences, if any, of existing differences in values? which differences matter and which are the inevitable – even desirable – manifestation of canada’s multinational and polyethnic history? 2. which values must be shared and which can differ without threatening the capacity to engage in “developing a community”? 3. which kind of institutional practices reinforce each of the dimensions of social cohesion? which practices, if any, weaken social cohesion? 4. do public institutions of representation have the capacity to mediate conflicts of value and recognise the contributions of all citizens, no matter their ethnic, cultural or socio-economic circumstances? 5. does sufficient institutional space exist for participation, or have governments, parties, and others effectively closed down discussion about priorities and collective choices in order to get on with their own projects? source: jenson’s mapping social cohesion: the state of canadian research (p32). kenneth bollen and rick hoyele suggest the same definition of the concept of social cohesion or what they “perceived cohesion”. their definition is based on the need of belonging and membership to a certain community. they wrote: “perceived cohesion encompasses an individual's sense of belonging to a particular group and his or her feelings of morale associated with membership in the group” (italics in the original) (bollen and hoyele, 1990: 482). within the british context, the commission on integration and cohesion (cic), which was set up in august 2006, had the mission of deepening the understanding of community cohesion politics and provide the practical approaches and procedures to apply those politics locally. it provided a list of the features of the aspects and characteristics of cohesive communities. below is what is necessary to diagnose any community as cohesive: “1. equality of opportunity, access, treatment, and services 2. engagement and participation 3. respect for diversity and social trust www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 21 4. meaningful interaction across groups 5. solidarity and collective community action”. (commission on integration and cohesion, 2007: 20) in general, the discourses of the british version of social cohesion resorted to jane jenson’s model to identify the politics of involvement as the organising concept of post-2001 race riots politics of community cohesion. jane jenson suggested above a research agenda on social cohesion. what comes next is a consideration of how the concept has been conceptualized and perceived by the various western liberal approaches, notably robert dahl’s pluralism, arend lijphart’s consociationalism and finally will kymlicka’s group-differentiated or multicultural citizenship. 2.1 liberal approaches to social cohesion as stated above, this section will identify and review the major approaches of the concept of social cohesion within liberal democracies, from three distinctive perspectives; robert dahl’s pluralist approach and arend lijphart’s consociationalism to more recent will kymlicka’s group-differentiated citizenship. 2.1.1 liberal pluralism i start with the pluralist tradition best epitomized by the writings of the american political scientist robert dahl as well as the writings of other sociologists such as edward shils and michael mann. the theory of political pluralism of robert dahl has been very influential in explaining the nature of the post-war american liberal society in particular and other western democracies in general. dahl’s monumental books (such as a preface to democratic theory in 1956 and who governs? democracy and power in an american city in 1961) were influential in theorizing the liberal socio-political pluralism. dahl’s theory of political or interest-group pluralism has been employed by scholars to explain how minorities (national or cultural) co-exist and thrive while respecting each other’s differences. dahl wanted to show that pluralist america was governed neither by a socio-political oligarchy nor by the rule of the majority. for him, along with other pluralists, the american society was to be governed by delicate and everchanging balances of powers and interests. dahl believed that constitutional rights could not be an effective guarantee to minorities. he wanted to protect those minorities from what alexis de tocqueville termed “the tyranny of the majority”. he wrote “(i)n the absence of certain social prerequisites, no constitutional arrangements can produce a non-tyrannical republic” (dahl, 1956 neither: 83). thus the social pluralism in which each group is engaged in a dynamic process of negotiation with other groups, along with the freedom of association for individuals, would result into a common framework that allows groups as well as individuals to advance their agendas and get their rights recognized. consequently, no group is dominant in all or most domains. decisionmaking is a continual process of negotiation and compromise. there should be social coalitions, or what antonio gramsci would call “historic block”, in which the rights and duties of the all are protected, recognized and advanced in the public realm. a system of checks and balances would be the outcome of such pluralism. the mosaic nature of each majority would hinder it from being a tyrant. the internal diversity of interests within such a majority would propel and secure a culture of negotiation and compromise. dialogue would be the norm to solve any conflict of interests. expounding the nature of liberal democracies, dahl argued: “if there is anything to be said for the process that actually distinguished democracy…from dictatorship, it is not discoverable in the clear-cut distinction between government by a majority and a government by a minority. the distinction comes much closer to being one between government by a minority and government by minorities (italics in the original) (dahl, 1956: 133). the government in a pluralist society is neutral and theoretically unbiased to any group at the expense of other groups. there was a shift from simple majoritarian representative governments “towards a unanimity-rule basis (in which only proposals with which everyone agrees can be implemented)” (dunleavy, 1981: 202). thus no concentration of power is permitted and the pluralist government has to make special arrangements to prevent the translation of economic power into political power such as recruiting specialist personnel with no overlap with business. also, powerful business interests can be checked and thus balanced by powerful trade unionism. the society that emerges out of the classical or conventional pluralism is one “in which there are multiple (plural) www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 22 centres of power, and one in which the ordinary citizen can intervene relatively easily and effectively” (dunleavy, 1981: 202). however, the question is how social cohesion is achieved in the liberal pluralist approach. this could be attained in different ways. first, social groups are perceived as dynamic and overlapping, their interests intersect and intermingle. this simply means that the structure of such groups is ever-changing according to the specific agendas advanced by the individuals who make up such groups. individuals can move to and fro, and vacillate between different coalitions according to their interests and strategies. the efficacy and even the survival of coalitions are governed by the extent of their success in advancing certain interests. individuals who fail on certain fronts are likely to succeed in others. this multiple and fluid nature of membership is a safeguard against persistent and chronic failure or marginalization. theoretically, no group is excluded and marginalized from public governance. pluralist politics would make all groups and individuals belong to the wider community and enjoy a degree of inclusion and participation. back to jenson, those concepts constitute the bulk and core of the concept of social cohesion itself. being included in the system and given a constant opportunity to participate in the public decision-making urges social actors to be loyal and committed to the system, and thus consensus and social cohesion are kept intact. moreover, according to dahl, social cohesion is secured by the citizens’ adherence to a democratic creed or what edward shils calls the “central value system”. there must be a general consensus over what it means to be a part of the system or rather the compliance to the general “rules of the democratic game”. a common value system is to be upheld by all members of the community. no inclusion in the american community is allowed without a sincere adherence to the general democratic values such as the “freedom of speech”, “freedom of religion” and “democracy”. to reject such values is thus equal to rejecting being a member of such a liberal pluralist community. without broaching the variants in the liberal pluralist tradition, social cohesion is secured by the specific and dynamic nature of the liberal pluralist society as imagined by liberal pluralists; a publicly plural and dynamic society in which (at least theoretically) all groups and individuals can advance, to differentiated degrees, their interest-based agendas. the dynamic and coalitional nature of such society secures and is secured by a considerable degree of “checks and balances”. also, the mobility and openness of the system render all members capable to seek for new social and political alliances to avoid being consistently, constantly and systematically marginalized. one can be excluded from one opportunity, but included in another. importantly, no cohesion is tenable without being a member of the community whose values one has to agree on. such pluralist and organic nature of liberal pluralism is the core of the consensus theory and social cohesion within liberal western democracies in general and america in particular. plurality, belonging, mobility and commitment have been paramount concepts in liberal democracies and also guarantees the social consent and cohesion. dahl’s promotion of shared and common values as an indispensable trigger of social cohesion is also reflected in shils’ “central value system”. edward shils believed that every society has a centre which imparts the dominant values. such an abstract system of values is a social and political need for social actors. he argued that “the existence of a central value system rests, in a fundamental way, on the need which human beings have for incorporation into something which transcends and transfigure their concrete individual existence” (shils, 1981: 244). from his macro-social perspective, shils postulated the existence of a central value system which is clearly hegemonic. however, he argued that the gap between the central values and the periphery is not such wide. central values are vulnerable and subject to opposition and at least to negotiation from various social agents. the consensus that emerges from such central value system is not a perfect one and is permeable to different sets of oppositional values and interests. even such a value system is “neither unitary or homogenous” (248) yet consensus and social cohesion are proffered by its “ideological potentiality” (243). the centre’ ideological potentiality bestows the dominant values with a sense of “sacredness” and defines the norms and the roles for the rest of society. michael mann was interested mainly in the extent to which different classes-and by analogy, different ethnic groupsin liberal societies internalize norms, values, and beliefs which legitimate the social order. he extensively reviewed the value consensus-related sociological literature and concluded that even in well-integrated and cohesive liberal societies, like the united states and britain, an absolute “value-consensus” did not exist. he identifies two types of consensus: dominant consensus and deviant consensus. the relationship between these two binary value systems is dialectical. however, it remains vital to explain why the dominant value system succeeded in holding together the conflicting elements in a generally accepted consensus. mann opts for the marxist perspective to account for social cohesion and liberal consensus. he explains the role played by manipulative socializing agencies www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 23 such as education and mass media in disseminating dominant values across various social groups. confining his arguments within the class thesis, mann argues that the working classes develop a pragmatic role acceptance since they envision no appropriate and reliable alternative to the dominant liberal value system. also, the lack of internal cohesion within the lower classes keeps them subordinate to the more coherent and cohesive capitalist oligarchy. he wrote: “a significant measure of consensus and normative harmony may be necessary among ruling groups, but it is the absence of consensus among lower classes which keeps them compliant” (mann, 1981: 265). hence, in a sense, the elements of conflict within lower classes can be powerful sources of consensus and social cohesion. dahl, shells, and mann, though differing in their perspectives, attempted to investigate and answer one major sociological question: how could liberal societies manage social and cultural differences (even conflicts) and secure a necessary degree of consensus which is indispensable for social cohesion? all of them stressed the importance of having shared common values and norms which would facilitate social cooperation and demote socio-cultural fragmentation. however, no values can be common without being relevant and responsive, at least theoretically, to the needs and interests of all community members. issues of participation, belonging and power-sharing are so vital in maintaining and creating social cohesion because “only those actually sharing in societal power need develop consistent societal values” (mann, 1981: 263). 2.1.2 consociationalism consociationalism is a political normative theory that tries to deal with the issue of social cohesion within deeply culturally and ethnically divided societies. the theory was developed by the political scientist arend lijphart in his seminal article “cultural diversity and political integration,” (1971). terminologically, the term consociationalism is derived from the root word “consociation” which is composed of two items: the prefix “con-“and the word “sociation”. lexically, the concept “consociation” means the coexistence of different societies each of which is separate from the others, but exist side by side and have specific relations. consociational democracy is, according to lijphart, a combination of “autonomy” and “power-sharing” within deeply segmented societies. he wrote that there was an agreement “that the successful establishment of democratic government in divided societies requires two key elements: power-sharing and group autonomy. power sharing denotes the participation of representatives of all significant communal groups in political decision making, especially at the executive level; group autonomy means that these groups have authority to run their own internal affairs, especially in the areas of education and culture.” (lijphart, 2004: 96). the lack of certain socio-cultural homogeneity is deemed as a grave problem for the process of democratization. however, what antagonistic social groups need to share in a consociational democracy is a respect to the rules of the democratic game. each group “interacts” with other groups through representatives who are supposed to be competent and professional members of those segmented communities. within the british context, what is generally referred to as “ethnic community leaders” can be considered as an example of consociational arrangements. the local authorities in britain tend to negotiate with those leaders whenever an ethnicity-related issue is under consideration. for instance, the outbreak of ‘race riots’ of 2001 in some northern british cities was an opportunity which local authorities and police used to negotiate with muslim community leaders certain arrangements for violence appeasement and curtailment. such practice validates lijphart claim that what he and other consociational theorists did was simply to academically study what politicians had already invented many decades before the official appearance of the theory of power-sharing democracy or consociationalism. consociationalism, unlike other comparative political theories, does not require social or cultural homogeneity. the difference is respected but it is confined to specific pillars. that is no cultural or social group is to impose its world view and ways of life on others. there is nothing called the influence of the dominant culture in the political sharing of power. the theory is meant to deal with a society in which no or few memberships cut across socio-cultural and ethnic cleavages. in a consociational society, power is shared cooperatively between the different segments of the society in question. for the theory to work effectively, lijphart suggested that consociational democracies are characterized by four major features: grand coalition, segmental autonomy, proportionality and mutual veto (lijphart, 1977). without delving into the details of those features, it is sufficient to show how they are related, and above all how they contribute to the ethnocultural conflict management. and so, they result in social cohesion. being divided into different socio-cultural segments, consociational society respects such segments and allows for cooperation between their representatives: the elites. each segment or pillar is proportionally represented in the governing oligarchy which prevents a situation of majoritarian dominance and tyranny. moreover, mutual veto www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 24 creates a balance of interests and guarantees each pillar’s security. consociational democracy is thus built upon collaboration rather than competition. answering our question on the difference between majoritarian democracy (pluralist one like that advocated by robert dahl) and consociational democracy, lijphart affirmed that “ [t]he difference between majoritarian and consociational systems is not that one is elitist and the other is not, but that majoritarian systems have competitive elites and consociational systems have cooperative elites” (lijphart, 2007). social cohesion is thus the outcome of the cooperation and collaboration between the different representative elites. it is also achieved by discouraging mass interaction and permitting minorities to make their own decisions for their communities. it seems that consociationalism breeds a sense of segmental self-determination and propels a strategy of avoidance between ethnically and culturally divergent communities. however, it is necessary to emphasize that consociationalism, like other theories of democracy, is a solution to a specific problem. it is an option taken within severely fragmented societies to manage conflict and secure a satisfactory level of social cohesion. 2.1.3 multicultural citizenship “how far is the theory of differentiated citizenship successful in providing an appropriate political framework for liberal democratic states like britain to sustain an acceptable degree of community cohesion?” such a question has been the concern of sociologists of race relations and urban studies in many western countries which have sizable ethnic minorities. one of the most distinguished sociologists that tackled such issue was the canadian sociologist will kymlicka. a basic concern for kymlicka has been how to attain a balance between the particular needs of minorities and the universal need for social cohesion. the aim was to reconcile the liberal norms of equality and justice with the multicultural character of the modern multicultural societies. kymlicka believes that classical liberalism with its stress on state neutrality in the liberal society is not tenable. such neutrality is ultimately in favour of the dominant majority. the values and symbols of the majority tend to be popularized and represented as the values and symbols of the whole society. the result is marginalizing the cultural values of national and ethnic minorities. liberal citizenship, being rested on such cultural definition of membership, is likely to cast minorities as second class citizens or even “denizens”. sticking to the rule of the democratic game, the state will inevitably uphold the values of the dominant culture as the norm and any different value systems will be delineated as deviant. citizens will, consequently, obtain unequal differentiated positions vis-à-vis the concept of citizenship. kymlicka tried to rework the relationship between the theory of liberalism and group rights. in liberalism, community, and culture (1989), he represented the liberal view of the community and showed how the values of the community and those of the individual can be compatible. however, multicultural citizenship: a liberal theory of minority rights, which he wrote in 1995 was a landmark in the political sociology. kymlicka dealt in his book with the issues of multiculturalism and theorized how it is possible to incorporate the diverse values of different communities within the framework of liberal thought. he introduced the idea of differentiated citizenship in order to recognize the specific needs of minorities. his multicultural citizenship includes specific measures that integrate the values and cultures of minorities into the mainstream culture. however, kymlicka divides minorities into two different categories with different measures of integration: poly-ethnic minorities and national minorities. poly-ethnic minorities, in order to integrate, require rights like civic education, training in the official language, antidiscrimination laws, and cultural recognition. national minorities require another set of rights such as language rights, special representation and in some cases self-determination. those specific rights, it is thought, would promote minorities’ integration into and membership of mainstream society which would aid and encourage social cohesion. avigail eisenberg wrote: “the values and identity of group-differentiated citizenship are not meant to conflict with the particular ethnic or national identities of minority groups, but rather to encompass or include them” (eisenberg, 2002). social cohesion is thus achieved within this paradigm by having minorities’ values and cultural identities recognized and accommodated. also, such recognition is to be sustained by relevant socioeconomic and political arrangements of the integration of minorities into the mainstream. if given such rights and measures, minorities are expected to share with the mainstream majority an identity that values diversity while accepting the need for social cohesion. 3. british ethnicity-related politics “secure border-safe haven”, was the official understanding of how to broach the increasingly multicultural nature of the early 21th century british society. that issue became the wisdom of the day since the events of race riots in some northern british cities alarmed the national government to the possible dangers that national identity and social unity www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 25 might be facing. with the increasing number of immigrants and their offspring along with their demands of sociocultural and economic rights, multiculturalism has become the new ideology of governance at the end of the 20th century and beyond. the race riots of bradford, oldham, and burnley of 2001 were symptomatic of an urgent need to contain and respond to new multicultural demands in order to avoid socio-cultural conflicts, and hence the eradication of social cohesion suffering from various types of disadvantages, the british ethnic minorities, and notably, the second and third generations, demanded citizenship rights with specific multicultural sensitivities. ethnic minorities have been suffering from what is generally perceived as “institutional racism” which was spectacularly detected in the notorious case of the police investigation and conduct in response to the murder of the black teenager, stephen lawrence. based on the behavior of the metropolitan police service (mps), william macpherson defined the concept of institutional racism as: the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin. it can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes, and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people. (macpherson, 1999, p. 28) the macpherson report was produced in 1999 and affirmed the ethnic fears of a biased and institutionally racist government. such incidence had a cumulative effect on the behavior of ethnic minorities’ teenagers who went violent. the successive british governments, whether labour or conservative, have been aware of such inherent and underlying ethnic wrath. they employed different discourses that attacked multiculturalism and opted for the alternative politics of cultural diversity. two outstanding speeches framed the early race related discourses in contemporary britain both politically and ideologically. those political discourses are the white paper of the british home secretary david blunkett (2002) and the speech of prime minister david cameron (2011). i do not argue here that these two discursive discourses are exclusive in their relevance and importance, yet, it is suggested that they were, in many respects, foundational of a new and direct rejection of multiculturalism as a political ideology while they opted for an alternative cultural diversity agenda. such agenda encourages multiculturalism as a lived (every day) experience that champions cultural diversity and plurality without sacrificing national cohesion and unity. the same agenda, arguably, delineates the cultural contours that would sustain a “consensual” national identity considerably compatible with the hegemonic constructions of the british “imagined community” to use benedict anderson expression. 3.1 the blunkett white paper and the new british “pure” identity a few months after the national events of bradford and other british cities and the international attacks of september 2001, a new white paper was produced in february 2002 as a response to the real or perceived dangers ushered by them. the paper attempted to prove that social cohesion can be sustained by the consolidation of a national identity that embraces certain dominant common values. even before the production of the 2002 white paper, david blunkett expressed his conviction that no social cohesion is possible without core values and a considerable degree of “cultural conformity”. in an interview with the sunday, he declared that: “if we are going to have social cohesion we have got to develop a sense of identity and a sense of belonging” (brown, 2001). what the home secretary suggests is that the lack of national identity and a sense of belonging within ethnic minorities is the ultimate trigger of social and cultural divisions. the cure is then a higher dose of culture; this time mono-culture not “multi-culture”. in the same vein, the white paper, as its very title suggests, asked for the need to control immigration in order to facilitate integration and make cultural diversity fruitful rather than destructive. the document is replete with references to immigrants’ numbers and statistics. one major goal of the paper is to propel the cohesion-oriented political and social agenda. it states that the “government sets out our key objectives for the development of citizenship and nationality policy. to ensure social integration and cohesion in the uk” (secure borders, safe haven, p 10). to reach this target, immigration has to be controlled since it was deemed as the cause of increasing social disharmony. the same message is voiced all over the document. on page 20, it states that: “… (the government) will develop … (its) citizenship and nationality policy to create a supportive, safe and cohesive community”, and again, this could be possible only if immigrants and the borders are controlled in the best possible ways. the conclusions already reached by the cantle report www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 26 (2001) are confirmed by blunkett’s document. he even builds his arguments on them. the cantle report identified residential segregation and the lack of ethnic communication as the most crucial cause of the race riots. the same is implied in blunkett’s white paper, yet importantly a direct link is constructed by blunkett between the need for core national identity and social cohesion and the immigration-related policies. while the cantle report focuses on ethnic minorities within, the white paper concentrates on the potential ones without. an equilibrium is sought by blunkett between the need to avoid ethnocentrism and the must of sustaining, if not, creating social cohesion. nira yuval-davis wrote that: “blunkett is trying hard not to be ethnocentric and to embrace the cultural and ethnic diversity of british citizens, although he constructs this diversity as a result of immigration of outsiders and a basic unavoidable problematic that resulted from this” (2004:226). that was the challenge that the white paper and, in fact, all the british government had to cope with: making the two ends meet; diversity and cohesion. 3.2 david cameron and the failure of state multiculturalism multiculturalism is thought to be the cause of the cultural stagnation and the lack of intercultural communication. different researchers and politicians declared even the death of multiculturalism and they affirmed that social cohesion and genuine cultural diversity were victimized by the officially adapted and adopted multiculturalism. in february 2011, the british prime minister david cameron gave a speech at the munich security conference in germany. he outlined what he deemed as the failures of ‘state multiculturalism’ in british society. cameron believed that the old official policies of multiculturalism sowed the seeds of segregation and interethnic enmity. there was a genuine lack of communication between the british mainstream society and its ethnic minorities, notably muslim ones. this attitude confirmed the findings of the 2001 cantle report, which identified residential and cultural segregation as the major cause of the 2001 race riots in britain. so, the segregation of the mainstream british community was the trigger of extremism and violence. and social cohesion is the victim. cameron stated: “but these young men also find it hard to identify with britain too, because we have allowed the weakening of our collective identity. under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream. we’ve failed to provide a vision of society to which they feel they want to belong. we’ve even tolerated these segregated communities behaving in ways that run completely counter to our values. (2011) as early as 2002, the british political writer arun kundnani declared the death of multiculturalism and argued that multiculturalism as a political ideology failed to respond to the needs of both the host british society and ethnic minorities as well. what the ideology of multiculturalism did was at best to keep the status quo and at worse to worsen it. kundnani wrote that “multiculturalism became an ideology of conservatism, of preserving the status quo intact, in the face of a real desire to move forward” (2002). equally, cameron declared the failure of what he called “the doctrine of state multiculturalism”. state multiculturalism, thus, encouraged separatism in all walks of life. it stifled the common sense of belonging to a national shared identity. consequently, it created patches of “ethnic niches” that were mutually exclusive. here, i would refer to the increasing power of what came to be called “community leaders” who enjoyed considerable influence on their respective communities. yet, arguably, those leaders were representative of the british state in their communities. thus, there seemed to be no direct contact between various ethnic minorities and mainstream society. crucially, there was no real contact between ethnic minorities themselves. they seemed to lead “parallel lives” within their “comfort zones” (zriba, 2014). britain turned out to be a patch of different separate ethnic communities (white ethnicity is included as well) with no real sense of belonging or clear identity attachments. seemingly, britain was nearer to the consociationalist approach of social cohesion than the pluralist or multicultural citizenship one. however, as stated above, consociationalism is an option available to the multinational states; states with different national communities, not ethnic communities. maybe, it is theoretically immature or irrelevant to the british case to speak about “ethnic consociationalism” where different ethnic communities resort to community leaders to reach consensus on tricky problematic issues so that to create and sustain social cohesion. but, real instances of cultural and social bargaining have been noticed between community leaders and british authorities which may bestow certain credibility to the claim that britain leads a specific race-related model of “ethnic consociationalism”. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 27 cameron refused such “ethnic consociational” arrangements and suggested that the british ethnic population, notably the young, needed to belong to the mainstream culture and adopt the values of the british national community. he stressed the failure of state multiculturalism to broach some illiberal cultural practices of ethnic communities such as the south asian tradition of “arranged marriages”. accordingly, ethnic cultures seemed to represent “states within the state” and endangered not only the british national identity but the possibility of social cohesion itself. the inability of the second and third generations of the ethnic population to identify with both their homelands’ cultural traditions and be fully accepted by the british mainstream “imagined community” alienated and marginalized them. “and this all” cameron argued “leaves some young muslims feeling rootless. and the search for something to belong to and something to believe in can lead them to this extremist ideology” (ibid). to avoid this alienation and to fight against the socio-cultural disintegration, and increasing terrorism, cameron states that “it is time to turn the page on the failed policies of the past”. he adds “second, instead of encouraging people to live apart, we need a clear sense of shared national identity that is open to everyone” (ibid). it is obvious that the commonness and sharedness of a national identity are the clue to the british ethno-racial and security-related issues. in fact, this renewed belief in and reinvigoration of the discourses of the nation and the myth of the common national origin have always been present in the british rhetoric of governance with different pitches and paces in accordance with and in response to the zeitgeist of the day. 4. conclusion community cohesion or social cohesion has been the political jargon that has dominated british politics at the onset of the twenty-first century. it is the direct outcome of real or perceived threats to the “homogeneity” of the british national culture given the increasing national and global challenges that the nation-state has been facing. arguably, the worry about social cohesion is not novel in british society, yet, i argue that with the intersection of different “anti-statist factors” such as multiculturalism, devolution, and globalization, it has become a pressing need to respect and maintain what nira yuval-davis (2004) called the “holy trinity”: state, territory, and people. the social cohesionist agenda is thus concerned with how to make sure that the british citizens-whatever their ethnicity was would keep their allegiances to the british state. both blunkett and cameron voiced such concerns and thought that social cohesion and unity can be achieved only when britishness-in its very basic definition is sustained and fostered. references bernard, p. 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(2004) “borders, boundaries and the politics of belonging” in may, s., modood t., and squires, j. ethnicity, nationalism and minority rights, london: cambridge university press. zriba, h.(2014) “representation of “ethnic residential segregation” in british post-2001 race riots national reports”, european journal of academic essays 1(3): 20-27. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). http://www.kenanmalik.com/essays/against_mc.html http://www.kenanmalik.com/essays/muslims_handelsblatt.html american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 70 orphans’ motivation for higher education omidullah akbari ba english literature english department, kandahar university, afghanistan e-mail: akbariomidullah@gmail.com javed sahibzada education faculty’s research center head english department, kandahar university, afghanistan e-mail: sahibzada.javed@gmail.com abstract the purpose of this study was to find the level of orphans’ motivation for higher education and factors contributing their motivation for higher education. since kandahar is one of the historically and strategically important provinces of afghanistan in which four-decade war have adversely affected different aspects of lives of its population. orphan and education seem two contradictory terms in a country like afghanistan with four-decade war history. the study is descriptive in nature where a quantitative questionnaire was designed to collect data from randomly selected 112 students studying in 10th, 11th and 12th of shaikh zaid orphanage and from 15 graduates through snowball sampling method. the findings revealed that orphans are motivated for higher education transportation, financial problem, daydreaming, distraction during study are the major challenges that prevent orphans from getting higher education. keywords: orphans, motivation, factors, higher education 1. introduction orphans are making 143 to 210 million of world’s population and afghanistan is one of those countries which has a large population of orphans in the world (kavak, 2014). unicef and global partners define an orphan as a child under 18 years of age who has lost one or both parents to any cause of death. according to the report of aljazeera (2017) in afghanistan, an orphan is defined as a child without a father and by this grouping, there are an estimated quarter of a million orphans in the country. by the term orphan, we also mean a child who doesn’t have a father to fulfill his/her needs in life. the report conducted by shafaqna website in 2013 which interviewed child foundation head of balk province states that few afghan orphans live either in orphanages or have the support of other assistance institutions and in total only 12464 of the children are living in orphanages and they get education. the source further adds that based on the roles of these orphanages orphans are allowed to stay there only till the age of 18. by then, they have to leave the orphanage and make a life on their own. due to four decades of war many aspects of lives of the afghans’ are adversely affected. the consequences of war can be also found in orphans’ motivation for higher education. although it is stated in article 43 rd of afghanistan’s constitution that education is one of the fundamental rights of each afghan and the government has the responsibility to provide them educational opportunities for free. moreover, the 28th article of the convention on the rights of child (crc) make the member states of the crc responsible to provide equal educational opportunities to every child. unfortunately, there are still many children including orphans who do not have access to education. a research conducted by afghan independent human rights commission has found out that though both governmental and non-governmental organizations have tried to protect abandoned children or orphans in afghanistan but still thousands of abandoned children and orphans need support and protection (pazhman, saramad, and hasrat, 2013). mailto:akbariomidullah@gmail.com mailto:sahibzada.javed@gmail.com www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 71 based on the report of (azadi radio 1392) which have interviewed deputy minister of labor and social affairs and they have reported that there are still 3.5 million abandoned or orphans who are at risk and are deprived of their right to education. in addition to that, on the researcher personal communication on december 23, 2018 with the officials of shekh zaid orphanage. they said that due to different reasons some of their orphans leave attending school in secondary levels still most of their graduate students (approximately 80-85% of them) find their way in getting higher education through passing the kankor (higher education entrance exam). they have also said that some of these orphans refer back to the orphanage due to some obstacles preventing them from higher educations which in result they leave pursuing higher education and those orphans university graduated to be assist and helped in finding jobs. previous studies related to orphans have focused more on educational challenges toward orphans, the psychological effect, causes of being hiv/aids, their age and their target grade at school, their basic needs in addition to school fees, educational experiences by orphans, orphans intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence. there is still a gap to find out orphans’ motivation in the context of higher education. the findings of this study will pave data for those relevant organization who are looking for the challenges that prevent orphans from getting higher education. it will also contribute in developing a peaceful neighborhood. as reported by ihh humanitarian relief foundation (2014) children in afghanistan face the threat of kidnapping, forced to child laboring, and being recruited as child soldiers. moreover, it’s also possible that orphans may get into crimes such as robbery, burglary, and even worst then these they may join with terroristic groups. the purpose of this study was to find level of orphans’ motivation for higher education and factors contributing their motivation for higher education. 2. research objective  to find out orphans’ level of motivation for higher education and factors preventing orphans from getting higher education. 3. research question  what is the level of orphans’ motivation for higher education? and which factors preventing orphans from getting higher education? 4. review of the literature literature review contains previews studies regarding orphans’ motivation for education and the challenges that orphans face in getting education. alive, nausheen, kanwal and anwar 2017) have examined the learning experience of a group of children living in the orphanage. their findings revealed that the social and personal circumstances of orphans’ shape orphans’ believe and value about learning. their findings further revealed that orphans’ unmet need influences orphans’ desire to learning. since some of the orphans aimed to learn in order to earn money or make a family. moreover, their study introduces three major factors influencing orphans learning. first, teachers. by observing their teachers in the orphanage classes the researchers found that the teachers were attending classes without effective strategies and remained disinterested in their wellbeing and learning in education. next, overcrowded classes and classrooms with fewer facilities such as lack of furniture, discipline, calamity or quietness worsened the situation for learning. third, barriers to orphans’ educations that the syllabus was in a foreign language and orphans were lacking in several skills. at the end, they found that children also faced some other problems such as healthcare, behavioral issue, and psychological problems. abdussalam (2017) have compared orphans and non-orphans’ social competence and quality of life and he found that there is no difference among orphans and non-orphans in the level of their social life. though, a significant difference between the life of orphans and non-orphans was found that orphans’ quality of life was in the lower level in compare to non-orphans and therefore suggested a stimulating environment and better sources be provided for orphans. shann, bryant, brooks, bukuluki, muhangi, lugalla, and kwesigabo (2013) investigated the effectiveness of educational support for orphan vulnerable children and they have found that providing support to orphan vulnerable children was not only important but also effective. their findings further revealed that in some cases supported children performed better than non-supported orphan vulnerable children peers. furthermore, the study found that access to secondary education for those orphan vulnerable children who did not have financial means to attend school could be increased by providing a scholarship. the study also found some effective factors affecting the educational outcomes of orphan vulnerable children such as: paying school fees, nutritional status, psychological wellbeing, and physical safety. kimbi and mugambi (2017) studied factors influencing orphans’ and vulnerable children’s performance. they have found that management competence influenced the peer performance of orphan vulnerable children. at www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 72 the same time, their study further showed that resource availability, community involvement, monitoring, and evaluation were the factors which have influenced orphans peer performance and their study recommended the increase of financial allocation, giving report about evaluation and monitoring, use of information technology for improving orphan vulnerable children’s performance, training of management team on leadership style and sensitizing of community. other researchers have conducted several studies regarding some challenges that orphans face on their way to higher education. kazeem and jessen (2017) in nigeria investigating orphans’ school attendance and their relationship to household head found that those paternal and maternal or doubled orphans who have close biological ties with their household heads have taken more educational advantages comparing to those who were less biologically tied to their household head. their research suggests programs such a cash transfer, child sponsorship, and food adoration to be implemented for household heads and school stakeholders to make the household head allow orphans, particularly those with distant ties to their household heads to go to school. smiley, omoeva, sylla, and challuda (n.d) studied orphans and venerable children’s trends in school access and experience in eastern and south africa. their findings revealed that poverty in general and lack of adult car were closely tied to educational challenges in compare to orphanhood. their study further revealed that strict school environment had negative effects on the healthy development of children especially those who did not have strong caregivers. dalen, nekitend, and musisi (2009) studied the situation of double orphans heading household through interviews, focus group discussion, observation, and narratives. their findings showed that lack of food, clothes, and some other material resources, the limited possibilities of regular school attendance, vast responsibilities and fewer possibilities of social interaction all were the factors in rising worries and challenges for an orphan as a head of household or family. however, mayo, susa, gudyanga (2015) conducted a study on how the institutionalization of orphan children impacts orphan children outcome. they have found that the institutionalized orphans faced lack of parents and lack of sources as a factor that demotivated them. on the other hand, sinha, lombe, saltzaman, whetten, whhetten and positive outcome for orphans’research team (2016) explored factors associated with the educational outcome of orphans abandoned. their findings showed that more than half of orphan vulnerable children were below their target grade level. moreover, girls and boys were both equally treated and both were at risk. the result also showed that those children who did not have a close biological relationship with their caregiver were doing paid work and were the head of the family. therefore, they were not in the grades accommodating with their age. their study further suggests that some actions such as: improving school and infrastructure, quality of teachers within school cheek ups, made meals, bringing school support in respect programs for caregivers can be taken to fulfill some of the educational needs for orphan vulnerable children. pillay (2018) studied orphan vulnerable children early education for improving outcomes for governance and economic development of africa, showed that by providing educational facilities in early childhood for orphan vulnerable children can possibly cause to develop skills and human capital in orphan vulnerable children as future adults. ong, yuot, chhon, shibnuma, yasuoka, and jimba (2015) explored factors associated with depressive symptoms among orphans and vulnerable children and found that depressive symptoms among both boys and girls were affected similarly by different factors. their findings showed physical health as utmost importance for individuals surviving, so their study suggested more healthcare be available for orphan vulnerable children. furthermore, the result indicated that school can be another factor which can act against depression so more efforts should be done for improving school role in removing depression and teachers should be trained to recognize orphans having depressive symptoms and pay more attention to orphan vulnerable children (ovcs). irshad (2017) have done a comparative study of stress and alienation among orphans and normal, the study found that alienation and stress were related to each other. it means that whenever someone goes under pressure or gets into stressful conditions than that person automatically gets alienated and vice versa. in addition to that, the study further revealed through the t-test result that orphans were more alienated and stressed in compare to normal students. in his study, he recommends that orphans’ should be provided mental health, services including bereavement and grief counseling, traditional services and psychological supports. he also recommends that caregivers, teachers, public head workers, and community leaders should be trained in a way that they can provide psychological support to orphans. oyedele, chiuwature, and manayage (2016) investigated the challenges that orphans face at o-level and the effect of those challenges on their academic performance. they have found through students’ performance in school that teachers did not have any special scheme for identifying and providing academic financial support to orphan students in their class. based on the interview with heads of school their study found that the education stakeholders and government have done little works for removing challenges that orphans faced and fostering orphan’s academic performance at the secondary level. they have recommended that teachers should identify www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 73 orphans in their class and provide them the necessary supports especially psychological supports related to their parental death. furthermore, in order to decrease discrimination among students, the study suggests that teachers should educate non-orphan students about the challenges that orphans face. to conclude all the available literature stated above, summarize orphans’ educational outcomes are related to issues; such as, poverty, lack of adult care, being the head of household, lack of appropriate educational scheme by teachers, less biological relation with their household heads, high stress and alienation, nutritional problems at home and orphanages, lack of treatment for their interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences and lack of some other essential cares at school. 5. methodology the study is descriptive in nature where a quantitative questionnaire was adapted from deo-mohan achievement motivation scale (deo and mohan, n.d) and from literature review to collect data from randomly selected 112 students studying in 10th, 11th and 12th of shaikh zaid orphanage at kandahar city and from 15 graduate through snowball sampling method. since it is the one the famous orphanage of afghanistan which have orphan students at high school level and the other orphanage contains students at primary level. and the current study was best fitted to find population which are either graduated from high schools or currently engaged since they were about to graduate from high school and go to university for higher education. the instrument consists of three parts; demographic information, part two containing question-related to measuring orphans’ motivation for higher education and questions related to identifying challenges that limit orphans’ engagement in higher education. the collected data was analyzed with the use of spss 24 version and frequency and percentages are presented in the table. 6. findings table 1. demographics information of participants of the study. frequency percent gender male 127 100.0 female 0 0 total 127 100.0 education student of 10th, 11th, and 12th classes 112 88.2 high school graduated 15 11.8 total 127 100.0 age 15-20 118 92.9 21-25 9 7.1 total 127 100.0 table 1.shows demographics information of participants of the study. result indicates 92.9% of the populations were between the ages of 15-20 and 7.1 % of the populations were between the ages of 21-25. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 74 table 2. orphans’ level of motivation for higher education 1. i like going to university because there is plenty of opportunities to enjoy life. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 0 2 3 20 102 127 percent 0 1.6 2.4 15.7 80.3 100 2. i think it’s good to acquire higher education rather than getting married and making a family. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 10 12 13 39 53 127 percent 7.9 9.4 10.2 30.7 41.7 100 3. i wish to carry my mission (educational life) forward in spite of facing many problems. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 1 2 9 42 73 127 percent 0.8 1.6 7.1 33.1 57.5 100 4. i think of life to be an intellectual challenge so it’s good to suffer problems and attend university. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 3 1 3 33 87 127 percent 2.4 0.8 2.4 26.0 68.5 100 5. i already have my favorite college or university faculty which comes through the inspiration that i have from my friends studying university. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 8 9 5 32 73 127 percent 6.3 7.1 3.9 25.2 57.5 100 6. since i wish to specialize and become topmost in the field i like and i work hard for hours with the people in my favorite field or favorite faculty in order to be successful in whatever i undertake so i think it will help me in having high performance in the college or university. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 6 5 8 39 69 127 percent 4.7 3.9 6.3 30.7 54.3 100 7. i plan to study carefully all the year round in an effort to get good marks in all the subjects in all the tests since marks have a key role in getting scholarships of higher education. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 3 2 3 19 100 127 percent 2.4 1.6 2.4 15.0 78.7 100 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 75 table 2. shows the frequency and the percentage of participants’ responses with the likert scale from 1. strongly disagree, 2. disagree, 3. undecided, 4. agree to 5. strongly agree for each item. findings of table 1.2 show respondents’ responses regarding their motivation for higher education. for the 1st item shows that 80.3% of respondents strongly agreed, 15.7% of agreed, 2.4% were undecided, and only 1.6% of respondents disagreed that attending university makes plenty of opportunities in life. for the 2nd item 41.7% of respondents strongly agreed, 30.7% agreed, 10.2% were undecided and in total 17.3% either disagreed or strongly disagreed to acquire higher education rather than getting married and making a family. for the 3rd item 57.5% of respondents strongly agreed, 33.1% agreed, 7.1% were undecided and in total 2.4% agreed and disagreed to continue their mission or educational lofe in spite of facing many problems in their life. for the 4th item 68.5% of respondents strongly agreed, 26.0% agreed, 2.4% of were undecided, 0.8% = disagreed and 2.4% strongly disagreed that life is an intellectual problem and they ought to suffer problems and attend university. for the 5th item 57.5% of respondents strongly agreed, 25.2 % agreed, 3.9% were undecided, 7.1% disagreed and 6.3% strongly disagreed that they have their favorite faculties through the inspiration of their friends. furthermore, for the 6th item 54.3% of respondents strongly agreed, 30.7% of agreed 6.3% were undecided and in total 8.6% disagreed and strongly disagreed that they will benefit in the university from their hard-working habit that they work hard with the people who work in their favorite field. for the 7th item 78.7% of respondents strongly agreed, 15.0% of agreed, 2.4% were undecided, 1.6% disagreed and 2.4% strongly disagreed that they plan and study all the year to obtain good marks in all subjects since marks are a key role for getting higher education’s scholarships. for the 8th item 64.6% of respondents strongly agreed, 29.9% of agreed, 2.4% were undecided that they set standards and try hard to achieve them and this will affect their performance at university however in total 3.2% either disagreed or strongly disagreed to this item. for the 9th item 66.1% of respondents strongly agreed, 8. i set standards for myself and later on work hard to achieve them which may have a positive effect on my performance at university. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 2 2 3 38 82 127 percent 1.6 1.6 2.4 29.9 64.6 100 9. i am interested in developing my skill of pair working, a group working, class participating and individually working because they are necessary for a student at the university. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 3 1 5 34 84 127 percent 2.4 .8 3.9 26.8 66.1 100 10. staying late for some lecturers in the class irritates me a lot and i think to affect my performance ant university. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 12 12 22 33 48 127 percent 9.4 9.4 17.3 26.0 37.8 100 11. i do not like my reaching late to the class which may affect my performance at university. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 3 6 7 39 72 127 percent 2.4 4.7 5.5 30.7 56.7 100 12. 0n getting low marks, i feel disappointed and it will affect my performance at university. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 8 11 5 38 65 127 percent 6.3 8.7 3.9 29.9 51.2 100 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 76 26.8% of agreed, while 3.9% were undecided, 0.8% disagreed, and 2.4% strongly disagreed to be interested in developing some of their skills: self-working, group working, class participation since they are necessary for university students. for the 10th item 37.8% of respondents strongly agreed, 26.0% agreed, 17.3% of were undecided, 9.4% disagreed and 9.4% strongly disagreed that staying late for some lecturers to finish their lecture irritates them and it’s a concern for them which can affect their performance at university and causes them to show less interest toward university and it showed that for this item in total 63.8% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed. for the 11th item 56.7% of respondents strongly agreed, 30.7% agreed, 5.5% were undecided, 4.7% disagreed and 2.4% of respondents strongly disagreed that they mind much for getting late to the class and it can affect their performance at university. finally, for the 12th item 51.2% strongly agreed, 29.9% agreed, 3.9% were undecided, 8.7% disagreed and 6.3% of strongly agreed that getting low marks can make them disappointed and it can effect on their performances at university. table 3. factors preventing orphans from getting higher education 1. my family tells me to take life easy and never bother too much for studies or for future life. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 69 27 6 10 15 127 percent 54.3 21.3 4.7 7.9 11.8 100 2. my friends consider me shirker and dull and my university classmates may also behave me the same as them. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 52 37 8 13 17 127 percent 40.9 29.1 6.3 10.2 13.4 100 3. school is/was demotivating for me and university may also be the same so i don’t like going to university. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 63 34 11 7 12 127 percent 49.6 26.8 8.7 5.5 9.4 100 4. during studying, i am daydreaming mind wanders off the lesson and i get lost into imagination about my life problems such as economic problems and family member sickness so these distractions do not fit for the university. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 20 25 14 40 28 127 percent 15.7 19.7 11.0 31.5 22.0 100 5 i think it’s better to take care of my family rather than going to university. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 50 36 8 14 19 127 percent 39.4 28.3 6.3 11.0 15.0 100 6. i don’t have the courage of speaking in front of others and it will affect my performance in the university. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 37 17 11 31 31 127 percent 29.1 13.4 8.7 24.4 24.4 100 7. university lessons are very difficult and time-consuming and i’m not enough intelligent and rich in having time. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 40 33 9 32 13 127 percent 31.5 26.0 7.1 25.2 10.2 100 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 77 table 3. indicates factors preventing orphans from getting higher education by the participants responses through selecting linker scale from 1. strongly disagree, 2. disagree, 3. undecided, 4. agree, to 5. strongly agree for each item. the result indicates respondents’ responses regarding some challenges on their way to attend university and show that several challenges are negatively affecting orphans’ motivation for higher education. the finding for the 1st item shows that 54.3% of respondents strongly disagreed, 21.3% disagreed about their family telling them not to worry about life and not to bother for education and future life while 4.7% of were undecided, 7.9% agreed and 11.8% strongly agreed. for the 2nd item, 40.9% of respondents strongly disagreed, 29.1% disagreed, 6.3% were undecided, 10.2% agreed and 13.4% strongly agreed that they experienced their friends considering them dull and 8. since in the society i see unemployed people and the unemployed graduated students of university so i think i will also be unemployed after i’m graduated from university. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 48 31 8 20 20 127 percent 37.8 24.4 6.3 15.7 15.7 100 9. i don’t like going to university because university graduate students are not good people as they don’t behave well with orphans. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 66 37 7 5 12 127 percent 52.0 29.1 5.5 3.9 9.4 100 10. since school and university are so far so the lake of transportation can be a serious problem. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 16 28 15 38 30 127 percent 12.6 22.0 11.8 29.9 23.6 100 11. since i have started school so late in my life, i think at this age attending university is full of challenges. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 55 42 6 13 11 127 percent 43.3 33.1 4.7 10.2 8.7 100 12. doing paid work can cause me not to attend the university regularly. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 25 24 11 34 33 127 percent 19.7 18.9 8.7 26.8 26.0 100 13. i think i may not be able / have not been able to follow any kankor preparation course. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 29 34 16 28 20 127 percent 22.8 26.8 12.6 22.0 15.7 100 14. though there is a chance to work first and study later in the night shift but still i think i may not be able to pay the university fees. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 19 20 21 37 30 127 percent 15.0 15.7 16.5 29.1 23.6 100 15. in our country, the university is not a secured place. strongly disagree disagree undecided agree strongly agree total frequency 40 19 15 28 25 127 percent 31.5 15.0 11.8 22.0 19.7 100 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 78 shirker and they worry that they may suffer it during higher education as well. for the 3rd item, 49.6% of respondents strongly disagreed, 26.8% disagreed, 8.7% were undecided and in total 14.9% agreed or strongly agreed about school as a demotivating factor for their motivation of higher education. for the 4th item 22.0% of respondents strongly agreed, 31.5% agreed that during the lesson they daydream about their daily problems and it’s a concern which all works as distractions for their studies and they think it will have negative effects on their performance at the university however in this regard 11% of respondents were undecided, and in total 35.4% of either disagreed or strongly disagreed. for the 5th item, 39.4% of respondents strongly disagreed, 28.3% disagreed, 6.3% were undecided, 11% agreed and 15% strongly agreed to prefer caring for their family rather than attending university. for the 6th item, the challenge of not having the courage to speak in front of others which may negatively affect their university performance 24.4% of respondents strongly agreed, 24.4% agreed while 8.7% were undecided, 13.4% disagreed and 29.1% of strongly disagreed. for the 7th item, 31.5% of respondents strongly disagreed, 26.0% of disagreed, 7.1% were undecided, 25.2% agreed and 10.2 % strongly agreed about the university lessons to be hard and time consuming for them since they lack the capacity and time. for the 8th item, 37.8% of respondents strongly disagreed, 24.4% disagreed, 6.3% were undecided, 15.7% agreed and 15.7% strongly agreed to be less motivated toward higher education due to seeing university graduate students unemployed in the society. for the 9th item, 52.0% of respondents strongly disagreed, 29.1% disagreed, 5.5% were undecided, 3.9% of respondents agreed and 9.4% strongly agreed to be less demotivated for higher education due to the inappropriate behavior of university graduate students toward them. for the 10th item, 23.6 % of respondents strongly agreed, 29.9% agreed that transportation can be a serious problem for them and may cause them not to attend the university regularly because they are living far away from the university while in this regard 11.8% were undecided, 22% disagreed and 12.6% strongly disagreed. for the 11th item, 43.3% of respondents strongly disagreed, 33.1% disagreed, 4.7% of were undecided, and in total 18.9% of respondents agreed and strongly agreed to be less motivated to higher education for not starting school in the early age of life. for the 12th item, 26.0% of respondents strongly agreed, 26.8% agreed that doing paid work can cause them not to regularly attend the university however 8.7% were undecided, 18.9% disagreed and 19.7% strongly disagreed. for the 13th item, 22.8% of respondents strongly disagreed, 26.8% disagreed, 12.6% were undecided while 22.0% agreed and 15.7% strongly agreed to be demotivated toward higher education because of thinking that they may not be able to follow any kankoor preparation course. for the 15th item, 31.5% of respondents strongly disagreed, 15.0% disagreed, however, 11.8% of were undecided, 22.0% agreed and 19.7% strongly agreed about the university to be an unsecured place which can make them less interested toward higher education. for the item (14th) 23.6% of respondents strongly agreed, 29.1% agreed that they may not be able to pay the fees of university if they work first and attend the university in night shifts in some non-governmental universities although 16.5% of respondents were undecided, 15.7% disagreed and 15% of strongly disagreed. 7. discussion the findings show that orphans are motivated for acquiring higher education as 80.3% orphans strongly agreed and 15.7% orphans agreed that they want to acquire higher education because it brings plenty of opportunities to life and makes life more enjoyable. the study also found that orphans agreed that acquiring higher education is better than getting married since 41.7% of respondents strongly agreed and 30.7% of respondents agreed. the study shows that orphans were inspired by their friends who were going to university and they had their favorite faculty since 57.5 % of respondents strongly agreed and 25.2 % of respondents agreed in this regard. the last evidence is that they want to carry their mission in spite of facing many problems and 57.5% of respondents strongly agreed and 33.1% of respondents agreed in this regard. moreover, the findings of this study also point out some factors which are causing orphans’ to be less motivated to acquire higher education. and those factors are lack of transportation as 23.6 % of respondents strongly agreed and 29.9% of respondents agreed for lack of transportation as a challenge, daydreaming during the study about their daily problems as 22.0% of respondents strongly agreed and 31.5% of respondents agreed that during the lesson their daydreams about their problem which distract their attention from the study, lack of courage to speak in front of people 24.4% of respondents strongly agreed and 24.4% of respondents agreed to this challenge , doing paid work which can cause them not be able to attend university regularly 26.0% of respondents strongly agreed and 26.8% of respondents agreed and as the challenge of their inability to be able to pay the fees for night shift university stops them from attending university in night shift and 23.6% of respondents strongly agreed and 29.1% of respondents agreed to this. the finding of this study supports the finding of sinha, et al. (2017) that orphans do pay work and it is a challenge in their educational life and can affect their educational performance. the finding of this study is also in correspondence with alive, nausheen, kanwal, and anwar (2017) that orphans’ unmet needs influence orphans’ desire to learning. in final, the finding of the present study agrees to the finding of www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 79 shann at.al (2013) that those orphans who did not have financial means to get the education their interest to learning can be increased by providing a scholarship to them. 8. suggestions and conclusion result shows orphans are motivated for higher education but still lack of transportation, orphans’ daydreaming about the problems they have act as barriers for their studying lack of courage to speak in front of people, doing paid work, unable to pay the fees for night shift university which can cause them unable to attend university regularly are some challenges that orphans face in the class and are possible threats to affect orphans’ motivation during university lessons too. it is the responsibility of every individual in society, orphans’ caregivers and orphanage keepers and any organization working closely with orphans to invest based on their effort for making it possible the desired dreams of orphans in getting higher education through working on the solutions of those factor which this study found as challenges that prevent them from getting higher education. in addition, for more enhancement of orphans’ motivation for higher education and removing the present challenges of orphans’ higher education, the researchers recommend university officials to provide orphans with transportation facilities so that orphans from remote areas can also attend the university, provide orphans with part-time job having good payments so that they can come over their family expenses and take care of orphans daily and economic problems so that their daily and economic problems are not going to distract them during the lesson and their mind does not wander off and they do not get into imaginations about their life problems anymore. references abdussalam. m (2017). social competence and quality of life: a comparative study among orphans and nonorphans. phoenixinternational journal for psychology and social sciences. 1 (3), 103-106. afghanistan shafaqna.2013, retrieved from http://afghanistan.shafaqna.com/interviews-and -textitem/27372-کودکان .-آینده نامعلوم-و-بی سرپرست html?=component&print=1 aljazeera (2017, august). retrieved from http://aljazeera.com/video/news/2017/08/providing-basic-care-afghanorphanages-170829105154200.html alvi. e., nausheen. m, kanwal. i, & anwar. r (2017). examining the work of an orphan from a critical perspective, 2, 228-236. azid. n.h, yacoob. a (2016) enriching orphans’ potentials through interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence enriching activities. international journals of instruction. 9, 17-30. da azadi radio.(1397, quawas). retrieved from http://da.azadiradio.com/a/24995657.html dalen. n. nakitende. a, j., & musisi. s (2009). 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(2015) what are the factors associated with the depressive symptoms among orphans and vulnerable children in cambodia. bmc psychiatry.7. oyedele. v, chiklwatrure.w, & manyange. p (2116). challenges facing orphaned students and the effects on the academic performance in o-level commerce at samaringa cluster secondary school. international journal of academic research and reflection,3, 337-43. pazhman.a, saramad.m.h., & hasrat.m.h, (1392/2013), wazeyat-e atfal-e dar aghanistan [child situation in afghanistan]. afghan independent human rights commission,1-104. pillay. j (2018). early education of orphans and vulnerable children: a crucial aspect for social competence and justice and african development. koers journals and publications. 1-12. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 1, no. 2; 2019 80 shann, m. h., bryant, m. h., brooks, m. i., bukuluki, p., muhangi, d., lugalla, j., & kwesigabo, g. (2013). the effectiveness of educational support to orphans and vulnerable children in tanzania and uganda. isrn public health, 2013, 1-9. sinha. a, lombe. saltzaman .l.y,. whetten .k., whhetten .r., & positive outcome for orphans’research team. (2016), exploring factors associated with educational outcomes for orphan and abandoned children in india. department of health & human service.usa,9-11. smiley, a. omoeva, c. sylla, b. & chaluda. a. orphans and vulnerable children: trends in school access and experience in eastern and southern africa. education policy and data center, 19-20. unicef,(n.d). retrieved fromhttp://www.unicef.org/media/orphans copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 29 assessment of educational facilities in nigeria-the ekiti-south west example okosun, s.e department of geography federal university lokoja, nigeria e-mail: okosunsenator@gmail.com omokhafe, c department of law ambrose alli university, ekpoma edo-state, nigeria dairo, o.e department of estate management federal university of technology minna, nigeria olowookere, c.a department of geography and planning science, ekiti state university, ado-ekiti, nigeria abstract the aim of education for the 21st century is to enable every person to attain all-round development in the domains of ethics, intellect, physique, social skills and aesthetics according to his/her attributes so as to contribute to the future well-being of the nation and the world as a whole. the aim of the study was to assess the provision and maintenance of educational facilities in ekiti state, nigeria with a focus on the ekiti-south west lga and community-based development associations in the study area. this study adopted the survey research method and used three different sets of a questionnaire to collect research data from the authority of the ekiti south-west lg council officials, community development unit of the lg council and the 61 (cbdas) officials were available in the study area. the findings among others revealed that majority of the secondary schools were privately-owned, while the primary and nursery/primary schools were community-owned. however, the present monthly allocation from federal government to lgcs is grossly inadequate, and it is not enough to embark on provision and maintenance of educational facilities. given the findings, there were need to improve the schools through additional appropriation and maintenance of the existing schools; finally, the governments and other stakeholders should inculcate good maintenance culture on our educational facilities for effective management with the intention of promoting high-quality education for the well-being of the nation. keywords: community development, educational facilities, ekiti south-west, maintenance, schools. 1. introduction the quality of education delivered, and achievement by the school is dependent on the facilities provided for students to develop their full potentials. education facilities are material or resources that enhance teaching and learning. educational facilities can be defined as the entire school plant which school administrators, teachers and students harness, allocate and utilize for the smooth and efficient management of any educational institution (asiyai, 2013). educational facilities serve as pillars of support for effective teaching; as well as the physical and spatial enablers of learning. according to adedokun (2011), educational facilities are physical resources that facilitate effective learning. they include blocks of classrooms, blackboard, laboratories, workshops, libraries, equipment, consumables, electricity, water, visual and audio-visual aids, tables, desks, chairs, playground, storage space and toilets. these promote and increase the production of results. most governments in the third world countries like nigeria face severe financial problems in providing educational facilities for the school bus, laboratories, workshops, libraries, equipment, in the urban/rural setting. in nigeria, provision of schools/education continued to increase without a corresponding increase in facilities which has to meet the needs of rapidly growing users for www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 30 effective teaching and learning. one of the main problems of education in nigeria is underfunding, this has resulted in the depleting conditions of educational facilities in the country (nigerian). these are of great concern to the government i.e. local government council authorities, community-based development associations, and other agencies in encouraging the provision and proper maintenance of schools and existing educational facilities. the role of provision and maintenance of educational institutions in grassroots development and poverty reduction cannot be over-emphasized both in urban and rural environments. a provision in this paper means an item of goods provided/supply and obtained for future use. the word maintenance, according to eti et al. (2006) means preserving and keeping in good order as near as possible in their original state. by implication, maintenance means keeping in good order and shape all projects of development that are of benefit to the people. however, the attitude of people towards the maintenance of educational facilities is that the government property does not belong to anybody. to this extent educational facilities that were meant to benefit the masses are just rotting away, without being put to any good use as people are not interested in making such facilities sustainable. governments have come to term with the lg for the need to be involved in grassroots development. however, the establishment of lgcs in nigeria which aimed among others to facilitate rural and urban development through infrastructure development and delivery in which schools (i.e educational facilities) provision and maintenance are inclusive. the lgc is statutorily empowered to construct and maintain schools and other public facilities (fgn, 1999). the recognition and importance of this process are to tackle local socio-economic problems and to manage grassroots development. despite these provisions, educational services in both urban and rural areas in nigeria in inadequate. sehinde (2008) maintained that in nigeria, the overriding impression is that lgcs are weak in responding to the challenges posed by infrastructural development. this has led to self-help programs through which private sector are now involved in educational facilities development. the cbdas form one of the main actors of the local economic development (led) process. they have been responsible for the provision of communal facilities such as schools, markets, water supply, and town halls. akinsolu (2004) asserted that educational curriculum cannot be sound and well operated with poor and badly managed school facilities. the aim of education for the 21st century “is to enable every person to attain all-round development in the domains of ethics, intellect, physique, social skills and aesthetics according to his/her own attributes so that he/she is capable of life-long learning, critical and exploratory thinking, innovating and adapting to change; filled with selfconfidence and a team spirit; willing to put forward continuing effort for the prosperity, progress, freedom and democracy of their society, and contribute to the future well-being of the nation and the world at large. “ hong kong education commission, 2000)”, as stated by edewor et al. (2003) the nigeria people must be given proper education to ensure improvement in their health condition so as to enhance their economic empowerment and help in decision making that will liberate them. in the education sector, it is common to see dilapidated school buildings with collapsed roofs without ceiling occupied by students, thus, making learning environment very unsuitable especially in hot seasons. all of these point to the fact that educational facilities as a social service are not adequately maintained. norris (1997) defined lgc as the government of urban areas or rural areas subordinate having an independent legal existence. the functions of an lgc in nigeria include provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational education. while cbdas is regarded as an association that provides the forum for people to articulate their views, aspirations and needs. the associations aim at helping people within a local community to identify their social need, and work towards achieving them. 2. aim and objectives the aim of this study is to assess the performance of the ekiti-south west lg council and community-based development associations in the provision and maintenance of educational facilities in ekiti south west. the study objectives are set as follows:  highlight the involvements of the ekiti-south west lg council in the development of educational facilities in ekiti south west  classify the existing educational facilities (i.e schools) according to ownership and conditions in the study area; and  highlight the educational facilities provision and maintenance projects embarked upon by the ekiti-south west lg council and cbdas in ekiti south west 3. the study area ekiti south-west local government council of ekiti state, nigeria.(see figures 1, 2), is one of the 16 local government areas that make up ekiti state. it is one of the fastest growing lga in ekiti state. however, ekiti south west lga shares boundaries with ado-ekiti on the southwest, on the east by ikere-ekiti, and on the west by www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 31 igede and on the north by igbara-oke. it is made up of three major towns, namely (ilawe-ekiti, igbara odo, and ogotun). it occupies the area lying approximately between longitude 5 ° 5 and 60 e of greenwich meridians and latitude 7o35’ and 60 n of the equator. the population figure is put at about 139,308 persons (npc, 2009). the historical background of ekiti south west lg shows waves of immigrants or settlers who had to settle permanently. it consist of yoruba’s who track their origin to ile-ife like others and were later joined by some migrants from benin. however, the indigenous people speak the ekiti dialect with slight difference in intonations of the villages, they speak also the yoruba language and having the same culture and traditions. they are homogenous in culture, tradition, values and socials, the culture of the people are identical and similar to that of the yorubas of the south western nigeria. their mode of dressing is the yoruba attires though with the elites adorning the english dresses particularly those in government establishment. the physical features of the area is characterized by hard rocks and mountains and bisected by erita streams which capture into its valley and the topography of the land is not uniform, those are wards in ilawe and igbara odo. gusau zamfara sokoto sokoto katsina katsina kano kano dutse jigawa damaturu yobe maiduguri borno bauchi birnin-kebbi bajoga bauchi gombe yola jos minna ilorin dokiti osogbo ibadan abeokuta ikeja benin city asaba awka lokoja kure owerri abia abakiliki calabar p. harcourt yenegoa u yo makurdi abuja kaduna niger kwara oyo nasarawa plateau gombe adamawa ondo osun delta edo enugu benue taraba crossriver ebonyi imo bayelsa akwaibom enugu ekiti fct niger republic r e p u b l i c o f b e n i n c a m e r o o n state capital state boundary national boundary rivers c a m e r o o n kogi rivers kebbi anam. anam anambra umuahia b i g h t o f be n i n atlantic ocean jalingo lafia kaduna ogun chad 7° 8° 9° 10° 11° 12° 13° lagos 6° 5° 4° 7° 8° 9° 10° 11° 12° 13° 6° 5° 4° 4° 5° 6° 7° 8° 9° 10° 11° 12° 4° 5° 6° 7° 8° 9° 10° 11° 12° ekiti o nd o s ta te kwara state o s u n s t a te kogi state figure 1. map of nigeria showing ekiti state source: federal ministry of survey, abuja 2016 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 32 figure 2. map of ekiti state showing ekiti south west lg area (study area). source: ekiti state ministry of works, ado-ekiti. 2016 4. literature review educational facilities serve as pillars of support for effective teaching; as well as the physical and spatial enablers of learning. the importance of school in the education process has necessitated the need for the provision, management, and maintenance of those facilities in the school system. according to olutola, (1998) the operational input resources in education industry are referred to as school facilities, the provision, management and maintenance of these facilities have been found to be significantly related to school performance. in the study of olutola’s (1998) schools with good faculties recorded greater achievement in wasc examination than schools with poor educational facilities. educational facilities provision and maintenance is a powerful instrument of development, especially among developing nations like nigeria have led to the evolution of educational programs such as the universal basic education in nigeria (abdulkareen, 1999). nigeria school system is witnessing expansion in school enrolment and school programs. this has necessitated a great demand for more provision of schools, and the need to maintain the facilities, such as classrooms, libraries, laboratories, multipurpose rooms/halls, toilets and school fields for the teeming school population. adedokun (2011) also stated that, in spilled of government huge financial allocation to education in its annual budget; school facilities are still grossly inadequate in nigeria. consequently, there is a called for the need to explore strategies in sustaining the school system. over the years government and non-governmental agencies (i.e cbdas) and individuals have been concerned about the management of education, the crucial aspect of this management is the provision and maintenance of educational facilities. the provision and maintenance of educational facilities and services is essential for the promotion of efficient operations of any country, state, or town in enhancing the general standard of living. as stated by okwakpam (2010) islam and salma (2016), human needs are insatiable, and the government alone cannot meet them. in recent times, various efforts have been made by the government. one of the strategies employed to enhance south west ekiti south west www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 33 development is through grassroots participation. the government has come to terms with the need to partner with the lgc and cbdas as agents (or institutions of development) in addressing the shortage in infrastructural facilities, including schools. ilawe-ekiti is faced with the inadequate and poor state of the existing schools. provision and maintenance in this paper are used to indicate the extent to which educational facilities such like school buildings/walls, classrooms, sports field and library in the nigerian communities are affected so as to bring about better-living conditions, (economic, social and cultural developments). in this study the researchers observed that; most of the school compounds were bushy, majority of the signboards, gates and walls of the schools were defaced, coupled with dilapidated buildings and leaking roofs; (some of which have been blown off), rough floors and windows without louvers, poor illumination in some cases, broken chairs and desks. it appears adequate management and maintenance is not provided in the available schools/educational facilities. educational facilities are supposed to be kept in good and proper condition near their original state by the school educational administrators. based on our causal observation, it appears that owners of school are neglecting the role of educational facilities provision, management and maintenance. the question now is could this observation be the same for all nursery, primary and secondary schools in ekiti state? it’s against this background that this study was carried out. 5. research methodology the survey research method was adopted for this study. the target populations were classified into four (4) groups; ekiti south west lgc caretaker chairman, community development unit in-charge of community development projects in the ekiti south west lgc office, community/quarters-heads in ilawe-ekiti and cbdas. a nonprobability sampling approach was employed for use in this study; it is carried out when particularly the researcher is not concerned about the representativeness of sample. a total census (i.e 100% coverage) survey was also conducted on all the 61 (cbdas). only the president/chairman/secretary of the cbdas was interviewed. only one questionnaire was administered on the ekiti-south west lgc caretaker chairman, and also one questionnaire was administered on the official in-charge of the community development project unit in the lgc office. data were collected with the aid of the structured-multiple choice questionnaire. it consists of sixty-one (61) questions which were set to elicit accurate information from the respondents. this study employed the use of four sets of the questionnaire for data collection. in this study, the researchers in conjunction with the seven (7) field assistants administered the questionnaires. students from the department of urban and regional planning, crown polytechnic odo, ado-ekiti, were used. the data collected from the field were collated and proceed using the statistical package for social sciences (spss) version 19. 6. result and discussions the discussions of the data were based on the research objectives generated for the study. 6.1 involvement of the ekiti-south west local government council in the provision and maintenance of educational facilities in ekiti south west as at, 2016 the community development unit of the ekiti-south west lg council is in-charge of community development project undertaken by the ekiti-south west lg council. provision and maintenance of educational facilities were embarked upon by the ekiti-south west lg council, community-based development associations, and private individuals in the study area. findings reveal that the participation of the people in educational development is satisfactory. however, the problem of finance and human factor were of the hindrances in the provision and maintenance of educational facilities in the area. the community development unit of the ekiti-south west lg council only provides the available detail information's from the year 2010 2015 on the cost of the project, status of the project and the nature of projects executed in ilawe-ekiti. however the educational facilities projects are discussed as follow: 6.2 the existing ownership of schools schools in the study area were built by the government, private individuals and the community. the majority of the schools in the town were built by the community i.e the faith based organizations (fbos) this was mostly carriedout by the church missionary society and one was built by the muslim islamic society. through community participation efforts, the faith based organizations (fbos) built the nursery, primary and secondary schools in the town. furthermore, individuals also owned and built schools (private schools), while few schools were constructed by the government. all of this represents a total number of 42 schools in the study area. out of which 8 are secondary schools; those includes 3 government–owned secondary school, which represents 38.0% of the total numbers of secondary school in the town, 4 private-owned secondary schools which represent 49.5%, and only 1 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 34 community-owned secondary school, which represents 12.5% of the numbers of percentage of secondary schools in the area. further findings revealed that there are nine primary schools; out of which included, 1 government–owned primary school and eight community-owned primary schools. however, there are 25 nursery/primary schools in all ward in the town, out of which included, 1 government–owned nursery/primary school, ten private–owned nursery/primary schools and 14 community-owned nursery/primary schools. table 1. the ownership of schools s/n ownership of schools no percent 1. government–owned secondary school 3 38.0 private-owned secondary school 4 49.5 community-owned secondary school 1 12.5 sub total 8 100 2. government–owned primary school 1 11.1 private–owned primary school 0.0 community-owned primary school 8 88.9 sub total 9 100 3. government–owned nursery/primary school 1 4.0 private–owned nursery/primary school 10 40.0 community-owned nursery/primary school 14 56.0 sub total 25 100 source: fieldwork, 2016 6.2.1 the existing ownership of secondary schools, 2016 there are eight secondary schools in ekiti south west (ilawe-ekiti); those include oniwe grammer school at aaye, glorify god secondary school at aaye, victory college at irorin, oniwe comprehensive high school at irorin, ejire secondary school at irorin, solid foundation at okebedo, corpus christi college at adin and united high school at oke-emo. those secondary schools were mostly built by the private individual, private-owned secondary schools in ilawe-ekiti constituted (50.0%) of the total secondary schools, while (37.5%) were government-owned secondary schools, community-owned secondary schools represented (12.5%). however, (75.0%) of the secondary schools in the town are in fair conditions, while (25%) are in good conditions. secondary schools in ilawe-ekiti were built by the government, private individual and the community. corpus christi college is the first major secondary school in the town, built in 1967 at adin by the community. findings reveal that the involvement of private schools in the town has helped in improving the standard and quality of education in the study area (75.0%) of the secondary schools in the town are in fair conditions, while (25%) are in good conditions. 6.2.2 the existing ownership of nursery/primary there are a total of 25 nursery/primary schools in the wards. the majority (65.0%) of the nursery/primary schools in the town were owned by the community i.e the faith based organizations, (29.0%) consist of individuals’ privateowned nursery/primary. while the government-owned nursery/primary schools in the town constituted (6.0%). findings reveal that majority of the nursery/primary schools were established more than 22 years again and most of them are unkempt, the signboards and walls of the schools are defaced, as they are engulfed by weeds. further findings revealed that the community-owned nursery/primary schools in the town were later handed over to the government. the criteria used in assessing the conditions of those schools in ilawe-ekiti, was carried out with the aid of rank-size relationship. the ranking relationship shows the condition of nursery/primary schools in wards. marks assigned to each ranking are as follow: very good-5, good-4; fair-3; poor-2; and bad-1. having summed up the total percentage score of all the nursery/primary schools, the number of school facilities that scored certain marks was multiplied by 100 to calculate the percentage score. the result from the ranking relationship shows that condition of nursery/primary schools in wards of ilawe-ekiti is in the fair state, which consists of 16 (47.0%). number of good are 14 (41.0%), poor are 4 (12.0%). the percentage of very good and bad nursery/primary schools cumulated to 0%. like the foundation of a house, nursery/primary school education forms the bedrock of the educational system of any country. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 35 6.3 educational facilities provision and maintenance projects by the lg council and cbdas in ekiti south west educational facilities embarked upon by the lg council included construction of 3 class rooms and office each in st augustine’s catholic nursery/primary school at irorin, ilawe grammar school at okebedo, and st. stephen at adin. the lg council was responsible for the renovation of schools such like ilupeju nursery/primary school at aaye, holy trinity at adin, and irowelede primary school at okebedo. the educational facilities executed by the cbdas were embarked upon by the social clubs; social construction was done by the school clubs; who provided books and awarded scholarship to indigenes of the town, they provided boarding school facilities for the male and female hostel in corpus christi college at adin, renovated classrooms and equip the library, the faith based organization (fbos) provided tables, chairs, and books in corpus christi college at adin. the cbdas supports on educational facilities were on materials; this was very instrumental in improving educational facilities in the town. however, data on the cost of educational projects were not available at the time of this study the cbdas are good examples of grassroots development. findings reveal that all the educational facilities projects of the lgc and cbdas were completed; only the scholarship grants for students are currently on. the results showed that maintenance of the school facilities was inadequate. renovation and construction were the most prevalent practice of the lgc and cbdas in the town while students in the community and government schools were responsible for maintenance of most of the school fields. table 2. educational facilities provision and maintenance projects by the ekiti-south west lg council and community-based development associations s/n name of schools location institution responsible facility year of commencement status of project 1 oke-osun aaye lg construction of toilet 2013 completed ilupeju nur/pry school aaye lg renovation of school 2014 completed 2 st augustine’s catholic nur/pry school irorin lg construction of 3 class rooms and office 2013 completed 3 okebedo cbdas provision of teaching materials 2015 completed ilawe grammar school okebedo lg construction of 3 class rooms and office 2013 completed irowelede primary school okebedo lg renovation of school 2013 completed 5 st. stephen adin lg construction of 3 class rooms and office 2013 completed holy trinity adin lg renovation of school 2014 completed corpus christi college adin cbdas construction of school hall 2010 completed corpus christi college adin cbdas construction of toilet 2010 completed corpus christi college adin cbdas provision of boarding facilities completed corpus christi college adin cbdas equipping the library 2013 completed corpus christi college adin cbdas renovation of classes completed corpus christi college adin cbdas scholarship grant 2014 on-going 6 l.a pilot oke-emo lg renovation of school 2012 completed methodist oke-emo lg construction of toilet 2013 completed 7 okepa/iro lg construction of toilet 2013 completed www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 36 /okeloye st. anthony’s okepa/iro /okeloye lg construction of 3 class rooms and office 2013 completed okepa/iro /okeloye cbdas donation of reading facilities 2014 completed source: author’s fieldwork, 2016 4. recommendations the need for encouragement of maintenance culture among target population is inevitable. there is the need to promote maintenance culture in the study area. the school owners, administrators, teachers and students should develop and inculcate good educational facilities maintenance culture that will prolong their durability and efficiency; people’s participations and involvement in the formulation and implementation of policies on educational delivery is needed, because people’s participation is one of the ingredients of good governance; more money should be disbursed to the local government council, in order to improve educational facilities through additional provision and maintenance of the existing schools; finally, the three tiers of governments and other stakeholders should provide and inculcate good maintenance culture on our educational facilities for effective management and consistently organize seminars and conferences to sensitize people on maintenance culture from time to time with the intension of promoting high-quality education in the study area. this will also help to improve and ensure sustainable provision and maintenance of educational facilities and develop the capacity of local government council and communities in the area. 5. conclusion the government, i.e. the local government and community-based development associations involvements/participation programs have helped in developing town/communities in ekiti-south west local government area of ekiti state, nigeria to some extent. the cbdas have been responsible for the provisions and maintenance of educational facilities in the study area due to the government failure to do this. the two tiers of government (local and state) particularly the local government that is close to the grass root should endeavor to identify these community-based developments associations, streamline their activities and provide adequate supervision, motivation, monitoring and evaluation of their projects through appropriate government personnel to support development in the study area. however the present monthly allocation from federal government to lgcs is grossly inadequate and it is not enough to embark on provision and maintenance of educational facilities. references abdulkareen, a.y. 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(pp. 2-25). education commission, 2000.” extracted from reform proposals for the education system in hong kong, edewor p, erinoso y, gbesann g (2003). in adewale busari: “backers of women empowerment” (pm news, lagos, http://allafrica.comstories/2003 accessed 2015-10) eti mc, ogoji sot, probert d (2006).strategic maintenance management in nigerian industries in applied energy. http://hd/.handle.net/1826/100. 83(3): 211-227. federal government of nigeria (fgn). (1999): the nigeria constitution, federal ministry of information, abuja. islam, k. a., & salma, u. (2016). the role of private universities in higher education of bangladesh: an empirical investigation. international journal of finance and banking research, 2(4), 121-128. norris, p. (1997). passengers to power: legislative recruitment in advance democracies, cambridge: cambridge university press. nigeria. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 37 okwakpam, i. n. (2010): analysis of the activities of community development associations in emohua town, nigeria. international journal of rural studies (ijrs) .17 (1). olutola, a.d. (1998). educational facilities and students performance in west africa school certificate examination. international journal of educational management, 1 (1), 17-24. omotola, s. j. (2006): no democracy, no development or vice-versa? in f. hassan, l. jacob, usman, and samuel (eds), democracy and development in nigeria: conceptual issues and democratic practice (p. 29). lagos: concepts publishing limited. sehinde, b. (2008): “need for a review of statutory roles of local government for effective service. journal of contemporary politics 1(1):102. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 4; 2020 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 1 covid -19 and the paralysation of women livelihoods in microenterprises in masvingo urban, zimbabwe sinikiwe gwatidzo registrar’s department great zimbabwe university, box 1235 masvingo, zimbabwe bernard chazovachii department of rural and urban development great zimbabwe university, box 1235 masvingo, zimbabwe e-mail: bchazovachii@gzu.ac.zw abstract covid-19 has fast become a global catastrophic pandemic affecting all facets of life, including people’s livelihoods. despite the devastating impact covid-19 has caused across the globe, little has been researched on how lockdown intervention measures have affected livelihoods of entrepreneurial women. this study assesses how the conditions characterising the covid-19 induced lockdown affected the livelihoods of small and medium enterprises (smes) entrepreneurial women in the masvingo province of zimbabwe. the study reveals that covid19 lockdown in zimbabwe was (and continues to be) marred with enforced restrictions on women in the informal sector. women in the urban areas were the most affected. the vulnerability context among urban women was characterised by shock, stress and restlessness. based on findings of this study, we advance that covid-19 induced lockdown paralysed entrepreneurial women’s capital assets thereby militating against their self-sustenance, selfreliance and advancement. the closure of markets, mobility permits, corruption on covid-19 relief cash transfer and subsidised mealie-meal worsened the entrepreneurial women’s shocks, stresses and restlessness. we therefore conclude that the impact of covid-19 has not only compromised nations’ food security and health systems, but most importantly paralysed entrepreneurial women’s livelihoods, yet women in the african context, musha mukadzi – without a mother there is no home. keywords: covid-19, entrepreneurial women, livelihoods, mitigation. introduction in the past, we have had global repeated epidemics such as smallpox in the 18th and 19th centuries, bubonic plague (1901–1907), ‘spanish’ flu (1918–1919), polio (1944–1963) and ongoing hiv and aids (1982–to present). covid-19 has fast become a global catastrophic pandemic affecting all spheres of life, including people’s livelihoods. the pandemic has ruined health systems, interfered with human freedoms and disrupted the smooth-running of economies across nations of the world. despite the devastating impact covid-19 has caused across all spheres of life the world-over, little has been researched on how the world health organisation (who) – derived lockdown intervention measures have affected livelihoods of women, and especially entrepreneurial women. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 4; 2020 2 what is even more worrying is that in the 21st century, epidemics at the global level have alarmingly increased with bubonic plague (1901–1907), ‘spanish’ flu (1918–1919), polio (1944– 1963), ongoing hiv and aids (1982–to present) and presently the covid-19 (2019-to present). droulet, dominelli, alston, ersing, mathbor and wu (2015) confirm that globally, diverse kinds of adversities including epidemics, have amplified in power and scale in the recent years. yet, although populations are generally affected by natural adversities of different magnitudes, inhabitants are not similarly affected as their levels of risk are different (neumayer & plumper, 2007; smyth & sweetman 2015). smyth & sweetman (2015) observe that ‘while both females and males may be similarly susceptible to the deleterious magnitudes of catastrophes, females are mostly viewed as the most affected’. this means that to ‘ignore women’s capacities and focus only on men’s abilities can adversely impact women, households and the whole community’ (drouet et al, 2015) at large. individual women and those in groups who suffer marginalisation and discrimination are most vulnerable to the impacts of disasters. ‘it is well-documented in the literature how the lifecycle intersects with the different structural vulnerabilities, which particular individuals face’ (sohrabizadeh, 2016). ‘every disaster is different and affects women and men differently according to the particular gender roles and relations within a specific community. women have been estimated to be seven times more likely than men to die in disasters, and to receive less aid’ (bradshaw and fordham, 2013). in many countries of the world, women are more likely to be numbered amongst the poorest, landless, and malnourished, and these existing vulnerabilities are worsened when a disaster strike. they are on the receiving end of any calamity even though they seem to be the most resilient and thrift. in fact, women are not only more affected by these problems, but also possess ideas and leadership to solve them. this is aptly captured by ziwira (2020: 16) who notes thus: however, as mothers, women have a way of appealing to the heart, the heart listens. women are able to circumvent their vulnerability through deft navigation of spaces either in the rural locale or urban setting. through their urgency, they can become their own masters and remodel intra-family relationships from an economic leverage that gives them a voice in decision making. empowering women economically works in favour of the family unit because they are considered more thrift than men. african women have always had an affinity with the land which made it possible for them to provide for their families. as oracles they understood the spiritual connection between humanity and the land, which they celebrated through the change of seasons. worse still, women have the responsibility for the welfare of their households and family security in times of emergencies. in times of disaster, females are governed by cultural values systems which constraint mobility. this constrained mobility affects information accessibility for women to copy with the disaster, thus why more women succumb to death during disasters. this is corroborated by alston (2015) who observes that following a disaster, young girls are particularly vulnerable to being withdrawn from education to assist with the workload, to forced child marriages, and human trafficking. droulet, dominelli, alston, ersing, mathbor and wu (2015) weigh in arguing that ‘gender equality is a right and fulfilling this right is the best chance we have in meeting some of the most pressing challenges of our time from a health and economic sense. the gender discrimination, which is derailing the progress many women back, holds the world back too’. ‘the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, embody a roadmap for sustainable progress that leave no one behind. attaining gender equality and women https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0971521516656080 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0971521516656080 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0971521516656080 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13552074.2015.1096040 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 4; 2020 3 empowerment is pivotal to each of the 17 sdg’s, ensuring the rights of women across all goals while achieving justice and inclusive economies that work for all’ (un women, 2018). in zimbabwe, the closure of markets, mobility permits, corruption on covid-19 relief cash transfer and subsidized mealie-meal left entrepreneurial women with even more shocks, economic stress and restlessness. it is against this backdrop that this study interrogates conditions characterizing covid-19 induced lockdown, particularly how they affected the livelihoods of small and medium enterprises (smes) of entrepreneurial women in masvingo province of zimbabwe. women in zimbabwe and small and medium enterprises (smes) in any society, women are an integral part of the social and economic sectors. they play a leading role in the economic development and peace building of the nation. in zimbabwe, one of the roles of the government is to formulate and develop legal and regulatory frameworks, promote and coordinate, monitor innovative financing schemes. in all these government activities, women play a leading role and should not be seen to be left behind or side-lined as has traditionally been the case, especially in colonial rhodesia (see for example, ziwira, 2020). the international cooperative alliance report (ica) (2015), reveals that zimbabwe has over 4000 registered housing cooperatives and plus or minus half a million members countrywide, the majority of whom are women. besides, there are 127 fishing cooperatives in the country which are sustaining families and contributing to the national food basket. as of december 2013, cooperatives at siyaso in mbare, harare, largely dominated by women made estimated incomes of us dollar 32, 384 million from metal containers, welding and furniture, carpentry and welding, road side carpentry, uniform and work suits, plastic recycling for buckets and cups and school furniture. government report by the minister pointed out that there are 57 arts and craft cooperatives registered since 2009 spread across the country, which are involved in stone and wood carving, baskets and tie and dye. in 2001, 254 savings and credit cooperatives were registered. between 2017 and 2019, the small and medium enterprise development corporation (smedco) which falls under the ambit of the ministry, availed about 15 million dollars to boost the growth of small business. most of the members in these registered cooperatives are women (goz, 2020). unfortunately, women particularly in zimbabwe still have difficulties in accessing formal banking products such as loans. as ziwira (2020) reveals, so far, zimbabwe has partnered with un, finance and economic development ministry and rbz to open the zimbabwe women’s micro finance bank but research is revealing that only 27% of women have access to formal banking products and accounting only for 10% of the total bank loans. a micro finance bank like zwmb with the fairer sex at heart can go a long way in empowering women. this means that the potentials and opportunities for women especially those in small and medium enterprises (smes) remain gridlocked such that realising their full potential will always be a challenge. with regards to small and medium enterprises (smes), there is generally no ‘agreed’ definition of an sme as it varies from one institution to another. the government of zimbabwe (goz) defines an sme as a business enterprise with 100 or less employees ((mudzviti and mawanza, 2014). small enterprise development corporation (sedco), defined an sme as an enterprise with 50 or less employees. the criterion used for defining an sme, include among other things the number of employees, net asset value, sales value and capital size. ministry of small and medium enterprise and cooperative development (msmed) in zimbabwe, classified smes in micro, small, and medium enterprises. for the purpose of this study, the term sme shall www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 4; 2020 4 incorporate women in micro enterprises and the ministry of small, medium enterprises and cooperative development definition will be adopted (mudzviti and mawanza, 2014). entrepreneurial women and livelihoods a livelihood is the way people earn a living. it encompasses people’s capabilities, assets and activities required to secure the necessities of life. it is regarded as sustainable when it can cope with, and recover from external shocks and stresses, and maintain its asset base. successful livelihood strategies lead to a variety of economic and non-economic benefits, including greater income and more economically sustainable livelihoods; increased well-being better access to services such as health, water, power and education; reduced vulnerability to external trends, shocks and seasonality; improved nutrition and food security; and more sustainable use of natural resources. the chosen dfid’s sustainable livelihoods framework in this study is very influential and widely used and adapted. the framework has vulnerability context which frames the environment in which poor people live. the environment in which women resides has a bearing on the hardships they face a direct impact on their assets and the livelihood options open to them. in this case the study refers to the women in an emergence situation. the context is associated with long-term trends and stresses which can be demographic, economic, political, environmental, shorter-term shocks or seasonal changes in prices, production, food availability, employment opportunities and health. these can be enduring sources of hardship, destroying people’s livelihood assets or forcing them to dispose of assets as part of coping or survival strategies. in this regard, women are exposed to covid-19 pandemic, which has caused stress and shocks among the micro entrepreneurs. vulnerability context the context is characterised by stress, shocks and incapacitation. the covid-19 pandemic has brought the national lockdown in both developed and developing nations and zimbabwe is not an exception. the lockdown had been governed by the who (2020) regulations which quarantined the returnees and isolated the covid-19 infected and suspected patients, banned the non-essential services and activities and restricted mobility of people, goods and services. most of the non-essential services were informal enterprises of which 61% of the african community and zimbabwe in particular is not an exception. most of the women were among the informal non-essential services whose livelihoods had been lockdown. financial lockdown had resulted in food, shelter and clothing challenges hence shocks and stress characterised women business categorised as non-essential services. the lockdown had exposed the weak and the entrepreneurial poor among urban households. although restrictions had limited the spread of the disease, interruption of market chains and trade of agricultural and non-agricultural produce, with significant potential impacts on the populations that depend on them for their livelihoods and their food and nutrition security characterised the lockdown. ‘around 2 billion people— 61% of the world’ s working population—toil in the informal economy, and have little or nothing to protect them if they are unable to go to work’ (ilo, 2017). ‘they usually have neither sick pay nor health insurance and may not be eligible for government benefits given to furloughed (leave of absence) workers. the situation threatens to be particularly acute in africa, where 86% of employment is informal’ (ilo, 2017). www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 4; 2020 5 assets, capabilities, capital these are the wide range of possessions which people in disaster possess or have access to and use to gain a livelihood. livelihood assets are divided into various kinds of ‘capital’: human, social, natural, physical and financial. these are endowments and entitlements by women in disaster despite their vulnerability in affecting their potential to transform their lives. livelihood assets have influence on women’s institutional structures and processes. assets can determine or lead to existence of institutions and laws for sustainable resource utilisation. assets can establish organisations that generates rules and regulations for employment creation and other livelihood strategies. likewise, institutions can affect access to assets and influence capabilities. livelihood strategies these are strategies deployed by people or households in shock and stress to regain a sustainable way of life. households would be making use of assets at their disposal to earn a living. access to assets could be influenced by one’s capacity and capability in times of emergencies. capacity could be influenced by structures and processes which could be laws, rules by government or private entities, cultural values systems of the society in disaster. in figure 1, transforming structures and processes has influence on access to capital assets. in the context of covid-19, lockdown regulations had banned, restricted mobility and access to assets and the capability of women in informal and non –essential services (goz, 2020). so, transforming structures had influence on the demise of informal non-essential services. due to lockdown measures, copying with shocks would depends on the capacity and capability of individual, community and institution. the level of affection would be determined by the capacity of individual to copy with the stress. the highly affected households without supporting institutions such as social insurance systems would go the vulnerability pathway while those with collateral security and access to credit facilities would find themselves in the resilience pathway. livelihoods thinking has also contributed to our understanding of resilience. reaction to the disturbances by the disaster has either a resilience or a vulnerability pathway. in the context of the covid -19 pandemic, the pathway followed by entrepreneurial women in business determine whether their livelihoods are demised or remained mythical. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 4; 2020 6 figure 1. sustainable livelihoods approach (aid, 2012). materials and methods research design a case study was used to enable the research to “explore an issue or a setback case as a specific illustration” as advised by creswell & creswell (2013: 57). the use of a case study was considered ideal because of its capacity to address the ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions of the contemporary problems (gonye, 2016). the research design allowed the researchers to assess how the conditions characterising covid 19 induced lockdown affected the livelihoods of women in entrepreneurship. using a single district ensured an in-depth analysis to the phenomenon under study. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 4; 2020 7 sample masvingo city council register for the vendors, masvingo informal trader’s association, masvingo cross borders association were used to locate respondents for the study. respondents were purposively sampled, and snowball was used to identify respondents during the covid-19 induced lockdown. instrumentation interviews and focus group discussions and document analysis were used in gathering data. key informant interviews were done with the informal traders’ representative, cross borders association representative and the ministry of small and medium enterprises representative. the focus of the interviews with vendors was on how they were affected by the lockdown. a focus group discussion (fgd) was held with the ministry representative, vendor representative and the two associations’ representatives. focused group discussions were held with aforementioned key informants to ensure trustworthiness and credibility of the findings as the researchers compared the responses. interviews were chosen for the small sample of key informants and vendors and the two association representatives. the interviews allowed respondents to comment on women vulnerability, assets, and capabilities all key participants, vendors and the two associations targeted through these tools comprised participants who had ‘stories to tell’ (creswell & creswell, 2013:155) and who could “purposefully inform an understanding” (gonye, 2016:60) on the level of affection the lockdown has had on women livelihoods. data were thematically analyzed to assess how the conditions characterising the covid 19 induced lockdown affected the livelihoods of entrepreneurial women. participants were informed that the study was of a worthwhile scholarly purpose. they were assured of the freedom to withdraw even after signing the consent forms. it was due to the code of ethics that this was done, as a requirement to avoid infringing the rights of participants and for the avoidance of harm to participants. paralysation of entrepreneurial women’s livelihoods by covid19 induced lockdown the enforced 21-day and 14-day government induced lockdown characterised by quarantine, bans and restrictions on the movement of goods and people had significant socio-economic, repercussion on women livelihoods (chingarande, 2020:1). this implied that the lockdown had stopped the vending business as police enforced the lockdown provisions. the lockdown has put to an end the informal transport business (mushikashika). the lockdown has worsened the inflationary environment for women in business as their finances were also locked down. all this stressed the micro business community especially women enterprises. the above sentiments are demonstrated by the following verbal quotes: it is now 21 plus 14 days with my vehicle parked. my drivers have decided to go to their rural areas as they have no money for rentals. this has brought my business to an end. there is no hope for private transport business again in zimbabwe (cross border representatives) www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 4; 2020 8 covid-19 induced lockdown and livelihood assets human capital covid-19 induced lockdown has paralysed women who had the capacity to self-sustain themselves in business. focus group discussions revealed that lockdown had put to an end to physical interaction in business due to the ‘stay at home' mantra. the physical interaction used to allow women to use one single smart phone for their transaction. the stay at home mantra disrupted the low-cost approach to ‘eco cash transactions by women in business. women at chitima market in masvingo had no whatsapp and email infrastructure within their business networks. some had no skills to perform whatsapp and use emails in business transactions. the lockdown had a death blow to women capabilities. women living with disabilities engaged in vegetables business had no capacity to practice mobile marketing recommended by the level 2 lockdown regulations. this implied that informal business was for women with open trucks facilitating mobility. most of the chitima market entrepreneurs had no personal truck for mobile marketing, hence grounding their enterprises. use of online eco cash transactions by women in business made them to suffer transaction costs which carried up to 2% in charges. physical capital interviews confirmed that dreams of women in masvingo were shattered as 35 tonnes of tomatoes and 21 tonnes of avocados rotten in the fruit and vegetables market that was shut down during the lockdown. one key informant revealed that; ‘there are 35 tonnes of bananas, 21 tonnes of avocadoes and an unspecified quantity of tomatoes that have either been thrown away or are rotting because of the closure of the market’. the above sentiments are demonstrated by the following verbal quotes: these products were already ordered when the masvingo district covid-19 taskforce ordered the closure of the market. seven trucks of bananas and four trucks of avocados were already on the way when we got the order to shut down (vendor 1). farmers threw away their tomatoes while bananas and avocados started rotting at chitima and tanaiwa market at the rank, where they were stashed away with few hours of trading time per day. this caused congestion and created serious inefficiencies. vendors further incurred huge loss due to market decentralisation on the recommendation of the covid 19 task force, who recommended that farmers deliver produce to all suburbs of masvingo at designated places i.e. in rujeko, mucheke, majange, rhodene, west and victoria ranch (informal traders association representative). however, lack of transport to engage in mobile marketing of perishable goods resulted in rotten produce and collapsed of the business. women entrepreneurs who had no communication gadgets such as smartphones could not engage in online procurement. the closure of the market jeopardised fruits and vegetable farmers’ prospects. closure of roads to chitima also shut down all opportunities for women in fruit and vegetable marketing in masvingo. chitima was the main informal market where women could get produce for resale. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 4; 2020 9 financial capital key informant interviews revealed that the three days’ notice period before the lockdown left farmers with no option but to sale their perishable at give-away process. financial saving for the entreprenuers suffered as farmers started to rely on mega proceeds. it was risk for small enterprse development cooperative to give credit facility to women micro scale entrepreneurs, who were operating below capacity due to lockdown regulation. the shrinking financial capitals had significant implications for emergence resilience. in contemporary society, of all the capitals, financial capital is the most easily convertable to other forms of capital as in postdisaster, investment of financial capital would result in reconstruction of physical assets and other support services necessary. the social welfare fund to cushion women in entrepreneurship for three months was a far cry from reality as it could not address the entire array of needs by the vulnerable women. natural capital document analysis confirmed that fruits and vegetables had transformed urban livelihoods especially for unemployed women in masvingo. presence of perennial rivers, streams and a lake in and around masvingo has made chitima and tanaiwa market lucrative sources of livelihood. with high unemployment levels evidenced in masvingo, the closure of private commuters disturbed easy supply of fruit and fresh vegetables to the market. in a focus group discussion, the closure of the market made farms and plots inaccessible to middleman. in the context of a covid-19, natural capital represents basic necessities that support human life. delinking farms, plots and rivers and dams made fruits and vegetable dealers miserable. fishery business collapsed as fresh fish could not reach the market in time. the lockdown compelled those who alternatively engaged illegal peri-urban small-scale mining to return to their original rural home. most of them ended up selling their assets to raise bus fares. social capital revelations from a focus group discussion confirmed that closure of markets and movement restrictions disturbed business networks, trust and mutual understanding that bind the entrepreneurial members together. trust was compromised by the absence of physical contact. bonding as a form social capital was affected as the networks of women with similar demographic, social or ethics status as well as any among communities, individuals who already knew each other could not be realised due to the uncertainty and information asymmetry characterised by covid-19 induced lockdown. bridging social capital was ultimately disrupted as the dissimilarities in age, socio-economic condition, ethnicity, brought mistrust, uncertainty, risks as covid-19 restrictions worsened uncertainty and risks. reports of more deaths in developed nations heightened threats thereby adversely affecting recovery of women enterprises in masvingo. so, the decease of capital assets threatened the vulnerability context of women enterprises. covid-19 induced lockdown and capabilities access to assets is critical for sustainable livelihoods. women in business especially those in the medium enterprises, were affected by the suspension of airlines as they could not access international markets such as china and turkey, where they used to procure some wares for resale. lockdown and quarantine measures meant they would spend up to thirty-five days in between destinations. furthermore, the ban on movement of private transport for small www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 4; 2020 10 businesses meant that they could not possibly move anywhere. mobility restrictions resulted in a financial lockdown. the informal fruits and vegetable traders and inter-city mobility of informal traders were affected due to constrained mobility. the pandemic led to the closure of source and outlets markets thereby compromising relationship, reciprocity, integration and social networks of women in business. access to shared knowledge and skills with colleagues on business norms and values was limited. limited exchange of goods disturbed the financial flows especially the informal money market business. permits for business transactions amongst butcheries led to beef market lockdown. limited government transport and travel permits restricted women access to potential market for fruits and vegetable dealers, informal money market dealers and the sale of second hand clothes. restricted social capital constrained operations of women in market gardening and second hand clothing dealers. goods and services were in accessible to both small and medium enterprises. the ban of the physical capital (market centre) affected entrepreneurial women’s capacity to access social, financial, human, natural and physical resources for business. key informants revealed that transforming structures and processes entails government pronouncement on the extension on the lockdown and the enforcement of laws using existing institutions like the police which affects access to assets and influence their sustainable utilisation. cultural norms impede entrepreneurial women’s access to cross border trading in times of emergencies. short cults done by men through illegal and informal routes to south africa barred married women to follow that resilient pathway. only single and unmarried women could engage in such survival strategies. more women particularly the married ones seductively succumb to the vulnerability pathway which led to the demise of their livelihood’s alternatives. livelihood strategies are influenced by sustainable utilisation of assets in line with the policies, laws and institutions of the state. the restrictions, through the stay at home mantra led more to vulnerability than resilience pathway. the closure of markets, permits for mobility, corruption on the distribution of covid-19 relief cash transfer and subsidised mealie-meal worsened the shocks and stresses and collapse of entrepreneurship spirit among women in business. conclusion and recommendations the conditions characterising covid-19 prevention and mitigation was marred with enforced government 21 day and 14-day induced lockdown characterised by quarantine, bans and restrictions on the movement of goods and people. the vulnerability context of the entrepreneurial women is characterised by shocks, stress and incapacitation. covid-19 induced lockdown paralysed women’s physical, social, natural, human and financial capital thereby militating their self-sustenance in business. the closure of markets, permits for mobility, worsened the shocks and stresses associated with entrepreneurial women. the capacity and capability of entrepreneurial women were compromised by cultural traditions and restrictions. the stay at home mantra, closure of market led to the collapse of entrepreneurship spirit among women in business. this has led to persistent food insecurity, malnutrition and restlessness. we therefore conclude that the impact of covid-19 has not only compromised nations’ food security and health systems, but most importantly paralysed entrepreneurial women’s livelihoods, yet women in the african context, musha mukadzi – without a mother there is no home. local women support institutions acting as insurances must be established to carter for entrepreneurial women in business for a resilience pathway to be realised. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 4; 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(2020). empowering women, small businesses through gender equality, herald 15 april 2020, harare, 16. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0971521516656080 american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 2; 2020 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 1 examining the use of vocabulary learning strategies among efl learners in baghlan university of afghanistan hamza atifnigar english language department laghman university, afghanistan e-mail: hamza.honaryar@gmail.com zia ur rahman zaheer english language and literature department baghlan university, afghanistan e-mail: zzia8927@gmail.com wahidullah alokozay english language department paktia university, afghanistan e-mail:wahidullahalokozay123@gmail.com abstract vocabulary learning is one of the problems in language learning skills. tackling such problems is to provide useful and effective strategies for enhancing students’ vlss. therefore, this study aims to survey vocabulary learning strategies (vlss) utilized among english as a foreign language learners (efl) in baghlan university of afghanistan, and to study the high and least frequently used vlss that contributes to the learners’ vocabulary knowledge. this study utilizes a descriptive quantitative research method with 67 efl learners who participated in the survey questionnaire adopted from oxford (1990) taxonomy of vls from different faculties of baghlan university. the findings indicated that efl learners preferably utilize vlss at a medium level, and the highly used vocabulary learning strategies are the social strategies through which they ask the native speakers, teachers, and classmates for the meanings of new words in english language conversation. determination, cognitive, and memory strategies are respectively followed by the learners. whereas, metacognitive strategies are the least used strategies among efl learners, the reason is that they only focus on the materials related to examination; explore anything about the new words for learning, and rarely think of their improvement in vocabulary learning. keywords: vocabulary learning strategies, social strategies, metacognitive strategies, efl learners. 1. introduction this study is intended at investigating the highly preferred, and the least frequently utilized vocabulary learning strategies among efl learners in baghlan university of afghanistan. fortunately, there are equal educational opportunities from family and equal learning environment for both male and female university students of afghanistan particularly while learning any foreign language (stanikzai, 2020). and english language has become one of the leading languages in world. the english language is also prominent as a foreign language in afghanistan and the priority is given to those have strong authority of over their spoken and written language. in addition, to be mastered in english language skills, every student has to strive to enrich their vocabulary. as a sub-category of vocabulary has been staged a less significant element while acquiring l2 or foreign language for the last many years (carter, 2011). vocabulary a word described as a sound or a group of sounds or its representation in writing or printing that symbolizes and communicates meaning. for enriching vocabulary, it is essential to acquire its register, correlation, collocation, grammatical features, written and spoken forms, and frequency. these features are called word knowledge (schmitt, 2000: 5). during the past decade, vocabulary importance became apparent, mainly when laufer and nation (1999), maximo (2000), read (2000), gu (2003), marion (2008) and nation (2001) and others have found that vocabulary learning is essential for successful second or foreign language usage and plays an mailto:hamza.honaryar@gmail.com mailto:zzia8927@gmail.com www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 2; 2020 2 essential role in the formation of complete spoken as well as written texts. according to nation (2001), vocabulary learning plays a vital role in learning l2 as a foreign language the taxonomy of the current study is based on oxford (1990) where the llss are classified into direct strategies such as memory, cognitive, and compensation and indirect strategies for instance, metacognitive, affective, and social strategies. schmitt extracted vlss from oxford’s taxonomy of lls and further categorized them into social strategies that involve collaboration with others, cognitive strategies referring to language use, or change. metacognitive strategies control the acquiring process and memory strategies entailing the correlation of new words with the first learned words. vlss are the following discussed below. there are four options in determination strategies that promote understanding of vocabulary knowledge, for example, to guess from a first or second language related, to guess from context, to use reference materials, to ask someone else. the mentioned options enable. the mentioned options enable students to know the new parts of speech (oxford, 2003). furthermore, determination strategies include some techniques which help learners to improve their vocabulary, namely, using a dictionary, guessing from context, analyzing word parts, and constituent elements. a social strategy is a form of social behavior that includes communication, and communication occurs between and among people. social strategies help learners to enhance their vocabulary learning, for instance, asking the teacher about the meaning of the unknown word. such a technique is used among some students because they believe more on their instructors more than their mates, and this is a kind of communication which motivate, encourage, and make learners active (oxford, 1990). memory strategies include repetition, memorizing, and retrieving. students use linking words, use vocabulary knowledge, word lists, and imitating. in the memory strategy, learners use images to remember the meaning of new words (o'malley and chamot, 1990: 50). in other words, memory strategies are a set of techniques that are designed to help students to remember, store, and retrieve acquired information. according to oxford, 1990), cognitive strategies include guessing strategies, skillful use of dictionaries, and note-taking strategies. the subcategories of the practice of strategies are repetition, recognizing patterns, and recombining. furthermore, milton (2011), mentioned that cognitive strategies cover repetition, taking notes, using flashcards, and keeping vocabulary notebooks to help learners to improve their vocabulary. repetition helps learners keep the thing in their short term memory, and use repetition to remember something that is not written down. metacognitive strategies are also among vocabulary learning strategies. according to oxford (1990), metacognitive means beyond, besides, or with cognitive. therefore, metacognitive strategies are such actions which are beyond cognitive and provide ways for learners in coordinating their learning process. chamot (1990), added that metacognitive strategies also embrace monitoring, decision-making, and assessment. monitoring is being aware of what one is doing or bringing one's mental process under conscious scrutiny and thus more effective under control. at the same time, decision making entails deciding which word is worth studying and which words are not as well as preserving with the terms learners choose to learn (schmitt, 2000). thus, this study aimed to examine, preferably, the most and least used strategies among efl learners baghlan university of afghanistan. notably, the purpose is the answer to the following questions:  what is the vocabulary learning strategies used among (efl) learners in baghlan university of afghanistan?  what are the preferred/frequently vocabulary learning strategies used among (efl) learners in baghlan university of afghanistan?  what is the least used vocabulary learning strategies used among (efl) learners in baghlan university of afghanistan? 1.1 empirical studies on vlss a study carried out by mutalib, kadir, robani, and majid (2014) on malaysian tevt students in germanmalaysian institute (gmi), they found that most of the students considered vocabulary learning essential. however, they did engage practically engaged themselves in empowering their vocabulary strategies. alharti in 2014 steered an investigation on efl learners to explore the role of vlss in learners’ word erosions, and he resulted in the decisive role of vlss among the participants. he also found that the utility of repetition learning, for example, repeating an english element with its arabic translation, preceded to grinding their receptive knowledge down. in contrast, notetaking strategies entailing writing english elements with its synonym and definition exposed as a positive indicator of students’ focus in their reception and productive vocabulary knowledge. in addition, a survey on vlss as a case study on iranian efl university learners in by amirian & heshmatifar (2013), the resulted indicate that the most frequently used strategies are determination, cognitive, memory and metacognitive and social strategies respectively. cengizhan (2011) conducted a case study research on www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 2; 2020 3 edirne anotolian high school students in turkey, it is resulted that metacognitive cognitive strategies was highly utilized one and cognitive strategies was the least frequent vlss. male student preferred metacognitive excessively, and female students preferred the determination strategies remarkably. according to kaya and congo (2014) who conducted a study on congolese english language learner, the findings revealed that the students favored three types of strategies namely, contextual guessing , dictionary (determination) use and pronunciation strategies in number. a study conducted by baskin, iscan, karagoz, and birol (2017) on students in gaziosmanpasa university. it was discovered that the highly utilized vlss was the determination strategies, the reason for this is that the learners are at a1 level in which they just began learning the language that’s they use determination strategies. in line with this, celik and toptas (2010) revealed in their study that degree of vlss was favored by the respondents and the highly and least used strategies were the determination and cognitive strategies respectively. furthermore, pookcharoen (2017) investigate that determination strategies including guessing from textual context, monolingual dictionary, and parts of speech analyzation the top five strategy used among the students. according to omaar (2016) who conducted a research among efl learner sin tuareg student in libaya, he discovered that student were using a vast range of vlss to associate the meaning of english vocabulary. furthermore, efl learners mostly and preferably used determination and social strategies when pursuing english language learning. maghsoudi, and golshan, (2017) indicated in their meta-analysis of efl learners’ vls in iran. they found that the most often used vlss was the metacognitive and the least often one was social strategy. a study conducted by bernardo, gonzales, and philippine (2009) on filipino college on five disciplines, students mostly used determination and social vlss when learning english language. memory strategy entails correlation of grasped words in some proudly acquired knowledge, some form of imagery, or making group (huong, 2018). yazdi and kafipour (2014) carried out to investigate the real utility of vlss among iranian efl learner. it was revealed that the frequently used vlss was the memory strategies, and the least was the cognitive strategies among the participants with a high direct preference, simple strategies requiring the leas mental struggles. furthermore, nematollahi, behjat,and kargar (2017) established a meta-analysis of 30 research papers on the usefulness of vlss for efl learners was used in which the cognitive strategy was ranked in second level by the respondents. çelik & toptas, (2010), in their research, indicated that the cognitive strategies were the least frequently used strategy by the learners. safian, n. h., malakar, s., & kalajahi, s. a. r. (2014) resulted in their research that the most utilized vlss was the metacognitive strategies by the tesl undergraduate students at universiti putra malaysia. they further discussed, this might be because university learner can be well in planning, monitoring their learning process, and might greater reader. nacera, a. algeria (2010) indicated that the most utilized vlss was the metacognitive strategies, in which students usually uses higher vocabulary size for instance, using english in various ways and summarizing. 2. research methodology this research is based on descriptive quantitative research design to explore the most and least frequent used vocabulary learning strategy among efl learners in baghlan university of afghanistan. 67 efl learners were conveniently sampled from various faculties in baghlan university of afghanistan. the questionnaire was distributed among 67 respondents via google form which was based on oxford (1990) taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies with .82 cronbach alpha which is considered as a high reliability. the questionnaire comprises 28-item with a 5-type scale, ranging from 5 always, 4 often, 3 sometimes, 2 rarely, and 1 never. in addition, the level of frequency is considered high if the mean score is above 3.5 and is considered low if the mean score is below 2.4 while the score ranging between the two means is seen as at medium level (schmitt, 1997; oxford, 1990). the collected data is descriptively analyzed using social sciences package software (spss) and data is interpreted and described through tables, mean, standard deviation, and percentage. 3. findings/ discussion this study aims at exploring the highly and least frequently utilized vlss among efl learners at baghlan university of afghanistan. the data gathered from questionnaire about the demographic information of the current study. based on table 1 most of the participants are male 89 (88.1%) and 8 of them are female equal to (11.9%) and table 1 indicates that most of the respondents are aging from 16-24 (62%), followed by 25-30 (22%), while 22 (12%) of them are above 30 years old. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 2; 2020 4 table 1. gender and age 3.1 vocabulary learning strategy by the participants according to oxford (1990), vlss are sub-classified into five main categories: social, determination, cognitive, memory, and metacognitive strategies. vocabulary learning strategies have gained popularity among many researchers who have attempted to define and classify vlss which are specific thoughts and behaviors that students utilize them to understand, learn or grab information (o’malley & chamot (1990), p. 1; oxford (1990, p. 11). table 2. vocabulary learning strategies as it can be seen in the table above that the overall used vocabulary learning strategies among efl learners in baghlan university is depicted as medium level. the highly preferred vlss is the social strategy among the learners with a highest mean 3.36 (67.2%), followed by determination strategies with a mean 2.89 (57.8%). in line with this finding, bernardo and gonzales (2009) revealed that learners displayed a significant variation in their process of acquiring english vocabulary across all disciplines. it emerged that philippine learners demonstrate an overall preference for determination and social vlss. whereas, the least used vocabulary learning strategies is the metacognitive with a mean 2.58 (51.6%), which resembles a research conducted by kaya (2014), he resulted that the least frequent used strategies by congolese learners as the meta-cognitive strategies. besides, the turkish used the determination strategies most frequently and the cognitive strategies were the least frequently employed strategies by them (çelik & toptas, 2010). their findings regarding the least employed strategy are consistent with cengizhan’s (2011) research; he also found the cognitive strategies to be the least frequently used in the turkish context 3.2 social strategies social strategies are the set of approaches are used to enable learners as active participants in class through interaction with others and sharing of knowledge they have. table 3 describes the utilization of social strategies used by the respondents when vocabulary learning. table 3. social strategies statement n mean std. deviation category i ask a native speaker for the meaning of a new word 67 3.91 1.20 high i ask my classmate for the meaning of 67 3.14 1.11 medium category frequency percent male 59 88.1 female 8 11.9 total 67 100.0 age 16-24 15 62.4 25-30 30 22.8 above 31 22 12.8 total 67 100.0 strategies n mean frequency category social strategy 67 3.36 67.2% medium determination strategy 67 2.89 57.8% medium cognitive strategy 67 2.82 56.4% medium memory strategy 67 2.60 52.0% medium metacognitive strategy 67 2.58 51.6% medium www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 2; 2020 5 a new word. i ask my teacher for the meaning of a new word. 67 3.04 1.22 medium the above table shows that the statement “i ask a native speaker for the meaning of a new word.” is the most highly used social strategy among the efl learners with a mean of 3.91 and standard deviation 1.20, while the respondents ask their classmates for the meaning of a new word with a mean of 3.14 and standard deviation 1.11. the statement “i ask my teacher for the meaning of a new word.” is the least used social strategy among the efl learners in baghlan university of afghanistan. in fact, afghanistan is a traditional country and people tend to be communicative with their relatives, peers, classmates and teachers that’s why they prefer to use social strategies in excessive range. in line with this, a study by omaar, (2016) found that the participants used a wide range of vocabulary learning strategies to consolidate the meanings of english vocabulary, however, determination and social strategies were among the most preferred ones. moreover, in the findings of baskin, iscan, karagoz, & birol, (2017) indicated that students know much about some new words when working in group. 3.3 determination strategies determination strategies provide to get knowledge of a new term from in four stages; 1. guessing from an l1/fl cognate. 2. guessing from context, next, to use reference materials, finally, asking someone else. learners are enabled to understand the parts of speech of the word, which help process of guessing (oxford, 2003). the table 4 indicates the usage of determination strategies by the respondents. table 4. determination strategies statement n mean std. deviation category i look in the dictionary for collocation patterns. 67 3.44 1.13 medium i look in the dictionary for grammatical patterns of the word. 67 3.29 1.08 medium i use the dictionary to find the appropriate usage (example sentence) of the word. 67 3.17 1.02 medium i use the dictionary to find out the pronunciation of the word 67 3.05 1.01 medium i analyze the word structure (prefix, root and suffix) when guessing the meaning of the word. 67 3.02 1.04 medium i look at the part of speech of the new word (to guess the meaning of the new word). 67 2.91 1.05 medium i use a bilingual dictionary. 67 2.91 .99 medium i guess the meaning and then look at the dictionary (when i meet new words in reading). 67 2.43 .98 medium i use the dictionary to find only the meaning of the word. 67 2.38 .73 low i use an english dictionary. 67 2.29 .85 low www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 2; 2020 6 for determination strategies, the most of the students look in the dictionary for collocation patterns with a mean of 3.44 and 1.13 standard deviation, and look in the dictionary for grammatical patterns of terms with i look in the dictionary for grammatical patterns of the word is the secondly used determination strategy among the students. furthermore, they utilize a dictionary with a low mean of 2.29 and 0.85 standard deviations? also, learners use the dictionary to find out the pronunciation of the word with a medium mean of 3.05 and 1.01 standard deviations. in comparison, they use a bilingual dictionary with a mean of 2.91 and 0.99 standard deviations. some students look at the part of speech of the new word (to guess the meaning of the original term) with a mean of 2.91 and 1.05 standard deviation, and they use a dictionary to find the appropriate usage (example sentence) of the word with a mean 3.17 and 1.04 standard deviation. likewise, a study carried out by nematollahi, behjat, and kargar (2017), the result of their study showed that the determination strategy is the most favored and used strategy. according to the survey results of baskin, iscan, karagoz, and birol (2017), most of the learners highly used determination strategies at the beginning of their studies. there are specific activities, namely guessing the meaning of words from a textual context, using the bilingual or monolingual dictionary, listing words, the utility of vocabulary cards, analyzing the suffixes or words, and roots. the use of a bilingual dictionary was at the front level, and at this stage, students act nervously and study autonomously. amirian, and heshmatifar (2013) revealed that guessing from context and using a dictionary were the most commonly used strategies. 3.4 cognitive strategies students use cognitive strategies to learn repetition, organization of new language, summarizing meaning, guessing meaning from context, using imagery for memorization in a successful manner. the following table discloses the usage of cognitive strategies: table 5. cognitive strategies the table reveals that among the cognitive strategies the statement “i skip words that i don't understand.” has the highest usage among the respondents with a mean 3.32 and 1.09 standard deviation followed by the statement “i have a vocabulary note book to list down new words.” with a mean 3.05 and 1.28 standard deviation while the respondent use their experience and common sense to guess the meaning of the word with a low mean of 2.32 and 0.82 standard deviation. similarly, , the respondents revealed they take note of the synonym or antonym of the word with a mean of 3.04 and 1.03 standard deviation while the statement “i use alternative clues and try again if i fail to guess the meaning of a word.” with a mean of 2.82 and 0.95 standard deviation, followed by the statement “i write down the english word and (pashto /dari) translation of the word.’ with the same mean 2.82 and 1.15 standard deviation with a little difference. according to fatima and pathan, (2016), that statement n mean std. deviation category i skip words that i don't understand 67 3.32 1.09 medium i have a vocabulary note book to list down new words. 67 3.05 1.28 medium i take note of the synonym or antonym of the word. 67 3.04 1.03 medium to remember a word, i analyze the word by breaking it into different parts (prefix, root, suffix). 67 2.89 1.08 medium i use alternative clues and try again if i fail to guess the meaning of a word. 67 2.82 .95 medium i write down the english word and (pashto /dari) translation of the word. 67 2.82 1.15 medium i only take note of the meaning of the word. 67 2.71 1.17 medium i make use of my knowledge of the topic to guess the meaning of word 67 2.37 .88 low i use my experience and common sense to guess the meaning of the word. 67 2.32 .82 low www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 2; 2020 7 the most influential source of learning vocabulary are the cognitive regulations and activation strategies. furthermore, this study was conducted among 180 undergraduate learners who answered 45 items close-ended items on four broad vocabulary learning strategies. similarly, arjomand and sharififar (2011) made effort to explore the relationship between vocabulary learning strategies and gender among iranian efl learners. they concluded that cognitive strategy was the most commonly used strategy, while social strategy was the least frequently used one. however, safi, and kumar (2019) asserted that human as a social animal always required social support. they need love satisfaction, sympathy and pleasure furthermore, fan (2003) also studied 1067 college students in hong kong and recognized that they did not make use of key word technique and management strategy while they utilized dictionary and contextual guessing strategies. 3.5 memory strategies the best way to for students where they can practice their vocabulary knowledge is to utilize the memory strategies. the learners need to be trained on how to use and apply the mentioned strategies in the process of learning. memory strategies are set of techniques that are designed to help students to remember, store and retrieve acquired information. the following table indicates the usage of memory strategies among the respondents. table 6. memory strategies the above table reveals that most use cognitive strategies. they skip words that they do not understand with a high mean of mean 3.32 and 1.09 standard deviation, followed by the statement that they have a notebook of vocabulary to list down new words with a mean of 3.05 and 1.28 standard deviation. whereas, students use their experience and common sense to guess the meaning of the word with a low mean of 2.32 and 0.82 standard deviations. similarly, they take notes of synonyms and antonyms of the terms with a mean of 3.04 and 1.03 standard deviations. at the same time, they use alternative clues and repeatedly to understand the meaning of words with a mean of 2.82 and 0.95 standard deviations. moreover, students write down english words with pashto/dari translation of the words with mean 2.82 and 1.15 standard deviations with a little difference. according to fatima and pathan, (2016) that the most influential source of learning vocabulary are the cognitive regulations and activation strategies. furthermore, this study was conducted among 180 undergraduate learners who answered 45 items of close-ended items on four broad vocabulary learning strategies. similarly, these findings resemble the results of research conducted by arjomand and sharififar (2011), they concluded that student’s highly used cognitive and social policies, respectively. furthermore, a study carried out on 1067 college students in hong kong by fan in (2003) found that the students did not use keywords techniques and management strategy; instead, they used dictionary and contextual guessing strategies. 3.6 metacognitive strategies the best way to for students where they can practice their vocabulary knowledge is to utilize memory strategies. the learners need training on the utility to apply the mentioned strategies in the process of learning. memory strategies are a group of techniques that help learners to retain, store, and recover acquired information. the following table indicates the usage of memory strategies among the respondents. statement n mean std. deviation category to remember a word, i repeat it aloud to myself. 67 2.77 1.26 medium to remember a word, i write it repeatedly. 67 2.61 1.02 medium i create a mental image of the new word to help me to remember the word 67 2.43 .94 medium www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 2; 2020 8 table 7. metacognitive strategies the table above indicates that students use metacognitive strategies least frequently in this study. students only focus on things that are related to their examinations with a mean of 3.22 plus 1.32 standard deviations. they rarely think about their progress in vocabulary learning with a mean 2.23 and 0. 88 standard deviations. in support of this, vo & jaturapitakkul (2016) resulted that students used metacognitive strategies with the least frequency when learning english as a foreign language. rabadi (2016), al-khasawneh (2012), and doczi (2011) reported that metacognitive strategies were the least frequently used among five strategy categories. metacognitive strategies may see less use because learners have limited exposure to the target language outside class, so they might not learn it consciously. another reason for the relative neglect of this strategy is that students tend to rely too much on their instructor in class since they might trust the instructor as a native speaker and as the only person with whom they can often interact in the target language (vo & jaturapitakkul2016). 4. conclusion this study was aimed to examine the vlss among efl learners in baghlan university of afghanistan. based on the major findings of this study efl learners are acquiring vocabulary learning strategies moderately in in baghlan university. initially, the highly used vlss were the social strategies in which learners strive to ask native speakers, teachers, and classmates for the meanings of new words in english language conversation. furthermore, determination strategies were used at the second level among students, in which they use dictionaries to find out the meanings of collocation patterns, followed by cognitive, and memory strategies. whereas the metacognitive strategy was the least frequently used strategy among efl learners in baghlan university, this is due to their focus on the materials related to examination; explore anything about the new words for learning, and rarely think of their improvement in vocabulary learning. this study also provides a piece of extensive information and awareness to curriculum designers, policymakers, and particularly to the instructors to take positive steps in revising their methodologies of teaching in enhancing students’ vocabulary learning strategies. 5. limitation of the research this study was based on the quantitative descriptive design through using questionnaire. but, future studies can conduct both qualitative i.e. to collect in-depth data from the respondents about each category of vocabulary learning strategies which are excessively or moderately used among the learners. 6. suggestion vocabulary learning strategies is an interesting area of study, both in theory as well as practice. many scholars proposed many strategies for enriching learners’ vocabulary sub skill and should be keenly taught through using fruitful and efficient methodologies. this study was a small scale research bounded to very limited numbers of participants, and context. the future research cans broad the horizon of their research context to more number of universities and students whether it is school levels or university level. references al-khasawneh, f. m. 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(2014). a qualitative study of vocabulary learning strategies applied by iranian undergraduate efl learners in real learning setting. english language teaching, 7(7), 1-7. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 18 social studies teachers’ readiness to teach the security education theme in the reviewed edition of nigeria’s basic education curriculum moshood babatunde lawal phd adeniran ogunsanya college of education, nigeria e-mail: teemlawal@gmail.com abstract this study analysed social studies teachers’ readiness to teach security education. 720 practicing social studies teachers drawn from 72 junior secondary schools in the south western nigeria were administered with a structured questionnaire. the data collected were analysed using simple non-parametric statistics. findings showed that the teachers have a significantly low knowledge and awareness of the components of the theme-security education. however, the teachers’ readiness to acquire additional useful knowledge and skills required for handling security education alongside their area of specialisation (social studies) was found to be significantly high. the teachers perceived the inclusion of security education in the reviewed curriculum as a development that will create a significantly higher workload for them. nevertheless, their response showed a relatively high degree of negative disposition towards the handling of the newly introduced security education theme in national values class based on these findings necessary recommendations focusing on the need for training and organizing workshops for curriculum implementers were suggested. keywords: social studies, security education, basic education curriculum, civic education, national values, practicing teachers' readiness, nigeria. 1. background to the study the nigeria educational system has continued to witness conscious and concrete efforts aimed at improving the contents of what is delivered as curriculum at levels, right from the 1969 curriculum review conference till a recent effort which has now reduced the number of subjects that can be offered at the basic education level. one of the major outcomes of this recent curriculum review is the introduction of religion and national values (rnv) that has reduced the hitherto standalone subjects like social studies, civic education to themes, with an addition of a new theme called security education. even though this latest review has been shrouded in a lot of controversies, particularly on the feasibility of expecting only one teacher to handle three themes, there is still the need to raise a major implementation constrain. this is concerned with how prepared were the social studies teachers who are now charged with the handling of the themesecurity education, alongside their social studies and civic education during their training. coupled with this is the erroneous assumption by the curriculum designer/development agency that any teacher trained in social studies should be competent enough to teach the newly introduced theme-security education. 2. nigeria’s basic education curriculum the nigerian educational research and development council (nerdc) as part of its statutory responsibilities restructured the then existing primary and junior secondary school curricula into a 9-year basic education curriculum (bec) in line with the ube. the bec which became operational in 2008 beginning from year 1 of primary school and year 1 of junior secondary school was therefore developed to facilitate the implementation of the ube. by this arrangement, the old primary and junior secondary school curricula were to be systematically phased out in two cycles; primary school in 2014 and junior secondary school in 2011. however, this reviewed curriculum was not allowed to complete its implementation cycle before another call for review was initiated, and the exercise culminated in a revised 9-year basic education curriculum. the new one now comprises ten (10) subjects instead of the old one that had twenty (20) subjects that are being studied at the www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 19 basic education level. according to nerdc (2012), this development allowed for relevant subjects to be grouped, and social studies were grouped alongside civic education, and a new onesecurity education, under a new name called “national values”. the new curriculum arrangement came in place to address the issue of topic, content and subject overload as well as repetitions within the subjects without any reduction in the depth, appropriateness, and interconnectedness of the curricula as part the education sector’s role in the facilitation of the realisation of the achievement of the core objectives of national economic empowerment and development strategies (needs), education for all (efa) and the millennium development goals (mdgs). it also came in response to the everchanging needs, challenges and aspirations of the nigerian society. the social studies teacher is expected to teach three themes (social studies, civic education and security education) in his or her class, but the question is how the training institution has and the corresponding teacher education curriculum prepared him or her for this new role? this is the major focus of this paper. it is therefore pertinent at this juncture to raise a major statement of problem which is how competent are the practising social studies teachers in the handling of the security education theme while teaching the subject national values? 3. research questions the following research questions were therefore addressed in the study:  do practising junior secondary social studies teachers have a significantly high knowledge and awareness of the demands of security education as a theme in national values?  has the preparation of practising social studies teachers significantly prepared them for effective handling of the content areas of the security education theme in national values?  are practising junior secondary social studies teachers significantly competent to teach the topics suggested under the themesecurity education in a national values class?  do the practising junior secondary social studies teachers perceive the inclusion of security education theme in the new basic education curriculum as an intervention demanding more workload from them?  do practising junior secondary social studies teachers possess a significantly high positive attitude towards the inclusion of security education theme in the new basic education curriculum? 4. hypotheses ho1: practising junior secondary social studies teachers do not have a significantly high knowledge and awareness of the demands of security education as a theme in national values. ho2: the practising junior secondary social studies teachers have not been significantly prepared for effective handling of the content areas of the security education theme in national values. ho3: practising junior secondary social studies teachers are not significantly competent to teach each of the topics suggested under the theme security education in a national values class. ho4: the practising junior secondary social studies teachers do not perceive the inclusion of security education theme in the new basic education curriculum as an intervention significantly demanding more workload from them. ho5: the practising junior secondary social studies teachers do not have a significantly high positive attitude towards the inclusion of security education theme in the new basic education curriculum. 5. concept of security education security education in a democracy is education aimed at building resilience. it is the ability of children, communities and systems to anticipate, prevent, withstand, adapt to and recover from stresses and shocks advancing the rights of every child, especially the most disadvantaged. it is an education about what it takes to be in the state of being or feeling secure; freedom from fear, anxiety, danger, doubt, and state or sense of safety or certainty the concept is known to have been interchangeably used with “security awareness” and “security consciousness”. in a simple form, fabinu, ogunleye & salau (2016) described security education as that type of education designed to promote the level of security consciousness among the citizenry of a particular country for them to be able to protect their immediate environment, nation and the world at large. furthermore, they see it as one education that helps to enrich people’s knowledge against any form of threatening actions to lives and properties, be it at home, in school, in place of work, or in the country. trends institution.org (2018) while quoting buzan (1991) remarks that security is taken to be about the pursuit of freedom from threat and the ability of states and societies to maintain their independent identity, and their functional integrity against forces of change, which they see as hostile. the bottom line of security is survival, but it also reasonably includes a substantial range of concerns about the conditions of existence.” www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 20 an effective security education therefore brings communities together, gives children and communities aspirations for a better life creating communities that are more resilient for overcoming conflict. 6. security education and teachers receptivity to curriculum change in an attempt to introduce any curriculum change the implementation are known to be wary of the demands of such change. hence, they tend to exhibit some signs of receptivity. the case of the security education theme in the new national values curriculum is not likely to be an exemption. although extant literature on security education is relatively sparse, there are cases in other subjects that can be cited to confirm this teacher receptivity to curriculum change. for instance, lee (2010), while examining teacher receptivity to curriculum change in implementation guidelines for environmental education in hong kong, reported that variables such as perceived non-monetary cost-benefit of the implementation guidelines, perceived practicality, perceived school and other support and other. issues of concern were predictors for teacher behavioural intentions towards active involvement and promotion of the curriculum ‘change. 7. rationale for the introduction of security education in the new basic education curriculum there is an undeniable increasing prevalence of emergency situations in the nigerian schools in particular and the larger society in general. typical recent example is the kidnapping of over hundred (100) secondary school students from dapchi; a community in yobe state, north eastern nigeria. the increasing severity of this pathetic security situation makes the introduction of security education in the curriculum very germane. the necessity of introducing security education in the nigerian primary and secondary schools has therefore become very germane because of the rapid increase in crime rate and security breaches, and continued increase in security threats as reflected in the increasing incidences of insecurity across the different geo-political zones of nigeria. this is in terms of militia insurgency resulting in uncontrolled loss of lives, high rate of kidnapping, armed robbery, incessant cult clashes and killings etc. children and youth need security and safety tips. they need someone to turn to, someone who has the experience and training to handle a potentially dangerous situation and who can properly guide them towards living a safer and more secured life as they operate within and outside the school. with the right combination of determination, strength, training, and a desire to do what’s right, it is possible for such individuals to promote better school safety and security in the community. the challenge however, is the capability of a trained social studies teacher to muster enough knowledge and skill to achieve this. 8. essential components of security education in the revised basic education curriculum this curriculum is organized using the thematic approach around which the topics and contents are built. it is also spiral in nature with each learning experience at one level built upon at another, with increasing levels of difficulty and depth. the sub-themes and corresponding topics for primary 1-6 are: level sub-theme corresponding topics units primary 1 elements of security concept of security meaning of security of life and property. some sources of danger and insecurity primary 2 sources of danger and insecurity sources of insecurity in our community how to keep away from dangers identification of security agencies and their primary duties examples of security agencies in nigeria duties of some security agencies in our community primary 3 identification of security agencies and their primary duties security agencies and duties. identification of which security agency to report to when in danger elements of criminal some examples of criminal www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 21 behaviour behaviours ways to avoid criminal behaviours primary 4 personal/neigbourhood security: duties and responsibilities introduction to neigbourhood security meaning of neigbourhood watch ways of reporting movements that we don’t trust dangers of not reporting suspicious movement and people in our community important phone numbers in our community and their uses different emergency phone numbers and their uses. some emergency situations that may need emergency phone calls primary 5 personal/neigbourhood security: duties and responsibilities introduction to personal security meaning of personal security actions and behaviours that can make us to be personally secured duties and responsibilities for personal security duties and responsibilities of a child for personal security primary 6 personal/neigbourhood security: duties and responsibilities personal security management meaning of personal security management punishment for various crimes how to act appropriately when in danger the sub-themes and corresponding topics for junior secondary 1 -3 are contained in table 2. js 1themecommon crimes and security management i, js 2 themecommon crimes and security management ii js 3 themecommon crimes and security management iii topics topic topics common crimes, causes and effects emergency management common crimes and associated punishments cooperation with security agents, school and neighbourhood authorities in crime prevention observing and reporting common crimes crimes and national security this curriculum stresses learner-centered approaches. the learner-centered approach involves the consideration of the learners’ conditions, including how to develop in them the interest to pursue security education as contained in our curriculum. it treats the learners as people who have the capacity to think and behave rightly through a learning process in which they active players. the teaching methodology of the security education theme in the curriculum is dynamic and promotes interaction. hence, the teaching –learning experiences do not support forcing some values on the learners. rather it encourages a kind of teaching that touches on the learners’ daily life. the methodology therefore involves active learning/participative strategies, experiential learning, partnerships in learning with learners’ participation, dialogue, self-expression, storytelling and response to stories, project work focused on identifying questions and researching answers. it also encourages exchange with children from other cultures using their own medium, creative teaching and learning. another special feature of the security education curriculum is in the values and attitudes which need to be addressed through the curriculum and the whole school. through effective teaching of the theme, learners are www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 22 expected to become more alert, patriotic, sensitive to strange objects and people and be more security conscious in and around their environment. 9. methods the study employed quantitative approach in obtaining data required. this was done through the use of a five – part questionnaire. a total of seven hundred and twenty (720) practicing social studies teachers drawn from seventy two (72) junior secondary schools in the south western nigeria were used as sample for this study using the cluster and stratified random sampling techniques. one hundred and twenty (120) social studies teachers were randomly selected from ten schools in each of the six (6) south west states (lagos, oyo, ogun, osun, ondo and ekiti state). a five-part questionnaire was designed with a five point likert scale of strongly disagreed, disagreed, not sure, strongly agreed and agreed for collecting data for the study. section a of the questionnaire demanded demographic information about the respondents. section b dealt with teachers’ level of awareness and knowledge of the demands of security education as a theme in national values; part c focused on the relationship between the level of preparation of practising social studies teachers during training and effective handling of the content areas of the security education theme; part d dealt with teachers’ level of competency to teach the topics suggested under the themesecurity education in a national values class and part e dealt with level of teachers’ perception of the inclusion of security education theme in the new basic education curriculum as an intervention demanding more workload from them. the questionnaire was given to experts in instrument design to examine its face and content validity. in the process, some items were modified, some removed, while few others were added. to determine the reliability of the questionnaire it was administered on sixty (60) social studies teachers’ from 20 schools used for the pilot study. a split half method was used. thereafter, cronbach’s alpha was conducted and the coefficient was found to be 0.76. research assistants were deployed to the sampled schools in each of the six states used for this study in the south western nigeria. they explained the content of the questionnaire and necessary clarifications were also made to the respondents. the questionnaires were physically administered and collected by the research assistants on the spot to enable them have high rate of return and reduce the incidence of loss or damage of the instrument as they had earlier been informed of the intended visits. 10. results data collected were collated and subjected to analysis in order to determine the mean scores obtainable for each of the tested hypotheses. the mean response was used to analyze data collected in order to determine the degree of agreement and disagreement with each of the scaling statements in the questionnaire. nominal values were assigned to the items as follows: from 5 through 4, 3, 2 and 1 for “strongly agree” (sa), “agree” (a), “undecided” (ud), “disagree” (d) and “strongly disagree” (sd), to determine the partitioning value of items, the maximum of each of the nominal values was divided by n. for purposes of data interpretation, mean values of 3.00 and above were considered for agreement; mean values below 3.00 were taken to mean disagreement with respect to items on the attitudes and practices of the respondents. a standard deviation greater than 1.00 was taken to indicate high variability among respondents. h01: practicing junior secondary social studies teachers do not have a significantly high knowledge and awareness of the demands of security education analysis of the data for hypothesis one is presented in table 1. the mean score ranged from 2.59 to 3.37. the overall mean score is 3.25 with sd 1.17 which is slightly above the middle limit of 3.00. based on the mean scores, it can be inferred that practicing junior secondary social studies teachers do not have a significantly high knowledge and awareness of the demands of security education. table 1. junior secondary social studies teachers awareness and knowledge of the demands of security education s/n items/statements sd d not sure sa a mean sd 1 security education theme is now included in the revised basic education curriculum 250 (38.9) 130 (18.0) 32 (4.4) 199 (27.6) 79 (11.0) 3.37 1.49 2 effective handling of the theme on security education demands an additional knowledge 172 (23.9) 31 (4.3) 16 (2.2) 379 (52.7) 122 (16.9) 2.72 1.75 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 23 acquisition in that area of study 3 high degree of the knowledge of the subject matter of security education by social studies teachers in schools is presently lacking. 149 (20.7) 51 (7.1) 17 (2.4) 360 (50.0) 143 (19.9) 2.60 1.42 4 sub-themes like elements of security, person/neighbourhood security, common crimes and security management are part of the content to be taught bt the social studies teacher handling security education in his/her class. 252 (35.0) 157 (21.8) 41 (5.7) 205 (28.6) 64 (8.9) 2.59 1.422 5 the demands of the methodology recommended for teaching the topics listed under the security education theme at the basic education level are quite similar to those of social studies. 162 (22.5) 123 (17.1) 28 (3.9) 307 (42.7) 100 (13.8) 2.92 1.43 985 492 1171 1450 508 3.24 1.172 of the five items used to measure the knowledge and awareness, only the statement that says ‘security education theme is now included in the revised basic education religion and national values curriculum” was given the highest rating with a mean of 3.37. all the other four items have mean scores below 3.00. the deduction from these responses is that practicing social studies teachers do not possess high knowledge and awareness of the demands of security education the result also revealed that 69.6% of the practicing social studies teachers agreed with the statement that “effective handling of the theme on security education demands an additional knowledge acquisition in that area of study”. almost 70% of the teachers agreed with the statement that “high degree of the knowledge of the subject matter of security education by social studies teachers on schools is presently lacking”. this could be attributed to the training packages in terms of curricula and curricular materials which were used for preparing these teachers while in the college of education or the faculty of education as pre-service teachers. h02: the practicing junior secondary social studies teachers have not been significantly prepared for effective handling of the content areas of the security education theme in religion and national value. the respondents were asked to rate statements relating to the effective handling of the content areas of the security education theme in national values. the results are as presented in table 2. seven items were used in measuring the effective handling of the content areas of the security education theme in national values. the mean scores of the statements ranged from 1.91 to 3.93. three of the items had mean scores above 3.00 while four items with mean scores below 3.00. the deduction from these responses and the overall mean score is that practicing junior secondary social studies teachers have not been significantly prepared for effective handling of the content areas of the security education theme in national values table: 2. junior secondary social studies teachers level of preparation for effective handling of the content areas of security education theme s/n items/statements sd d not sure sa a mean 1 the content of the teacher education curriculum at both the nigeria certificate in education 287 (39.9) 264 (36.6) 18 (2.5) 96 (13.3) 55 (7.6) 3.87 1.276 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 24 (nce) and undergraduate levels does not have any sub-theme or topics relevant to the security education theme of the revised basic education curriculum. 2. pre-service social studies teachers are already familiar with most of the suggested security education themes and topics while in training either at nce or undergraduate level. 281 (39.0) 290 (40.3) 27 (3.7) 64 (8.9) 58 (8.1) 3.93 1.23 3. the recommended foundation and content courses used in preparing social studies during training are not capable of grooming them effectively for teaching security education theme and topics in the national values classroom 73 (10.1) 60 (8.3) 30 (4.2) 280 (38.9) 277 (38.5) 3.82 1.36 4 the social studies teacher preparation programme at both the nce and undergraduate levels is not full enough to empower the trainees for the realisation of the ideals of security education as demanded in the national values (nv) curriculum. 70 (11.9) 64 (10.3) 26 (3.6) 291 (40.4) 269 (37.4 2.131 1.273 5 the structures and recommended activities/methodologies that are embedded in the training materials of social studies teachers are either inadequate for or lacking effective skills and background knowledge required for handling security education in nv curriculum. 76 (10.6) 82 (11.4) 33 (4.6) 417 (58.0) 112 (15.6) 2.434 1.190 6 the handling of security education topics by a social studies teacher requires background training in the field, which they presently lack. 60 (8.3) 42 (5.8) 21 (2.9) 499 (69.3) 98 (13.6) 2.26 1.04 7 effective teaching of security education by social studies teacher who 46 (6.4) 17 (2.4) 16 387 (53.8) 254 (35.3) 1.908 1.02 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 25 has not been properly groomed in that sensitive area of study is a difficult goal to attain. 893 817 171 2034 1123 3.15 1.272 h03: practicing junior secondary social studies teachers are not significantly competent to teach each of the topics suggested under the themesecurity education in religion and national values. in table 3, the mean ranged from a mean score of 2.13 (sd=1.35) to 2.99 (sd=.85). all ten items had mean scores lower than 3.00, indicating that teachers have low competence to teach the suggested topics. only 9.5% of the practicing teachers expressed a position that they effectively teach the listed ten topics drawn from the security education theme contained in national values. a percentage that is as high as 52.4% said they cannot teach the topics, although about 35.8% of them still reported that they can manage to teach the same set of topics. the low depth of content enrichment concerning the new focus, which is security education, at the basic education might have been responsible for this pattern of results. table 3. percentages, means and standard deviations for junior secondary social studies teachers’ competence to teach selected security education topics s/n items/statements teach well manage to cannot not sure mean sd 1 emergency management 50 (6.9) 256 (35.6) 403 (56.0) 11 (1.5) 2.479 0.647 2 strategies for observing and reporting common crime 45 (6.3) 261 (36.3) 379 (52.6) 35 (4.9) 2.438 0.684 3 common crimes and associated punishment 15 (2.1) 300 (41.6) 395 (54.8) 10 (1.4) 2.446 0.565 4 crimes and national security 12 (1.7) 282 (39.2) 410 (56.9) 16 (2.2) 2.424 0.565 5 our roles in promoting safety in our community 14 (1.9) 255 (35.4) 412 (57.2) 14 (1.9) 2.387 0.563 6 personal security management 24 (3.3) 292 (40.5) 392 (54.4) 12 (1.7) 2.445 0.598 7 introduction to personal security 21 (2.9) 289 (40.1) 394 (54.7) 16 (2.2) 2.436 0.590 8 introduction to neighbourhood security 61 (8.5) 272 (37.7) 366 (50.8) 21 (2.9) 2.518 0.691 9 concept of security 254 (35.3) 211 (29.3) 250 (34.7) 5 (0.7) 2.99 0.852 10 sources of danger and insecurity 186 (25.8) 147 (20.4) 361 (50.1) 26 (3.6) 2.133 1.347 total 682 (9.5) 2565 (35.8) 3762 (52.4) 166 (2.3) 2.56 0.664 ho4 :the practising junior secondary social studies teachers do not perceive the inclusion of security education theme in the new basic education curriculum as an intervention significantly demanding more workload from them. in table 4, the mean ranged from 2.37 to 3.69. the overall mean is 3.41 indicating that practising junior secondary social studies teachers do perceive the inclusion of security education theme in the new basic education curriculum as an intervention significantly demanding more workload from them. an item-by item www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 26 analysis further showed that 60.7% of the teachers disagreed with the statement that “i don't think i need any library search to effectively handle security education theme and topics in national values (nv) as a social studies teacher,” while 66.6% of them disagreed with the statement that “the inclusion of the security education theme in the basic education nv curriculum does not demand any extra effort from me in the nv classroom.” also, 65.9% of the teachers disagreed with the statement“the fact that national values has subsumed the previously autonomous subjects like social studies and civic education, does not make the teaching of security education an extra workload for me.” over seventy percent (about 72.2%) of the respondents agreed that asking a social studies teacher to teach security education in the basic education nv class is a potential stressor as he/she lacks the required foundation training in security education. table 4. junior secondary social studies teachers’ perception on the inclusion of security education theme in the new basic education curriculum as an intervention demanding more workload s/n items/statements sd d not sure sa a mean sd 1. i don't think i need any library search to effectively handle security education theme and topics in nv as a social studies teacher. 286 (39.7) 151 (21) 27 (3.8) 144 (20) 112 (15.5) 3.49 1.541 2. the inclusion of the security education theme in the basic education nv curriculum does not demand any extra effort from me in the rnv classroom. 289 (40.1) 162 (22.5) 12 (1.7) 136 (18.9) 123 (17.1) 3.45 1.565 3. the fact that religion and national values has subsumed the previously autonomous subjects like social studies and civic education does not make the teaching of security education an extra workload for me. 300 (41.7) 174 (24.2) 15 (2.1) 189 (26.3) 42 (5.7) 3.69 1.385 4. to teach security education in nv classroom, i need extra hours assigned on the school time table 109 (15.1) 99 (13.7) 09 (1.7) 371 (51.3) 132 (18.2) 2.55 1.340 5. asking a social studies teacher to teach security education in the basic education nv class is a potential stressor as he/she lacks the required foundation training in security education. 92 (12.8) 102 (14.2) 06 (0.8) 377 (52.4) 143 (19.8) 2.47 1.302 6. getting the social studies teacher to teach all the themes in nv except islamic studies and christian religious studies will require developing new assessment procedures and it is an additional responsibility for collating and processing of assessment data. 97 (13.5) 58 (8.1) 13 (1.8) 401 (55.7) 151 (20.9) 2.37 1.273 1173 746 82 1618 703 3.41 1.33 ho5:the practising junior secondary social studies teachers do not have a significantly high positive attitude towards the inclusion of security education theme in the new basic education curriculum. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 27 an attempt to examine some of the patterns of responses in table 4 revealed that a large percentage of the respondents do not have a significantly high positive attitude that can confirm their readiness to teach security education theme in the new basic education national values curriculum. a percentage as high as 60.7% felt they do not need any extra library search to effectively handle security education topics in nv class. likewise, 62.8% of them felt that the inclusion of security education theme in the nv curriculum does not demand any extra effort from them in their classrooms. this is probably the reason for a low percentage of 28.8% response to the item that tried to elicit from the respondents whether they would need extra hours assigned on the school time table to effectively ensure the integration of security education theme. 11. conclusion and recommendations majority of the respondents expressed the feelings that social studies teachers are not prepared enough to teach security education in schools. hence, they were of the opinion that for social studies teachers to effectively teach security education, they will require special training in order to be efficient in teaching the subject. this is a reflection of the fact that majority of the respondents felt that as social studies teacher they cannot teach security education content effectively. furthermore, the inclusion of security education in the new curriculum has posed a serious challenge to practising social studies teachers. again, majority of the practising social studies teachers believe that it will be difficult for them to embrace the inclusion of security education in the curriculum because the workload and the expectation is high and demanding. according to azebanwan (2010), and islam and salma (2016) since there is no graduate in security education course yet, the available personnel, that is, social studies teachers can not but be seen as belonging to the group that can best fit into the shoe. this however has serious implication for teaching their own subject alongside security education, as it will be cumbersome and can pose a serious challenge to practicing social studies teachers. the fact that the social studies programme and standards are not congruent with the content of security education theme makes it quite challenging, particularly when we consider the need for a deliberate teacher re-orientation policy and programme which was never part of the initial implementation plan of the agency charged with curriculum review in nigeria. furthermore, the study revealed that majority of the respondents did not demonstrate a significantly high positive attitude towards the teaching of security education theme in their nv class, and this could have a serious implication for the effective handling of the theme during implementation. this is evident in the demonstration of signs of non-commitment to go extra miles in promoting effective teaching of the theme. based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are suggested as part of the measures that can help promote effective implementation of the revised basic education curriculum and meaningful coverage of all the themes, and security education in particular:  immediate incorporation of the components of security education in the nigeria certificate in education (nce) minimum academic standards for teacher preparation, so that the pre-service teachers can become better equipped for effective delivery of the theme while teaching national values at the basic education level on graduation.  social studies in-service teachers handling security education alongside other themes in rnv should be motivated via promotion and other incentives in order to achieve maximum results during implementation.  programmes aimed at integrating security experts into the teaching of security education as resource persons at the basic education level would need to be explored by the managers of the education sector at this level. such programme should deliberately promote the production of relevant textbooks and instructional materials on the content areas of security education theme as prescribed in the nv curriculum.  re-training of practicing social studies teachers on the skills for better content acquisition and pedagogy of handling security education theme in their respective classrooms, so that they become better equipped to deliver.  quality assurance officers at the different levels of education management in the country would need to do more in promoting shared vision and ownership of the security education theme among social studies teachers; and providing them with empirical and inspirational examples that will enhance their understanding and teaching of the theme. declaration of conflicting interests the author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 28 funding the author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. references adenipekun, o. 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"new patterns of global security in the twenty first century." international affairs (royal institute of international affairs 1944-) 67.3 (1991): 431451. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 3; 2020 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 1 an unrecognizable pain: neonatal loss and the needs of fathers gláucia maria moreira galvão school of medicine federal university of minas gerais, brazil e-mail: gmmgbh@gmail.com denise streit morsch clinical psychologist, consultant for humanized care for the newborn kangaroo method, ministry of health, rio de janeiro, brazil e-mail: denisemorsch@yahoo.com.br eduardo carlos tavares medicine department of puc-minas, betim, minas gerais, brazil e-mail: eduardoctavares@gmail.com maria candida ferrarez bouzada department of pediatrics, school of medicine federal university of the state of minas gerais, belo horizonte, brazil e-mail: bouzada@medicina.ufmg.br steven eric byrd department of society, culture, and languages university of new england, biddeford/portland, maine, usa e-mail: sbyrd@une.edu abstract objective: verify the mourning and paternal suffering in the context of perinatal death, through interviews with the mothers that suffered a gestational loss. methods: this study has a qualitative, longitudinal, and prospective research realized through two semi-structured interviews with parents who lost children with less than 22 weeks of gestation at the high-risk maternity ward at a public hospital, in belo horizonte, brazil, from february-october 2019. in the interviews, a vital trait was paternal suffering, as evidenced by the mother's speech. this matter brought the authors attention. results: the interviews in this study show evidence that men need to be tended regarding the time of neonatal loss. the women’s interviews expressed the suffering of their companions and demonstrated how they wished to share their pain with them during their period of mourning. the mothers provide evidence that they feel the need of their partners during gestational loss. conclusions: paternal suffering following neonatal loss is often ignored and forgotten about. further research and directives of support, including supporting neonatal loss as part of the healthcare system, and meaningful steps to ensure quality treatment, are essential for making progress in this overlooked area. keywords: mourning, professional training, neonatal death, disenfranchised grief. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 3; 2020 2 1. introduction neonatal loss is a topic that warrants attention, as it carries with it significant emotional pain, for the mother as well as for her partner. also, it has the potential of creating future problems in the conjugal and family relationship. such issues include emotional outbursts and an overall lack of interest in life, which can affect the other children of the family and work – and involve both the mother and her partner (brasil, 2017). recent scholarship has raised awareness on this issue, which is mostly invisible in modern-day society but is one which carries significant emotional suffering for the families involved (frøen et al., 2016; heazell et al., 2016; horton & samarasekera, 2016; aguiar & zornig, 2016). the impact and consequences of losing a child for the parents, families, healthcare professionals, and society should not be ignored. they should instead be examined both in the neonatal period as well as subsequent periods. the adverse effects, particularly in the mental health of the parents, can be alleviated through empathetic practices and personalized interventions, practised in a sensitive and individualized manner (heazell et al., 2016). neonatal loss encompasses, in addition to the suffering associated with the loss of the baby that the couple planned and desired, secondary losses that can intensify the mourning process, even when it occurs in the first weeks of pregnancy. these secondary losses can cause changes in the family structure that was in the planning stages. these include: losses in the opportunity of parenting; losses in stature or social identity associated with pregnancy and life in general; losses in the feeling of security and a sense of control over life; losses in self-esteem and of control over one’s body (aguiar & zornig, 2016; callister, 2006; heustis, jenkins & wolfelt, 2005). studies generally indicate that mothers tend to show more emotion and go through a more intense period of mourning and a more significant number of emotional manifestations (aguiar & zornig, 2016; brownlee & oikonen, 2004; fonseca et al., 2010). this is attributed to the stronger physical bond to the baby, above all when the loss occurs in the first months of pregnancy and therefore having the additional emotional overload of physically going through the loss of the child. that is, being the person physically attached to the baby, mothers can feel a heightened sense of guilt, feeling personally responsible for the loss, even when there is no clear medical explanation for it. fathers tend to show more controlled responses during the mourning process, feeling the need to "be strong" and "take care" of his spouse. in general, men get back to their daily routines and professional lives more quickly than women (callister, 2006; heustis et al., 2005). moreover, men are guided to such conducts, given that there are no worker rights protections for them in these situations, as well as general social and cultural norms governing their behaviour. considering these gender disparities in the mourning process (designated as "incongruous mourning"), the loss of a child can accentuate tensions in conjugal relations (callister, 2006) if not given proper attention by the family, by society, and by healthcare professionals. hence, the present study aims to verify paternal mourning through interviews of mothers, as well as through the accounts of some of the fathers present during the interviews with the mothers. 2. methodology this case study is one of qualitative, longitudinal, and prospective research realized through two semi-structured interviews with parents who lost children with less than 22 weeks of gestation at the high-risk maternity ward, maternidade odete valadares of the fundação hospitalar de minas gerais, in belo horizonte, minas gerais, brazil, during the months of february-october 2019. in the interviews, one of the noteworthy traits was paternal suffering, as evidenced by the mothers, as well as by the fathers themselves that were present during the second round of interviews. these caught the authors' attention to this topic. the initial contact with the participants was realized during their admittance to the maternity ward, during the first 24 hours following their neonatal loss. the first interview was also conducted during this period, whereby the www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 3; 2020 3 patients’ data were collected to aid our analysis. the data consist of prior and recent obstetric data of the mother, as well as demographic data. the second interview took place one month following the neonatal loss, realized in the home of the patient or at an area designated by her. in this interview, guided questions were used to verify her perceptions of that moment, her perceptions about her adaptation to daily life following her loss, and her perceptions about mourning and the quality of her professional activities. the analysis of the interviews was conducted by careful listening to and reading of the transcripts, which were organized into nuclei of meaning and meaningful utterances. to protect the privacy and anonymity of all the interviewees, codes are used: mother 1 = m1, mother 2 = m2, father = f, etc. 3. ethical standards this study was approved by the committee of ethics at the fundação hospitalar do estado de minas gerais (hospital foundation of the state of minas gerais, brazil), and by the committee of ethics in research at the universidade federal de minas gerais (the federal university of the state of minas gerais, brazil), research approval code: 2.727.563: 2.727.563. 4. results initially, there were 34 mothers who submitted paperwork for inclusion in this study. all of them agreed to an interview 30 days following their neonatal loss. however, only 12 of the original 34 participants provided interviews. the demographic data of the 12 mothers that agreed to an interview are found in table 1. table 1. demographic data of 12 women who lost children, february-october 2019. education level formal work pregnancies living children age of the baby at the time of loss (in weeks) presence of a companion presence of the father education level 27 incomplete high school yes 2 1 9,1 yes no 36 graduate school no 2 0 16 yes no 27 incomplete high school yes 2 0 8,5 yes yes 37 high school yes 3 1 7 no no 34 incomplete middle no 3 1 19,3 yes yes 39 school no 3 1 11,6 yes yes 26 university no 1 0 11 no no 25 high school no 1 0 12 yes no 40 high school no 2 1 9,4 yes no 29 incomplete high school yes 3 1 11,6 no no 35 middle school yes 2 1 *285g no no 20 university yes 1 0 12,1 yes yes 5. results and discussion the existence of paternal suffering, recognized by their partners, was one of the more significant discoveries in our study. from the women's accounts, the fathers' pain was notable, and that they attempted to control their feelings as www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 3; 2020 4 a way to help the mothers cope with their losses. regarding the question of gender, some studies on neonatal loss indicate that, as women are the ones who carry the baby, a greater sense of guilt can manifest in them in contrast to men. as for the men's part, according to souza and muza (2011), they usually offer more controlled responses to neonatal loss due to the need to present themselves as “strong”, and as a means to provide emotional support for women. moreover, men typically have lower levels of depression in contrast to women, due to the type of meaning they assign to neonatal loss. however, there are symptoms like depression and anxiety in men following the neonatal loss, with specifics which warrant attention (lewis & azar, 2015; obst et al., 2020). note the following women’s accounts from our interviews: “the father suffers too as well. a man doesn’t show much, right? a man remains more restrained, [but] they suffer a lot.” (m7). “besides the concerns about the loss [of the child] and all that, there is the worry about me. just like he said: 'it was more devastating for me because i saw you suffering, you not feeling well.' that’s the type of suffering he goes through. he said it was devastating for him because of that [loss]. so, he was worried: 'gosh, when is this going to end? is she ok?' yes, he was anxious." (m7). "they say that the father doesn't feel anything. he does. and for a man, it is even worse because he bottles it up. a woman talks a lot; she talks a lot. and i would stay in the room, i spoke with my girls, one supporting the other. but a man doesn’t do that. he stays quiet. so, he suffers more.” (m7). “how does a father not stay with his wife? the mother just lost a child. and the child is his too; it’s not just the mothers. why can’t he can’t stay home for a day? what about his feelings?” (m5). "he didn't cry at all; he wanted to be strong so that two weren't there crying. who was going to support us at that moment?" (m3). “my husband has difficulty in expressing himself and speaking about what he feels inside, but i can see it in his attitudes, in the way he acts, that this situation impacted him deeply on a psychological level. i believe this must affect his work.” (m2). "with me, he isn’t able to talk about it, because he is afraid that i will get hurt. and i am also not able to speak openly with him like i would like to, because he gets upset. so, he doesn’t show his feelings to support me. [it’s] like that, you understand?” (m1). the father’s presence with the baby the presence of family members plays a fundamental role in supporting women who have lost children; to be able to count on support from those closest to them is essential (conway & russell, 2000). the father of the baby has been shown to be an actual figure (rodrigues &hogo, 2005) to the mother following a neonatal loss. his presence is significant, and his absence can cause a sense of helplessness and sadness in women, as we have observed in our accounts of women who have lost babies. it is possible to hear in their speech, one which is full of emotion, that he does play an essential role in sharing this painful experience with her. this is evidenced in the following accounts: “and there you are alone, and you have no one with you, no one to speak with about anything. right? you are alone. to have someone there at least to give you a hand at that moment, to spend the night. i think that if a man had at least the day off from work would be interesting, for women.” (m4). "my husband went back to work. and the day he told me about it i said, 'my god.' then he went back to work, my god, what am i going to do? i didn't want to be alone." (m5). “if he had not been there, it would have been… [she quickly continues]. it would have been worse; the suffering would have been greater for certain." (m3). “you can have your whole family present, but the only person that i want to talk to is the father. he wants to know what i’m going through, he can talk more openly about this topic because he is going www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 3; 2020 5 through the same thing as me, maybe not as intense as what i went through, but he is there and is seeing the same things that are going on. and that is why i think he should have some time off, and he had no such thing. he had to go back to work.” (m1). “my husband, honestly, i would have liked to have had his companionship near me. but i didn’t get it. and i still don’t have it, because he had to go back to work as soon as i left the hospital.” (m2). what men say as observed above, the women affirm their feelings of suffering, the sadness of their losses, and the speech of men show a sense of commitment toward their wives, and to their jobs. the men tend to show a more traditional male social role, one which has been crystalized into social and familial norms, whereby their emotions are more reserved and private. note the following accounts from men: “so, i wasn’t there. i had to work, and that was bad. yes, i wanted at least to spend one day with her. she wasn’t feeling well at home, and i had to work. but i was the only one who could support her. (…) i only work to keep up the house and pay the rent. i lost a child. but life must go on.”. (f, m6). "you remember everything, even more so in my case. i work here. i come here and see fathers carrying their children, mothers carrying their children, so at any moment you remember what happened, right? and when i come to work, and i go through the entrance, i remember everything that happened that day. so, i go up to the third floor to try to be by myself, but at lunchtime and everything else that goes on there, it sometimes gets complicated, you see?" (f, m12) men also express the importance of having official and legal recognition when they comment on the lack of worker protection laws for neonatal losses and the suffering caused by them. these were also articulated by women: "i believe that fathers should have at least two days since not only a mother [but] a father takes a hard hit as well. for him, it is also a loss. to be there, he needs to be there to support his partner with everything; it’s necessary. that doesn’t mean that two days are enough…” (f, m12) “it would be essential. but this law is going to change. we’re going to get there. if it’s not us, then other parents are going to do it. what we didn’t have others are going to have.” (f, m6). in the speech of the women during these interviews, silence often follows light crying, as well as pauses that "stop" the speech, which also demonstrates the experience of these losses. indeed, in examining the function of silence during the mourning process of a loved one poli (2008) notes that it occurs on the margins of representation, that it is impossible to express in words the reality of death. hence, the loss of a loved one can be expressed by a lack of words, by insufficient discourse, and by a disconnect between words and feelings. this was rather evident in all the interviews conducted for this research, and notable in both the women and men. it need be further noted that neonatal losses occur unexpectedly and unforeseen in the majority of instances, frequently occurring in the context of normal pregnancy (brownlee &oikonen, 2004; fonseca et al., 2010). such characteristics increase the shock of the parents, and moreover increase the difficulty in accepting it, and, given its sudden nature, impede family members in mobilizing resources and coping strategies to prepare emotionally for the loss (callister, 2006). furthermore, it cannot go unmentioned that many lost babies already had tentative names. despite the frequency of neonatal losses, which spontaneously occur in 15-20% of pregnancies of up to 22 weeks, the subsequent implications are underestimated or ignored by the political class, by the media, by society, and even by healthcare systems. it should be recognized that this type of mourning, which carries with it a considerable emotional impact, but is one whose effects are not fully appreciated by healthcare professionals, nor by society generally. however, it is one which should be more closely examined and considered. this type of loss constitutes a particularly grave one, in the sense that it involves the parents and closest family members, and is one where a void is created – a void not only in relation to past memories but also future ones www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 3; 2020 6 (fonseca et al., 2010). many times, such a loss is the parents’ first experience with mourning, and in the case of younger parents, it simultaneously affects both members of the couple, which compromises their ability for mutual support (kavanaugh & wheeler, 2003; lang, goulet &amsel, 2004). in instances of multiple losses, the uncertainty of having a successful pregnancy can become ambivalent, for both mother and father. the subsequent lack of social rituals associated with neonatal loss (funerals, for example), disinformation within social networks in regard to how to offer support to a couple, and the overall social devaluing of such an event – considered by society as something less significant in comparison to the loss of an older child or an adult –, accentuate the lack of resources available to a couple going through this type of loss and therefore affect how they cope with it (brownlee &oikonen, 2004; fonseca et al., 2010; rolim&canavarro, 2001). the organization of healthcare services for couples coping with neonatal loss, along with training of healthcare professionals who are involved with the families, is an important characteristic in the overall performance of a healthcare system, one which can contribute to the resilience of parents during their period of mourning (homer, malata & ten hoope-bender, 2016). soubieux (2014) notes that neonatal loss in the psychology of the parents is not uniform. the period of mourning is related to the conceptualization of a life that existed and then ceased to exist. the elaboration of mourning for a neonatal loss is possible, but it can be filled with significant anguish. when such elaboration is possible, it can allow for a surprising psychological reconstruction. according to the author, mourning for neonatal loss is paradigmatic, as it revives and continues in future pregnancies (for the couple as well as for the close relationships). moreover, a lack of its recognition on behalf of the support network, and a lack of understanding of the inherent suffering associated with the loss, can transmit a message that mourning is unnecessary, and therefore can create other difficulties (public health agency of canada, 2000). a couple needs to make adjustments at multiple levels following neonatal loss: external (i.e. the functions of day-today life), internal (i.e. the roles one assumes, namely of mother and father, and, in the absence of other children, one may or may not know what one's role is now), and spiritual (i.e. one's belief systems, values, and assumptions). the mourning process reaches a conclusion when one is capable of emotionally integrating the loss of the child, and, therefore, is able to continue with life. this does not imply renouncing the relationship with the lost child but learning to manage the loss in a way that allows the parents to continue with their lives following their loss. symptoms are more intense in the first months following the loss, though widely vary in their diversity and intensity (fonseca et al., 2010; kavanaugh & wheeler, 2003). in the relational domain, symptoms are noteworthy in the relationship between mother and father and include factors such as the desire to have a child, the duration of the pregnancy, and lack of previous neonatal losses. family and social support systems, the nature of relations in the extended family, and the attitude of healthcare professionals involved are also factors with the greatest relevancy for the social network. to block a mother's thinking and to try to make her forget what happened after being discharged from the hospital creates a "conspiracy of silence". neonatal loss during pregnancy or following birth should instead create a space for mothers, and for her family, to address this topic openly, to talk about their frustrations, their sense of guilt and powerlessness – not to confront the sadness but to help them reorient their lives. a family holistically needs healthcare attention, including the thoughts and feelings of the patients. this leads us to assess the importance of comprehending the emotional experience of these mothers and their partners in the face of neonatal loss at its various stages: during pregnancy, during premature birth, or the following birth. men can be affected by an unintentional indifference on the part of healthcare professionals, who tend to focus on the biological symptoms occurring in the mothers (williams et al., 2020). however, fathers must have avenues available to them to express their feelings and pain at these moments. the interviews in this study show evidence that men need to be tended to as well at the time of neonatal loss. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 3; 2020 7 this study also offers evidence that there is a need for healthcare intervention and a network of resources that can be made available for parents at the time of neonatal loss. training and organization within the healthcare systems that work in this area are essential. a type of multidisciplinary training would be desirable to handle the problems associated with neonatal losses and the prevention of its harmful effects. it is also important to deepen the knowledge of this topic and to discover the specifics and subtleties involved in the mourning process, to offer better support systems for it, adjusted for individual cases and long-term support for the period of mourning. it is furthermore important to construct and develop a support network and collaborative partnerships, intending to improve patient care services, to handle problems related to psychosomatic, emotional, psychological, or spiritual distresses caused by neonatal losses. that is, a new perspective for healthcare systems needs to consider fetal and neonatal losses as part of its service to patients. such losses and a contextualized medical history of the family involved would result in positive and humanizing changes for healthcare systems. what is needed are carefullyplanned actions both in the areas of healthcare and in law, the updating of policies, oversight, and research into best practices for patients who have suffered neonatal losses (aguiar & zornig, 2016). as shown herein, women expressed the suffering of their companions and demonstrated how they wished to share their pain with them during their period of mourning. that is, mothers, provide evidence that they feel the need of their partners during their time at the hospital, as well as during the first days at home following the loss of a child. the study also leads us to question current brazilian worker rights regarding paternity, which has a great disparity between what is afforded to mothers and fathers. at the time of this writing, brazilian law permits that women who suffer neonatal losses occurring up to and after 22 weeks of gestation are entitled to 15 days of mourning, while fathers have none (article 395 of the brazilian workers’ code). much work remains to attain a better comprehension of this issue and the creation of strategies which can offer adequate, healthy space for mothers and fathers who must deal with neonatal losses. dedicating more research on this topic will undoubtedly be an important resource to inspire and inform meaningful changes in this area. 6. conclusions paternal suffering following neonatal loss is very often ignored and forgotten about. societal norms commonly do not allow paternal feelings to be seen or heard, as men are expected to be "the stronger sex". compassion, in this case, is considered exclusive for mothers. however, this type of pain is shared by the couple. and the lack of worker rights for men in brazil shows that paternal mourning is invisible and ignored. furthermore, there is an invisibility of the lost child by society generally. but we need to give a voice to this pain, a legitimate one, independent of how long the child was here. further research and directives of support, including supporting neonatal loss as part of the healthcare system, and meaningful steps to ensure quality treatment, are essential for making progress in this overlooked area. references aguiar, h., & zornig, s. 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(2020). men and miscarriage: a systematic review and thematic synthesis. qualitative health research, 30(1), 133-145. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732319870270 copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 1 ethnic identity politics and contemporary experience sarah terwse shittu phd department of english benue state university, makurdi, nigeria e-mail: tershittu@yahoo.com ogbedu michael department of english benue state university, makurdi, nigeria abstract this paper investigates the complex developments of identity in contemporary africa considering that the emergence of identity politics is a consequence of the extraordinarily rapid and profound upheavals and transformations of human society at the turn of the 21st century. contemporary world has considerably opened up and extraordinarily shrunk in specific historical circumstances. the act of migration particularly, is one that profoundly changes the individual, transforming the relationship of the migrant with his home country and new host country and then impacting their identity as a result. the expanding use of the term, identity politics, is scrutinized in this work and attempts are made at delineating its unwieldy parameters. this in turn reflects the socio-political composition of african societies. keywords: ethnicity, identity, politics, contemporary experience. 1. identity the term identity is a rather broad one encompassing, in the context of this paper, self and communal definitions of people based on ethnicity. thus, the term is essentially comparative in nature as it emphasizes the sharing of a degree of sameness or oneness with others in a particular area or on a given point. it is best construed as both contextual and relational. the formation of one’s identity occurs through one’s identification with significant others and also with groups as they are perceived. ethnic identity politics should thus be taken to mean political ideology, organization, and action which openly represents the interests of designated groups based on essential characteristics such as ethnic origin or religion and whose legitimacy lies in the support of important segments of such groups. 2. ethnicity ethnicity is the property of the relationship between two or several groups, not a property of a group; it exists between and not within groups. it is the enduring and systematic communication of cultural differences between groups considering themselves to be distinct. it appears wherever cultural differences are made relevant in social interaction, and it should then be studied at the level of social life, not at the level of symbolic culture. ethnic politics was birthed as a result of colonialism, and later compounded by post colonialism. ethnicity as a vestige of colonialism is prominent in the social relations of the african countries such as rwanda, south africa, and kenya. a sense of ethnic identity is developed from shared culture, religion, geography, and kinship as well as proximity. in helms’s words, these are aspects that make up learned culture include rituals, symbols, and behaviour that manifest themselves from underlying values, beliefs, and assumptions. deep conscious immersion into cultural traditions and values through religious, familial, neighbourhood, and educational communities instils a positive sense of ethnic identity and confidence. ethnicity is thus relational and also situational: the ethnic character of a social encounter is contingent on the situation. it is not in other words inherent. theorists of nationalism and ethnicity have pointed out that identification is relational, situational and flexible and that each person carries a number of potential identities, only a few of which become socially significant making a difference in everyday life. ethnicity is a politically relevant signifier in contemporary africa. this paper reveals how ethnic communities can both contract or expand and how actors and groups can draw on selective memories and histories to justify their www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 2 migration from one community to another while the relevant content of ethnic units is open to both debate and contestation. the study provides detailed evidence of the fact and nature of ethnic construction, deconstruction and creation in the african post colony and reveal how processes of ethnic negotiation and renegotiation are ultimately fuelled by the desire to stake claims to, and access resources controlled by africa and external agents. ethnic identities are best understood as complex and contested social constructs, perpetually in the process of creation. issues of ethnic identity continue to be of great importance in politics both in africa and globally. individuals who constitute an ethnic group share a sense of group identification, a common set of values, political and economic interests, behavioural patterns, and other culture elements that differ from those of other groups within a society. according to peter rose, groups whose members share a unique social and cultural heritage passed on from one generation to the next are known as ethnic groups. they are frequently identified by distinctive patterns of family life, language, recreation, religion and other customs that cause them to be differentiated from others. an individual is ethnic to the extent that he or she shares the values; behavioural patterns, cultural traits, and identification with a specific ethnic group identify its members easily. 3. assimilation and acculturation 3.1 acculturation acculturation proceeds in both directions when two societies are in any kind of contact, and that even a conquered people help to shape the destiny of their overlords. most africans grow up in communities in which ethnic and cultural values, life-styles, language patterns and behavioural patterns differ from those of many other groups. because most africans grow in ethnic or cultural enclaves, they are culturally encapsulated. ethnic minority groups, in order to attain social and economic mobility are usually forced out of their ethnic encapsulation. the cultures of other groups remain foreign, non-human, and exotic to them. when two ethnic groups are exchanging cultural elements and complexes, acculturation is taking place. thus, it is a cultural change resulting from direct contact between two cultural groups. 3.2 cultural assimilation when a member of an ethnic minority group acquires the behaviour patterns, life-styles, values and language of the mainstream culture, we say that he or she has become culturally assimilated. it is the process by which an individual or group acquires the culture traits of a different ethnic or cultural group. because the dominant group controls most of the social, economic and political institutions in a society, members of ethnic minority groups must acquire its cultural traits to move up the social and economic ladder. it must be noted that although a people may become totally assimilated culturally, they will still be victims of discrimination because of their different physical characteristics. 3.3 ethnic identity ethnicity is a term that has been used increasingly since the 1960s to account for human variation in terms of culture, tradition, language, social patterns, and ancestry, rather than the discredited generalizations of race with its assumption of humanity divided into fixed genetically determined biological types. according to schermerhorn eric, ‘ethnicity refers to the fusion of many traits that belong to the nature of any ethnic group; a composite of shared values, norms, tastes, behaviours, experiences, consciousness of kind memories and loyalties. invariably, a person’s ethnic group is such a powerful identifier because while he or she chooses to remain in it, it is an identity that cannot be denied, rejected or taken away by others. membership of an ethnic group is shared according to certain agreed criteria, even though the nature, the combination and importance of those criteria may be debated or may change over time. ethnic identity has been described by alicia chavez as a critical part of an overall framework of individual and collective identity which is manifested in very conscious ways. this manifestation is triggered most often by two conflicting social and cultural influences. firstly, deep conscious immersion into cultural traditions and values through religious, familial, neighborhood and educational communities instil a positive sense of ethnic identity and confidence. secondly, and in contrast, individuals must filter ethnic identity through negative treatment received from others because of their ethnicity. by this, people with a minority status have a different ethnic make-up and one that is less desirable within mainstream society. for others ethnic identity is manifested mostly in unconscious ways through their behaviour, values, beliefs and assumptions. to them ethnicity is unconscious and referred to as such because societal norms have been constructed around their ethnic and cultural frameworks, values and priorities and then referred to as ethnic identity. chavez emphasises that everyone benefits from the development of a conscious ethnic identity. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 3 bill ashcroft argues that the element of marginalization in ethnicity in its earliest uses remain implied even in contemporary usage. originally, it referred to heathen nations and now is suggestive of groups that are not mainstream, that are not traditionally identified with the dominant national mythology which is not limited to colonial experience but does reveal the imperialistic nature of national mythology and the implications of any link between ethnicity and nation. recent studies reveal that ethnic groups are not necessarily marginalized and cultural groups but all ethnic groupings since the concept of ethnicity itself has come to exert a powerful political function. this means that regardless of the status of the particular group, its ethnicity is a key strategy in the furtherance of group political interests and political advancement. even though group power is seemingly always a favoured solution to individual powerlessness, the ethnic group is a salient formation in the bid for political power within a society. given the fact that ethnicity comes into greatest contemporary currency in the context of immigration, isajaw further defines ethnicity in its contemporary usage as ‘a group of persons who have a common ancestral origin and the same cultural traits, who have a sense of peoplehood and of group belonging, who are of immigrant background and have either minority or majority status within a larger society. similarly, waters m.c. considers ethnic identity as a social construct: ‘an individual’s identification with a segment of a larger society whose members are thought by themselves and others to have a common origin and share segments of a common culture and who, in addition, participate in shared activities in which the common origin and culture are significant ingredients. ethnic identity is a conscious or unconscious identification with those with whom they feel a common bond because of similar traditions, behaviours, values and beliefs. ott asserts that, it is these points of connection that allow individuals to make sense of the world around them and to find pride in who they are. in essence, ethnic identity models provide a theoretical structure for understanding individual’s negotiation of their own and other cultures. most models of ethnic identity trace their roots to the psychological research of erik erickson or the cognitive structural work of jean piaget. curiously, all identity models focus on the psychological process of defining the self; some also acknowledge the cognitive complexity of the self-definition process. the traditional models in both categories are stage models in which growth occurs in a step-wise progression whereas contemporary models describe ethnic identity as a process that occurs over a lifetime. these models focus on what people learn about their culture from family and community. in other words, a sense of ethnic identity is developed from shared culture, religion, geography, and language of individuals who are connected by strong loyalty and kinship as well as proximity. it is critical to note that ethnic identity affects the experience with and interpretation of relationships with others. fearon and laitin define ethnicity in terms of three aspects: a common descent, conceptual autonomy, and a common history. one and three above are very common among definitions of ethnicity. the conceptual autonomy roughly corresponds to whether a group is defined by its internal attributes or in opposition to another such group since it comprises an attempt to exclude certain groups like tutsis and hutus in rwanda. ethnic characteristics as belief in a common descent can and does change over generations and centuries. elliot green proposes a definition of ethnicity that is based on three core elements; common descent, a common history, and a common homeland. this definition is quite flexible as it allows for continuity and change: a variety of interpretations of ethnicity such as primordialism and constructivism while also allowing for a means to differentiate ethnic groups from other communal groups like castes, nations, and races. roger ballard attempts an identification of how ethnicity is used in current popular discourse and how it can be defined in technical terms such that they can be turned into more precise and more effective vehicles for sociological analysis. he explains further that ethnicity is the outcome of the articulation of cultural distinctiveness in situations of political and/or economic competition. as a result it normally erupts in response to patterns of inequality of one form or another. hence, just as privileged groups routinely close ranks in ethnic terms to exclude their social subordinates in the hegemonic patterns... the excluded frequently respond by closing ranks themselves, the better to resist and subvert their subordination .when each side reacts in turn against the other, the outcome is very often a rapid and escalating process of mutual ethnic polarisation. thus, it follows that those at the top of the social order routinely close ranks in order to sustain their position of privilege while those at the bottom have a parallel interest in closing ranks the better to resist the exclusionary pressures to which they are subjected. in order to encompass the variety and complexity of social and cultural features constituting ethnicity, schermerhorn eric has developed a more elaborate definition of the term to mean a collectivity within a larger society having real or putative common ancestry, that is memories of a shared historical past whether of origins or of historical experiences such as colonization, immigration, invasion, or slavery, : a shared consciousness of a separate, named, group identity; and a cultural focus on one or more symbolic elements www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 4 defines as the epitome of their peoplehood. these features will always be in dynamic combination, relative to the particular time and place in which they experience and operate consciously or unconsciously for the political advancement of the group. from this definition, it is evident that ethnic identities go beyond the limits of cultural assimilation into the wider society and the persistence of ethnic identity is not necessarily related to the perpetuation of traditional cultures. no ethnic group is completely unified or in complete agreement about its own ethnicity and no one essential feature can ever be found in every member of the group. however, this dynamic interweaving of identifying features has come to function as increasingly potent locus of identity in an increasingly migratory, globalized and hybridized world. 4. synopsis of weight of whispers weight of whispers is narrated by the story’s central character, boniface louis r. kuseremane, a refugee, who seems already to have become, in the few journalistic mentions of the story, a “rwandan aristocrat” of tutsi origin. he moves with his immediate family to the archetypal postcolonial african city, nairobi, as he flees the turmoil in his home country rwanda. this is on the fifth day, following the assassination of the presidents of rwanda and burundi.kuseremane slips further into identity crisis and squalor in an unwelcoming foreign land, eventually ending up in total anonymity and debilitation. he is a cross-border refugee. aspects of his precise origins remain elliptical and indeterminate. he takes with him his mother, agnethe-mama, lune his wife, and chi his sister with $3,723 and a few belongings. the embassy is closed and there is no way to arrange for travel papers to europe. he soon runs out of money when he hires a first class hotel for the family, escapes and they go to rent a one-room apartment, obviously to save money. his friends abandon him. his efforts to register with the local united states office are met with frustration as corrupt officials are demanding for huge sums of money. eventually, he gets registered. kuseremane is a well-educated man with a phd in diplomacy and a masters in geophysics. it is unbelievable to him that with his level of education, he and his family are refugees. sleep abandons him as they move from one apartment to another. chi-chi becomes pregnant by an ethiopian. she dies due to over bleeding. agnethe-mama dies a day before they are supposed to leave for canada. lurie leaves for canada thinking her husband will join her soon but he stays back to take care of the graves. the short story is one about good and evil, injustice and betrayal, love and loss, the mere struggle of living-of-existence in the context of contemporary ethnicity-laced post-colonial society. 5. acoustic metaphors as features of style the title of the short story weight of whispers itself is implied. it appeals to the reader’s acoustic channel and also creates a strong connection between the related words and their meanings. the story is permeated with this stylistic device and examples include, inter alia: “langora-leopard”, “hacking-hedge”, “dribs-drabs”. the reader can therefore visualize the issues being referred to easily. there are also combinations of assonance and onomatopoeia_ “clock-clicks”, “cracks knuckles… crack .crack. in this instance, the use of onomatopoeia underscores the policeman’s act of superiority over the protagonist, eventually harming him. 5.1 leitmotifs of silence, noise and water examples of leitmotifs abound in weight of whispers. silence, noise and water are prominent. kuseremane’s silence is necessary in order for him to get the whispers that haunt him and connect him to the genocide back in his home country. whispers are a sign of the process that later leads to the mental degeneration, and paradoxically, character development of the protagonist as he descends into guilt. he is a suspect in the genocide that has just happened in his country, rwanda and is currently on the run to europe via nairobi where he needs his papers processed first. through whispers of his fellow countrymen in nairobi, louis kuseremane is linked to the famous assassination of the two presidents of rwanda and burundi; a historical fact that scholars agree triggered the rwandan genocide of 1994. no doubts these whispers cause unease in the mind of the protagonist which invariably develops the plot of the story. he himself confesses that, “whispers like mist floated over the land of hills and nestled in valleys and refused to dissipate”. there is a strong link between the whispers which cannot be stopped or kept away and natureas well as the mist that disappears and then never fails to return another day. among crowds of suspicious rwandese countrymen in nairobi, these whispers are heard. they are however, afraid to confront the truth and discuss about it but prefer to hide their opinions “in the noise” of the busy city. seemingly, majority of these people avoid the silence. the omnipresent leitmotif in this short story is water. being one of the four elements (water, air, fire, and earth) it has always played an important role in literature across culture and generations. like william shakespeare, who used water to foreshadow the death of his characters, owuor does same. she has used rain and thunder to www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 5 foreshadow a “strange foreboding” in kuseremane as the author in this case has taken this further. beyond this attribute, water reflects the outer and inner world of the characters and their states of mind. it reflects them each to the other when we see it as part of the mirror that is their eyes as they sit in silence. more overt connections between water and metaphorical usage as is the case when the element is directly linked to descriptions of humans; “… the crowds dribble” or “the rivers of workers . . .” .the entire country of exile, kenya is linked to water when kuseremane describes it as “the watermark of the map of kenya.” on the other hand, water is personified and given human attributes in its “feeling of anger.” owuor intends to underscore the fact that humans and nature do not only influence each other but are directly connected to each other. for instance, it is in this way that water in the form of rain can be interpreted as a metaphor for sorrow when kuseremane, after another unsuccessful day changes travel plans in order to leave nairobi for europe with his family, walks home crestfallen as it rains heavily, down the famous river road. we get to know from the short story that water which ironically should be a metaphor of hope and rejuvenation “has seeped into his bones and become ice. the irony helps to underscore the upside-down nature of the story and enables us to see this tale of a royal family in exile, accused of political crimes that no one can really prove they committed. we can also see the reliability on language and theme to touch on the big social issues that the author seeks to highlight. the juxtaposition of certain leitmotifs serves well in the deployment of style and thematic. foreshadowing and flashbacks actually rely on the effective nature in which imagery is used in weight of whispers. imagery draws attention to the major themes of the story that would be discussed in the next subsection. 5.2 human evil as major evil human evil is central in weight of whispers and kuseremane is the bearer of this message. he reveals, in the opening of the short story, while reminiscing about a dialogue with a friend. he says, “i had agreed to offer perspectives on his seminal work, a work in progress, he called, “a mystagogy of human evil.” .the protagonist, kuseremane comments on the evil deeds committed against him and his family by the unscrupulous police officers and other ignorant people in authority. his own deeds on the other hand communicate reflections at the beginning of the story provides insight into the evil within: “later on, much later on, i will wonder what makes it possible for one man to hit another for no reason other than the fact that he can.” at this point, he is commenting on police brutality. the protagonist did not consider humans to be quintessentially evil as long as they belong to the privileged social stratum. however, the family is let down by former friends, they are betrayed in money matters. the women have to indulge in prostitution in order to be allowed to immigrate to canada. clearly, human beings short-change other powerless humans; they even enjoy the power they have over others. kuseremane says “there is even an oblation of men by men to men..”while people try to silence the atrocities by men to men, they still exist and will always exist because “. . . [human] nature relishes fratricidal blood.”. there is the constant inter-relation of the evil within and the evil around. by the end of the story kuseremane finds himself in a hopeless situation, stripped of even the ground that he used to stand on. right up to the end, the vindictive whispers; the weight of the guilt within remain present and come with a vengeance that exceeds kuseremane’s death. in essence, the protagonist is paying for the evil he has done. he has paid with the eventual loss of his family, psychic suffering, the weight of his overgrowing guilty conscience and the knowledge that the threatening suggestions will not fall silent until he dies. owuor’s short story communicates a strong moral lesson along the lines of “you reap what you sow”. the initial catalyst of his downfall was one of kuseremane’s evil deeds that landed his family and the lives of hundreds of thousands of lives in doom. 5.3 the predicament of refugees in exile this subsection will analyze the situation of refugees in exile with a particular character; louis boniface kuseremane. first, he tries to ignore the precarious situation, then makes attempts at escaping or in the least adapt to it but in the end, he collapses. he is almost certain that he and his family will leave nairobi, kenya very soon. thus, he does not really see himself as a refugee but a visitor to kenya; a situation that eventually renders him status-less. when we first meet him he is a prince with many contacts all over the world, and not a beggar, who is let down by friends. as refugees he and his family do not enjoy any rights but are rather exposed to the arbitrariness of the kenyan people and the bureaucracy. they are in constant threat of being arrested for nothing. after several attempts, they finally obtain a refugee registration number which at least, allows them a legal officially acknowledged presence in kenya. this, however, does not guard them against further harassment on the part of the police and the officials nor does it help them in getting work. one of the most important parts of the book concerning the situation of refugees in exile is a flashback which boniface has of a scene in a café in the netherlands back in times when he still was a successful businessman. a sierra leonean who had a master’s degree in sociology but then sold under wears, came up to him and said: www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 6 “africans, we be overeducated fools . . . no one sees your knowing when you has no facts to stand in.” back then, kuseremane was ashamed of the man in front of inn dutch business partners, probably even disdained him. sadly, in kenya, he is almost in the same situation as the man from sierra leone and now understands the truth of the man’s words. he realizes that in exile, we lower our heads so that we do not see in the mirror of another’s eyes, what we suspect about ourselves: that our precarious existence depends on the whim of another’s tolerance of our presence.” this can be seen as the seen as the bottom line of the situation of refugees in exile. the family cannot obtain work. they are almost deprived of their right. their lives are dependent on the goodwill and tolerance of others. your educational attainment and connections are really of no use once one leaves his home country. what that means is that once one loses his authority, he is stripped of his existence and has to depend entirely on another’s authority and existence. thus, the first lesson in exile is to camouflage. it is of utmost importance to know when to say what and to whom. a careless word to the wrong person can send someone to the prison. it is rare to find trusted friends in exile because just about everyone is restless, scared and alert. in fact, it is not even important who you are. 5.4 the weight of the whispers when the rumours of the genocidaires start, the situation of the kuseremane worsens. their name is “accused, accursed.” the kuseremane name was once a name so highly connected that it opened all doors. the same name has become a heavy burden on the family. it is an open secret that the family must be somehow connected to rwandan genocide. “now, tales have been added of a zealous servant instructed by an heir to wipe out the stain.”it is not exactly clear in the course of narration if the kuseremane family bears sole blame for what has happened in rwanda or if they do so, realize their guilt but everyone, even friends have become wary and are appalled as soon as they become aware of the family’s name. finally, the whispers have found human voices and it becomes even harder for the family in kenyan exile to strengthen their supposedly promising contacts in kenya and abroad. back home in rwanda, the family has lost its name as well as its influence. at first, it seems like it would be very easy to move to europe, boniface kuseremane believes strongly that these whispers and then rumours of their guilt will not carry weight in europe. in kenya too, he believes that the whispers being carried by the wind will “fall silent.” even though only rumours and whispers exist, the weight on the family is quite heavy and this tells seriously on the family and greatly influences their existence in kenya on a refugee status. the situation of these refugees in exile is a precarious one resulting in total collapse. the protagonist learns to make himself invisible so he does not stand out of the masses and make himself an easy target. he turns to quiet places in order to forget his real life. now, he can understand why some things always remain unexpressed and remain “buried in silence.” seeing that his own name is accused with a heinous crime and that in order to invoke, it is better for him and his family to remain silent about this subject. even when he tries to adapt the situation, he slowly breaks down. he cries in secret and becomes unusually aggressive towards his wife lune and his sister chi-chi .it is unimaginable that his wife and sister had to become prostitutes for them to get their emigration papers. when he should be taking care of the family he cannot because he feels that he is being taunted for his ineffectuality. kuseremane blames himself for the death of his sister and cannot blame his wife for prostituting herself. he decides to stay with his sister and mother in kenya and “live in the silence and perform the rituals of return, for life.” this is a mirror of his desperation and acquiescent state of mind. now that he wants to leave and can actually, finally leave, he thinks of the struggles and harassments he has experienced as a refugee. it is either he does not want to leave anymore because his former life has fallen into pieces; is inexistent, another life in another time and this now is his second life. boniface kuseremane is portrayed as an escapist who, when faced with an undeniable situation of need as refugee, prefers to circumscribe his own and his family status in the euphemistic terms of “visitors, tourists, people in transit, universal citizens with . . . an affinity to europe.” he is reluctant to accept the unfortunate development of the situation but expresses hope; a hope that it seems is linked not only to the resolving of the awful and insecure state of affairs for himself and his family but a rather strong desire to run away from the whispers, horrifying visions and a mysterious, ever repeating uttering of his very own name, that haunt him day and night. relatively, in an early stage of denouement in which hope has not been completely lost, kuseremane still sees a chance to escape the spell by leaving the continent: “soon we will be gone to europe where the wind’s weight of whispers does not matter; where the wind and all its suggestions have been obliterated.”obviously, he is not only in political exile but emotional exile as well. he is thus trying to escape from concrete problems as well as the more abstract but seemingly more urgent problem: the whispers. this can also be seen as an escape from self. the whispers come from a voice within that carries the truth of having committed an egregious crime which he is unwilling to confess neither to himself nor to the reader. though not clearly, kuseremane’s narration is structured in a desultory and blurring manner. this, to a large extent, hinders the reader in clearly construing the facts. even at www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 7 that, the story still reveals kuseremane’s complicity in the affairs of the genocide. the most apparent facts are his beating his wife and sister and the general pattern of shifting blames on third persons. further discussion of this blurring effect will be highlighted in the subsection below on kuseremane as an unreliable narrator. to only read kuseremane as that “rwandan tutsi aristocrat” is to perform an irresponsibly violent simplification of a character whose provenance is consciously problematical in the text; a simplification that with brutal irony perpetuates the simplified and racialised discursive binary of tutsi/hutu that partially enabled the 1994 genocide, and which continues in the news media and “common-sense” popular consciousness today. within the story, although aspects of kuseremane’s precise origins remain elliptical and indeterminate, and this is partially because the narrative is a present tense depiction of his present condition, it is clear that throughout the story, and particularly during his early days in nairobi, there are certain putative identity-anchors onto which kuseremane is wont to arrogantly cling. kuseremane’s anchors within the text, his misguided certainties, even toward the end of his decline, are these: he is a member of a divine-right royalty who at birth was “recognised by the priests as a man and a prince”; he is a former senior diplomat; he is a successful neo-colonial elite partner in both a banking and gemstone business; he is a well-educated “universal citizen” with a ph.d. in diplomacy and a masters in geophysics. so firmly does he want to retain these aspects of his identity that even as this identity clearly unravels – something that the text’s structural irony enables the reader to appreciate, while kuseremane does not – and he is faced with an unhelpful and unsympathetic staff member at the american embassy who denies him any rights to asylum since he cannot produce the correct papers, his having left his home country in a hurry, he still “want[s] to shout to the woman: i am boniface kuseremane, a prince, a diplomat.” other clues in the text suggest the kuseremanes’ racial-ethnic and geographical “origins”: they are at intervals described as being “very tall”, “slender” and possessed of “high cheekbones.” these pointers prompt the reader to recognise that kuseremane is probably a tutsi, even though the word “tutsi” is not used in the text, for these are the physiological indicators that have been used since the days of john hanning speke and henry morton stanley to racially define this great lakes group, and which have become commonly accepted even in the region itself, as we shall see. however, matters become complex and problematic as we continue to read owuor’s fiction, which is rooted in historical time, alongside the postcolonial history of the region. the time and the places and faces do not add up, and not as a consequence, as some might state, of owuor’s inadequate research. firstly, kuseremane is implicated in the genocide (although the text leaves his real guilt ambiguous), and towards the end of the text his name has been added in his home country to the list of genocidaires; indeed, the “weight of whispers” in the story are these rumours of his improbable involvement that filter through to kenya and that lead to him being ostracised by his fellow refugees and to that symbolic act of self-abnegation, his inability to utter his own name in public. as a consequence of kuseremane’s royal lineage and physiological features, and the fact that there is genocide in his home country that has experienced the death of a president, we are almost obliged to take the simple option and conclude that he is a member of the rwandan tutsi monarchy that was abolished just prior to the country’s independence. and yet, the possibility that a tutsi might have been involved in the genocide that victimised tutsis and moderate hutus in rwanda is a nonsense bordering on the obscene; at least, the choice of only a tutsi killer as central character by owuor would have deflected blame from the real instigators, the “extreme hutu”, and have been a contribution to a damnable revisionist historiography. this, coupled with the near impossibility of kuseremane having recently been a senior diplomat, bearing in mind that habyarimana’s hutu regime in rwanda could boast, only a token one tutsi ambassador in the entire diplomatic service, creates confusion. avoiding falling into the liberal critical trap of reading kuseremane as a real individual, we have to conclude that these are not mere inconsistencies of characterization that may be overlooked for the sake of a “good read”, but rather that they are problems that cannot be resolved. in fact, the impossibility of kuseremane’s origins being what we are told they are, or what is heavily suggested by the text, is enough to draw attention to the fictionality of his “character”, making him a version of brian mchale’s unreliable or “cancelled character”, one who lacks integrity and coherent identity, and whose textual constructedness is laid bare. consequently, the reader is forced to avoid a reading that might simply evince a uselessly sympathetic tear for the disenfranchised kuseremane as a person, an approach that owuor in one interview implies that she would not approve of, if only because in her conception kuseremane is a dislikeable member of the neo-colonial african elite. instead, we have to consider the function of this non-character, “kuseremane”. “kuseremane’s” own myths of origin and stable identity are, then, insupportable and seem to be increasingly delusional as the narrative processes, constructed only to be deconstructed in the postcolonial city and reformulated into that global victim, “the refugee”, by the discursive power of institutions such as foreign embassies, kenyan lawlessness and those flat-character kenyan shopkeepers and landlords who symbolise the tragedy of global capitalism. owuor’s fiction discursively parallels this with the www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 8 insidious historical postcolonial construction of the rwandan tutsi as an ethnic group – an identity construction that, as mentioned, partially enabled the genocide, and which led to tutsi being the majority of refugees who were forced to flee rwanda at the time “kuseremane” does. by problematising the fictional individual, “kuseremane”, and by featuring by implication the historical genocide as the serious issue that cannot be immorally played with and, in traditional fashion, “enjoyed as a good yarn”, owuor’s text obliges us to focus on the problematic history of his tutsi origin. references achebe, chinua. there was a country: a personaal history of biafra. london: penguin books limited, 2012. print. adichie, chimamandangozi. half of a yellow sun. lagos: farafina books, 2006. print. arnold, matthew. “the function of criticism at present time” victorian poetry and poetics. boston: houghton mfflin company, 1968. j.c la driere.directions in contemporary criticism. wisconsin: the bruce publishing company, 1953. print. ker, i. david.literature and society in africa ibadan; spectrum books limited, 2004. print. nnolin, charlse. issues in african literature. lagos: malthouse press limited, 2010. print. ogbedu, m. o. social realism in african prose fictions. n. p, abuja, 2017. print. omotosho, kole, achebe or soyinka: a study in contrast. ibadan: bookcraft, 2009. print. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 9 the german shakespeare oumeima mouelhi phd assistant professor university of al baha, kingdom of saudi arabia e-mail: oumeima777@gmail.com abstract over the past four hundred years, shakespeare has played a significant role within a european framework, particularly, where a series of political events and ideologies were being shaped. the birth of the nation during the late 18th and 19th centuries, the first and second world wars, the process of european unification during the 1990s, are a case in point. this part challenges the idea of an all-encompassing universal shakespeare by demonstrating that shakespeare and his plays transmitted across different histories, languages, and traditions meant something significantly different in these geographical contexts. rejecting the existence of a universally absolute and singular shakespearean meaning, i attempt to demonstrate that shakespeare is always what he is imagined to be in a cultural and historical context. the various local and national appropriations and the universality of the cultural icon, “shakespeare”, clash in the daily practice of interpreting, performing, and teaching his plays. this paper discusses shakespeare’s appropriation and performance in east germany. it focuses on the theatrical production and its cultural context in this country. keywords: shakespeare, east germany, appropriation, performance, context. in berlin, the presence of shakespeare’s plays was particularly dominant during the first years of the nazi period, but he was a popular author during the war as well. in germany, shakespeare has been identified with national aspirations, the creation of national literary canon, and the mythology of a german national literature. he shares the fate of the german nation, from that hamlet-like condition before german unification to the dismemberment after 1945 of the reich created in 1871. germans in both parts of the once divided nation had all along been using the same text for their theatrical performances and their reading of shakespeare. the great “classic translation by august wilhelm schlegel, itself a living proof to many on this side of the channel including coleridge, hazlitt, and lamb” attest to the fact that, “shakespeare legitimately achieved the status of a timeless german classic” (habicht, 1995, p. 3). from the beginning of the weimar republic in 1919 to the end of the german democratic republic (gdr), seventy years later, the german theatre was caught up in and often self-confidently raised its voice in the political discourse. for almost 150 years since the unique schlegel translations at the turn of the 18th century, shakespeare had been regarded as a german author (marston, 1999, p. 132). the intense preoccupation with shakespeare of practically all german writers, the classical and the romantic movements had turned him into a landmark in german intellectual history. during the course of the 19th century, his plays had found increasing acceptance of the german stage and were by now the most performed of all dramatists, german or foreign. by the 20th century, shakespeare was an established fact in the german cultural history on many levels of german cultural life. marston (1999) added that: it is against this background of shakespeare’s undoubted significance to germany’s cultural identity that the argument about his acceptability for a theatre at war has to be seen by the chauvinists whose customary greeting “golt strafe england!” (may god punish the british!) registered the general anger at albion’s perfidy (p. 132). in germany, shakespeare was considered as an icon. nowhere was he more cherished than in germany. nowhere were his works better received and made alive than in this spot of the world. germans revered shakespeare and paid tribute to him through the frequent performance of his plays. according to marston (1999), mailto:oumeima777@gmail.com www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 10 there is no nation, not even the british, which is more entitled to call shakespeare its own way than germany. shakespeare’s characters have become part of our world, his soul has become one with ours: and though he was born and buried in england, it is in germany that he is truly alive (p. 83). in the collective german memory, shakespeare was part of the german theatrical repertoire that no other nation would dare to have. shakespeare, though english of birth, was perceived more as german than english in the eyes of many by germans. and above all shakespeare! he is more frequently performed in germany during a single year than during a whole decade in his native country. and, what is more important, he is incomparably better performed than over there. our shakespeare! thus, we may call him, even if he happened to be born in england by mistake. thus we may call him by right of spiritual conquest. and should we succeed in vanquishing england in the field, we should, i think, insert a clause into the peace treaty stipulating the formal surrender of william shakespeare to germany (wilson, 2000, p. 89). the german theatre does not only, in hamlet’s words, “show the very age and body of the time, his form and pressure” (iii.2.22-23), it also, in schiller’s words, functions as “the nation’s moral academy” (puttenham, 2005, p. 154). the german theatre entered the political arena of the 20th century during war time. under the impact of the great traumatic blows to german identity, theatre and politics were locked in a close and usually antagonistic relationship. shakespeare was at the heart of the struggle. his significance for the development of german literature and intellectual life in the 18th and 19th centuries is well known. in the 20th century, it was the theatre which referred to shakespeare as ultimate proof and final arbiter. for german directors and dramatists, shakespeare’s work was both “infinite continent and black hole” (marston, 1999, p. 125). for bertlolt brecht and heiner muller (1989), shakespeare was a “creative spur and trauma in one” (53). muller’s conclusion that, “we have not yet come into our own as long as shakespeare writes our play” hints at german dilemma in theatre and politics (ibid). at a time when the political landscape of the country was changing rapidly leaving in most people’s minds a lasting doubt as to the reality of change, great numbers of people were fashioning themselves anew, creating for themselves different social roles, different associations and even more appropriate personalities. there was an undeniable gain in that the theatre had freed itself of the shadow of the classic. socialist realism was defined as, “the art of the truth of life comprehended and interpreted by the artist from the point of view of devotion to leninist party principles” (james, 1973, p. 121). muller proved uncompromising to the rigid ideological and aesthetic doctrine of socialist realism and worked to undermine it. in this, as in other dominant 20th century contexts, shakespeare has been an active political presence resistant to attempts to be turned into an icon. carried through history by each new generation of directors and audiences to this very day, his theatre has remained a source of hope, inspiration, and challenge. it was in these circumstances that the idea of “nostrification”, as coined by franz dingelstedt, was born. as early as 1858, dingelstedt announced that the appropriation of shakespeare had to be a “common property of the nation” and that germany was in a position to “nostrify” him completely (johnson, 2006, p. 249). 1 derived from the adjective “proprius” meaning “one’s own”, appropriation can be examined both in its diachronicity and synchronicity a diachronic overview would survey how shakespeare has been appropriated at different historical times (for example, the shakespeare of the restoration, the enlightenment, romanticism, etc.,), whereas a synchronic perspective would demonstrate the specific ways and areas in which this appropriation takes place (for instance genres, art forms, different ethnic communities, and ideologies of “recruiting shakespeare”). appropriation by other languages and cultures is one of the ways of “nostrification” giving expressions of linking shakespeare to nation-formation from eastern and central european cultures (croyden, 2002, p. 69). as “world phenomenon”, shakespeare is nobody’s property; to appropriate his work for the stage is an act of cultural assimilation which is demanding in more than one way. first of all, the bard remains in whichever form, “a literary value”, as michael bristol (1996) notes in his big time shakespeare, that any literary value makes sense only on the condition that the worth of literary works is seen in terms of gifts rather than of commodities. and as gifts, “great literary works entail particularly complex and onerous obligations” (p. 144). with these provisions in 1 christa johnson, german shakespeare studies at the turn of the twenty first century (newark: university of delware press, 2006), p. 249. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 11 mind, the concept of “appropriation” entails a sense of aneignung. in other words, aneignunug, connotes more than taking a cultural work for one’s own purposes only. rather, the obligation is to give the work our own, our best, most thoughtful response which concord with our own changing world. during the nazi regime, for instance, shakespeare was even used in wartime newspaper cartoon to underline the reich’s cultural credits. such nazi appropriation was not a futile one. the hitler youth sponsored a festival where all the history plays were performed at successive nights. nothing like that had been attempted before anywhere in the world, as the organisers proudly pointed out. in the major playhouses, too, some of the reich’s most memorable productions were shakespearean: werner krauf’s richard iii; the rival interpretations by rudolf forster and grundgens as richard ii, grungens, as hamlet; heinrich george as falstaff, or krauf’s infamous shylock (wolfganga, 1989, p. 120). schiller’s famous phrase that shakespeare was a, “moral institution” in the third reich reflected all too accurately “germany’s moral collapse” (ibid) gergart hauptmann’s address “deutschland und shakespeare”2, or “germany and shakespeare” of 1915, elucidates some degree of identification with shakespeare’s hero, hamlet that few other cultures would dare to imitate (delabastita, 2008, p. 270). there is something in the german political landscape that makes the figure of shakespeare, and of hamlet in particular, adequate as a national symbol. under the exceptional conditions in the germany of the twenties, it was imperative for all the arts to relate to the present. most artists felt that there was no going back to the worn out formula that overtook europe of the wwi. in fact, developing new means of expression and helping to construct a contemporary ethos were part of the process.3 the trend to appropriate shakespeare to the contemporary climate in politics and art was vehemently cherished. remembering goethe’s exhortation that every heritage must be reacquired by a deliberate effort, many actors and playwrights needed to repossess shakespeare as a living heritage. their inspiration was basically educational: a theatre directed to preserve a classical body of works in a time of flux and sensational re-evaluations. a large section of people favoured this moderately conservative treatment of the classics and supported efforts that went under the name of “kulturpflege”, or “shakespearepflege”, i.e., the devoted cultivation and transmission of a valuable heritage (marston, p. 162). the politics of shakespeare appropriation looms as large as in most theatrical productions of shakespeare in the european countries of the former soviet bloc. the east german theatre, more often than not, tended to play out a type of cultural politics characterised by a desire to discover something new within and beyond the dominating marxist analysis of history. in these circumstances, it was not surprising that audiences, as lawrence guntner pointedly notes, “came to expect, and party cultural functionaries came to suspect that shakespeare productions might just contain gift-wrapped critiques of the east-german version of the socialist system” (guntner and mc lean, 1998, p. 3). the stage came to assume the role of a public forum where cultural ideology, and by extension the socialist claims and problems of the state, could be staged, debated, but also criticized. in some socialist countries in post-war eastern europe and especially in east germany, the dominant politics of reception sought to emphasize the authority of the classical text as best compatible with realism in the theatre à la stanislavski. here the appropriation of postwar subversive use of shakespeare’s plays mirrored another facet of the new historicist/cultural materialist side, that of containment. in stephen greenblatt’s words, “shakespeare’s plays are centrally and repeatedly concerned with the production and containment of subversion and disorder” (greenblatt, 1988, p. 40). in what follows, i will apply the theory of containment precisely to that part of the world that has been cited as a prime experience of subversion. in east germany, hamlet has always been a significant play for germans in political terms. according to pfister (1994), there has hardly been one important phase in german history which was not discussed in terms of the hamlet myth or reflected in interpretations and productions of the play. from the 18th century onwards, hamlet in germany has not been a ‘play like any other,’ but a screen on which to project the changing constructions of german nation identity […], nor has shakespeare been a foreign dramatist like any other. his ‘nostrification’ involved much more than mere translation, interpretations, or idolization; in its fully-fledged form, it meant the claim that shakespeare is essentially ours, essentially german (p, 176). 2 cited in drink delabastita, josef de vos, and paul franssen, shakespeare and european politics, eds (newark: university of delware press, 2008), p. 270. 3 wolfgang, shakespeare in nazi germany, p. 123. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 12 turning back the wheel of time to the historical turmoil of berlin in ww ii, pujante and hoenselaars show, in four hundred years of shakespeare in europe, how shakespeare was seen as a force for social change in the then political chaos of germany. the frequent staging of hamlet shows how influential shakespeare was in the cultural rebuilding of a split nation: east and west germany. however different the motives were in both parts of germany, shakespeare was to play an eminent role in the political scene of the german democratic republic and the federal republic of germany. in east germany, theatre was expected to contribute to the establishment of a socialist culture based on a militant and optimistic socialist humanism. under the strict control of party ideologues, there was no room for an art free from politics. shakespeare was part of the official gdr culture and was proclaimed as a precursor of socialist realism. in the 20th century, the political use of shakespeare in eastern europe increased sharply. the playwright of the 16th century was used for contemporary political dilemmas and helped define the national values and identity of germany which remained a second home for him. it is in this sense that shakespeare’s theatre in the 20th century was, first and foremost, political fitting the “taste” of the day. in trevor nunn’s words, it was a, “socially concerned theatre […] an avowed and committed popular theatre” and finally, “a politically aware theatre […] determined to reach beyond the barriers of income” (holland, 1997, p. 200). in his “german hamletology and beyond”, manfred pfister sought to widen and deepen the notion of the cultural specificity of meaning by showing that shakespeare, in general, and hamlet, in particular, are embedded in german history particularly as a result of the place it held in german romantic theory. besides, because of its accounts of national identity, hamlet is actually a different play from that known by english readers and is in close contact with reality (pfister, p. 200). for that, hamlet’s advice to the players, “to hold as it were the mirror up to nature” (v.2.23), was assumed to be at the heart of shakespeare’s credo and the reception of his work in germany, and the world over. in east germany, a post-modern meditation on hamlet written by east german playwright heiner muller in 1977, hamletmachine, written in five acts like shakespeare’s hamlet, was an avant-gardist work and an experimental take on shakespeare’s tragedy. the work addresses diverse issues: some of them are undeniably political dealing with a split germany coming out of the shadow of world war and, thus, dealing with communism and the 1956 hungarian revolt while other subjects, included in the production, tackle the issue of feminism and hamlet’s dilemma could not pass unnoticed. muller made use of hamlet to portray the atrocity of our living with a plot acquiring a universal dimension as it becomes an epitome of man’s suffering and political inaction. hamlet and ophelia turn into icons of the failing german revolution and the torment engendered by its inhibition. most probably, it is this very fall that paved the way to “germany is hamlet” (hortman, 1984, p. 23). “hamlet,” hortmann writes: is the longest play in world literature in terms of quantity of text. and we cut almost nothing […] and hamlet was really the only thing that occurred to me, because i had the feeling this is the most relevant play at the moment in the gdr. (muller, 1989, p. 41). muller’s hamletmachine explores the relationship between shakespeare and east germany. shakespeare’s reception in germany in general and in east germany, in particular, tells the story of how shakespeare was performed, criticized, and understood within the context of east german social history. east german theatre people, literary historians, audiences, and the ruling socialist unity party always believed that theatre had something to do with politics. those involved in the theatre felt their work would help to change people as well as society. so the theatre and its approach to staging shakespeare was defined officially, redefined in performance, and then treated differently later when political conditions changed. what makes this process interesting is that theatre was in a continual state of change despite the fact that the gdr developed more and more into a close society. yet, it was precisely this contradiction that provided east german directors, set designers, dramaturges, and performers with the dramatic materials they needed to redefine using shakespeare performance to comment on the contemporary theatre situation in the gdr. the staging of shakespeare’s plays was, to a large extent, critical of the gdr socialist system. they helped create a political sensibility and raised consciousness among the german people that fostered the 1989 bloodless revolution and the fall of the berlin wall. but this focus may also be seen as paradigm for what happened to shakespeare and other classics, to a certain degree, in other east european socialist societies, (this part will be discussed later). in the gdr, actors and theatre audiences learned to look at shakespeare’s plays in a new way. critics and playwrights set about rewriting classics in the light of the german political life. brecht (2002) called the new emerging theatre, “goring theatre” (p. 47), that is a theatre of prompt www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 13 circumstances. socialists and communists saw this situation as the chance to cut off the horrible twelve years of nazism. for them, germany was in the midst of a zeitenwende, i.e., a period of time in which the stage would play an important role as a political-pedagogical force, “a weapon and a tool for educating the masses for social change”, and shakespeare was seen as the greatest stimulating force in the development of this tradition into account. this idea was best illustrated through the performance of shakespeare on stage. heiner muller, brecht’s disciple, initiated a new epoch in german staging. convinced that every historical age requires its own performance; muller approached shakespeare’s script as a performance material rather than a purely literary text. redefinitions of shakespeare’s drama in terms of the contemporary east german cultural politics can be traced in the reworking of muller’s hamletmachine (1977). a radical abbreviation and revision of the play relocates hamlet, the character and hamlet the play, in a post-modern society where there is no social, moral, or cultural authority. in 1987, two years before the fall of the berlin wall, muller had told the german shakespeare society that, “we have not arrived at our destination as long as shakespeare is still writing our plays” (p. 124). to arrive at where he was going, muller deconstructed not only “the socialist national culture”, but also tried his hand at deconstructing shakespeare by demonstrating that hope for any kind of a future for humanity was a chimera for which, like hamlet, time had simply run out; “no hope, no despair” as muller deems: when i wrote hamletmachine, after translating shakespeare’s hamlet for a theatre in east berlin, it turned out to be my most american play, quoting t.s eliot, andy warhol, coca cola, ezra pound, and susan atkins. it may be read as a pamphlet against the illusion that one can stay innocent in this our world. (muller, p. 123) a dedicated communist, muller’s work was anti-fascist, humanist, and later so critical of the socialist regime in east germany by recognising the repressive nature of stalinism during the suppression of the hungarian revolution in 1956. rehearsals for a production combining shakespeare’s hamlet and muller’s hamletmachine started at the deutsche theatre in east berlin in september 1989. at that time, the eastern part of germany seemed firmly in the grips of an old clan of stalinist politicians endeavouring to prevent the intrusion of nations of democracy from the west. the opening of the hamletmachine occurred on 24 march 1990. in the meantime, germany witnessed a sequence of leaders’ downfalls, then a succession of new leaders who superseded the older ones, and ultimately the falling of the communist party. six months later, germany was reunited. being aware, at the same time, that such phenomenal historic changes were occurring, muller was constantly forced to reconsider and readjust his concept of tragedy. however, his hamlet became the shakespearean production of a doomed society and at the same time a foreboding for humanity. kalb writes that: packed with quotations and paraphrases from eliot, cummings, marx, benjamin, artaud, sartre, shakespeare, the bible, muller himself, and others often strung together without connecting text. hamletmachine tacitly renounces style but nevertheless acquires something like a style due to the humour and intelligence with which muller applies the quotations and moulds shakespeare’s characters and other borrowed figures to his purposes. (kalb, 1998, p. 108). hamletmachine may retain the five-act skeleton of shakespeare’s play, may indeed tell a story, but it is the story of a failure. there is no climax, no action, and no dialogue both on the level of motif and the level of structure the play enacts, as kalb claims, the death of drama or more specifically the failure of traditional dramatic form either to express or to challenge the world. 4 this inadequacy reflects the death of history and the death of drama as muller puts it, “with my last play, hamletmachine, that’s come to an end. no substance for dialogue exists anymore because there is no history.” (ibid). understood as an allegory, hamletmachine announces the death of history. the text is divided into five sections or acts; each separately titled “family scrapbook”. the opening act anticipates an exhumation of a past history through the most common of domestic archives. yet, it also hints at a melancholic possibility, for it informs us that we will not see a family but its “scraps”. this might also take on its colloquial meaning, a fight or quarrel, making this “book” the fragmented story of struggle, conflict, or catastrophe. this sense of ongoing failure is further enhanced by hamletmachine’s first line: “i was hamlet” (fischlin and fortier, 2000, p. 211). the past tense here not only problematizes the identity of the speaker, but also implies temporally the end of the play. if the speaker was, but no longer is, the tragedy of hamlet would end its run. the 4 ibid. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 14 next line more than doubles the distance between the hamlet speaker and this past tragedy, opening an abyss between them, “i stood on the ashore and talked with the surf bla bla, the ruins of europe in back of me” (211). “ruins” resonates meaningfully, here, becoming a rubric of the piling up of allegorical signs already under way. in “the allegorical impulse: towards a theory of postmodernism”, which is perhaps the first fully developed understanding of postmodernist aesthetics as an allegorical mode, craig owens claims that what is most ‘proper’ of allegory is: its capacity to rescue from historical oblivion that which threatens to disappear […] a conviction of the remoteness of the past and a desire to redeem it for the present and these are its most fundamental impulses. (owens, 1984, p. 215) in muller’s hamletmachine, our historical imagination is compelled back to the post-war remains of a shattered europe or alternatively forward to some future past in which hamlet and europe have not only lost their relevance but their being, “tomorrow morning has been cancelled” (212). for muller, europe is today more completely in ruins than berlin was then. on an aesthetic level, the oppressive regime of the gdr forced muller to take advantage of allegory’s inherent doublespeak thus: in many ways, hamletmachine points out to the giving way (by hamlet, muller, shakespeare, brecht, europe, men) to the revolutionary project of presently oppressed groups who hold the future in their hands. stylistically and politically, hamletmachine submits shakespeare’s play to dismemberment and a radical influx of myriad historical forces and allusions. (fisclin and fortier, 2000, p. 210). after some of his earliest plays were banned, muller began coding multiple levels of meaning into his work; a technique easily decoded by the gdr audiences. ironically, however, after he made his allegorical turn in his work, muller’s plays began to gain enormous popularity in the west, a phenomenon that reached its zenith in muller’s hamletmachine. kalb (1999) notes that: “the work won a place as a modern classic even before it was produced” (p. 121). although the entire text might be conceived as muller’s own monodrama, his self-critique of the intellectual is most clearly apparent in the hamlet monologues of acts i and iv. the second sentence of the first monologue stands out as a concise summation of the general nature of intellectual crisis, “i stood at the shore and talked with the surf bla bla, the ruins of europe in back of me” (211). the image is striking, the “i”, who was hamlet, speaks but to a vast extent of nothingness and says nothing. the ruins of the western world invite us to complete the story by assuming that while europe burned, hamlet babbled. this gets the essence of the intellectual dilemma of self-doubt present in shakespeare’s hamlet. muller changes the ending, introducing a poem by zbigniew herbert called, “fortinbras’ lament”, which includes the words, “this or any other way you were bound to fall, hamlet you were not fit for life, you believed in crystalline concepts and not in human clay.” (rogoff, 1986, p. 54) muller’s production offered a comment on the historical attitude of the day, and muller’s staging is a reflection of his sombre view that history has become disjointed and senseless. the performance takes seven and a half hours. spatial architecture and vast cycloramas are fused; one of the most prominent features is a massive concrete shelter. the lapse of time is a decisive feature in muller’s staging. the enigma of hamlet arises in part from the fact that historical time intruded into the dramatic time when the play was written argues muller, “time has run away from hamlet, as it has from a whole social era. life punishes those who come too late, said gorbatchov. we all come too late says this hamletmachine” ( muller, 1989, p.12). ulrich muhe’s hamlet (the actor playing hamlet) is a slim, sensitive youngster wearing a double-breasted black suit too large for him. already the black coat forebodes a tragic end, “something is rotten in the age of hope,” (214) hamlet says in hamletmachine. in the latter, he never grows up to fill the suit, just as he is never willing to accept the political responsibility thrust upon them. he is burdened by the curse of thought. he is the man of enlightenment who cannot deal with the harsh call to action: his failure is his intellectual paralysis in the face of the need to act. hamlet is similarly paralyzed by his own position of privilege: he sees himself both inside the palace and down with the revolutionaries in the street-a position with which muller, as renowned author identifies (fischer and fortier, 1989, p. 209). in hamletmachine, horatio is depicted as an ageless intellectual with a pale face who observes all the events from the edge. one who diffuses burning events through a throat microphone, one who is convinced of his www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 15 own feebleness in view of the power politics around and who, in the end, reacts to the destruction of his world with mocking laughter. hamlet, in this production, is made to traverse the history of the earth from ice age to heat death. taking his cue from francisco’s lines, ‘tis bitter cold, /and i am sick at heart,’ muller sets the beginning of the play, in a stage-high cube-to represent an enormous block of ice, whose melting produces a constant trickle of water and a pool in the middle of the stage. on a more personal plane, the production depicts the conflict individuals have to face when they get involved in political turmoil. contemporary events are alluded to via the characters’ moves and sound effects. thus, when the ghost appears on the stage, we hear a muted recording of the funeral ceremony at stalin’s death; the “little father who is still haunting the realm, redirecting the murderous actions of coming generations” (217). besides, in the actor scene, the section begins with the entrance of three naked women embodied in the political personalities of marx, lenin, and mao and together they quote marx, “the main point is to overthrow all existing conditions” (211). in contrast to hamlet’s patriarchal and authoritarian regression, it is ophelia who emerges as the revolutionary “other”. ophelia represents, “all the aspects of life which are necessarily and systematically suppressed to allow the imposition and maintenance of that order”, writes arlene teraoka, “she is the force held captive in the asylums of the enlightenment state”. (teraoka, 1985, p. 122). contrary to hamlet’s egocentric romanticization, ophelia’s heart is cold, hard, and mechanical. unlike hamlet, ophelia shows no signs of bifurcated identity announcing clearly, “i am ophelia. the one the river didn’t keep. the woman dangling from the rope. the woman with her arteries cut open. the woman with the overdose. snow on her lips. the woman with her head in the gas stove” (212). ophelia has emerged from historical oblivion, she embodies the coming back of the repressed in a newly physical form, the embodiment of all women forced to succumb to the “impurities and depredations of patriarchy”. (ibid). her heart/clock has been marking time throughout not “killing time” like the hamlet figure, but keeping time until it becomes an explosive force. for ophelia, that time is now as the present tense that her monologue indicates, “i smash the tools of my captivity, the chair, the table, the bed. i destroy the battlefield that was my home. i fling open the doors so the wind gets in and the scream of the world” (212). through a reading of the silencing of ophelia and hamlet’s schizophrenic experience, we come to understand muller’s critique of the intellectual and his despair in a postmodern age. muller’s ophelia is not crippled by madness, nor does she commit suicide. this is the woman whose despair at the loss of a lover and the death of her father does not lead to insanity at the end of her life: i stopped killing myself […] with my bleeding hands. i tear the photos of the men i loved and who used me on the bed, on the table, on the chair, on the ground. i set fire to my prison. i threw my clothes into the fire. i wrench the clock that was my heart. i walk into the street clothed in my blood (212). near the end of hamletmachine, ophelia takes on the role of the avenging electra. no longer willing to accept the river as her end, she becomes a terrorist squeaky fomme , whose words she speaks. she is the revolutionary who has nothing to lose, not even her life, since it has been taken from her and abused by men. ophelia’s story is very different in hamletmachine. it tells the violent necessity of change. muller locates the potential for radical action in the lives of those most persistently oppressed and dispossessed. in hamlet, this person is ophelia. but muller seems to be pessimistic at the end of the play; there are two men in white smocks who wrap the body of ophelia. from the modernist perspective, the body is an object that can never be adequately contained by language. the body always exceeds the parameters of anyone discourse. in postmodernism, as defined by kroker and crook, the body is not a biological organism, but an entity only in the discourse and the context in which it is conceptualized as it is made clear by lewis (2005), the body is a power grid, tattooed with all the signs of cultural excess on its surface, encoded from within by the language of desire, broken into at will by the ideological interpellation of the subject and all the while, held together as a fictive concrete unity by the illusion of misrecognition.5 the wrapping of ophelia, the binding of the voice, of the other, is an extremely powerful image and a metaphor for the predominant response of those in power to the threat of radical change. it is this point of resistance that muller critiques so rigorously in his play; recognition of the need for change does not necessarily mean a 5 richard lewis, postmodernism: a critical theory (oxford: blackwell, 2005), p. 75. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 16 willingness to change. hamlet’s position within hamletmachine can be understood as a conflict between his hesitation to change and the recognition of the urgent need for change. the romantic dream of overthrowing the father/state is illustrated by the appearance of two men in white smocks binding the voice of ophelia whose breasts, thighs, and lap have become instruments of destruction. this is not hamlet who binds the voice of ophelia, but heiner muller: “two men dressed in surgeon’s gowns wrap muslin all around her and the wheelchair from the bottom of the top. here speaks electra” (214). here, ophelia announces a total break with the past, an absolute discontinuity. her message is aimed at the “metropolitis of the world”, at industrial society. she speaks in the name of the victims-the women, the exploited masses, the suppressed peoples of the third world. this is electra speaking. in the heart of darkness. under the sun of torture. to the capitals of the world. in the name of the victims. i eject the sperm i have received. i turn the milk of my breasts into lethal poison. i take back the world i gave birth to. i choke between my thighs the world […] i bury it in my womb. down with happiness of submission. long live hate and contempt, rebellion and death. when she walks through your bedrooms carrying butcher knives, you’ll know the truth (p. 75). the wrapping of ophelia does more than silence her voice, it insists upon her absolute otherness; it defines the boundaries of her subjectivity. yet, the final image is one of the most memorable. the original purpose of egyptian mummification was not simply to dispose of the body but to preserve it as a vessel for the life to come. so while millennia may pass, utopian hope remains in ophelia and the history written on her body, is a corporal inscription of its own potential. this is the story of an avant-gardist play, “projecting the story of hamlet into the 20th century, when the socialist dreams of several european generations are dashed by cruelty and terror: “something is rotten in this age of hope” (214). the totally disillusioned actor hamlet refuses to play anymore roles and during an anti-communist insurrection, is swayed by divided loyalties between the rebels and the defenders of the state. he wants to become a machine without pain and thought […] ophelia, after her metamorphosis from an aggressive anarchist into a whore performing striptease, is lashed to a wheelchair in the final scene […] declares her intention to reject the world shakespeare had given birth to, invoking ‘hatred, contempt, rebellion, death’. in the world where machines have taken control of human beings, violence breaks out as a spasm of oppressed humanity. (stribrny, 2000, p. 138). references brandt, g. (2007). theatre and poltics in germany 1914-1945. new york: palgrave. bristol, m. d. (1996). big time shakespeare. london: routledge. croyden, f. (2002). appropriation and intertext. berkeley: university of berkeley press. fischlin, d, and fortier. m (2000). adaptations of shakespeare: an anthology of plays from the seventeenth century to the present. eds. london: routledge. greenblatt, s. (1988). shakespearean negotiations. berkeley and los angeles: university of california press. guntner, l, & mc lean.a.m (1998). redefining shakespeare: literary theory and theatre practice in the german democratic republic. eds. newark: university of delware press. habicht, w. (1995). shakespeare in divided germany: 1949-1989. shakespeare in southern africa 8, 30-39. holland, p. (1997). english shakespeares: shakespeare on the english stage in the 1990s cambridge: cambridge university press. hortman, w. (1984). shakespeare in west germany. shakespeare quarterly 35, 233-238. james, v. c. (1973). soviet socialist realism: origin and theory. new york: st. martin’s press. johnson, c. (2006). german shakespeare studies at the turn of the twenty first century.newark: university of delware press. kalb, j. (1998). the theater of heiner muller. cambridge: cambridge university press. lewis, r. (2005). postmodernism: a critical theory. oxford: blackwell. martson, a. (1999). shakespeare, lessing, and goethe. chicago: chicago university press. muller, h. (1989). hamletmachine and other texts for the stage. ed and trans. carl weber. newyork: paj publications. craig o. (1984). the allegorical impulse: towards a theory of postmodernism. in b. wallis (ed), art after modernism: rethinking representation. (p. 215). new york: godine. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 2, no. 1; 2020 17 pfister, m. (1994). hamlets made in germany east and west. in hattaway. m and sokolova, b. (ed) shakespeare in the new europe (p. 76). london: sheffield academic press. pujante, a.l, & hoenselaars, t. (2003). four hundred years of shakespeare in europe. eds. newark: university of delware press. puttenham, a. (2005). friedrich schiller: drama and thought. new york: palgrave. rogoff, g. (1986). review of hamletmachine by heiner muller. performing arts journal 2,59-73. sawday, g. (2002). bertolt brecht: his life and art. new york: palgrave. stribrny, z. (2000). shakespeare and eastern europe. oxford and new york: oxford university press. teraoka, a. a. (1985). the silence of entropy or universal discourse: the post-modernist poetics of heiner muller. california: university of california press. wilson, f. (2000). essays on shakespeare. berkeley: university of california press. wolfgang, j. (1989). shakespeare in nazi germany. chicago: chicago university press. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 20 the role of ethical leadership and whistleblowing intentions: mediating apparatus of moral identity adnan ismail ms department of business administration senior customer service officer nrsp microfinance bank, abdul-hakeem branch, pakistan e-mail: adnanismail752@gmail.com k. m. anwarul islam associate professor department of business administration the millennium university, dhaka, bangladesh e-mail: ai419bankingdu@gmail.com muhammad zohaib ms department of business administration lecturer superior group of colleges, multan, pakistan e-mail: muhammadzohaib4647@gmail.com sana tasaduq bachelor of commerce bahauddin zakariya university, multan, pakistan e-mail: sanatasaduq29155@gmail.com muhammad ismail ms/m.phil. business administration caretaker officer: cm house. punjab, pakistan adjunct faculty member: (project and operation management dpt.) the islamiya university of bahawalpur, punjab, pakistan e-mail: ismailleghari14@gmail.com abstract separation of strategic approaches and morals prompted various business outrages and untrustworthy practices in working environments. this encouraged researchers and practice holders to examine significance of ethical quality at work environment. in particular, the job that moral chiefs play in advancing positive representative practices is urgent. this examination article has featured the part of moral innovators in molding whistleblowing goals of their subordinates. alongside, this exploration article has likewise researched the part of good character. an aggregate of four speculations, analyzing the immediate impact of moral initiative on moral personality and whistleblowing expectations and meditational job of good character mailto:adnanismail752@gmail.com mailto:ai419bankingdu@gmail.com mailto:muhammadzohaib4647@gmail.com mailto:sanatasaduq29155@gmail.com mailto:ismailleghari14@gmail.com https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 21 were proposed. this exploration article embraced a period slacked research article plan and gathered data from representative friend dyads at three focuses on schedule. number of respondents was 214; cross-sectional technique was used for data collection. respondents were selected from different services organizations from multan. data was analysed on spss and amos. results were obtained by applying reliability test, anova, correlation test, and regression test by using process macro. results gained verified that the role of ethical leaders in shaping moral identity of employees as well as their whistleblowing intentions. the findings suggest that employees working under ethical leaders are inclined to stand up against malevolent and unethical practices taking place at their workplace. thus, organizations must hire leaders with higher ethical inclinations and also train the existing leaders about importance of ethics. moreover, this research article has highlighted multiple avenues for future research. keywords: ethical leadership, moral identity, whistleblowing intentions, identity, social identity theory. introduction leaders can influence self-concept of followers such that they can alter or modify the way their subordinates see or define themselves, brown et al. (2006), aquino and reed (2002) defined moral identity as “a self-conception organized around a set of moral traits” or one can assume it as certain features/facets of identity that are concerned with ethical norms and values. research has shown that those who possess a stronger moral identity have greater tendency of acting ethically/morally, patrick et al. (2018). ethical leaders use their managerial skill and moral principles in influencing and directing the behaviours of their employees by guiding them with ethical actions, miceli et al., (1985). ethical leader shapes the moral identity of their followers due to their own ethical and moral values, mayer et al. (2012). researches shows that whistle blowing intensions will be enhanced in the presence of ethical environment in the organizations, dalton and radtke (2013). ethical leaders provide them with the necessary psychological safety and employees judge it supportive and worthwhile to speak up against immoral practices in ethical environment created by ethical leaders, tu, lu, choi, and guo (2019); walumbwa and schaubroeck (2009). thus, staff functional under ethical leader are inclined to develop a strong link with their organization as well as other people at work, brown et al. (2006), and foster sturdier identification with both the principal actor i.e., the leader as well as the organization which will increase their voice and whistle blowing behaviours at work, walumbwa and schaubroeck (2009). one of the prime factors that can result in positive outcomes at workplace is leadership such that leaders play a noteworthy role in sculpting, encouraging and promoting pro-social and constructive/moral voice of employees working under them, grojean et al. (2004). role of leadership in affecting and influencing subordinates and organizations cannot be denied. precisely, ethical leaders can oblige as role model for their aides who may encourage as well as force them to act ethically and morally. ethical leaders set clear moral standards and convey them such that employees are motivated to report any wrongdoing which gives rise to whistle blowing behaviours, brown et al. (2006). gap analysis & problem statement reviewing research on ethical leadership, pointed out that a number of research areas are there that should be explored by future researchers specifically, they said that future researchers must incorporate new intervening variables between ethical leadership and outcomes. and also https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 22 comprehend role of contextual factors in research article in this leadership style. same suggestions were given by saha et al. (2019) and researchers were encouraged to survey the domain of ethical leadership and its effect on various organizational outcomes. an integrative review on ethical leadership by lemoine et al. (2019) calls scholars to observe the underlying links between ethical leadership and its aftermaths. they highlighted that a broad range of mediators and moderators should be linked with ethical leadership and outcomes. so, recognizing the moderators as well as effects of ethical leadership is a worthy area for research miceli et al. (1985), propose that there is need to investigate new mediating components between morality and worker’s positive practices. also, specialists intermittently call for further exploring the connections among leadership and whistleblowing, bhal et al. (2019), liu et al. (2015). management scholars contend that that there is a need to explore the positive results of ethical leader for organizations and its stakeholders, o'keefe, messervey, and squires (2018). whistleblowing activities are pro-social activities as they mean to serve the organizations; along these lines this examination is clarifying the part of ethical leaders in forming whistleblowing intentions of workers. ferreira (2017) argued that the intervening variables amongst leadership styles i.e. ethical leadership and individual level outcomes should be investigated. in particular, may, chang and callahan et al. (2000), vied scholars to explore the role of individuals’ morality along with other variables against moral issues at work and how do employees deal with them in future investigations. besides, search on whistleblowing argues that moral identity as an important individual level factor should be incorporated into research endeavours. thus, this research is research article mediating role of moral identity in the relationship between ethical leadership and outcomes. simply, this research article is contemplating intervening part of moral identity in a relationship between leader’s ethical/moral conduct and whistleblowing intents of subordinates. leaders are imperative for organizations as they can shape thoughts, behaviours and perceptions of their followers, yukl and chavez (2002). though, ethical leadership has been extensively studied in management literature, yet a number of queries regarding their impact on employee behaviours and attitudes are left unanswered, ouakouak, zaitouni, and arya (2020); zhou et al. (2020). therefore, researchers argue that with regards to ethical leadership there are various inquiries that should be replied, as highlighted in gap analysis section. explicitly the significance of these leaders/managers in moulding subordinate’s moral identity and authorizing whistleblowing is a domain that demands exploration. the motivation behind this inspection is to verify that how ethical leadership will influence moral character which impacts their extra-role yet beneficial practice i.e. whistleblowing intentions. it will likewise discover that whether ethical leadership will elevate the worker’s whistle blowing intentions through individual-level mechanism like moral identity. research questions  does ethical leadership affect moral identity of employees?”  “do ethical leaders effect whistleblowing intentions of employees?”  “does moral identity effect whistleblowing intentions of employees?”  “does moral identity mediate the relationship between ethical leadership and whistleblowing intentions?” https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 23 objectives of this research the objectives are to examine the impact of ethical leadership on employee whistleblowing intentions. this research anticipates highlighting the role of ethical leaders in shaping moral selfconception and whistleblowing intentions of subordinates. hence the objectives can be characterized as:  to determine the impact of ethical leadership on moral identity  to determine the impact of ethical leadership on whistleblowing intentions of employees  to determine the impact of moral identity on whistle blowing intentions.  to determine the mediating role of moral identity between ethical leadership and whistleblowing intentions variable’s explanation  ethical leadership is defined as “the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement and ethical decision making”, brown and trevino (2006). followers of these leaders are highly satisfied with their jobs and least stressed and exhausted, sharif and scandura (2014).  moral identity is defined as “a self-schema/self-definition structured around a set of moral traits”, aquino and reed (2002). moral attributes, for example, being caring, reasonable, hard working, and accommodating makes moral identity of an entity/person, aquino et al. (2011). heightened moral identity spurs moral action.  whistleblowing intentions are characterized as “the individual’s probability of actually engaging in whistle-blowing behavior”, chiu (2002). where whistleblowing refers to disclosure of any unethical/immoral act to the higher authorities, for rectifying those actions. literature review ethical leadership the ethical parts of ethical leadership centres around trustworthiness, genuineness, and judicious and principled basic leadership, eubank, christensen-salem et al. (2020). people learn from their leaders by watching those actions which are practiced repeatedly, what is compensated or acknowledged and what conduct prompts correction/punishment. an ethical leader does this through ‘role modelling’ which refers to demonstrating the right conduct by oneself, yukl (2002). ethical leader are otherwise called moral individuals and moral directors/managers. the individual impersonate or copy the approaches, qualities, and practices of their ethical leader, brown and trevino (2006). at the point when a leader shows ethics and morality through his own behaviour and relational influences then he/she is essentially doing ethical leadership, sharif et al. (2014). his/her proactive efforts to persuade ethicality in subordinates and dissuade unethical behaviour encompass the moral manager dimension, walumbwa et al. (2012). ethical managers make ethical expression a part of their management schedule. moral identity studies have proven that moral identity undoubtedly supports prosocial deeds such as philanthropy and dejects unethical behaviours including deception, aquino and reed (2002). simply put, if individuals sense that ethical values together with being “honest”, “compassionate”, “truthful”, and “generous” are significant for defining their identity, they've a https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 24 sturdy moral identification. being an ethical individual forms a desire to be consistent with one’s ethical concepts thru which individuals are inspired to benefit independence from social conventions. identities are thought to generate motivation due to a choice for self-consistency or aversion to the cognitive dissonance of appearing opposite to at least one’s self-idea. the motivation for moral energy in response to moral identity ascends from peoples’ preference for self-consistency, sharif et al. (2014). simply, a person whose moral identity is self-important is innately driven to behave in ways and means that are constant with their information of how a moral person should be. as only a few factors of our universal self-ideas can be active at any individual time, there's an on-going competition among identities for stimulation. higher the strength of one’s moral identity for self-concept, higher is the probability of its activation and so stronger are the chances that one is to act morally, the activation of identities is dependent upon environmental stimulation so that moral prompts tend to spur moral identities while cues for selfinterest can displace moral identification. a positive connection of moral identity is found with ethical leader, mayer et al. (2012), reasonable procedures and regulations, and negative connection with moral withdrawal and the possibility of unethical conduct in business matters. ethical and socially applauded practices are spurred when moral identity is initiated. moral attributes, for example, being caring, reasonable, and hard working, and accommodating makes moral identity of an individual, aquino et al. (2011). it appears to be of prime importance in any event as in the thought we have of ourselves as good specialists impacts the reasons we are arranged to see as huge, or ought to be arranged to see as critical for our decisions. this shows moral character is particular from a theoretical incentive to be advanced or regarded, or as for which examinations can be made. or maybe, moral personality can be viewed as (comprised by) a lot of qualities or on the other hand auras which makes us approach matters in specific manners, including a mien to take certain qualities, alternatives or types of correlation into thought in any case, sharif and scandura (2014). employee whistleblowing intention whistleblowing is an act to expose the unlawful, corrupt or criminal practices of the organization or its members to entities (individuals or organizations) which are authorized to take any action against them, miceli et al. (1985). whistle can be blown by existing employees of the organization or its former employees. whistle blowing is a significant authoritative conduct within the sight of a wrongdoing. whistle blowing is exceptionally useful for organizations when the bad behaviour rises at the work environment, callahan and dworkin (2000). at the point when leaders shows conditions in which rules/regulations promote ethical conduct at exactly that point the approach of whistle blowing will be viable, lewis (2002). there are two kinds of whistle blowing one is inner and other is outer whistle blowing. blowing the whistle to the specialists or the general population outside of the organization is called as outside whistle blowing and blowing the whistle to people and administrators within an association is called as interior whistle blowing, park et al. (2008). organizational members who witness offense in their workplace lean toward not to approach to unveil the bad behaviour and remain quiet because of hazardous and uncertainty components related with the whistleblowing conduct. previously studios on whistleblowing has demonstrated that among the elements why workers hesitant to report the wrongdoing is dread of counters, notion that such exertion will be vain, fear of negative examinations, work misfortune, profession peril, and threat of continuous oppression, miceli et al. (1985). https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 25 social identity theory according to sit (1985) proposed by tajfel and tumer (1985) people categorise themselves and others into numerous social groupings, such as administrative affiliation, religious connection, and age unit etc. sit, tajfel and tumer (1985) states that self-concept is comprised of a “personal-identity” incorporating characteristics such as physical appearances/features skills, psychosomatic qualities etc., and “social-identity “covering relevant group taxonomies. tajfel and turner (1985) while proposing sit state that individuals tend to maintain positive selfesteem and for that purpose, they strive to gain a positive social identity. at first individuals sort their environment in terms of groups (social categorization) they define themselves in terms of the society/organization/group they are a part of and count these referents as in-group whereas individuals not belonging to in-groups are out-group. these social groups provide individuals a sense of self in social world i.e., a way to define themselves (social identification). to maintain a positive self-concept individual, evaluate their in-groups positively and out-groups negatively (social comparison). hypothesis development hypothesis 1: “ethical leadership is positively related to whistleblowing intentions” hypothesis 2: “ethical leadership is positively related to moral identity” hypothesis 3: “moral identity is positively related to whistleblowing intentions” hypothesis 4: “moral identity will mediate the relationship between ethical leadership and whistle-blowing intentions” figure 1. framework research methodology this research accessed employees and their supervisor’s/leaders in order to find employee responses on follower’s moral identity, whistle blowing, and their ethical leadership. questionnaires comprised of measures of ethical leadership, moral identity and whistle blowing intentions are used as a tool to receive feedback from the employees. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 26 in this research article, target population was employees working in telecom sector of multan. convenient sampling technique was used due to scarcity of time and resources. respondents were accessed using personal and professional resources and participation in the research article was on voluntary basis. along with a letter mentioning purpose and privacy of data was also attached with the questionnaire. respondents who provided data at time 1 were again contacted at time 2 and time 3. they were instructed to provide a primary key so that their responses can be matched. 300 questionnaires were distributed at time1, 300 at t2 and 300 at t3. after matching the responses and discarding unusable responses a total of 214 responses were retrieved. thus, the response rate of this research article is 71.3%. following measures are used for obtaining data ethical leadership: to measure the ethical leadership (el) scale developed by wen, p., & chen (2016) is used (10 items). a sample item of ethical leadership is: “my leader conducts his/her personal life in an ethical manner.” response is obtained from 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree 7 = strongly agree). cronbach alpha = 0.84. moral identity: a scale developed aquino and reed (2002) is used (10 items). sample item includes: “i am committed to my moral principles”. response are obtained from 7-point scale 1 = strongly disagree 7 = strongly agree). cronbach alpha = 0.92. whistle blowing intentions: to measure the whistle blowing park and blenkinsopp’s (2009) scale is used which consisted of four items. sample item includes: “i would report it by using internal procedures”. response are obtained from 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree 7 = strongly agree). cronbach alpha = 0.89. the following table gives the instrument summary. table 1. instrument summary variable no of items sample item cronbach alpha ethical leadership 10 “my leader has the best interests of employees in mind” “my leader conducts his/her personal life in an ethical manner.” 0.84 moral identity 10 “the kinds of books and magazines that i read identify me as having these characteristics.” 0.92 whistleblowing intentions 4 “i would report the issue to immediate supervisor” “i would report it to upper management” 0.89 data analysis tools & procedure data for this research article was gathered by using questionnaires, as described above. selfadministered questionnaires were distributed to respondents. a cover letter explaining the scope and purpose of the research article is also attached. moreover, respondents were ensured that their responses will remain confidential and will not be used for any other purpose except analysis. the obtained data was analysed to retrieve results by using spss and amos software. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 27 specifically, preliminary analysis was performed in spss (descriptive, reliability, anova, correlation). whereas, cfa was performed in amos software. moreover, to perform regression analysis process macro for spss was used. before proceeding, incomplete responses and unengaged responses were identified and discarded from further analysis as unengaged and incomplete responses tarnish the findings of the research article. after this step a set of 214 useable responses were retrieved. this data was gathered and coded in spss software. then, initial analysis was performed such that missing values were identified and replaced with neutral values in data sheet. after that reliability analysis determined the reliability of instrument used. anova was performed to identify control variables. moreover, correlation analysis ensured discriminant validity and cfa in amos software ensured convergent validity of responses. at last, regression analysis was done to test the main effect and mediation hypothesis. to perform regression analysis, process by preacher and hayes macro was used. detailed results obtained are discussed in the following sections. confirmatory factor analysis cfa yielded factor loadings along with model fit indices. the regression score weights of all items were greater than 0.3, hence all items loaded distinctly onto their latent variables. the factor loadings are given in following table 2. to establish discriminant and convergent validity cfa was performed using amos software. a 3 factor model was compared with a single factor forced model. results indicate that three factor model had better fit “(χ²/.df = 2.79; cfi. = 0.86; “gfi”= 0.80;“agfi”. = 0.75; nfi. = 0.79; rmsea. = 0.09)” as compared to single factor model “(χ²./df = 5.99; cfi. = 0.59; “gfi”= 0.58;“agfi”= 0.49; nfi. = 0.55; rmsea. = 0.15). table 2. measurement models “measurement models” χ² df” . χ²/df. cfi. gfi. agfi”. nfi.” rmsea” el-mi-wi (3 factor) 662.2 237 2.79 0.86 0.80 0.75 0.79 0.09 el-mi-wi (1 factor) 1451.1 242 5.99 0.59 0.58 0.49 0.55 0.15 note: better fit indices are shown in bold.” descriptive statistics mean values along with standard deviations (sd) and correlation are presented in table 3. the mean value and sd for el was 3.55 (sd=1.12); 3.37 (sd=1.467) for mi and 3.84 (sd=1.56) for wi. correlation correlation analysis provided initial support and directions for the proposed hypothesis. the results of correlation analysis revealed that ethical leadership (t1) has a positive correlation with moral identity (t2) (r = .30, p < .001) and whistleblowing intentions (t3) (r = .33, p < .001). https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 28 moreover, moral identity has a significant positive correlation with whistleblowing intentions (r = .58, p < .001). all the values for pearson coefficient were in acceptable range i.e., r < 0.7 ensuring discriminant validity of the research article constructs. table 3. correlation analysis mean s.d. gender el mi wi 1. gender 1.61 .487 2. el (time 1) 3.56 1.14 -.08 (0.84) 3. mi (time 2) 3.37 1.48 -.09 .30** (0.92) 4. wi (time 3) 3.84 1.56 -.18 .33** .58** (0.89) note: n=213; alpha reliabilities are given in parentheses. el= ethical leadership, mi= moral identity, wi=whistleblowing intentions *correlation is significant at 0.05 level (2-tailed); ** correlation is significant at the 0.01 level results outcomes of this research article is being retrospection that the association between ethical leadership and whistleblowing intentions was also proved (b=.58; p=0.000). similarly, a positive and significant association was found between ethical leadership and moral identity (b=0.28; p<0.000). moreover, a significant positive association was found between moral identity and whistleblowing intentions (b=0.18; p<0.01). in summary all direct effect hypothesis were proved. the mediation hypothesis supported such that results of sobel test show that moral identity mediates the positive relationship between ethical leadership and whistleblowing intention. the test of normal theory test highlights a significant mediation of moral identity (b=.11; p<.05). moreover, a non-zero value between upper and lower-level ci (0.01; 0.21) also support meditational role of moral identity between ethical leadership and whistleblowing intention. since both sobel test and normal theory test are significant thus, we can infer the mediational role of moral identity between ethical leadership and whistle-blowing intentions. these results are in line with previous researches which confirm that under supervision of ethical leaders employees feel empowered and psychologically secure such that they are willing to raise voice and speak against any ethical dilemma within their workplace, chen and hou (2016); islam et al. (2019); lam, loi, chan, and liu (2016); walumbwa and schaubroeck (2009). the results suggest that ethical leaders’ behaviours serve as a motivational source and support system that encourages employees to raise voice against any ethical odds within their workplace. in similar vein, leaders have a significant influence on their subordinate’s self-identity, moore et al. (2019). these outcomes suggest that when employees work under an ethical leader, who actively engages and encourages ethical conduct of subordinates, then they begin to define themselves morally and ethically and their moral identity is shaped. in comparable vein, leaders are a source of influence for subordinates ‘abilities, convictions and practices. ethical leaders impact their ethical thinking which gives them fearlessness for detailing ethical problems (whistleblowing), liu et al. (2015) as they recognize the ethical dilemma and damages related with it, therefore they give importance to solving the issue and do not fear for the counter or negative results they may occur in wake of announcing it to respective authorities. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 29 individual’s personality is dynamic as it adapts as the circumstances change, vallacher et al. (2005). our investigation underpins the possibility that an ethical leader can impact a person's ethical self-idea for example moral identity and actuate certain part of one's ethical character which shape the consequent practices valuable for organizations and its employees (whistleblowing). ethical leaders also create an ethical atmosphere within workplace which encourages the employees to raise voice against illegal and unethical practices taking place in the workplace, kuenzi et al. (2020). since a company's virtuous atmosphere verify that what ethical lead and practices are normal from workers in this way representatives shape their practices likewise, singh et al. (1996). in this way heads of the organizations can keep up morals and implement ethical set of principles to make their employees ethical and courageous enough to speak up against ethical adversity. conclusion ethical leadership on employee whistleblowing intentions is playing a vital role in the organisation. the results of this research article highlight that ethical leaders encourage followers to blow the whistle when they witness any wrongdoing within their environment. ethical leaders impact moral identity of their followers. the present research article has revealed a noteworthy positive relation between ethical leadership and moral identity of subordinates which specify that ethical leaders can shape identity of their subordinates. moral identity encourage whistle blowing behaviour though whistle blowing intentions. the consequences again supported the idea that when individuals give importance to their moral identity then they are willing to blow the whistle in case of any ethical dilemma. the results also revealed that ethical leadership behaviours shape whistleblowing intentions of their subordinates by highlighting their moral identity. in other words, moral identity of subordinates mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and whistleblowing intentions. findings the aim of this research was to explore the influence of leader’s ethical conduct on employee voicing behaviours i.e., whistle blowing intentions. along with, this research also aimed at investigating the role that moral identity of follower’s plays in shaping whistleblowing intentions and its mediation role in ethical leadership-whistleblowing intentions relationship. the data for the research article was gathered by employing a survey method and respondents rated their leader’s ethical behaviour, their own moral identity and whistleblowing intentions at t1, t2, and t3 respectively. where t1, t2 and t3 were one week apart. majority of the respondents were females from service sector, working at different managerial levels in different departments. results have proven that the associations previously hypothesized are true to a great extent. a total of four hypotheses were recommended, including three main effect hypotheses and one mediation hypotheses. the results fully supported the hypothesized relationships. the major findings of this research article are discussed below. references aquino, k., & reed, i. i. 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(2020). ethical leadership as the reliever of frontline service employees’ emotional exhaustion: a moderated mediation model. international journal of environmental research and public health, 17(3), 976987. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 50-61 50 humanities, arts and social sciences aijhass vol 3 no 1 (2021) p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass published by american center of science and education, usa antecedents of consumers’ continuous intention on online purchase: an extension of tam model israt jahan (a) kamrul hasan bhuiyan (b)1 md. ali imran (c) sadia farjana (d) tahira khatun (e) (a) assistant professor, department of marketing, bangabandhu sheikh mujibur rahman science and technology university, bangladesh; e-mail: dinaisrat.mkt@gmail.com (b) lecturer, department of tourism and hospitality management, national university, bangladesh; e-mail: kamruldu2539@gmail.com (c) assistant professor, department of business studies, daffodil international university, bangladesh; e-mail: imran@daffodil.ac (d) independent researcher, department of marketing, bangabandhu sheikh mujibur rahman science and technology university, bangladesh; e-mail: sadiamkt16@gmail.com (e) independent researcher, department of marketing, bangabandhu sheikh mujibur rahman science and technology university, bangladesh; e-mail: ktahira046@gmail.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 25 october 2021 accepted: 16 december 2021 online publication: 31 december 2021 keywords: consumer intentions, online purchase tam, extended tam jel classification codes : m19 a b s t r a c t the purpose of this study is to detect and analyze the factors affecting consumers’ attitudes toward online shopping and examine the antecedent’s customer continues intentions to purchase on the online platforms. it also aims to extend and validate the technology acceptance model (tam) framework in continuous online purchase behavior. the proposed model incorporates sevens antecedents (behavioral factors, technological factors, market offerings, promotional factors, attitudes towards online purchase, system effectiveness, and online shopping acceptance). the research employed structured survey questionnaires using 7-scale likert points. spss version 22.0 was used to test the hypothesis and correlation among the factors. the findings indicate that variables like behavioral factors (trust, product attribute, service attribute), technological factors (result demonstration, perceived website reputation), promotions (advertisement, social media, electronic word of mouth), and market offerings (core value) are positively related to attitudes towards online purchase which is positively related to system effectiveness. both attitudes towards the online purchase and system effectiveness determine the continuous intention to purchase online. this piece of work provides the conceptual framework of continuity of online purchase that can contribute to an academic perspective, and marketers can adopt strategies by understanding the antecedents of online shopping behavior. © 2021 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction shopping is an unavoidable aspect of one's life in the twenty-first century, as human needs are insatiable, and it can be done in the form of traditional/retail shopping or online shopping. both means offer distinct advantages, but the value of saving time has led customers, particularly the young, to prefer online shopping. in this 21st century, the end-users are progressively habituated with the internet to buy products or services. it has become a rapidly growing global trend (kumar, anand, & mutha, 2016), and the upsurge of ict, advanced technology, and widespread internet access has resulted in massive growth (johnson, 2015).to survive in the competitive business world, organizations must adapt to the changes in technology to come across consumers’ online and offline needs (amoroso & hunsinger, 2009). technology has turned into a method that puts the development to access information and current data or information for improvement and efficiency (durodolu, 2006). through the internet, consumers become competent to purchase their preferred products or services through internet (bourlakis et al., 2008). therefore, online purchases have become popular for their multiple facilities (acma & sultana, 2015). in very simple words, online purchase is the procedure of purchasing products or services from sellers-wholesalers or retailers over the internet (praveenkumar, 2015). a significant, influential theoretical model, technology acceptance model (tam), has a significant contribution towards the formation of behavioral intention towards the usages of technology 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0002-5543-3984 © 2021 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v3i1.251 to cite this article: jahan , i. ., bhuiyan , k. h. ., imran , m. a. ., farjana , s. ., & khatun , t. . (2021). antecedents of consumers’ continuous intention on online purchase: an extension of tam model. american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences, 3(1), 50–61. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v3i1.251 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v3i1.251 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5543-3984 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4153-0871 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4732-063x https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3114-9524 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7825-3241 jahan et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 50-61 51 which has contributed to the genuine adaption of the method (davis et al., 1989). two vital factors of the original tam model perceived usefulness and ease of use, have shown a more excellent significant position for forming consumers’ attitudes (alkasassbeh, 2014). tam is the cooperative model for determining acceptance of technology by consumers (durodolu, 2006). we contend that the tam, in its current form, cannot fully explain online consumer behavior whether they will purchase continuously from the same platform. because the purchase decision is typically taken by the buyer whereas the technology uses decisions reserved by e-commerce organization policy (fayad & paper, 2015). so, it somewhat online shopping somewhat depends on consumer behavioral factors and technological usefulness and ease. besides, the rise of technology uses, especially after covid-19, more and more companies are offering their services online and initiating lots of promotional activities (jahan et al., 2020). thus the aim of this study is to find out the antecedent of consumer behavior of continuous online purchase with the extension of the technology acceptance model (tam) in terms of behavioral, technological, market offerings, and promotional activities. literature review online purchase at present, online purchase is becoming an integral part of our lifestyle (choudhury & dey, 2014). it is achieving popularity among the young generation for the reason of comfort, time-saving, and availability (singh & sailo, 2013). in simple words, online purchase has defined as the act of buying goods or services with the help of the internet (levin et al., 2005). so online shopping refers to purchasing products or services over the internet by using a web browser directly from the online shopper in spite of going to shops or stores (manikandan & asokan, 2017). online purchasing is considered comparatively easier than traditional shopping by recognizing numerous facilities of purchasing over the internet (gupta, 2015). figure 1. tam model (davis, 1986) in order to unravel the conduct of information system (is) exercise, an effective theoretical model was constructed by (davis, 1985) remarked as the technology acceptance model (tam) ( figure-1) which was an adjustment with a model named theory of reasoned action (tra) (davis, 1985) technology acceptance model (tam) was fabricated on the tra for the purpose of clearly identifying a pair of the significant element which were perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness whereas the foremost components of the model tam were perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness that mediated attitude of end-users towards technology in which perceived usefulness in conjunction with attitude towards usage computer-based technology contributed to the formation of behavioral intention towards the usages of technology which contributed to the genuine adaption of method (davis et al., 1989). the technology acceptance model which is constructed based on the theory of reason action (tra) takes two prominent ingredients from the original tam areperceived ease of use and perceived ease of use which together have a successful influence on consumers’ attitudes (cheung et al., 2008). factors influencing consumers’ online purchase acceptance the use of the internet in bangladesh is rapidly increasing (sd asia desk, 2019). according to the btrc (bangladesh telecommunication regulatory commission), at the end of january 2019, the number of internet users reached 91.421 million, while mobile internet users were 85.630 million, and the number of internet subscribers increased to 96.166 million, with mobile internet users accounting for 90.409 million (bangladesh telecommunication regulatory commission, 2019). according to (rahman et al., 2018), consumers prefer online shopping due to time savings and the availability of a wide range of products or services. the study concentrated on home delivery as a payment method, as well as cash incentives and delivery methods. another study considered eight different factors, including security, after-sales service, time consumption, return policy, quality goods or services, website design, experiences related to previous activities, and online vendors' reputation. this study was primarily concerned with the quality of goods or services (datta & acharjee, 2018). another study concentrated on the qualities of products or services. it included, in addition to product or service qualities, availability, convenience, customer satisfaction, security and privacy, quickness, striking, elasticity, spatial benefit, and awareness (vikash & kumar, 2017). in contrast, (mahmud & hossain, 2014; hossain et al., 2019a; hossain et al., 2019b; hossain et al., 2020; islam et al., 2021; ) asserted that four factors, including website reliability, website design, customer services, and website competencies, have a positive influence on customer attitudes toward online shopping. as per the findings of this study, emarketers should place a premium on dependability and security. according to one study, customer satisfaction with online jahan et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 50-61 52 shopping is related to the price of customer satisfaction and the quality of the product or service. this study advocated for increased brand awareness and a more flexible order handling process (kasem & shamima, 2014). shergill and chen (2005) asserted that four factors – website design, website reliability, website customer service, and website security – had an impact on consumer perception of online shopping. alkasassbeh (2014) identified four additional factors – perceived usefulness, ease of use, product involvement, and perceived risk – that have a significant influence on consumer attitudes toward online shopping. a study was conducted in malaysia on perceived risk, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness for measuring the effectiveness of online shopping. subjective norms had a negative impact on perceived usefulness and ease of use, whereas perceived purchase experience had a positive impact on perceived risk (al-gamal & siddiq, 2018). another study looked at a variety of factors that influence customer attitudes toward online shopping. these factors included website design or features, convenience, privacy, and time savings. it also focused on lower prices, discounts, previous customer reviews, and product quality (dani, 2017). rajesh and purushothamab (2013) incorporated with offers and discounts, product variety availability, free home delivery, and website user friendliness (chowdhury & chowdhury, 2017) emphasized several factors, including ease of product ordering and delivery convenience, monetary transaction security, available product information, and a wide range of product categories and quality control, convenience and after-sales service, communication, and problem-solving ability. shopping convenience and after-sales service were discovered to be highly sensitive factors. it is discovered that consumer perceived value, interpersonal influence by peers and norms, and a favorable attitude toward using e-deals all have a positive relationship with consumer attitude toward e-deals, whereas price perception propensities have a negative relationship with consumer attitude toward electronic deals (cheah et al., 2015). conceptual framework behavioral factors – one of the most significant factors is behavioral factors which are taken into account as a measurable extent considered by a person with an enhancement of her tasks completed in a structure (davis et al., 1989). behavioral factors are related to personality and situation. under behavioral factors, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and trust are considered important catalysts. a study recognized that perceived usefulness achieves significant attention as an influential factor on online shopping intention by consumers by consumers’ attitude towards the online purchase (tong, 2010). davis (1986) recognized that perceived ease of use (peou) has a direct influence on perceived usefulness (pu). trust is not only emotional action but also a logical deed which is a special situation where one exposes his vulnerabilities to individuals but generating a belief that they will keep him at trusty position (hoffman, 2002). it gets attention as an influential factor to reduce risk as well as uncertainty (ha & stoel, 2009). the suppliers at the trusty position can accelerate the expectancy of users (gefen et al., 2003). technological factors online purchasing is significantly influenced by accessibility, whereas nowadays most online shoppers are concerned with accessibility-friendly factors such as convenience, time savings, or ease of payment system, all of which have an impact on consumers' attitudes toward online shopping (warrington, 2019). market offerings for the purpose of constructing a combination of services for a specific product, the significant central attributes have to be determined to serve customers better (levin, et al., 2005). a study states that three significant attributes of products which are features, performance, and advantages have a great influence on purchasing intention of consumers over the internet (musa et al., 2015). the attributes of a product have an important effect on the formation of consumers’ attitudes towards purchasing (shamsher, 2014). promotional factors advertisement which is an important promotional tool has a special credit to influence consumers’ attitude towards purchasing products wherever offline or over online (esch et al., 2018). social media and some other digital communication know-how like facebook have a strong power to appear purchasing both online and offline by the usages of digital communication tools (pantano & gandini, 2018). social media is denoted as services over online through which the users of its can be able to not only generate but also share multiple tytypef contents. as per that the users of social media have be classified into two distinct division which are social media observer (consumer) and the entities who post on social media (schlosser, 2005). social media sacrifices a great opportunity to online marketers to engage with them (doorn et al., 2010). with the help of social media, different organizations are now providing discount offers through bkash payment so social media is considered as the important factor to understanding customers’ pre-purchase conception (jahan et al., 2020). understanding the opinion of consumers, electronic word of mouth is considered as an effective way (hennig-thurau et al., 2004) than offline because of its convenience and big opportunity to access (chatterjee, 2001). it is essentially supportive to take decisions through the analysis of reviews by consumers from massive people at convenience because of its accessibility. attitude towards online purchasesimply attitude is stated as an evaluation of an idea by individuals (peter & olson, 2010). it is more significant for internet users who are conscious of their timing. but in some cases it has seen that internet users are rarely going through web pages in detail. users want to find information that they want quickly. so, therefore the most relevant information can be known online (amoroso & hunsinger, 2009). jahan et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 50-61 53 system effectiveness -ha and stoel (2009) has expressed that system effectiveness has become an essential weapon for the organization. because system effectiveness helps companies to differentiate from other competitors. manikandan and asokan (2017) has suggested that system effectiveness has a positive relationship to cost reductions, profitability, customer satisfaction, customer retention, and positive word of mouth. online shopping acceptanceconsumers accept online shopping while the effectiveness of the system remains in an appropriate position by affecting technology acceptance and adaptation (amoroso & hunsinger, 2009). continuous intentiontransaction intention is denoted as the way of engagement by consumers in the relationship of online exchange with the vendors of online for the purpose of maintaining business relationships among themselves, sharing of business data, and also performing business transactions that can form the success story for businesses (zwass, 1998). methodology the extended technology acceptance model was examined by using data that were collected from the existing customers who purchase online in bangladesh. 200 data were collected from the study area was bangladesh, mainly the city area (dhaka, gopalgaonj, chattrogram, khulna). data were collected through a structured questionnaire comprising two sections. in the first section, the respondents were asked about their demographic characteristics (gender, age, educational background, occupation income). in the second section, data were collected on the survey questionnaires comprising factors affecting the online purchase. the items were measured by 7 points on likert scales (strongly agree to strongly disagree). spss version 22.0 was used to test the hypothesis and correlation among the factors. data analysis through hypotheses testing: the demographic profile of respondents (table 1) revealed that the majority of participants were male (79%). in terms of age, most of the respondents were from the age group 41-50 (37.4%) and 31-40 (28.5%). in terms of education, most of the respondents received minimum graduation degrees (66%). besides, about 55% of the respondents were private service holders and 25.7% were government service holders. furthermore, the majority of the respondents earned between 30,000 60,000 (64%). table 1. demographic distribution items category overall distribution (%) n=200 gender male 21.0 female 79.0 age 18-30 19.6 31-40 28.5 41-50 37.4 50-60 13.5 above 60 9.00 educational background secondary education 15.0 higher secondary 19.0 graduate 43.0 post-graduate 23.0 occupation govt. service 25.7 private service 55.5 jahan et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 50-61 54 hypothesis1: h0: behavioral factors have a positive impact on attitude towards online purchase h1: behavioral factors have no positive impact on attitude towards online purchase regression analysis for hypothesis 1 table 2. regression analysis for hypothesis 1 (estimated) model r r adjusted strength of sid. square r square association error behavioral factors and .961 .924 .920 very strong .17177 attitude towards online purchase the pearson correlation (r) of.961 indicates that behavioral characteristics and attitudes regarding online buying have a positive and extremely significant association, implying that customers can save time by using technology while shopping online. the adjusted value of r2 is.920, which implies that 92 percent variance of independent variables can be perfect, and the value of r2 is.924 which means that 92 percent variance of dependent variables may be modified with respect to the independent variables. so, this study explains that behavioral factors influence attitudes toward online shopping. hypotheses testing: h1 the variance analysis in this study is provided in the table below: table 3. hypotheses testing by anova: h1 (estimated) anovaa model sum of squares df mean square f sig. 1 regression 68.074 9 7.564 256.344 .000b residual 5.606 190 .030 total 73.680 199 a. dependent variable: the idea of buying products online is a good idea b. predictors: (constant), sometimes i get offended messages from online pages where i share my personal details for purchase products, i am able to purchase wanted products which are hard to purchase at offline stores, online purchase follows convenience way in terms of the payment system, information concerning my mobile transactions information (bkash number, debit or credit card number, phone number) can be tampered with by others, online purchase saves my time, it is easy to place orders through websites, it is easy to find out wanted products within shortest possible time rather find from offline, i think websites or pages will not sell my personal information for commercial use, online purchase helps to provide up to date information regarding recent trends of fashion. at the 0.05 level of significance, the f value is 68.074. the f distribution value is 256.344, and the derived critical value is 1.929. because of f distribution value exceeds the expected critical value (1.929<256.344), the null hypothesis is rejected. as an outcome, behavioral factors are influencing attitudes about online purchases in a positive way. so, it is proved that behavioral factors have positively affected attitude towards online purchase. businessman 5.00 student 8.30 unemployed 5.50 income less than 20,000 17.0 20,000-30,000 11.0 30,000-40,000 23.0 40000-50000 27.0 50000-60000 14.0 above 60000 8.00 jahan et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 50-61 55 hypotheses testing h2 h0: technological factors have positive impact on attitude towards online purchase. h1: technological factors have not positive impact on attitude towards online purchase. regression analysis for hypothesis 2 table 4. regression analysis for hypothesis 2 (estimated) model r r adjusted strength of sid. square r square association error technological factors .941 .88 5 .881 very strong .20993 and attitude towards online purchase the pearson correlation (r) of.941 indicates that technological factors and attitudes about online buying have a positive and incredibly strong association, implying that customers can save time by purchasing online using technology. when r2 is equal to.885, it implies that 89 percent of the variance of dependent variables can be modified in relation to the independent factors, and when r2 is equal to.881, it means that 88 percent of the variance of independent variables can be perfect. as a result, this research illustrates how technological elements affect people's attitudes toward online buying. table 5. hypotheses testing by anova: h2 (estimated) anovaa model sum of squares df mean square f sig. 1 regression 65.219 7 9.317 211.420 .000b residual 8.461 192 .044 total 73.680 199 a. dependent variable: the idea of buying products from online is a good idea b. predictors: (constant), online shopping sites gives promotional price or allowance on bulk amount of purchase, i purchase from that sites that are user friendly, delivery system for online purchase (home or office), i purchase from that websites that are well designed, this website is a large company that everyone recognizes it so i purchase from this website, this website is distinguished so i purchase from this website, post purchase service expectation from marketer the f value obtained from the anova table is 65.219 at a significance level of 0.05. the calculated critical value is 2.058, while the f distribution value is 211.420. as a result, the null hypothesis is rejected because the f distribution value exceeds the predicted critical value (2.058<211.420). so, technological variables have a beneficial impact on attitudes regarding online purchases. hypotheses testing h3 h0: market offering factors have positive impact on attitude towards online purchase. h3: market offering factors have not positive impact on attitude towards online purchase regression analysis for hypothesis 3 table 6. regression analysis hypotheses testing h3 (estimated) model r r square adjusted r square strength of association sid. error market offerings factors and attitudes towards online purchase .729 .532 .525 very strong .41939 the pearson correlation (r) is in this case. 729 indicates that the market offering aspects and attitudes regarding online buying have a favorable and fairly strong association, implying that customers can save time by purchasing online using technology. the adjusted value of r2 is, which suggests that 53 percent of the variance of dependent variables can be modified with respect to the independent variables. 525 indicates that 52 percent of independent variables' variance can be perfect. as a result of this research, market offering aspects have an impact on attitudes regarding online purchasing. the f value obtained from the anova table is 65.219 at a significance level of 0.05. the determined critical value is 2.058, while the f distribution value is 211.420. so, the null hypothesis is rejected because the f distribution value exceeds the predicted critical value (2.058211.420). as a result, technological variables have a beneficial impact on attitudes regarding online purchases. jahan et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 50-61 56 hypotheses testing: h3 the variance analysis in this study is provided in the table below: table 7. hypotheses testing by anova: h3 (estimated) anovaa model sum of squares df mean square f sig. 1 regression 39.206 3 13.069 74.299 .000b residual 34.474 196 .176 total 73.680 199 a. dependent variable: the idea of buying products from online is a good idea b. predictors: (constant), the site is easy to navigate wanted, product discount or combo product attract much, site is convenient to search any product. the f value obtained from the anova table is 39.206 at a significance level of 0.05. the determined critical value is 2.651, while the f distribution value is 74.299. as a result, the null hypothesis is rejected since the f distribution value exceeds the predicted critical value (2.65174.299). so, market offering factors have been shown to have a beneficial impact on attitudes regarding online purchases. hypotheses testing h4 h0: promotional factors have positive impact on attitude towards online purchase. h4: promotional factors have not positive impact on attitude towards online purchase. regression analysis for hypothesis 4 table 8. regression analysis hypotheses testing h4. model r r square adjusted r square strength of association sid. error promotional factors and attitude towards online purchase .903 .816 .812 very strong .26353 hypotheses testing: h4 the variance analysis in this study is provided in the table below: table 9. hypothesis testing by anova: h 4 (estimated) a. dependent variable: the idea of buying products from online is a good idea b. predictors: (constant), i am influenced to buy after watching positive review, any advertisement (video, audio, writing etc.) which influence you to buy the product from online, i purchase product by influenced from my friends and peer group, you use the app to purchase the product which influence you most. the f value obtained from the anova table is 60.138 at a significance level of 0.05. thus, the computed critical value is 2.418 and the f distribution value is 216.488. as a result, the null hypothesis is rejected because the f distribution value exceeds the predicted critical value (2.418<216.488). thus, f promotional variables have been shown to have a beneficial impact on attitudes regarding online purchases. hypothesis testing h5 h0: attitude towards online purchase have positive impact on system effectiveness h5: attitude towards online purchase have not positive impact on system effectiveness anovaa model sum of squares df mean square f sig. 1 regression 60.138 4 15.034 216.488 .000b residual 13.542 195 .069 total 73.680 199 jahan et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 50-61 57 table 10. regression analysis hypotheses testing h6 model r r square adjusted r square strength of association sid. error attitude towards online purchase and system effectiveness .838 .701 .700 very strong .34641 the pearson correlation (r) is in this case. it was determined that the promotional aspects and attitudes regarding online buying had a favorable and fairly strong link, implying that customers can save time by purchasing online using technology. the adjusted value of r2 is, which suggests that 70 percent of the variation of dependent variables can be modified with respect to the independent variables. .700 indicates that the variation of independent variables can be reduced to 70%. as a result, this study illustrates one's attitude regarding online purchases affects the effectiveness of the system. hypotheses testing by anova: h5 the variance analysis in this study is provided in the table below: table 11. hypotheses testing by anova: h5 (estimated) anovaa model sum of squares df mean square f sig. 1 regression 55.835 1 55.835 465.298 .000b residual 23.760 198 .120 total 79.595 199 a. dependent variable: buying from online websites or pages is very effective b. predictors: (constant), the idea of buying products from online is a good idea from the anova table the researcher get f value is 55.835 at the level of significant 0.05. thus, the f distribution value is 465.298 and calculated critical value is 3.889. therefore, the f distribution value is larger than calculated critical value (3.889<465.298) it means that the null hypothesis is rejected. so, it is proved that attitude towards online purchase have positively affect system effectiveness. hypotheses testing h6 h0: system effectiveness has positive impact on online shopping acceptance. h6: system effectiveness has not positive impact on online shopping acceptance. regression analysis for hypothesis 6 table 12. regression analysis hypotheses testing h6 model r r square adjusted r square strength of association sid. error system effectiveness and online sopping acceptance .794 .630 .628 very strong .37517 the pearson correlation (r) is, in this case, .794 showed that promotional elements and attitudes toward online buying had a good and highly strong association, implying that customers can save time by purchasing online using technology. r2 has a value of. the corrected value of r2 is .630, which suggests that 63 percent of the variance of dependent variables can be modified in relation to the independent variables. 628 means that the variance of independent variables can be perfect at 63 percent. so, according to this research, system effectiveness has an impact on online shopping acceptance. hypotheses testing: h6 table 13. hypotheses testing by anova: h6 (estimated) anovaa model sum of squares df mean square f sig. 1 regression 47.526 1 47.526 337.664 .000b residual 27.869 198 .141 total 75.395 199 jahan et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 50-61 58 a. dependent variable: i intend to use websites or pages for online shopping heavily b. predictors: (constant), buying from online websites or pages is very effective the f value obtained from the anova table is 47.526 at a significance level of 0.05. the determined critical value is 3.889, while the f distribution value is 337.664. as a result, the null hypothesis is rejected because the f distribution value exceeds the predicted critical value (3.889337.364). as a nutshell, it has been established that system efficacy has a favorable impact on online shopping adoption. hypotheses testing h7 h0: online shopping acceptance have positive impact on continuance intention. h7: online shopping acceptance have not positive impact on continuance intention. regression analysis for hypothesis 7 table 14. regression analysis hypotheses testing h7 (estimated) model r r square adjusted r square strength of association sid. error online sopping acceptance and continuance intention .947 .897 .896 very strong .19792 the pearson correlation (r) is in this case. 947 indicates that the online shopping acceptance and continuance intention have a favorable association, implying that customers can save time by purchasing online using technology. r2 has a value of. the modified value of r2 is and the dependent variables' variance can be modified by 90% with regard to the independent variables. it means that independent variables with a variation of 90% can be perfect. as a result, this study demonstrates online shopping acceptance affects retention intentions. hypotheses testing: h7 table 15. hypotheses testing by anova: h7 (estimated) the variance analysis in this study is provided in the table below: anovaa model sum of squares df mean square f sig. 1 regression 67.399 1 67.399 1720.616 .000b residual 7.756 198 .039 total 75.155 199 a. dependent variable: i will continuously purchase from websites if previous experience is pleasant b. predictors: (constant), i intend to use websites or pages for online shopping heavily the f value obtained from the anova table is 47.526 at a significance level of 0.05. the determined critical value is 3.889, while the f distribution value is 337.664. as a result, the null hypothesis is rejected because the f distribution value exceeds the predicted critical value (3.889337.364). so, it has been found that the intention to continue purchasing online has a significant impact on online shopping acceptance. table 16. correlation and regression analysis for hypothesis testing and hypothesis testing model r r square adjusted r square strength of association sid. error behavioral factors and attitudes towards online purchase .961 .924 .920 very strong .17177 technological factors and attitudes towards online purchase .941 .885 .881 very strong .20993 market offerings factors and attitudes towards online purchase .729 .532 .525 very strong .41939 promotional factors and attitudes towards online purchase .903 .816 .812 very strong .26353 attitude towards the online purchase and system effectiveness .838 .701 .700 very strong .34641 system effectiveness and online sopping acceptance .794 .630 .628 very strong .37517 online shopping acceptance and continuance intention .947 .897 .896 very strong .19792 table 17. hypothesis testing (α = 0.05, df = 198) hypotheses b f statistics critical value sig results remarks h1 .588 256.344 1.929 000 256.344 > 1.929 rejected h2 .334 211.420 2.058 000 211.420 > 2.058 rejected h3 .569 74.299 2.651 000 74.299 > 2.651 rejected jahan et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 50-61 59 h4 .854 216.488 2.418 000 216.488 > 2.418 rejected h5 .572 465.298 3.889 000 465.298 > 3.889 rejected h6 .503 337.664 3.889 000 337.664 > 3.889 rejected h7 .232 720.616 3.889 000 720.616 > 3.889 rejected in this above analysis, the author observed that the h1 is rejected which implies that behavioral factors have positive impacts on attitude toward online shopping. next, h2 is also rejected which means that technological factors have positive impact on attitude toward online shopping. after that, h3 is also rejected which implies that market offering factors have positive impacts on attitude toward online shopping. the researcher observed that h4 is also rejected which means that promotional factors have positive impacts on attitude toward online shopping. h5 is also rejected which means that attitude toward online shopping has positive impact on system effectiveness, it is observed that the h6 is also rejected meaning that system effectiveness has a positive impact on online shopping acceptance. finally, the h7 is rejected which means that online shopping acceptance has a positive impact on continuance intention (khalil et al., 2020; nahar et al., 2021). conclusion from this study, in the extended tam model, behavioral factors, technological factors, market offering factors, and promotional factors are the primary step for achieving consumers’ attitudes toward online purchase. if these factors are positive, it influences customers’ attitude toward online purchase positively and a positive attitude toward online purchase leads toward system effectiveness. system effectiveness leads toward online shopping acceptance and finally if the online shopping is accepted by the customer toward continuous intention which means the customer will purchase again and again. the study will contribute most to extending the developed tam model to the conduction of studies in the field of technology that will significantly assist in the future. the researcher also shows correlation and regression analysis. moreover, the relationship between customer attitude and the tam model are significant because behavioral factors, technological factors, market offering factors and promotional factors strongly influence continuous intention. therefore, hypothesis h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 and h7 all are supported this study. the correlation, regression and hypothesis provide that continuous intention influenced by these factors, the hypothesis testing prove that there is a positive relation between all this variables and continuous intention and null hypothesis are rejected. for gaining success in the new area of technology, marketers should put emphasis not only offline selling but also online. for that purpose, attaining success in online market place, the vendors have to know the influential factors on technology acceptance by consumers. at this purpose, this study will help online sellers to understand these factors to be success in online business world. author contributions: conceptualization, i.j., k.h.b., m.a.i, s.f. and t.k.; data curation, i.j., k.h.b., m.a.i, s.f. and t.k.; methodology, i.j. and k.h.b.; validation, i.j. and k.h.b.; visualization, i.j. and k.h.b.; formal analysis, i.j. and k.h.b.; investigation, i.j. and k.h.b.; resources, i.j. and k.h.b.; writing – original draft, i.j. and k.h.b.; writing – review & editing, i.j. and k.h.b.; supervision, i.j. and k.h.b.; software, i.j. and k.h.b.; project administration, i.j. and k.h.b.; funding acquisition, i.j., k.h.b., m.a.i, s.f. and t.k. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data 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(2017). a study on consumer perception toward online shopping. journal of business and management, 19(8), 1. publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2021 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences (p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x published by american center of science and education, usa 6 gestational loss: emotional and legal aspects gláucia maria moreira galvão neonatology department odete valadares maternity, belo horizonte minas gerais – brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0821-0147 denise streit morsch clinical psychologist, consultant for humanized care for the newborn kangaroo method ministry of health, rio de janeiro – brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5125-253x eduardo carlos tavares medicine department of puc-minas, betim, minas gerais and psychology department of fumec university, belo horizonte minas gerais – brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7802-2814 maria cândida ferrarez bouzada department of pediatrics, medicine school of federal university of the state of minas gerais belo horizonte minas gerais – brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7397-6931 lead author contact information gláucia maria moreira galvão. telephone: +5531983315796 fax: +553132275921 e-mail: gmmgbh@gmail.com. address: rua maranhão, 1061/apto. 1001, funcionários belo horizonte, mg brazil cep 30150-331 article translator steven eric byrd department of society, culture, and languages, university of new england, biddeford/portland, maine, usa abstract this study attempts to verify the conditions of mothers who have gone through gestational loss. it is designed according to semi-structured interviews of affected mothers. through semistructured recorded interviews, directed questions were asked to ascertain perceptions that they were living through at that moment, about their adaptation to daily life, and about their mourning process and the quality of their professional activities. from the interviews, eight categorizations were created: symptoms of mourning; the time to return to work and daily routines; lack of societal recognition of mourning; mourning and spirituality; seeking of healthcare support; the fathers’ pain; the need of someone; who is this baby? and the following feelings were documented from the interviews: feelings of losing control of one’s life; broken dreams; feelings of incompleteness, guilt, and personal defeat; feelings of inferiority as a woman; subjective losses; losses in identity and eroticism; a woman’s role in society. lastly, the https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 7 study examines how gestational loss is unrecognized and unsupported by legislation, exposing a weakness in workers’ rights and unequal treatment regarding gender. keywords: gestational loss, mourning, women’s health, patient-centered care, humanizing care. introduction the frequency of gestational loss occurs in 15-20% of pregnancies of up to 22 weeks. however, the subsequent implications are neglected and underestimated by political leaders, the media, society, and even by the healthcare sector (frøen et al., 2016). in 2013, the world health organization defined the concept of abortion as being the interruption of gestation with a fetus of under 500 grams or with a gestational age of less than 20 weeks (cardoso, 2020). gestational loss is a topic that deserves more attention, as it carries with it a particularly profound pain for the mother as well as for her partner, and includes challenges for conjugal and familial relationships, emotional and psychic distress, a general loss of interest in life and in the other children, and in the professional lives on the part of women (frøen et al., 2016). galdet et al. (2010) note intense psychological suffering during a pregnancy following gestational loss and highlight the need for clinical and psychosocial care when such losses occur – a form of healthcare that should be continued until the birth of the woman’s next child. recent research has called attention to this topic, as it is one which causes the families involved significant suffering, though generally overlooked (frøen et al., 2016; heazell et al., 2016; horton, 2016; aguiar; zornig, 2016). neonatal loss is, in the majority of cases, unexpected and unforeseen, and occurring frequently during a normal pregnancy (brownlee; oikonen, 2004). these characteristics raise the feeling of shock on the part of the parents, further raising the difficulty of acceptance of the loss, and given the sudden nature, impede that family members can prepare emotionally, and therefore unable to mobilize resources and coping strategies (callister, 2006). generally speaking, the male partner rebounds faster with his daily routine and his professional life (callister, 2006; jenkins; heustis, 2005). the organization of healthcare systems for the care of women that suffer gestational losses, and the care offered by healthcare professionals to affected families, is an important gauge for the general performance of a healthcare system, and one which also can contribute to the improvement of the resilience and morale of the workforce of those undergoing mourning (homer; malata; tem hoope-bender, 2016). pre-natal health is a crucial biological need for the long-term health of life, and so specific actions are therefore necessary in the areas of healthcare and law: for example, the formulation of legal policies and procedures, and the monitoring and research of effective, quality interventions following gestational losses (aguiar; zornig, 2016). that said, research on this topic is generally scarce. as such, the goal of this study is to provide some qualitative data through the analysis of partially structured interviews with mothers that suffered gestational losses with less than 22 weeks of pregnancy. moreover, the study aims to better understand the emotions expressed in the mothers’ speech, and better understand their conditions as they return to their daily lives and professional activities. methodology the present research uses a qualitative, longitudinal approach, by means of two semi-structured interviews conducted with parents who suffered gestational losses with less than 22 weeks of https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 8 pregnancy in the maternidade odete valadares da fundação hospitalar de minas gerais, in the high-risk obstetrics sector, in belo horizonte, minas gerais, brazil, from february to october 2019. the initial contact with the parents was realized during internment in the maternity ward, within the first 24 hours following gestational loss. at this moment, the first interview was conducted, and data were collected from their clinical records, consisting of previous and current obstetrics data of the mother, which serve as part of the data analysis. the second interview was realized one month following the gestational loss at the residence of the patient or at a place chosen by her. in this interview, directed questions were used to capture the perceptions of the moment, perceptions regarding their adaptation to daily routines following their losses, as well as perceptions about the mourning process, and regarding the quality of healthcare offered to them. from the directed questions a series of symptoms was discovered, which generated a list of categories. following these categories, scholarly literature was consulted to verify if there was reference to each one. to ensure privacy and guarantee anonymity of each participant in this study, numbers were utilized for all the interviewees (i.e. mother 1 = m 1). all interviews and transcriptions were undertaken by the authors in portuguese and have been translated into english herein. data analysis the analysis of the interviews was undertaken by means of careful listening and reading of the narratives, including the significant aspects that were categorized into nuclei of feelings or emergent properties. ethical aspects this case study was approved by the ethics commission of the institute where the research was conducted, and also approved by the committee of ethics in research by the universidade federal de minas gerais, in belo horizonte, brazil. research code: nº etic 3.082.705. participants inclusionary criteria mothers who suffered spontaneous gestational losses with less than 22 weeks of pregnancy. all willfully signed an agreement titled “termo de consentimento livre e esclarecido” (‘explained terms of willful consent’) for this study, and whose partners or legal representatives also willfully agreed to participate and signed the same agreement. initially there were 34 mothers who fulfilled the inclusionary criteria and have been included in this study. all the mothers agreed to a second interview 30 days for following their gestational loss; however, only 12 of which returned and were interviewed in a place of their choosing. the demographic data of the 12 mothers that participated in the second interview are found below in table 1. exclusionary criteria parents who were not residents in the region; mothers pregnant with twins who lost one of the twins; parents with documented psychiatric illnesses (i.e., psychosis, schizophrenia, panic syndrome, or other psychiatric pathologies); parents with documented cognitive deficiencies; legal abortion; mothers with a history of post-partum depression or fathers with a history of depression. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 9 table 1. demographic data of 12 women who lost children, february-october 2019. mother age education level formal work pregnancies living children age of the baby at time of loss (in weeks) presence of a companion presence of the father m1 27 incomplete high school yes 2 1 9,1 yes no m2 36 graduate school no 2 0 16 yes no m3 27 incomplete high school yes 2 0 8,5 yes yes m4 37 high school yes 3 1 7 no no m5 34 incomplete middle no 3 1 19,3 yes yes m6 39 school no 3 1 11,6 yes yes m7 26 university no 1 0 11 no no m8 25 high school no 1 0 12 yes no m9 40 high school no 2 1 9,4 yes no m10 29 incomplete high school yes 3 1 11,6 no no m11 35 middle school yes 2 1 *285g no no m12 20 university yes 1 0 12,1 yes yes results and discussion an analysis of the interviews realized by means of careful listening and reading of the narratives were organized into nuclei of meaning or emerging properties (neale, 2016), of which eight central categories have been identified and described in table 2. table 2. categorization categories descriptions 1. symptoms of mourning a. narratives of guilt, failure, shame b. nostalgic aspects, a search for evidence of the baby c. emotional symptoms (i.e. difficulty to fall asleep, problems with concentration, irritability, etc.) d. bodily changes and experiences related to pregnancy e. relational issues with others (i.e. projections onto other mothers) 2. returning to work and daily routines 3. lack of societal recognition of mourning 4. mourning and spirituality 5. need of healthcare support 6. fatherly pain (i.e. from the point of view of the mother and as narrated from the father) 7. the need of someone (i.e. presence of the father of the child or of the mother’s mother) 8. who is this baby? (i.e. a place denominated by the family, an abstract entity that they are unable to name) discussion of the categorizations 1) symptoms of mourning a) narratives of guilt, failure, shame this type of mourning is peculiar, as it emits experiences relating to the pregnancy, to the loss, to the types of self-care; hence, it implies a deep-seeded psychological aspect related to the beginnings and creation of life. it can be inferred that this is truly a physical type of mourning: the emotional pain is deeper than other symptoms, as it is connected intimately to the body, touching the essence of female identity, and thus harnessing a feeling of https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 10 failure at being a mother, and at being a woman generally. it further carries with it a devaluing of oneself image, and a feeling that her body was unable to properly function, or a belief that she is incapable of performing her proper biological and conjugal role (stirtzinger; robinson; stewart, 1999). in our society, the role of maternity is viewed as a natural function of a woman, and hence being a mother is a full realization of the female gender role. as such, when a woman is incapable of creating healthy life as part of her “natural function,” she is often overcome by a sense of inferiority and incompleteness. note the following evidence documented during the interviews: “i have had much difficulty in seeing myself in the mirror in the last days. i look in the mirror… but i don’t see myself, it’s like i’m empty, that’s what it feels like. just yesterday i asked my husband, and i was really afraid to ask; i asked him: if i am unable to give you any children, will you still stay with me?” (m 2) “it’s not a type of physical pain anymore, it’s an emotional pain, that’s it… you feel [emotional] pain. it’s a pain that doesn’t go away. you feel guilty deep down, even knowing that i didn’t do anything to cause this.” (m 1) “having to tell everyone, to explain, to listen to people accusing you, that something is wrong with you, that you are the problem, that i have to get treatment, to tell people – that is hard. (cries)” (m 3) b) nostalgic aspects, and a search for evidence of the baby nostalgic aspects are a type of memory associated with the mother’s loss. some parents, in fact, view the loss as if it were still alive, a type of nostalgic object in which they can animate and reanimate. this type of nostalgia creates a situation for the parents in which the absent baby still has a place in their lives (soubieux, 2014). note the evidence of this symptom: “i dreamed, before i found out that my pregnancy was anembryonic, that it was a white girl, just like my partner, with big eyes, you know? a beautiful baby girl. then i realized it was just a dream.” (m 10) “i go to college; i go to work. but it’s not the same thing. it isn’t… i keep thinking that now i would be so many months [pregnant]… (cries). even though i hadn’t planned on getting pregnant, but it was my daughter… (cries)” (m 12) c) emotional symptoms gestational loss abruptly ends the pregnancy, which creates an overwhelming sense of anguish. for any pregnant woman, the loss of a child is a painful experience, even in the initial months of gestation. the interviews revealed a sense of sadness, surprise, and impotence from the loss: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 11 “it’s like this: i can’t focus on anything else. at every moment i keep thinking about it, practically 24 hours.” (m 5) “i became somewhat – speaking and thinking – i’m here and i’m not here, because that’s what your head is like. it’s overwhelming. because [you ask yourself] what?, where?, when? and it’s not supposed to be like that.” (m 9) mothers often connect with their own mothers, addressing memories of womanhood, sexuality, and also traits from their past lives of when they were babies themselves being nursed and cared for. note the following evidence from this interviewee: “and even if i didn’t want [my mother] in the beginning (sighs), i am grateful now for her coming. i think i discovered the love that my mother feels for me, even though i never had the chance to hold a baby at my breast, i didn’t get to have that same type of touch, right? our touch, i think, was more of a soulful one, right? (cries) and even though i didn’t get to have that same touch, i am thankful that she came. i had very magical moments with her. i felt very loved when she was here. my mother showed she loved me a lot.” (m 8) d) bodily changes and experiences related to pregnancy there is a perception by a woman that her body has changed, her breasts have grown, and her pelvis has lengthened, thereby leaving traces that the baby was alive in her uterus. these experiences with bodily changes become committed to memory. note the following evidence from these interviewees: “even though they said that my pregnancy was anembryonic, it’s still a pregnancy, your body changes, your emotions change. it messes with your head, you feel a baby inside you, and then you’re not able to nurture the baby. you get sad, thinking: ‘gosh, my body has changed, my belly has started to grow, i gained weight. i was pregnant, but just wasn’t able to have the baby.” (m 10) “when i shower, i look at my belly, sometimes i stick out my belly (pauses to cry), to think about and to feel the sensation of being pregnant. (cries)” (m 3) e) relational issues with others defey (1992) notes that it’s understandable that feelings of jealousy in relation to other women with healthy children – perceptible or not – may also emerge, bringing with it psychological consequences that are difficult to manage emotionally. this can bring a woman to feel emotions that are deeply feared: a disease limiting human potential, an insanity that alienates people from one another, and, finally, the view of death as an inevitable and irreversible end of the life cycle. note the following evidence: “i was locked in, i stayed home, more than 15 days. i wasn’t able to go out into public. i wasn’t able to be around people. when i saw people, i didn’t want them to see me.” (m 5) https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 12 “i saw mothers going out with a baby, and i, by myself, with a medical report. with a… the only thing i had left was the ultrasound of her, i only have the ultrasound (cries). and i got home, returned with nothing. returning from the hospital without a baby, with your husband, just us two, what happens then? the suffering and despair that a mother can go through.” (m 5) “since i work in a gynecological clinic, when i would see a mother (whimpers, pauses to cry). when i would see a mother breastfeeding (crying as she speaks), i would pick up a baby so i wouldn’t cry in front of her. then… i began to think, why don’t i have a baby… in my arms? why did this just happen to me?” (m 3) “i saw another mother coming [into the gynecological clinic], coming to deliver her baby… when i heard the baby’s cry, i broke down and cried a lot.” (m 3) 2) returning to work and the daily routine getting back to one’s daily routine (which focuses on a way of dealing with life without being loved) and its oscillation (which is an alternation between the one and the other) involve returning to life’s daily tasks, doing new things, and distracting oneself (stroebe; schut, 1999). these tasks are potent tools to help those in the mourning process, as either a means or an end (dahdah et al., 2019). evidence of this search for occupying oneself, of seeking refuge in daily tasks and work during the mourning process, can be seen in these following interviewees: “for me it was good [to go back to work], because of the environment at home. it’s harder when you’re at home with your husband, because of the memory, which is worse. i think going back to work was good.” (m 4) “i returned to work after two weeks. i went back. i was just at home doing nothing for a week, and then i decided to go back. and it was really good. it helps to distract you, you get back to living your life again.” (m 7) “the 15 days i was at home i didn’t get over it. because i was by myself and i couldn’t think about anything else, i just kept thinking about her, i just stayed in bed, crying, crying. when i went back to work it was a relief.” (m 3) “i went back [to work] 14 days afterward. in the beginning i thought i was doing well, and then later one day, when i began to work, i saw that i really was not emotionally very well. so, emotionally speaking, i think my level of concentration at work was not the same as before… so, 15 days are not really sufficient for the mourning process.” (m 11) “that is why i’m saying, i came back to get distract myself because i got distracted a little, it’s good to be at home, because of the rest. because the doctor gave me 40 days of rest, but i couldn’t handle staying at home anymore. so, i went back to work with 15 days. i’ve never seen 15 days go so fast before in my life. and now after that time that i began to get my head back together.” (m 1) https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 13 “(crying) i don’t even know what to say, it’s not easy, it’s not easy going back to work, but it was good for me to go back, to work, to study. i think that the more you occupy your mind with other things it’s better. i just wanted to forget everything. everything. i just wanted to forget everything that happened. (cries)” (m 12) 3) lack of societal recognition when the loss of a child happens before it’s born, in the eyes of society this occurrence, for the most part, is a non-event. that is, a child that wasn’t born never existed. the general idea is that the intensity and duration of mourning is proportional to the time that the parents had with the children. given that the time was short in this instance, so should the mourning be. however, contrary to such views, what we see is that the mourning process can be worse for parents in instances when the children were never present in their lives. couples frequently find themselves isolated and misunderstood in terms of their feelings of sadness (soubieux, 2014). note the following evidence: “so, it’s funny that i used to judge people who lost babies that were only months, or even days, as silly. now that i am going through this, i know that it isn’t silly, it’s actually very hard. i used to see people crying, and thinking, ‘gosh, how silly, if it had been older, ok.’ but now i understand.” (m 9) “it’s over now, it’s been a month now. not everyone thinks about it. for me, no, not seeing my belly getting bigger, not being able to buy baby things. for me, it has been very hard.” (m 3) 4) mourning and spirituality one mourning strategy that was observed in our interviews was the search for explanations in spirituality, seeking consolation in the idea that the loss of the child was “deemed by god.” note the following: “people that believe in god have an easier time dealing with life’s issues… i am no longer afraid, because we believe in god, right? so, when you believe in god, you know that it was god’s plan; perhaps something would happen in the future. in the moment, you’re devastated, right? but afterward my belief in god became strong… i found a refuge, because you have to have a refuge. people without a refuge are unable to overcome [their loss].” (m 7) “my mother is follower of spiritualism, and the place downtown where she goes, they speak a lot about that.” (m 9) “and now we’ll see what’s in store, what god has planned for us. i’m very scared.” (m 2) https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 14 5) need for healthcare support one often overlooked consideration for gestational loss is that a woman has a period of internment in the hospital, which is often difficult and painful for her given that she is in a hospital environment and often surrounded by pregnant women – mothers who have just given birth, as well as newborn babies. nazaré et al. (2013) note that women in these conditions become physically and emotionally weakened, and therefore need support and attention by a whole network, including healthcare professionals. a humanized support system in the context of gestational loss should not be only for tending to physical pain, but also present to tend to psychological pain, also essential for the mourning process (worden, 2008). the importance of this aspect is evidenced below: “and then a feeling of abandonment overcame me. you know, it’s difficult for a mother that lost her baby, to be with the baby inside her belly, to be in the same place with women who are about to give birth, with women who are having contractions but know that the pain is going to pass and are soon going to have a child in her arms. i thought that was cruel. because i knew that my baby was going to come out and i wouldn’t get to hold him. i felt dead inside there [in the hospital]. (cries)” (m 2) “the worst part here [in the hospital] was to see babies being born and know that mine wasn’t going to be born. (cries)” (m 12) 6) paternal suffering in relation to the question of gender, some studies regarding gestational loss indicate that, since the woman is the one who carries the baby in her womb, she carries a greater sense of guilt with the loss in comparison to the man (defey, d. et al., 1992). fathers, according to mccreight (2004), typically show a more controlled response toward the loss due to the need to be “strong” and offer support to the woman. the interviewed women highlighted the pain from their companions: “the pregnancy is not just a woman’s but a man’s as well, right? so, there is a lot of suffering. and the father ends up suffering, too.” (m 7) “pregnancy doesn’t begin with only one person; there are two people involved. why do women only have rights [to a work leave to mourn]? women carry the babies inside them. but men form part of it as well.” (m 7) “how is it that a father doesn’t get to stay with his wife? the wife just lost a child. and the child is his, too, it’s not just the wife’s. why can’t he stay at home at least one day? what about his feelings?” (m 5) 7) the need of someone the presence of family members plays an important role in supporting women that lost children. to be able to count on the support of the dearest and closest people is important https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 15 at that moment. the father of the child has been described as an essential figure (conway; russell, 2000). but the mother’s mother is also a central figure. this is evidenced below: “if he hadn’t been there, it would have been… it would have been worse, my suffering would have been more for sure.” (m 3) “you can have your entire family, but the only person that you want to talk to is the father [of the child], i want to talk to him, i feel i have more freedom to talk to him about the issue because he also is going through the same thing, not as intense as me, but he is by my side and he is going through the same things that i’m going through, and that’s why i think he should have some time off as well, and he has nothing, he had to work.” (m 1) “it was really awful because have the father [of the child] by your side, you wouldn’t have been less sad, because it is very sad. but you would feel more secure, more supported. at that moment you want support, someone at your side.” (m 6) 8) who is this baby? it needs to be understood that gestational loss implies, on the part of the parents and family, an abandonment of a family project – even when this occurs in the first weeks of pregnancy. for many families, the fetus not only had a tentative name, depending on the gender, but also had a family heritage in terms of projects and investments (aguiar; zornig, 2016). according to aguiar and zornig (2016), the parents lost the promise of a child, the promise of paternity and maternity, and the death of this child represented someone who was never totally independent from them and from their plans. these feelings appeared in the interviews below: “it felt like it was going to be a girl. but i don’t know.” (m 9) “the baby was going to named maria eduarda or lucas – which is what my husband chose if it were a boy. (cries). but it’s really hard.” (m 3) soubieux (2014) highlights that child lost during gestation in the psyche of the parents will not be the same. the mourning period will be the time of coming to terms with the life that existed and then ceased to exist. when mourning is realized, it can generate a surprising psychic reconstruction. and the gestational loss is paradigmatic, whereby it can be revived in future pregnancies (for the parents and for people close to them). in the specific case of gestational loss, the lack of recognition – and a lack of a support network – can transmit a message to the parents that the loss is unnecessary, and thereby creating further difficulties (public health agency of canada, 2000). the parents must adjust to the diverse levels associated with the loss: external (relative to the day-to-day functioning of the person), internal (referring to the identity of the person and the diverse roles that she or he assumes, namely mother and father, the absence of other children, roles the person may not know how to continue, or not, to assume) and spiritual (involving beliefs, values, and assumptions of people). finally, the mourning https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 16 process is concluded when the person is capable of emotionally integrating the loss of the child and continuing on with her/his life. this does not imply ending the relationship with the lost child, but instead recreate it in a way that allows the parents to cope with the loss. the symptoms that come with loss are more intense in the first months following the occurrence, though varying regarding the diversity and intensity, and being highly variable (nazaré, 2012; kavanaugh; wheeler, 2003). this encompasses the relationship between mother and father, the connection with the child (i.e. the level of desire of wanting a child), the length of the pregnancy, and the existence of past losses. finally, the familial and social support available, the type of relationship with other family members, and the attitudes of healthcare professionals are assumed to be the most relevant factors in coping with the loss. to simply not worry about what happens to the mother after she leaves the hospital creates a “conspiracy of silence.” a woman who has suffered a gestational or post-partum loss should have the right to speak openly about what happened to her, to speak about her frustrations and feelings of guilt and impotence; not to confront such immense sadness, but to support her and her family’s life after the loss. the family needs to be taken care of in a contingent manner and not excluded from the healthcare team. hence, it is important to construct, develop, and nurture a support network and partnerships of outreach to improve the healthcare service to patients and their loved ones who may be undergoing psychosomatic, affective, psychological and/or spiritual suffering caused by gestational loss. furthermore, a new perspective regarding fetal and perinatal death within the healthcare profession needs to be taken into consideration. specific actions by healthcare and legal professionals, new legislative policies, monitoring and research for effective, fact-based interventions for people following gestational losses are necessary to pursue for the future (aguiar; zornig, 2016). the interviews also have offered evidence that the suffering of fathers following a gestational loss is often ignored. but, in fact, the couple suffers together. the inexistence of the worker leave policies for fathers after a gestational loss demonstrates a gender inequality, and furthermore shows not only the invisibility of paternal suffering but also the invisibility of the unborn child. however, paternal pain is legitimate independent of how long the pregnancy lasted. new directives of support, including support for gestational loss as a basic indicator of healthcare quality, are fundamental in this respect. conclusions the documented accounts of mourning mothers in this study show the premature tendency to return to daily activities and work as a coping strategy for mourning. instead, we underscore the importance of individualizing healthcare for return to such activities on a case-by-case basis. another strategy we have documented in the interviews is the coping through religion and/or spirituality: that is, strategies which capture feelings of hope and faith, independent of the religion that they may practice. in the speech of the interviewees, feelings related to the female role in society and her identity as a woman are revealed, the sensation of losing control of one’s life and body, broken dreams, feelings of incompleteness, guilt, personal defeat, and feelings of inferiority. the evidence also presents that women do not just suffer the loss of a child, but must also learn to navigate a new reality: a new relationship with herself and her body, with other women, with the https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences vol. 3, no. 1; 2021 17 idea of maternity, with the idea of being an ideal woman, and so forth. these are significate topics that offer outlets for more research in terms of gestational loss and mourning. there is evidence presented herein that current labor laws regarding gestational loss – in special for fathers – have not been recognized and supported. however, this pain can be intense and is not exclusive to women, but to the couple. having one’s partner during this period creates a mutual support system, and is fundamental to the mourning process following gestational loss. mothers going through mourning cite the importance of having someone nearby during their time of internment in the hospital for support and to talk about their feelings, which helps them to not feel isolated and unsupported – the chosen person typically being their partner or their mother. we have verified the need for intervention to such patients on behalf of healthcare teams and other related networks. training of functionaries who work in these areas is essential. a multidisciplinary approach is desirable to tackle the problem of perinatal mourning and prevent its harmful effects. it is also important to deepen our knowledge of this problem, to discover the specifics and nuances of gestational loss so to offer better, more adaptable healthcare systems, adjusted on a case-by-case basis, whereby there is not improvisation but operating in a systematic and long-term manner over the duration of the mourning process. it is furthermore important to construct, develop, and create a supportive network and partnerships to better tend to patients and their loved ones who may be affected by psychosomatic, affective, psychological and/or spiritual distress following gestational losses. in short, a new and holistic perspective about gestational loss needs to be examined and acted upon. such medical interventions are fundamental so that higher quality healthcare is offered to patients and their family members. this should include improving the physical space where mothers are placed during their time in the hospital, and better training for healthcare professionals, so to care for these mothers in the best, most humane manner possible. such care should also include basic healthcare units, creating strategies with the family during pre-natal care and following the loss, constructing a comprehensive therapeutic strategy capable of making a humanized form of care, whereby there are spaces for women to share their painful feelings during the mourning period following gestational loss. and, finally, that this becomes a normalized practice in healthcare services. disclosure of interest the authors report no conflict of interest. references aguiar, h., & zornig, s. 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(2008). grief counseling and grief therapy: a handbook for the mental health practioner. 4a ed. new york, ny: springer. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 7(1) (2025), 6-9 6 humanities, arts and social sciences aijhass vol 7 no 1 (2025) p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass published by american center of science and education, usa guru shishya parampara: relevance of yama and nachiketa story in the present education system rajib santra (a)1 rajiba lochan mohapatra (b) (a)research scholar, department of education, the university of burdwan, bardhaman, west bengal, india; e-mail: rajibsantra123@gmail.com (b)assistant professor, department of education, the university of burdwan, bardhaman, west bengal, india; e-mail: rlmohapatra@edu.buruniv.ac.in a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 18th september 2025 reviewed & revised: 18th september to 10th november 2025 accepted: 15th november 2025 published: 17th november 2025 keywords: guru-shishya parampara, yama and nachiketa, katha upanishad, valuebased education jel classification codes: i21, i23, z12 peer-review model: external peer review was done through double-blind method. a b s t r a c t the guru-shishya parampara (teacher-student tradition) has long been a foundational pillar of indian education. the success of the ancient education system was due to the strong, unbreakable relationship between the guru (teacher) and the shishya (disciple). the lack of this is the most critical factor in educational ruin in modern india. this paper examines the significance of the guru-shishya parampara as mentioned in the ancient scripture, the katha upanishad, and identifies the pedagogical values primarily through the dialogue between yama, the teacher, and nachiketa, the disciple. to gather relevant data, both the primary source (in this case, the katha upanishad) and the secondary sources (the articles and analyses by other authors) are used. data are treated through content analysis. the key pedagogical values are patience, self-inquiry, high moral standards, and an insatiable quest for knowledge. nachiketa's qualities of persistence and mentorship of yama embody a transformative learning process. it was grounded in value-based guidance. in contrast, today's education systems often focus more on academic success and career skills, while usually neglecting moral and emotional development. by analysing pedagogical methods such as the question-and-answer method, the lecture method, and value-based learning in the yama-nachiketa dialogue, this study advocates reviving ancient educational principles alongside modern practices. it proposes embracing shreya's enduring values (the good), not preya's (the pleasant). this will help in transforming education into a more humane and ethically rooted system. © 2025 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction the guru-shishya parampara is a defining aspect of the indian education system. it represents a holistic approach to learning that integrates intellectual, ethical, and spiritual growth (sharma, 2025). "it is a profound relationship built on trust, respect, and a deep sense of dedication” (srenade team, 2023, para 2). this relationship has a long-standing history in india, dating back to ancient times (bisht, 2024). this parampara has developed over time from its origins to the present day. nonetheless, its fundamental themes remain unchanged, such as the guru (teacher) serving as a mentor and a beacon of values, morality, and wisdom (dhar, 2025). education is incomplete without the guidance of a mentor or teacher. the connection between the guru and education is akin to the relationship between body and soul. just as the body cannot exist without the soul, education likewise holds no significance without a teacher (bisht, 2024), and the shishya (pupil) is a part of this system. in this context, a shishya is like wet clay, and the guru shapes it. this tradition is an enduring educational model embedded in indian civilisation. where education evolves from mere transactions to profound transformations. we see numerous examples from the vedas, upanishads, and other ancient scriptures that provide rich information about this dynamic tradition (sharma, 2025; prashar & malhotra, 2024; pal & chakrabarti, 2024), such as the katha upanishad and the yama-nachiketa tale. the katha upanishad is one of the principal upanishads among the dasopanishads(ten upanishads) of india (jijeesh, 2021). it has two central characters, namely, yama and nachiketa. the upanishad is a conversational interaction between these two enlightened beings. here, yama symbolises a deep spiritual quest, intellectual courage, and moral integrity. this story explores core themes of life and death, the atman (self), and brahman (ultimate reality), portraying nachiketa as a genuine seeker of truth rather than merely a student. meanwhile, yama appears not only as a teacher but also 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0009-0002-0977-0565 © 2025 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of acse, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/tqb43h29 to cite this article: santra, r., & mohapatra, r. l. (2025). guru shishya parampara: relevance of yama and nachiketa story in the present education system. american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences, 7(1), 6-9. https://doi.org/10.46545/tqb43h29 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://www.openaccess.nl/en https://doi.org/10.46545/tqb43h29 https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0977-0565 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7414-2787 santra & mohapatra, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 7(1) (2025), 6-9 7 as a compassionate guide offering profound metaphysical wisdom to a deserving disciple (gupta, 2018). however, the present education system and teacher-student relationships have evolved into a more secular, pragmatic approach. this education system stresses academic success and preparing students for careers, with teachers mainly concentrating on delivering the curriculum and helping students prepare for examinations (mohan, 2011). both government and private schools provide diverse access to education, but often focus more on academic achievement than on overall development. this shift illustrates broader societal trends and the impact of global educational standards, moving away from the hierarchical, spiritually centred guru-shishya tradition toward a more egalitarian, career-oriented educational environment (nair, 2014). contemporary teaching methods now include various techniques, such as digital tools and standardised tests, marking a move away from the traditional oral and immersive learning approaches of the old system. despite these developments, the enduring impact of the ancient system underscores the core values of respect and knowledge sharing, which continue to shape modern education. discussions overview: the yama-nachiketa narrative in the katha upanishad the katha upanishad begins with a dramatic scene involving a ten-year-old boy named nachiketa. he sees his father, vajashravasa, performing a fire-sacrifice for personal gain. he repeatedly questions his father about the insincere nature of his sacrificial offerings. after that, he sees his father donating old, unproductive cattle to people who are present in his house. according to the rule of sacrifice, the sage must donate everything valuable. nachiketa knew that he was the most valuable to his father. seeing this, he asked his father, “who did you give me to”?in anger, he curses nachiketa to "go to yama". then, determined, nachiketa travels to the realm of death (yama). when he arrived at the house of the god of death, he saw that yama was not at home. he waited for three days without food and water until yama appeared. the god of death (yama) came to his home and heard about him. he was impressed by nachiketa's patience and austerity. he said, "you are waiting for me without taking anything”. in the sanatan tradition, when someone comes to your home, you are supposed to show them care and hospitality as if they were your guest (aatithi devo bhavo). so, yama offers him three boons for the three days of waiting. in reply, nachiketa wanted his father to ‘calm down when he sees him’ as his first boon. as a second boon, he wishes to acquire knowledge of the fire-sacrifice that leads to heaven. finally, he asked the most profound question as his third boon: "what happens after death”? after hearing this question, yama initially tries to dissuade nachiketa by offering cattle, jewellery, lands, kingship, long life, and pleasures instead. however, he declined all of yama's offers, saying they were temporary. instead, he needs wisdom. yama was impressed with his dedication and devotion. then yama starts the philosophical discussion and demonstrates discernment between preya (the pleasant) and shreya (the beneficial). hethenis is convinced of nachiketa’s worthiness and initiates him into the supreme knowledge of the self (atman). pedagogical values and approaches worthiness: an essential quality for students. it means that if you want something, you must first deserve it. in this context, nachiketa asked yama about what happens after death. he initially ignored this, but his interest, patience, self-conviction, and maturity impressed yama. these qualities demonstrate that he was a true seeker of knowledge. finally, yama imparts that knowledge to nachiketa. however, we see this type of student missing in modern education. most students are satisfied with short-term gains. the story is a wake-up call for the intellectual myopia of modern students. duty for our parents: nachiketa seeks the first boon for his father. he wants his father to be at peace for the rest of his life. this desire suggests that our primary responsibility is to care for our parents. this means we have responsibility for our parents. every child should be accountable for taking care of and nurturing their parents, because the sanatana culture gives pita (father) the same value as god. पिताधर्मः पितास्वर्मः पितापििररं्तिः । पितररप्रीपतर्ािने्नप्रीयने्तसर्मदेर्ताः ॥ pita dharm pita swarg pita hi param tapah। pitaripritimapannepriyantesarvadevata॥ (padma purana1.50.9) sacrifice: nachiketa's second wish is to acquire knowledge of the 'fire sacrifice that leads to heaven'. from this sentence, we say that sacrifice is a value. traditionally, sacrifice refers to the offering of something valuable to a deity as a form of devotion or propitiation. in the present, sacrifice is the ignoring of pleasure, enjoyment, etc. in another sense, sacrifice is repressing your feelings and emotions: the more you sacrifice, the more respect you gain in society. in daily life, people make sacrifices for family, career, or personal growth. parents often sacrifice time, money, and personal ambitions for their children's future. employees are working long hours or relocating for better opportunities or to support loved ones. students are sacrificing leisure for studies to build a better career. so, sacrifice indicates struggle. it is a key to success. a student does not succeed without hard work. struggle is crucial for a student. similarly, nachiketa struggled without food and water for the proper knowledge. however, modern students often lack the aptitude for hard work. they fear hard work and always want pleasure and enjoyment. patience and discernment: yama first refuses to answer nachiketa’s question three times. he is testing his determination and curiosity. this pause highlights that genuine knowledge must be earned through persistence, a lesson that challenges today's culture of instant gratification among learners. santra & mohapatra, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 7(1) (2025), 6-9 8 focus on higher knowledge: yama presents various offers to nachiketa. he rejects these offers. he wants actual knowledge about the soul and what happens after death. then yama shifts the discussion toward the eternal truths of atman (soul), moksha (liberation), and dharma (righteous living). this focus aligns with holistic education models that emphasise emotional, ethical, and spiritual growth alongside cognitive skills (dalal, 2014). question–answer method: instead of a didactic approach, yama engages nachiketa in a dialogue. he is leading him to self-inquiry. nachiketa asks the questions, and yama answers them. this aligns with the question-answering method in modern education, where learners build their understanding through questioning and reflection. lecture method: in katha upanishad, yama instructs to nachiketa: शे्रयश्चपे्रयश्चर्नुष्यरे्तस्तौसम्परीत्यपर्पर्नक्तिधीरः । शे्रयोपिधीरोऽपिपे्रयसोरृ्णीतेपे्रयोर्न्दोयोर्के्शर्ाद्रृ्णीते॥ sreyashchapreyashchamanuṣhyametastausamparityavivinaktidhiraḥ | sreyo hi dhiro’bhipreyasovṛṇitepreyomandoyogakṣhemadvṛṇite|| (katha upanishad 1.2.2) yama provides nachiketa with brahma jnana (divine knowledge) teachings. before this teaching, he pronounced this shloka and explained it. he wanted to explain to him what is good and what is bad, what should be done and what should not be done. through this, he explained the difference between good and evil and also stated that most people choose preya (pleasant) for happiness and peace. however, we should choose shreya (good). he uses this type of teaching as both a philosophical stance and a pedagogical strategy. although he employs dialogue-based instruction, it is a core that mirrors the lecture method. this method is widely used nowadays. ethical leadership and value-based learning: the katha upanishad emphasises the roles of inner realisation and steadfast inquiry as essential to both ethical leadership and value-based education. yama is a divine preceptor of cosmic law (dharma) and a true leader. he teaches that the purpose of life extends beyond mere success to include righteous living and inner peace. he encourages not merely accepting external truths, but pursuing a more profound understanding through introspection and discernment. nachiketa exemplifies this spirit by refusing superficial answers and persistently seeking the knowledge of the self. this approach is echoed in the shloka — "नायर्ात्माप्रर्चनेनलभ्योनरे्धयानबहुनाशु्रतेन। यरे्रै्षर्णुतेतेनलभ्यः तसै्यषआत्मापर्रृ्णुतेतन ंस्वार््॥" nayam atmapravacanenalabhyonamedhayanabahunasrutena। yamevaiṣavṛṇutetenalabhyaḥtasyaiṣaatmavivṛṇutetanumsvam॥ (katha upanishad 1.2.23) this verse is profoundly relevant to value-based learning and personal growth. this shloka reminds us that true wisdom is not merely intellectual or informational, but experiential and transformative. it stresses the importance of sincerity, selfdiscipline, humility, and inner readiness in the learner. nevertheless, the current education system measures knowledge through academic performance, information overload, or verbal proficiency. however, the national education policy 2020 is continuously supported by this. conclusions the guru-shishya parampara is depicted in the dialogue between yama and nachiketa in the katha upanishad. it embodies enduring educational principles, including patience, self-inquiry, ethical conduct, and the quest for higher knowledge. nachiketa’s resolve and yama's mentorship highlight a highly personal, transformative learning approach that emphasises character development, wisdom, and spiritual growth. in contrast, today's education system tends to focus more on academic achievement and preparing students for careers. this system often neglects moral and emotional development. although digital resources and structured curricula are helpful alongside the traditional approach, they highlight the significance of value-driven learning and strong teacher-student bonds. revisiting these stories and applying their principles, particularly the emphasis on shreya (the good) over preya (the pleasant). it can help modern education evolve toward a more holistic, human-centric approach, aligning with policies such as the nep 2020. author contributions: conceptualization, r.s. and r.l.m.; methodology, not applicable; software, not applicable; validation, not applicable; formal analysis, not applicable.; investigation, r.s.; resources, r.s.; data curation, not applicable; writing-original draft preparation, r.s. and r.l.m.; writing -review & editing, r.s. and r.l.m.; visualization, not applicable; supervision, r.l.m.; funding, r.s. and r.l.m. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: this study was not subject to ethical review or approval because it does not involve sensitive topics or vulnerable groups. funding: the authors did not receive any specific funding for this research. acknowledgement: not applicable. santra & mohapatra, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 7(1) (2025), 6-9 9 informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references bisht, p. (2024). study of gurukul system in ancient education system: contemporary relevance. in b. khan & s. v. s. padiyar (eds.)., the third concept (pp. 33-37).ist limited. dalal, r. (2014). hinduism: an alphabetical guide. penguin books. dhar, a. s. (2025, march 15). the guru-shishya tradition: an ancient blueprint for modern coaching and leadership. bweducation. retrieved from https://www.bweducation.com/article/the-guru-shishya-tradition-an-ancientblueprint-for-modern-coaching-and-leadership-550777 gupta, l. (2018). dialogue: a framework in upanishad and buber’s thought. international journal of applied research, 4(7), 425–429. jijeesh, t. k. (2021). a dialogue with death: a literary and philosophical glance of kathopanishad. research journal of english (rjoe), 6(4), 110–115. mohan, r. (2011). education in contemporary india. sage publications. nair, s. (2014). modern indian education system. oxford university press. nep. (2020). national education policy pal, g., & chakrabarti, n. (2024). an analytical evaluation of the guru-shishya relationships as put together in the vedic era.international journal of progressive research in engineering management and science, 4(8), 149–151. prashar, k., & malhotra, a. l. (2024). indian knowledge system: innovation practices & challenges. in s. k. mishra, r. gujrati, a. boztas, n. sachdev (eds)., indian knowledge system: nep2020 sustainable development (8–14). pcte group: national press associates, new delhi sharma, r. (2025). teacher-student relationship in the ancient indian education system: a historical perspective. international journal for innovative research in multidisciplinary field, 11(2), 24–29. srenade team (2023, january 1).passing the torch of tradition: the eternal bond of guru-shishya parampara. retrieved from https://serenademagazine.com/passing-the-torch-of-tradition-the-eternal-bond-of-guru-shishya-parampara publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2025 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences (p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 1-6 1 humanities, arts and social sciences aijhass vol 4 no 1 (2022) p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass published by american center of science and education, usa environmental insecurity in pakistan: contemporary challenges and responses maham zahoor (a)1 (a) department of international relations, school for southeast asian studies xiamen university, china; e-mail: mahamzahoor@stu.xmu.edu.cn a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 25th june 2022 accepted: 31st july 2022 online publication: 1st august 2022 keywords: air pollution, climate change environmental insecurity, heat waves jel classification codes : q53, q54, q55, q56, q58 a b s t r a c t this study investigates the contemporary environmental risks of air pollution and heat waves, their causes, and their impacts in pakistan. the research aims to find out the reasons behind the response challenges despite introducing policy programs such as national climate change policy framework and initiatives like the billion tree tsunami. this study has used a qualitative research approach by adding a case study analysis and an environmental expert’s opinion. the key findings have revealed that compared to the past, the nature of causes behind rising air pollution and intense heat waves has changed. heavy traffic flow, stop-and-go traffic phenomenon, uncontrolled emissions, and rapid shifts in rainfall are the principal factors that harm pakistan’s environment. from the expert’s point of view, the study also reveals that the response mechanism is facing hurdles due to institutional dissonance and lack of capacity building. further, the findings suggest that a multi-layered approach involving policymakers, experts, academicians, and individuals through a community-driven approach can offer practical solutions. as the study has included the example of an individual-level digital response to current environmental threats, this research would provide a platform to make similar budget-friendly and technology-oriented approaches in the future. © 2022 by the authors. licensee cribfb, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction pakistan is an environmentally challenged country that has witnessed many disasters over the past few years. previous studies have revealed that although environmental issues in pakistan are not recent, they are the most triggered issues of this decade (chakrabarty, 2012). as the country lies in a semi-arid region, it faces rapid climate change patterns and weather shifts causing intense heat waves and air pollution (mustafa, baig, & straquadine, 2021). pakistan’s environmental outlook further worsened when the global climate change index ranked pakistan at fifth highly sensitive position in the 2020 yearly report (fahad & wang, 2020). also, in the view of geological experts, pakistan’s geographic design is comprised of three strikingly different zonesthe indus river plain, the northern peaks, and the plateau which make it environmentally vulnerable to disasters. the overall scenario is also facing the hurdles of institutional, governance, and administrative dissonance regularly causing delays in timely responses (field & baros, 2014). this paper has attempted to find the gaps in the knowledge regarding contemporary environmental concerns of air pollution and heat waves. the paper has primarily focused on the current causes, particular impacts as well as individual, institutional and technology-oriented responses catering to these risks. also, the consultation with the country’s environmental experts during this research has contributed to giving a conducive approach as a solution to these climate challenges. being recent research, this study will provide a platform for both government and communities to look into quick solutions in relevance to the present-day scenario, help academicians and researchers in making pragmatic policy frameworks, and motivate individuals for investing in tech-savvy measures after the success of a few initiatives mentioned in the paper. literature review environmental insecurity brings the risk of damaging the biodiversity levels necessary for human life along with deteriorating the basic needs to survive. this phenomenon is linked to the fears of ecological hazards directly impacting global development (gore, lute, ratsimbazafy, & rajaonson, 2016). the related challenges of food and water insecurity may also cause competition over the resources leading to future threats of offensive activism and ecological movements 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0002-7779-6807 © 2022 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of acse, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v4i1.254 to cite this article: zahoor, m. (2022). environmental insecurity in pakistan: contemporary challenges and responses. american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences, 4(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v4i1.254 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v4i1.254 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7779-6807 zahoor, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 1-6 2 (spadaro, 2020). in the view of ecological movements relevant to the seriousness of the environmental challenges, there is not much expressed about the contesting perceptions of deep green and bright green environmentalism. these two schools of thought carry a debate where deep greens securitize the environmental concerns by highlighting the haunts of environmental threats such as endangered species and climate change patterns. on the other hand, bright greens focus more on positive solutions with innovations such as introducing green technologies, renewable energy setups, and recycling (sessions, 2014). such debates are causing hindrance in shaping the local and international governance policies. also, recently, covid-19 and the health crisis have greatly influenced green efforts. states and institutions have shifted their priorities toward economic and health sector recovery (qadeer et al., 2022). particularly, in the case of pakistan, environmental insecurity and climate change have a more perilous effect than in any other country present in south asia. the reason for this is the nature of the country’s economic landscape which is agrarian and forms not only 21% of the annual gdp but also contributes 43.7 percent to the employment rate (abid, scheffran, schneider, & elahi, 2019). the severity of climate risks for such a developing country multiplies due to poor management and the absence of timely warnings (anjum et al., 2021). thus, concurrent heat waves, the accelerated melting of glaciers, and alterations in rainfall patterns have stressed the water and food sector causing a decline in annual crop production (khan, 2019). further, uncontrolled population growth, massive urbanization, and brutal use of environmental assets such as rapid forest cutting are destabilizing the natural ecosystem putting pressure on air quality and weather patterns. (khwaja & khan, 2005). research method the research is a qualitative study which follows exploratory methods to find solutions and reach conclusion. the primary data was collected through personal interviews with environmental experts. secondary data was collected from related publications such as articles and books authored by known research analysts. these include pakistan’s state department official documents available on the official websites and archives of the ministry of climate change, handbook of national climate change policy 2012 and two short case-study analysis. furthermore, the research incorporates secondary online data from the world meteorological department and the european environment agency. finally, the analytical framework is used to make better understanding of the current scenario, find gaps and provide suitable measure for the future studies. theoretical framework the copenhagen school has remained a successful approach in the arena of international relations. after the end of the cold war, barry buzan laid the foundation for the most known traditionalist versus non-traditionalist view of security debate (buzan, 1997). buzan sees security as a holistic notion expanded to five principal areas. according to him military might and political superiority should not be the only concerns for states to survive. opposite to the traditional conceptualization of risks, securitization must also be viewed through the lens of societal, economic, and environmental concerns (as cited in stone, 2009). air pollution in pakistan major causes of industrial waste, traffic, and cross-border pollution from india the world health organization (who), reveals that among all the countries, the air in india, pakistan and bangladesh contains the highest number of pollutants up to the levels of pm 2.5. in the case of pakistan, the winters have seen an immense upsurge of toxicants in the air increasing the smog levels. as per the report by a wellknown medical journal, the lancet, it is evident that 22 percent of annual deaths in pakistan are due to the extraordinary rise in air pollution, (rehman, 2018). air pollution is the existence of harmful substances and chemical composites of organic or inorganic nature, which are otherwise not found in the components of air and so are responsible for poisonous effects to the living beings surrounded by it (vallero, 2014). though pakistan’s industry carries a small share in its economy as this country is mostly agrarian, it escalates the levels of air pollution to 40% (sánchez, enriquez, afzal, nakawaga, & khan, 2014). from a case study analysis, the sugar mills in pakistan’s punjab region are the biggest contributors to air pollution. the study showcased that 91 percent of the people living in the area know that their life is at risk due to harmful industrial waste fumes in the air. around 83 percent of the respondents expressed that industrial smoke halts their daily life causing serious respiratory issues to them (gull et al., 2013). the massive flow of traffic on the highways of pakistan is the second biggest generator of air toxicants in pakistan. the most common reason behind this is the dependence on gasoline for small cars and on diesel for heavy vehicles. surplus release of emissions that carry hydrocarbons multiplies pollutant content. a study on the flow of heavy traffic on the major highways of pakistan revealed that the heavy diesel engine vehicles moving on these highways generate a massive amount of nitrous oxides, ozone-depleting gas molecules, smog elements, and cancer-causing toxicants. moreover, they are a cause of solid particulate suspension in the air as well. another striking fact is the release of extra harmful emissions in the air by the traffic during the process of “stop and go” time of vehicles when they remain stranded in traffic jams while engine’s idle (ali & athar, 2008). in a recent report published by the new york times, pakistan’s higher authorities claimed a suspicion that india is to be blamed for its massive air pollution hazard. the issue was raised under the alarming situation of smog in lahore, the second largest and most polluted city in pakistan. lahore shares the border with the indian territory and thus pakistan’s ministry of climate change claims the neighboring activities as a transnational cause following the news that delhi is the most contaminated city in the world. the most probable reason could be the burning of crops by bordering indian farmers causing the polluted air to travel into pakistan triggering lahore’s smog. however, this is seen as mere blame by the citizens of lahore who consider ignorance of the political authorities as a major reason behind this challenge. resultantly, the citizens have asked for more active and less verbal measures from the government (habib & masood, 2019). zahoor, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 1-6 3 case study of lahore lahore is the second largest city in pakistan and is currently suffering from high-level air pollution hazards. this fact gained attention after the 2017 publication of lahore’s air quality index. this aqi was generated by the informal efforts of the citizens and expressed that the air pollution levels in lahore reach their extreme levels, especially in the winter when farmers close to the areas of lahore do heavy combustion of wasted crops which converts directly into smog. following the same trend, november 2019 came out to be the smoggiest month in lahore compared to the same season in previous years (tabinda et al., 2019). figure 1. air quality index values source: iqair, 2022 other factors contributing to air pollution in lahore are emissions from vehicles, brick kiln combustion, and general waste from homes. as a result, lahore also topped the list of the most polluted cities in the air quality report with pm 2.5 waste residue suspended in its air. observing the highly unfavorable concerns on air pollution, a young entrepreneur developed a mechanism for checking air quality by starting the pakistan air quality initiative (omer, 2018). this step was based on gathering the real-time air quality check for the citizens through the use of a digital application to ensure awareness and timely control measures. impacts pakistan has an agricultural landscape and air pollution causes maximum damage to its crops especially wheat production leading to food insecurity. rice and wheat fields make the two most important staple crops for consumption in pakistan. a study reveals that a heavy loss of around 42 percent in rice and winter wheat production in pakistan is witnessed due to the harm caused by polluted air over the fields (devrajani, qureshi, imran, & nisa, 2020). air pollution is harming the rainfall patterns too, which has a direct impact on crop harvesting seasons. this hazard has continued to bring health risks for the citizens of pakistan most notably the declining life expectancy rate among children and increased cases of diseases like cancer, bronchitis and asthma (shi, bilal, ho, & omar, 2020). heat waves in pakistan according to a report by cnn, the menace of heat waves took the life of 65 people last year in karachi. this happened because of the drastic rise in temperature during the month of may from 35 degrees celsius to 44 degrees celsius coupled with heat blow (saifi & mckirdy, 2015). a heat wave refers to a span when the earth’s weather experiences an extremely hot temperature along with rising humidity levels (robinson, 2001). the reason behind this horrendous heat blow was the dry year due to the imbalanced shift of the monsoon season. the strongest heat wave in pakistan which reached an extreme temperature and grabbed global attention was the heat wave of 2015. this heat wave expanded over the sub-continent covering the indian land as well. this heat wave spelled over april, may, and june and left approximately 2500 people in pakistan and around 1100 in india dead (masood, majid, sohail, zia, & raza, 2015). figure 2. heat index and impacts figure 3. map showing 2017 heat wave source: zahid & rasul, 2010 source: khan, shahid, ismail, ahmed, & nawaz, 2019 zahoor, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 1-6 4 the heat wave of 2017 started a month earlier in april with temperatures rising to 51 degrees celsius and expanding over the southern parts of pakistan. this was the first time in the history of the country that the april temperature went that high. the most affected cities by this heat wave were larkana, sibi, and mohenjo daro in the sindh province, and lahore in the province of punjab. this heat wave was disastrous for the wheat and rice crops of pakistan as well. the third heat wave of this scale was recorded in the summer of 2019.it expanded from may to june 2019 and hit the boundaries of india and pakistan similar to the heat wave back in 2015. the hottest temperatures during this period reached the heights of 5052 degrees celsius in the cities of churu, rajasthan and bihar of india, and larkana, sibi, and multan in pakistan. strikingly, this heat wave remained for 32 consecutive days, the longest recorded to date (khan, shahid, ismail, ahmed, & nawaz, 2019). impacts the impact of the heat waves is more authentic if they are supported by the heat index, a scale calculating the temperature increase and rise in moisture in the layers of earth’s atmosphere (delworth, mahlman, & knutson, 1999). in the case of pakistan, the heat index displayed sensitivity levels to the various health conditions of the people living in the heat waveaffected areas. the most common impacts recorded are heat stroke, heat fever, sunburn, nausea, and heat collapse leading to paralysis or even death (rasul & ahmad, 2012). environmental policy and action framework in pakistan a viewpoint of the environmental expert the national climate change policy of pakistan was prepared after the heavy flooding of 2011 and was subsequently published in 2012 by ministry of climate change pakistan. this was the most formidable step toward identification and policy measures on environmental protection in pakistan. this policy proved as an indicator that pakistan contributes minimally to the release of greenhouse gases and focuses considerably on the legislative framework and clean technology programs (mumtaz, 2018). in a personal interview with one of the known environmentalists and activists of pakistan, dr. ghulam rasul, a great deal of information was collected on the different phases and progress of the environment sector in pakistan. quoting the latest information on environmental security perspective, he shared that pakistan currently stands in seventh place as the most vulnerable country to be affected by climate change as it faces challenges like heatwaves, melting glaciers, air pollution, and smog. the history of policy response to environmental problems in the post-independence period can be divided into four phases-environmental neglect (1947-1957), period of ad-hocism (1958-1973), institutional and legislative policy making (1972-2000), and environmental monitoring (2000-till now) (g. rasul, personal interview, january 18, 2021). the action framework accelerated with pakistan’s prime minister mr. imran khan's speech at the un assembly session in 2019 where he brought immense global attention to global climate change (qazi, 2019). the government has also shaped the programs such as the billion tree tsunami and clean green environment program to handle the risks of extreme temperature rise and elevated air pollution (hussain et al., 2020). analysis pakistan is a developing country and so there is a contention between funds generation and allocation to the respective environmental sectors. there is a huge gap regarding information transparency among the various institutions bringing hurdles to working coherently for environmental protection. this leads to a lack of vision and proper clarity over the seriousness of the issue. the pakistani government as well as local and international bodies working for environmental conservation are deficient in the capacity of creating short-term goals and rely more upon long-term policies. even if a shortterm goal is made, there is a lack of time to check on it which later on becomes a delay excuse challenging the timely response mechanism. also, during the time of a national calamity, all the local and international environmental bodies become active and announce several programs but at the time of no big disaster, the pace of such activities slows down, where funds are stopped and the action framework becomes dormant. to handle this situation, there is a need to have a persistent and multi-level approach by targeting the issues at a grass-root level. further, individual-level capacity building can be a big step towards having timely and responsible solutions. conclusion the recent environmental issues of air pollution and heat waves had the strongest impact to the country’s landscape and economy in comparison to the past, subsequently resulting in the highest level of harm. pakistan’s industry sector, heavy traffic flow, and especially the stop and go traffic phenomenon have escalated the amount of particulate matter in the air causing a historical increase in smog levels. in addition, pakistan has witnessed repeated heat blows since 2015 due to irregular monsoon patterns and aberrant urbanization. these heat waves have taken the lives of many and causing a huge economic loss. this research has revealed that despite the extreme seriousness of rapid environmental degradation, the authorities in pakistan have expressed very limited concern making it a part of low politics. although the announcement of policies like the green clean program, national conservation strategy and the billion tree tsunami have made a difference, the action mechanism still faces the institutional discord. the research includes the viewpoints of environmental experts according to whom pakistan is suffering through a multifaceted environmental concern which requires a solution with a multi-layered approach involving policymakers, experts, academicians, and individuals through a community-driven approach. the research provides information about the lack of capacity building, management, planning, and technical expertise in finding possible solutions. these findings could set the stage for introducing new budget-friendly technological solutions to curb concerns of pollution and rising temperatures. zahoor, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 1-6 5 author contributions: conceptualization, m.z.; data curation, m.z.; methodology, m.z.; validation, m.z.; visualization, m.z.; formal analysis, m.z.; investigation, m.z.; resources, m.z.; writing – original draft, m.z.; writing – review & editing, m.z.; supervision, m.z.; software, m.z.; project administration, m.z.; funding acquisition, m.z. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references abid, m., scheffran, j., schneider, u. a., & elahi, e. 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(2010). rise in summer heat index over pakistan. pakistan journal of meteorology, 6(12), 85-96. publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2022 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences (p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://medium.com/pakistan-air-quality-initiative https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2022.103962 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/maida-zahid/publication/270589207_climate_change_in_pakistan_focused_on_sindh_province/links/54affb150cf2431d3531cb3f/climate-change-in-pakistan-focused-on-sindh-province.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/maida-zahid/publication/270589207_climate_change_in_pakistan_focused_on_sindh_province/links/54affb150cf2431d3531cb3f/climate-change-in-pakistan-focused-on-sindh-province.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/maida-zahid/publication/270589207_climate_change_in_pakistan_focused_on_sindh_province/links/54affb150cf2431d3531cb3f/climate-change-in-pakistan-focused-on-sindh-province.pdf https://thediplomat.com/2018/08/pakistans-rising-air-pollution-crisis/ https://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/abs/10.1596/978-1-4648-0235-5_ch2 http://trumpeter.athabascau.ca/index.php/trumpet/article/download/1404/1658 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115145 https://www.jstor.org/stable/26965518 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12647-019-00335-7 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 7-15 7 humanities, arts and social sciences aijhass vol 4 no 1 (2022) p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass published by american center of science and education, usa communicating attitudinal change through breastfeeding practice media campaign: review of responses from nursing mothers in arochukwu, south-east nigeria samuel okoronkwo chukwu-okoronkwo (a)1 victor kelechukwu onwuka (b) (a) department of theatre and media studies, college of humanities, gregory university, uturu, nigeria; e-mail: s.okoronkwo@gregoryuniversityuturu.edu.ng (b) department of mass communication, faculty of humanities, abia state university, uturu, nigeria; e-mail: donvicks24@gmail.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 25th october 2022 accepted: 21st december 2022 online publication: 30th december 2022 keywords: breastfeeding practice, infant and maternal health, media campaign, suitable media channels jel classification codes : h51, h52, h53, h75 a b s t r a c t studies have clearly shown that there are numerous health benefits accruing from breastfeeding, not only to infants but mothers also. however, adherence to breastfeeding practice remains a key challenge facing mothers and maternal health providers. the study which adopted survey research approach critically examined audience response to media campaign on the importance of breastfeeding in arochukwu community of abia state, nigeria to determine the factors that actually militate against its practice as an ideal, healthy and accepted norm. structured questionnaire was the principal instrument of data collection. a number of 185 respondents were randomly selected from seven health centers in the area, representing the population of the study. the data obtained were analyzed using tables and simple percentage calculation and graphs respectively to elucidate on the findings. findings reveal that civilization/new cultural ideas were contributory to the decline in breastfeeding rate in arochukwu. it was also found that there was a huge influence of the effects of social perception and lack of education resulting to mothers' neglect of breastfeeding practice in the area. hence, the study concludes that the media and stakeholders in the health sector need to do more to effectively make mothers appreciate and appropriate the invaluable benefits of breastfeeding practice. it further recommends that conscious efforts should always be made by media campaigners to appropriately select and utilize suitable media channels for effective realization of objectives; more so, in the present context of addressing this key challenge of non-adherence to breastfeeding practice facing mothers generally, and particularly young mothers. © 2022 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction breastfeeding (bf) has been identified in numerous studies as the optimal way to feed infants (ibe & nkanginieme, 1990). it no doubt plays a very important role in a child’s growth and development besides contributing to the well-being of the mother and the mutual bonding between mother and child. its rating as the most comprehensive nutritional source for infants cannot be overemphasized, due to breast milk’s rich composition of essential fats, carbohydrates and proteins among other immunological factors that are necessary for the healthy development of the infant in its formative year in life (ihudiebube-splendor, okafor, anarado, jisieike-onuigbo, chinweuba, nwaneri, arinze, & chikeme, 2019). uwakwe (1996) has highlighted on the significance of breastfeeding as a postnatal activity of utmost importance and interest to experts in paediatrics, nursing endocrinology, psychology, as well as anthropology; a significance that is no doubt premised on these experts’ consideration of breastfeeding as the bes t source of infant nutrition and immunologic protection that also provides very remarkable health benefits to mothers. more so, new exciting observations about the bio-chemical, immunological, anti-allergic, emotional and economic benefits of breastfeeding have been emerging from across the globe as lucas and cole (1990) have noted; thus reinforcing not just the high value placed on breastfeeding practice, but also the renewed effort to arouse the 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0002-7371-3568 © 2022 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of acse, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v4i1.277 to cite this article: chukwu-okoronkwo, s. o., & onwuka, v. k. (2022). communicating attitudinal change through breastfeeding practice media campaign: review of responses from nursing mothers in arochukwu, south-east nigeria. american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences, 4(1), 7–15. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v4i1.277 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v4i1.277 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7371-3568 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9529-2891 chukwu-okoronkwom & onwuka, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 7-15 8 consciousness of all nursing mothers to fully embrace it (alutu, 2000) in order to truly exploit these innumerable benefits both in their lives and that of their babies, and families too. adeyinka, ajibola, oyesoji, and adedeji (2008) have noted, citing green (1999) and hill et al. (2004), that some of these renewed efforts which are geared toward the promotion of improved breastfeeding practice among nursing mothers include: hospital norms and services, legislation and institutional policies, health workers’ training, mass media campaigns, peer counseling and educating mother-to-mother support, and a combination of these strategies. (adeyinka, ajibola, oyesoji, & adedeji, 2008, p.166) however, despite the above enumerated efforts and experts’ recommendations, statistics is still indicative of low compliance. this development, as adeyinka et al. (2008) have observed, “is, more pronounced in developing countries” (p.165) like nigeria, including arochukwu community in arochukwu local government area of abia state, which is the focus of this study. this situation, perhaps, may not be entirely disconnected from the worrisome discovery about the high risk of nutritional deficiency and growth retardation that occurs in children between 3 and 15 months of age as population studies in developing countries have shown (shrimpton, victoria, deonis, costa-lima, blossner, & clugston, 2001). communication, therefore, remains a key factor in human development. hence, the nexus between communication and development, and the conscious and effective application of the process of communication in achieving development goals, cannot be overemphasised. development communication, therefore, as srampickal (2006) has noted, refers to the practice of a systematic application of the processes, strategies and principles of communication to achieve positive social change. the emphasis here is on the use of communication for the promotion of development in human society, by a systematic way of informing the people and creating awareness among them, and in educating and enlightening them as to be able to improve their lives in every possible way. this is the exact vision upon which the breastfeeding practice media c ampaign is hinged as it essentially places premium on nursing mother who are at the centre of the ‘development in context’ to galvanise them to take necessary action. this is because, knowledge is power, and the right information gained through communication is certainly the fulcrum upon which this knowledge revolves. this study, therefore, is necessary as a proactive effort at improving the dwindling perception of the importance of breastfeeding among nursing mothers in arochukwu community of abia state, south-east, nigeria. problem statement/justification there is no gain saying the fact that breastfeeding is ideal, and has proved to be vital in the formative stage of an infant. it is also a necessary prerequisite for the immunity and protection of the baby from possible health dangers and diseases. while its importance and benefits remain unarguable, a few worrisome questions need to be answered: to what extent has nursing mothers, especially in arochukwu, tapped into these benefits of breastfeeding? how do these mothers view the act of breastfeeding their babies against the backdrop of prevailing dwindling perception of the importance of breastfeeding among mothers? it was based on the foregoing that the study sought response from mothers in arochukwu on their perception of the media campaign on the importance of breastfeeding practice. objectives of the study the broad objective of this study is to determine audience response to media campaign on the importance of breastfeeding practice among mothers in arochukwu. however, the specific objectives include to: i. identify the roles of breastfeeding in the life of infants and mothers. ii. find answers to why the importance attached to breastfeeding in the time past has now dwindled. iii. identify the factors impinging on mothers' responsibilities to breastfeeding their babies. iv. ascertain audience response with regards to the importance of breastfeeding (bf) practice, as well as v. identify the set of media that has mostly enhanced audience’s understanding of the bf message? literature review overview of the concept of breastfeeding the act of feeding a baby or young child milk from the breast of a lactating woman is known as breastfeeding. on the part of the infant, it is simply to suck milk from the breast of the mother. more so, the basic definition of breastfeeding divides it into two, "the full/exclusive" and "the partial breastfeeding". full or exclusive breastfeeding means that no other liquid or solid is given to the baby, while partial breastfeeding refers to a situation where the baby receives some breastfeeds as well as other food or food-based fluids, such as formula milk or weaning foods. the world health organisation (2020) has described breast milk as the natural first food for babies which provides them all the energy and nutrients they needs for the first months of life; and further provides up to half or more of their nutritional needs in the second half of their first year, and up to one-third during their second year of life. the child receives breast milk, either directly from the breast or expressed. the colostrums which is the initial milk produced in the first few days after delivery provides infants with their first immunisation against many bacterial and viral infections (agho, dibley, odiase, & mgbonmwan, 2011). the mature breast milk contains anti-infective substances which protect infants against common infections particularly diarrhea and respiratory tract infections (ip, chung, raman, chew, magula, devine, trikalinos, & lau, 2007). furthermore, breastfeeding, as biancuzzo (1999) observes, boosts positive bonding between mother and child that cannot be realised through other supplementations. apart from contributing to the mutual bonding between mother and child, breastfeeding is essentially important to their health too. several studies have established breastfeeding’s role in infant mortali ty reduction and risk of obesity, morbidity from infection, enhancement of immunity as well as reduction of atopic disease (nadeem, et al. , 2017; huffman & combest, 1990; lucas & cole, 1990; spady & pabst, 1990; victoria, 1997). breastfeeding also chukwu-okoronkwom & onwuka, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 7-15 9 contributes to mothers’ health in many ways: post-delivery, birth control, reduced risk of postmenopausal osteoporosis, pre-menopausal breast cancer, ovarian cancer and auto-immune disease among others (nadeem, nadeem, sarwar, & sarwa, 2017; chilvers, 1993). benefits of breastfeeding breastfeeding, as who (2002) rightly observed, is not only an incomparable means of “providing ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants”; but “it is also an integral pa rt of the reproductive process with vital implications for the health of the mothers” (p.5). apart from certain medical conditions that may rule out breastfeeding either for the infant or on the part of the mother, its benefits cannot be overemphasized. so me of these benefits as unicef (2010, p.6) highlights include : those accruing to infants i. the provision of adequate water for hydration. ii. the provision of superior nutrition for optimum growth. iii. protection against infection and reduces overall child mortality. the biggest impact on reducing illness relates to diarrhoea, through two mechanisms: (a) reduced risk of bacteria from contaminated formula, other liquids and foods, and (b) transfer of antibodies through breast milk. iv. the reduction of overall neonatal mortality by around 20% (early initiation of breastfeeding). v. the promotion of bonding and development. vi. better cognitive development and iq than in formula -fed children. vii. lower risk of chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, certain canc ers etc. compared with formula-fed infants. those accruing to mothers i. (early initiation) helps contract the uterus, expel the placenta and reduce bleeding. ii. helps mothers return more rapidly to their pre -pregnancy weight and a lower body mass index after 5−6 years. iii. lowers risk of pre-menopausal breast cancer and ovarian cancer. iv. may delay return of fertility. theoretical framework the study was premised on the agenda setting theory of communication as formalized by mccombs and shaw (1972). the theory describes the ability of the media to influence the salience of the topics on the public agenda (nwosu, 2006). hence, if a news item is covered frequently and prominently, the audience will regard the issue as more important. agenda setting theory, in order words, lays emphasis on what the public thinks about as projected by the media (nwogu, 1991; shaw & mccombs, 1977), in all ramifications. in corroborating the importance of this vital role of the media, chukwu-okoronkwo, okugo, ihechu, and okoronkwo (2019) stress that they do not only set public's agenda by shaping what people view as important, they also identify and define concerns, issues and problems in the society. since, “media campaigns are central to people's ability to acquire knowledge for better health” (wabwire, nyambuga , & yakub, 2016, p.40), the mass media play a vital role in communication for health and sustainable development by publicizing health information through health campaigns. however, in the context of this study, the term ‘media’ is considered from a broad communication approach, rather than the compartmentalized; this includes the electronic/broadcast comprising radio and television; the print, comprising newspaper, book and poster; and the human media (group and interpersonal) comprising antenatal channel; all of which provide relevant information aimed at conscientizing the people on the salient issue of the importance of breastfeeding practice. hence, when these ‘media’ highlight the dwindling perception of the importance of breastfeeding among mothers during campaign awareness, they are also shaping and determining the importance for a positive and rapid response towards it. this can ultimately set the agenda for a change in attitude and perception of (lactating) mothers towards embracing the importance of breastfeeding in our communities, states, nation and the world at large. the agenda setting, therefore, reinforces the manifest influence of persistent ‘media’ content upon the pre-conceived consciousness of the (target) audience and its consequent response to the ‘issue at stake’. materials and methods survey research approach is adopted in this study. nwogu (1991) describes survey research method as such in which a group of people or items are studied by collecting and analyzing data from a few people or items considered as representative of the entire group. nwosu (2006) stresses that survey must depend on samples of respondents and can be considered representative of the population. as a framework created to seek answers to research questions, structured questionnaire design is used as the major instrument of data collection. the structured close-ended questions were meant to enable respondents give straight forward and precise answers, rather than answering vaguely or inappropriately. this is basically targeted to facilitate easy recording, coding and analysis of data. the questionnaire was divided into two segments. while the first segment targeted responses on demographic statistics of respondents; the second segment sought to generate information geared towards providing answers to the research questions. to ensure an indebt study/analysis of audience response to media campaign on the importance of breastfeeding practice among mothers in arochukwu, 220 (lactating) mothers were chosen from seven (7) health centers in arochukwu community, representing chukwu-okoronkwom & onwuka, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 7-15 10 the population of the study. these centers include: (i.) arochukwu general hospital [ibom-barracks] ii.) health department of arochukwu lga secretariat [agbagwu] (iii.) ibom health center [ibom] (iv.) obinkita health center [obinkila] (v.) atani health center [atani] (vi.) amuyi health center [amuvi], and (vii.) health unit of abia state college of education (technical) arochukwu (a.s.c.e.t.a) [amannagwu]. the choice of these health centers as focal points in the study borders on accessibility of the target audience (nursing mothers); since they usually frequent the centers for their various prenatal and postnatal/postpartum medical attentions/check-ups. out of a total number of 220 questionnaires distributed, 185 responses were duly and adequately returned. a breakdown of the population shows that 26 mothers were chosen from each of the six health centers, while 29 mothers were chosen from arochukwu general hospital (ibom-barracks). results demographic data table 1. demographic data of respondents s/n variables respondents frequency (f) percentage (%) 1. marital status married 158 85 single 25 14 unspecified 02 01 total 185 100 2. age below 18 02 01 19-24 14 8 25-31 24 13 32-38 63 34 39-44 50 27 45 & above 30 16 unspecified 02 01 total 185 100 3. occupation civil servant 118 64 student 04 02 trading/business 49 26 unemployed 12 07 unspecified 02 01 total 185 100 4. education primary 05 03 secondary . 43 23 diploma/nce 72 39 ba/bsc/hnd 52 28 msc/ma/phd 07 04 non-formal 04 02 unspecified 02 01 total 185 100 the data in table 1 above on marital status shows that a majority of 158 respondents representing 85% of the population study are married; while 25 respondents representing 14% are single mothers. the remaining 2 respondents representing 1% are mothers that did not indicate their marital status. therefore, it is evident from this result that the dominant respondents in this study are married. on age distribution, data reveals that closely related number of 63 and 50 mothers representing 34% and 27% of the population study are within the age range of 32 – 38 and 39 – 44 years respectively; indicating, therefore, that the dominant age bracket of the research respondents are young mothers, which confirms the views of the ebf school of thought, la leche league international (lll), the oldest and largest breastfeeding support group in the world (federico, 2017), that young mothers are the most dominant caregivers in the world. unarguably, these groups of mothers have significant influence to the outcome of this study. other significant age groups worthy of consideration as shown in the result are mothers within the age range of 45 years and above (these are 30 in number representing 16% of the population study) and those within 25 – 31years (these are 24 in number representing 13% of the population study). while the later shows a group of very young mothers, the former shows a group of mothers with the needed experience for child or infant breastfeeding and upbringing. a number of 14 respondents representing 8% of the population study and 19 – 24 years age bracket make up the age group of mothers with little or no experience of motherhood; and all this has so much implication for the study. the occupational distribution of respondents shows that a dominant number of 118 respondents representing 64% of the population study are in the civil service; while 49 respondents representing approximately 26% of the population study are into trading. this clearly shows that majority of them are engaged in meaningful chukwu-okoronkwom & onwuka, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 7-15 11 activities that would enable them foster for the well-being of their infants and family at large. on the other hand, 12 respondents representing approximately 7% of the population study are jobless and can be regarded as full house wives who depend on their husbands for the provision of child and family needs. only 4 respondents representing 2% of the population study are students, while the remaining 2 respondents representing 1% percent of the population study did not indicate their occupational status. on educational qualification, the result shows that a number of 72 respondents representing 39% of the population study possess either a diploma or nce educational certificate; while 43 respondents representing 23% possess only secondary school certificate. 52 respondents representing 28% of the population study are mothers who possess a ba, bsc or hnd certificate. 5 and 7 respondents representing 3% and 4% of the population study respectively have primary school and msc/ma/phd certificates respectively. 4 respondents representing 2% of the population study are mothers who acquired non-formal education. 2 respondents representing 1% of the population study are mothers who did not indicate their educational qualification. from the above table, it is apparent that almost 90% of the mothers have obtained at least one level of educational qualification or the other. this makes it easier to assume that they would be rationale or able to show a level of reasoning with regard to child breastfeeding practices. it therefore implies that the respondents only lack the necessary enlightenment since they have the capacity to read, write and listen to messages on issues regarding bf practice. this finding, however, does not agree with the views of ogbonna, okolo, and ezeogu (2000) who opined that lack of education is a major factor contributory to low rate of ebf practice. discussions response to research questions the first research question raised the issue of the importance of breastfeeding to the infant. the result as shown in figure 1 above reveals that an overwhelming 95% of the population study representing a total number of 176 respondents affirmed that breastfeeding is the ideal or main source of food for infants; while an infinitesimal 3% representing 6 respondents disagreed. the other 2% representing 3 respondents did not indicate their answer to the question at all. analysis of the result clearly reveals that majority of respondents were in affirmation that breast milk is very much ideal for all infants, as rightly postulated by who (2002) and un1cef (2010). similarly, figure 2 above shows that an overwhelming 86% of the population study representing a total number of 160 respondents affirmed that breastfeeding is as good to mothers as it is to their babies; while an insignificant 10% representing a number of 18 respondents disagreed to/with this. the other 4% representing a number of 7 respondents were rather uncertain, 95% 3%2% figure 1. rq1: do you think that breastfeeding is the ideal or main source of food for infants? yes no uncertain/unspecified 86% 10% 4% figure 2. rq2: do you think that breastfeeding is as good to the mother as it is to the infant? yes chukwu-okoronkwom & onwuka, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 7-15 12 and therefore, did not answer the question. this result goes a long way to confirm that as long as mother and child are concerned, breastfeeding has two-fold benefit; it is as good to the mother as it is to the child which corroborates the submissions of unicef (2010) and who (2002). the result in figure 3 above also shows that a majority 57% of the population study representing a total number 106 respondents affirmed that civilisation or new cultural ideas has taken a great toll on breastfeeding reduction rate; while the other 43% representing a number of 79 respondents were in opposition to the views of former. it is only obvious from the above statistics that majority of the mothers believe that civilisation or new cultural ideas has actually reduced breastfeeding rate among mothers in arochukwu which also agrees with the postulation of ogbonna, et al. (2000) that cultural factors actually militate against breastfeeding rate. the result shown in figure 4 above indicates that a dominant 57% of the population study representing a total number of 106 respondents agreed that the effect of social perceptions and lack of education has actually caused many women in arochukwu to neglect breastfeeding practice. however, 34% of the population representing a number of 63 respondents disagreed with the former’s view; while the other 9% representing a number of 16 respondents were rather irresolute about the answer. from the above result analysis, it is only clear that majority of the mothers subscribe to the influence of social perception and lack of education as constituting the reasons why women neglect breastfeeding practice, as highlighted by andrea, jaziel and kelsie (2020) regarding breastfeeding trends, influences, and perceptions. the result in figure 5 above shows that an overwhelming 97% of the population study representing a total number of 180 respondents agreed that the media campaign contributed to their clear perception of the importance of 57% 43% figure 3. rq3: do you think that civilization/new cultural ideas has reduced breastfeeding rate? yes 57% 34% 9% figure 4. rq4: do you think that the effect of social perceptions and lack of education has caused many women to neglect bf practice? yes 97% 2% 1% figure 5. rq5: has the media campaign in any way contributed to your clear perception of the importance of breastfeeding practice? yes chukwu-okoronkwom & onwuka, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 7-15 13 breastfeeding practice. on the other hand, an infinitesimal 2% representing a number of 4 respondents disagreed; while the other 1% representing one (1) respondent was rather uncertain. this finding is in tandem with the assertion of wabwire, et al. (2016, p.40) that “media campaigns are central to people's ability to acquire knowledge for better health” and also reinforces the belief of the researchers that the media, indeed, have vital role to play in the campaign on the importance of breastfeeding practice. figure 6 above shows that an overwhelming number of 127 respondents representing 69% of the population study affirmed that antenatal and poster media enhanced their comprehension of the breastfeeding message. this is followed by a less comparative 28 respondents representing 15% who chose television and another of 24 respondents representing 13% who chose radio respectively as having enhanced their understanding of the breastfeeding message; while for the other 6 respondents representing 3% of the population, their enhancement of the breastfeeding message came from a combination of the newspaper, magazine or books they have read. the result ultimately shows that mothers and pregnant women in arochukwu get clearer and wider understanding of the breastfeeding practice message mostly through antenatal as well as from illustrative posters that are also usually translated from english to the indigenous language of the people. more so, it was also understood from further interaction with the study participants that the group/interpersonal communication platform of the antenatal channel and its interactive nature which facilitated instant feedback from instructors, as well as the accompanying“moral support”, is what gave it so much edge over the other communication channels. this position is supported by piro and ahmed (2020), who affirm that literature supports positive effectiveness of antenatal education on increasing breastfeeding self-efficacy (bse) which refers to a mother’s confidence in her capability to breastfeed her infant (dennis, 1999). hence, the overwhelming response in favour of the antenatal and poster media as having enhanced their comprehension of the breastfeeding message is not surprising. conclusions the study, which reviewed audience response to media campaign on the importance of breastfeeding practice among mothers in arochukwu, also reinforces the importance of the interrelationship between communication and development, and the fact that the process of communication can be effectively applied to achieve development purpose through a systematic way of informing and creating awareness among the people, and in educating and enlightening them. effort was also made to highlight the vital role of breastfeeding in the formative years of infants’ life as well as its benefit to mothers, amidst the rather worrisome trend of its prevailing neglect among most nursing mothers, despite these accruing benefits. major findings reveal that there is a connection between the influence of social perceptions and lack of proper awareness as part of the reasons why women in arochukwu neglect breastfeeding practice. the study shows that the media remain ‘a vital force’ in the campaign for breastfeeding practice, and concludes that with adequate media campaign strategy, lactating mothers (including prospective ones) can demonstrate good knowledge and positive attitudes towards breastfeeding practice. the study, therefore, provides evidence that may be useful for media houses, parents, voluntary agencies and various stakeholders in the health sector as well as policy makers to harness the aroused consciousness of the need for concerted effort in addressing this key challenge of non-adherence to breastfeeding practice facing mothers generally; and young mothers in particular. recommendations based on the findings of this study, the researchers advance the following recommendations:  efforts should always be made by media campaigners to appropriately select and utilise suitable media channels, including antenatal, for effective realization of objectives.  mass media campaigns to promote breastfeeding practice may be more effective if they are linked with counseling by health providers.  policies aimed at improving breastfeeding uptake and practice should also incorporate significant others (grandmothers, mothers-in-law, and husbands) in the process to encourage breastfeeding mothers.  there should be involvement of influential household members and others who act as gatekeepers of cultural beliefs.  there is need also for the mobilization/incorporation of community leaders as change agents by health authorities in the campaign for the promotion of breastfeeding practice. 13% 15% 69% 3% figure 6. rq6: which of this set of media has mostly enhanced your understanding of the bf message? radio chukwu-okoronkwom & onwuka, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 7-15 14 author contributions: conceptualization, s.o.c. and v.k.o.; data curation, v.k.o.; methodology, s.o.c. and v.k.o.; validation, s.o.c.; visualization, s.o.c. and v.k.o.; formal analysis, s.o.c. and v.k.o.; investigation, s.o.c. and v.k.o.; resources, s.o.c. and v.k.o.; writing – original draft preparation, v.k.o.; writing – review & editing, s.o.c.; supervision, s.o.c.; software, s.o.c.; project administration, s.o.c.; funding acquisition, s.o.c. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to the fact that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgments: the authors acknowledge the assistance provided by staffers in the seven chosen health centers in arochukwu community of arochukwu lga, abia state, nigeria where the study was conducted. their assistance and the contributions of the study participants towards the overall success of the study are highly appreciated. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references adeyinka, t., ajibola, f., oyesoji, a., & adedeji, t. 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(2020). breastfeeding. retrieved from https://www.who.int/health-topics/breastfeeding#tab=tab_1 publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2022 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences (p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://apps.who.int/gb/archive/pdf_files/wha55/ea5515.pdf?ua=1 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 5(1) (2023), 1-10 1 humanities, arts and social sciences aijhass vol 5 no 1 (2023) p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass published by american center of science and education, usa strengthening trust to reinforce organizational performance of local authorities in malaysia ahmad fadzli bin ahmad tajuddin (a)1 hamdan bin mohd salleh (b) abul bashar bhuiyan (c) (a) senior fellow, institute of electoral studies & the advancement of democracy, universiti selangor, bestari jaya, selangor, malaysia; e-mail: iesad@unisel.edu.my (b) associate professor, faculty of education and social sciences, universiti selangor, bestari jaya, selangor, malaysia; e-mail: hamdan@unisel.edu.my (c) associate professor, faculty of business and accountancy, universiti selangor, shah alam, malaysia; e-mail: bashariuk@gmail.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 15th october 2023 reviewed & revised: 16th october to 24th december 2023 accepted: 25th december 2023 published: 30th december 2023 keywords: reinforce, organizational performance, local authorities, malaysia. jel classification codes: d73 a b s t r a c t this study explores the imperative of fostering trust to enhance the organizational performance of local authorities in malaysia. recognizing trust as a pivotal factor, the research delves into strategies for strengthening interpersonal relationships and institutional credibility. by addressing trust deficits, the study aims to provide actionable insights that can contribute to the overall effectiveness and efficiency of local governance in malaysia. the primary focus of this research is to put into practice the idea of trust, precisely honing in on the effectiveness of local authorities (las) in malaysia. in this instance, the study employs the community integrity building (cib) concept, emphasizing the pivotal roles played by community monitors, contractors, and las in collectively navigating toward improved performance. it offers a continuous feedback mechanism that enhances understanding and improves trust in services provided by the las. the paper objectively explores the measuring of trust, therefore linking the vacuum between conceptualization and realization, which is hardly seen in las. finally, it concludes by reflecting some insights on the potential of the cib approach regarding the trust agenda towards building a more progressive and dynamic new public management ecosystem in a malaysian organization setting. © 2023 by the authors. licensee cribfb, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction it is significant to note that although the subject of trust is essential in any organization (zand, 1972; lewis & weigert, 1985; lane, 1998; noteboom, 2002), it only received considerable attention throughout the era of the 1990s and 2000s (oomsel & bouckert, 2012). similarly, though citizens regarded trust as a means for effective administration and showed interest in this issue (kenning, 2008), research on trust within the ambit of public administration remained limited (paliszkiewicz, 2010). furthermore, within the public sector spectrum, the issue of trust is very pertinent at the service delivery level in line with the new public management (npm), which calls for reform, especially at the local authority level (bovaird & löffler, 2002). it has been mentioned that within an organizational context, trust is illustrated as an essential driver of outcomes about several aspects, namely cooperative behavior (zalabak et al., 2000), organizational citizenship behavior (van dyne, vanderwell, kostova, latham, & cummings; 2002), organizational commitment (aryee et al., 2002), and employee loyalty (costigan et al., 1998) within this research, we underscored the example of local authorities (la) for several significant reasons. firstly, as the third tier of the government, las are intricately engaged in providing services to the public under the purview of the local government act 1976 (act of 171), the town and country planning act (1976), and the street, drainage, and building act (1974) in peninsular malaysia. likewise, las in sabah and sarawak adhere to local ordinance no. 11 and the local authority bill (amendment) 1977. thus, in the context of npm, delivering service is paramount for la and essential for enhancing trust because it illustrates the government's concerted effort to improve the residents' social lives. 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0009-0000-3495-1718 © 2023 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of acse, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v5i1.309 to cite this article: tajuddin, a. f. b. a., salleh, h. b. m., & bhuiyan, a. b. (2024). strengthening trust to reinforce organizational performance of local authorities in malaysia. american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences, 5(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v5i1.309 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://www.openaccess.nl/en https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v5i1.309 https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3495-1718 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8704-9189 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1763-124x tajuddin et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 5(1) (2023), 1-10 2 secondly, las are heavily criticized for their poor performance, which contributed to the low ranking of the corruption index. at this juncture, kenning (2008) argued that las could be more responsive, efficient, and friendly government agencies. therefore, the study will investigate how trust will be more prominent in promoting services delivered to residents. therefore, the central premise of this study is to investigate and explore the trust level and its influence on the performance of las by examining and exploring the following questions: rq1: what is the extent of trust within the las in malaysia? rq2: what is the relationship between trust and the performance of las? we hope that the study contributes in at least three ways remarkably: though the concept of trust is familiar, measuring it within las will have some significance because, as far as we are concerned, this is the first study undertaken, particularly in the local context. on top of that, the study may serve as a benchmark for similar research to help understand la's working culture, especially regarding trust. employees, including top and middle management in las, are only interested in achieving organizational output and outcome rather than what trust has to do to influence organizational performance. trust is perceived as less emphasized because it is an intangible element and is not structured in the input-process-output framework. though there are various opinions, the study will investigate and explore the relationship between trust and performance. the tenet of the discussion is to put the realization of the trust concept into practicality, which will be appreciated and visible in the eyes of the employees. community engagement is pivotal in improving la's performance in tandem with local agenda 21. the study will center on how communities can make an impact by addressing suggestions and complaints from the community to improve negative perceptions of service delivery provided by las. literature review trust in a general term literature highlights a multi-perspective definition of trust, where most focus on trust as a state, belief, or positive expectation perceived as a link between previous experience and the anticipated future (paliszkiewicz, 2010). similarly, nyhan and marlowe (1997) and nyhan (2000) look at trust as the level of confidence one has in another person's competence and willingness to act ethically. however, romano (2003) argued that confidence, credibility, risk, and trustworthiness are used interchangeably with trust. in addition, butler and cantrell (1984) highlighted integrity, competence, consistency, loyalty, and openness as significant elements that illustrated trust. studies on trust cover a range of dimensions such as interpersonal trust (mikulincer, 1997; davis, 1999), political trust (hetherington, 1998; parker,1989), peer trust in the workplace (mcallister,1995; ammeter, 2000) trust between superiors, and subordinates (cherry,2000; dirks & ferrin,2002; velez,2000)and organizational trust (courtney,1998; shockley-zalabak et al., 2000).on top of that, trust is perceived as having two associated components, which include trusting beliefs (competence, benevolence, and vendor integrity) and trusting intentions (willingness to depend) rousseau et al. (1998) defined trust as an 'a psychological state comprising the intention to accept vulnerability based on positive expectations of the purposes or behavior of another. this also aligns with scholars such as mcknight and chervany (2001) and morgan and hunt (1994), who link trust with the depth of assurance of feelings, which is inconclusive evidence and becomes a central element of the exchange relationship. similarly, snijders and keren (2015) argued that whether we trust someone depends on who we are, the one to be trusted, and the specific situation. they also suggested that two concepts were perceived as identical: trustfulness (willingness to trust) and trustworthiness (willingness to honor a given trust). trustfulness and trustworthiness come hand in hand, which need not be accurate. this notion is also concurred by mayer et al. (1995), who defined trustworthiness as a quality that the trustee has; meanwhile, trust is something that the trustor does. this is somewhat true because trust scales such as rotter's (1967) and lazarus and huston's (1980) only measure trustfulness. on the other hand, the literature also includes studies on distrust (bigley & pearce, 1998) and betrayal of trust (elangovan & shapiro, 1998). understanding when and how trust erodes would complement our knowledge of building, increasing, and maintaining trust (elangovan et al., 2007). researchers use different concepts and indicators for measuring trust (morgan & hunt, 1994), but surprisingly, marketing management can more likely influence trust (kenning, 2008). in this spectrum, trust is further divided into two parts, namely, (i)general trust is defined as the ability to build up trust in someone or something (morrow et al., 2004), and (ii)specific trust, which is influenced by marketing. in elaborating on this, kenning (2008) postulated that the former is related to the characteristics of a personal trait. in contrast, the latter is a long-term relationship between a company and the buyer. it is peculiar to note that within an organization setup, trust is described as an essential predictor of outcome in the case of cooperative behavior (zalabak et al., 2000) and organizational citizenship behavior (van dyne, vandewalle, kostova, latham, and cummings, 2000) organizational commitment (aryee et al., 2002) and employee loyalty (costigan et al., 1998). reason why it is challenging to build trust, some studies viewed it from 3 factors such as (i) trust building involves an interactive process for individuals to learn each other trustworthiness (zand, 1972; zucker, 1996), (ii) the underpinning systems of both trust and distrust is related to positive feedbacks, reinforcing the initial behavior (zand, 1972) but with essential asymmetry (iii) no complete certainty that trust will be honored (mollering, 2001). another significant point is what the features of the concept of trust are. about this, paliszkiewicz (2011) suggested several features, namely (i) it is interpersonal between specific individuals and connected with communication (ii) it depends on the particular situation rather than global, where trust is placed in one specific individual (iii)voluntarytajuddin et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 5(1) (2023), 1-10 3 where trust must come from option and cannot be compulsory (iv)committed-each party depends on the other (v)consciouseach party is aware of the other party's trust (vi)relevant-the result of breaching the trust by one of the groups cannot be regarded insignificant by the other (vii)dynamic because it evolves (viii) action-oriented (ix)if damage occurs to the relationship thus trust is probably to diminish (not a linear process). on top of that, paliszkiewicz (2010) believes that trust is a bridge between previous experiences and the projected future. service delivery and trust it is pivotal to note that public service quality and citizen satisfaction have become the dominant mantras under new public management (npm). in line with this, npm disciples persistently urged better public engagement to enhance public satisfaction. in this regard, kenning (2008) observed that service quality does not influence trust but governance practices are the ones that must be strengthened. similarly, paliszkiewicz (2011) highlighted the reasons for perceived low trust, namely: (i) the government is not offering the services citizens want, and (ii) the government is offering services of low quality. besides that, covey (2009) noticed that influential leaders practice 13 behaviors to maintain and build trust, which constitute talking straight, showing respect, creating transparency, righting wrongs, showing loyalty, delivering results, getting better, confronting reality, clarifying expectations, practicing accountability, listening first, keeping commitments, and extending trust first. nevertheless, those behaviors must be balanced, and if they are pushed to the extreme, they become a liability. moreover, heintzmen and marson mooted the notion of a service value chain to enhance trust, which includes three components such as (i) cultivating staff satisfaction and obligation, (ii) improving service quality, and (iii) restoring trust and confidence in public institutions. in elaborating on trust in the public sector, paliszkiewicz (2011) argued that the former correlates with types of institutions. among the trusted institutions are schools, the health system, and the fire service. in this aspect, raaphorst and van de welle (2016) pointed out that individuals within those services, specifically teachers, doctors, and firefighters, experience more trust. on the other hand, the issue of low trust should not be perceived from within public services per se but is likely to be just one aspect of broader social changes or the domino effect. examples of institutions in which citizens have low trust include public administration, civil servants, and bureaucrats (van dyne et al., 2000). however, opinions on the army are mixed: positive in some countries but negative in others (raaphorst & van de welle, 2016). regarding the role of trust in a citizen-government relationship, levi (1998) mentioned that when people can trust the government, they are more likely to give their behavioral consent. in contrast, distrust in the government contributes to a low level of paying taxes and obeying the law (tyler, 1990). therefore, citizens will engage in exit behaviors if trust and loyalty towards the public sector are low. this notion is supported by oomsels and bouckaert (2012), who cited that when citizens do not trust the public sector, its pride will suffer. the most general reason for the deteriorating public trust is that the public sector is said to fail to perform. in explaining this, van de walle, van roosbroek, and bouckert (2008) stated that outputs and outcomes are below target, efficiency, and effectiveness are declining, and governments must accomplish what was promised. on the contrary, bok (1997, 2001) argued that government performance may not have declined, but citizens' perceptions may have; for instance, citizens probably use different standards to gauge performance, deeply influenced by ad hoc news and swayed by adverse media reports. about different types of trust, lewicki and bunker (1996) categorized them into three types, namely (i)calculusbased, which mainly relies on the expected consequences of trusting or not trusting (ii)knowledge-based trust, which is based on information and probability, and (iii) identification-based trust-which appeared from shared values and goals; hence involve emotions. nevertheless, citizens' trust in the public sector is also revealed to fluctuate, thus rejecting the hypothesis of a universal decline of trust in the public sector van de walle et al. (2008). at this spectrum, van de welle et al. (2008) noticed a positive attitude towards the civil service in ireland and norway compared to other european countries. dimension of trust meanwhile, various studies on concepts and items measure trust (zaheer et al., 1998; rampel et al.,1985). in this aspect, looking from a psychological perspective, scholars such as lewis and weigert (1985) differentiate between affective, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions of trust. in congruence with this, mayer et al. (1995) proposed a dyadic trust model, which explains that trust for the trustee is the function of the trustee's perceived ability, benevolence, and integrity, and the trustor's propensity to trust. to simplify this, it is crystal clear that trust in the leader is a product of the leader's behavior. another peculiar thing to discuss is regarding trust from the political dimension domain where schiffman, thelen, and sherman (2010) identified it from three viewpoints, namely (i)trust in government form where responses tend to vary depending on the nature of the specific aspect of politics trusting being investigated (ii)political cynicism-appears to possess of many interrelated meanings, and (iii)incumbent trust-where it illustrates of how well (or poorly) the public perceives of the job that the officeholder is responsible to meet the citizens' expectation. in measuring conceptual definition of trust, dietz and hartog (2006) reviewed different conceptual dimensions of trust from several scholars such as mcallister (1995), robinson (1996), clark and payne(1997), three separate measures from brockner et al. (2000), mayer and davis(1999), spreitzer and mishra (1999), shockley-zalabak et al.(2000), huff and kelley (2003), tyler (2003), gillespie (2003) and tzafrir and dolan (2004). community integrity building community integrity building (cib) in our previous work, we discussed the importance of community integrity building (cib) in enhancing the performance of las. to recapitulate on this, the cib engagement with the community is significant because the community can see the visibility and cost-effectiveness of project implementation near their community. this also serves well about contractors' tajuddin et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 5(1) (2023), 1-10 4 performance and becomes the check-and-balance mechanism in promoting good governance. the five phases of cib remarkably (i) context sensitivity, (ii) joint learning, (iii)evidence base, (iv) constructive engagement, and (v)closing the loop had glued well in illustrating the cib concept. at this point, it can further investigate and explain the relationship between trust and performance because some literature discusses the concepts of integrity and trust interchangeably. furthermore, integrity and trust are on the same continuum. organizations with a high level of integrity will have the trust of the community and vice versa. more work could be embarked on this matter. if cib can be used to improve the performance of las, then it can also be utilized to investigate trust using the same paradigm, thus paving the way for this research. proposition development an exploratory approach is adopted within the framework of this investigation. consequently, we propose specific assertions based on existing literature and observations about three distinct types of local authorities, specifically city hall, municipality, and district council. these three entities generally represent urban, semi-urban, and rural areas in peninsular, sabah, or sarawak. the categorization of those organizations is based on revenue collection, number of staff, and population (saib, 2004). the main motive for doing this is to comprehend the dynamics of reality and academia to benefit academicians and professionals. bridging the gap between theory and reality will always be an essential mantra for both worlds. therefore, we suggested the following; proposition 1: level of trust influences the performance of las proposition 2: trust level can be measured to benefit the organization materials and methods participants and procedure this paper employed two methodological approaches: pre-test and post-test evaluations and a straightforward technical methodology. initially, we piloted the project with three distinct types of local authorities, specifically melaka city hall, subang jaya municipal council, and hulu terengganu district council. subsequently, these local authorities were enlisted to recommend and propose local community contributors for six months. additionally, we traversed the five phases of the community integrity building (cib) process, involving numerous deliberations, discussions, and visits to secure community buy-in. participants from each local authority were chosen as members of the monitoring committee and actively participated in the project. we also involved contractors responsible for garbage collection, drainage, and grass clearance, given their significance and priority from the community's perspective. each local authority selected a specific zone for project implementation: paya rumput in melaka, zone 3 in subang jaya, and zone a in ajil, terengganu. the project's beneficiaries include 71,000 residents residing near these local authorities (19,000 from melaka city hall, 40,000 from subang jaya municipal council, and 12,000 from hulu terengganu district council). broadly, we embrace and tailor integrity action's methodology for gauging organizational trust, utilizing the four dimensions of integrity encompassing (i) accountability, (ii) competency, (iii) ethical behavior, and (iv) corruption control (v) alignment. moreover, we introduce an additional dimension, transparency, by revisiting and refining the competency component from the original integrity formula employed in our prior study. consequently, these elements must converge towards fostering heightened trust, each holding equal significance and value. therefore, the absence of any of these elements precludes the existence of trust. the specifics of these elements are as follows: accountability: willingness to be open and transparent is crucial, allowing interested parties like stakeholders to scrutinize and verify if the organization's daily operations align with its vision and mission. conversely, an organization needing more readiness for responsibility and transparency can assert a high level of trust. competence: possessing the competencies and abilities required to attain individual or organizational objectives is vital. this encompasses a well-rounded blend of both managerial and technical skills and qualities. conversely, even if an individual or an organization exhibits ethical standards, remains accountable to stakeholders, and avoids corruption but showcases incompetence, it cannot assert a high level of trust. ethical behavior: conducting oneself in alignment with a set of principles established to direct policy formulation and behavior involves an understanding of moral, legal, obligatory, and permissible considerations. however, an individual or organization must demonstrate accountability, competence, and a firm stance against corruption while lacking ethical behavior. in that case, it cannot be deemed to possess a high level of trust. corruption control: maintaining a staunch stance against corruption and ensuring that an organizational framework is robust enough to mitigate the risk of corruption is essential. suppose an individual upholds strong values regarding accountability, competence, and ethics but succumbs to corruption. in that case, asserting that they have achieved a high standard of trust needs to be revised. alignment: ensuring alignment between an organization's intentions and actions, exemplifying consistency and a shared purpose in applying trust-related elements and its conduct. tajuddin et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 5(1) (2023), 1-10 5 results and discussions pre-test and post-test approach we adopted a pre-test and post-test methodology to examine changes in perceptions regarding the monitoring committee, local community, and contractors responsible for services like garbage collection, drainage, and grass clearance. the questionnaire items were formulated based on relevant literature, community discussions, and consultation with an expert. we employ the likert scale of (5) where '1-highly disagree', '2-disagree', '3-not sure', '4-agree', and '5-highly agree'. the pre-test and post-test encompassed... questions/items, and we received feedback from 239 respondents. the demographic details of the respondents are presented in table 1. table 1. the respondents’ demographic profile .no. name of la monitoring committee community contractor 1. melaka city hall 12 54 10 2. subang jaya municipal council 21 62 13 3. hulu terengganu district council 12 38 17 total 45 154 40 assessment of organizational trust and dependability before and after the implementation of the cib program. this part illustrates how the concept of trust is measured before and after the implementation of the cib to identify any change that took place as a result of the program's implementation. generally, organizational trust is 'calculated' by measuring the 'achievement/score' of the elements, which entails accountability (a), integrity (i), transparency (t), and corruption (c). in this study, we suggest the equation of t= a (ait)-c, where a represents alignment organizational trust (t) the measure of organizational transparency, r, is the mean score for the relevant questions. to measure the pre-cib perception for r among the community responses to questions b9-3, b9-5, and b9-6 were used. the value of r obtained was   84.200.212.441.2 3 1 r organizational trust (t) is defined as   criacriagt .....),,,( 23021100     criacria 5.015.02.015.05.03.0.4.03.05.0 0  where 32121 ,,,,  are weights that enable the adoption of a measurement range 0 t between -2 and 2? to achieve a range between 0 to 100, the following transformation was done:    criatt 5.015.02.015.0225225 00  usage of the formula for t yields  criat 5.015.02.015.0225 0           67.3085.35.084.215.010.22.004.215.0225  this suggests that before implementing the cib program, the community's perceived level of organizational trust was 30.67 on a scale ranging from 0 (low organizational trust) to 100 (high organizational trust). similar computations using a postcib survey yielded 57.46t an indication that there has been an improvement in organizational trust after cib. the computation of organizational trust among the three evaluators, the community, observers, and contractors are exhibited in table com1 to table com 3. the summary result of the trust level based on the three las is illustrated as follows: hulu terengganu district council based on the given data for resident perception in the hulu terengganu district council, the highest score after cib implementation, with an increase from 43.79 to 72.37. this indicates that residents perceive a significant improvement in the council's transparency in their operations and decision-making processes. the increase suggests that the commission has tried providing more transparent and more accessible information to the residents. the second-highest score after cib implementation, with a rise from 33.05 to 71.38. this suggests that residents perceive a significant improvement in the tajuddin et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 5(1) (2023), 1-10 6 council's accountability for their actions and responsibilities. the increase indicates that the commission has taken steps to be more answerable to the residents and to address their concerns. the third-highest score after cib implementation, with an increase from 64.66 to 72.37. this suggests that residents perceive a reduction in corruption within the council. the increase indicates that the council has taken measures to combat corruption and improve the integrity of its operations. the fourth-highest score after cib implementation, with a decrease from 34.51 to 47.12. this suggests that residents perceive a decline in the council's integrity, although it is still relatively high. the decrease indicates that there may be some concerns regarding the council's ethical behavior and adherence to principles. the lowest score after cib implementation, with a reduction from 36.10 to 44.75. this indicates that residents have a relatively low level of trust in the council's actions and decisions. the decrease suggests that there is a need for the council to work on building trust with the residents and improving their confidence in the council's abilities. table 2. resident perception (scale: 0-100) before cib score after cib score accountability 33.05 accountability 71.38 integrity 34.51 integrity 47.12 transparency 43.79 transparency 72.37 corruption 64.66 corruption 72.37 trust 36.10 trust 44.75 implementing cib has had a mixed impact on residents' perception of the hulu terengganu district council. while there have been significant improvements in transparency, accountability, and corruption, there have been slight declines in integrity and trust. the council should focus on addressing the concerns related to integrity and trust to enhance resident perception and confidence in the council's operations further. table 3. monitoring committee perception (scale:0-100) before cib score after cib score accountability 35.00 accountability 73.96 integrity 51.92 integrity 78.38 transparency 37.50 transparency 74.58 corruption 30.00 corruption 19.79 trust 56.26 trust 78.03 based on the given data for monitoring committee perception in the hulu terengganu district council, the implementation of cib has positively impacted the perception of the monitoring committee in the hulu terengganu district council. there have been significant improvements in integrity, trust, accountability, and transparency, while corruption has decreased. these changes indicate that the monitoring committee has a more positive perception of the council's actions, integrity, and transparency after implementing cib. table 4. contractor perception (scale: 1-100) based on the given data for contractor perception in the hulu terengganu district council, implementing cib has positively impacted the perception of contractors in the hulu terengganu district council. there have been significant improvements in accountability, transparency, and trust, while corruption has significantly decreased. although there is a slight decline in integrity, it remains relatively high. these changes indicate that contractors have a more positive perception of the council's actions and integrity after implementing cib. subang jaya municipal council table 5. resident perception (scale: 0-100) before cib score after cib score accountability 37.80 accountability 73.72 integrity 37.29 integrity 49.52 transparency 45.29 transparency 71.82 corruption 62.50 corruption 69.07 trust 38.67 trust 47.30 based on the data given for resident perception in the subang jaya municipal council, the implementation of cib has had mixed effects on residents' perceptions in the subang jaya municipal council. while there have been improvements before cib score after cib score accountability 46.32 accountability 73.53 integrity 48.28 integrity 71.29 transparency 48.04 transparency 73.53 corruption 48.53 corruption 30.15 trust 49.55 trust 71.24 tajuddin et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 5(1) (2023), 1-10 7 in accountability, transparency, and corruption, there has been a decline in integrity and trust. these changes indicate that there is still room for improvement in maintaining integrity and building trust among residents despite progress in accountability, transparency, and corruption reduction. table 6. monitoring committee perception (scale: 0-100) before cib score after cib score accountability 27.78 accountability 85.17 integrity 26.53 integrity 78.27 transparency 31.25 transparency 78.06 corruption 77.08 corruption 24.31 trust 25.62 trust 78.34 based on the given data for monitoring committee perception in the subang jaya municipal council, the implementation of cib has positively impacted the perception of the monitoring committee in the subang jaya municipal council. there have been significant improvements in accountability, integrity, transparency, and trust, while corruption has significantly decreased. these changes indicate that the monitoring committee has a more positive perception of the council's actions and integrity after implementing cib. table 7. contractor perception (scale: 0-100) before cib score after cib score accountability 41.35 accountability 67.31 integrity 42.47 integrity 51.06 transparency 49.36 transparency 67.31 corruption 50.96 corruption 65.38 trust 46.62 trust 47.71 based on the given data for contractor perception in the subang jaya municipal council, the implementation of cib has had mixed effects on the perception of contractors in the subang jaya municipal council. while there have been improvements in accountability, transparency, and corruption, there has been a decline in integrity and trust. these changes indicate that there is still room for improvement in maintaining integrity and building trust among contractors despite progress in accountability, transparency, and corruption reduction. melaka city council table 8. resident perception (scale: 0-100) before cib score after cib score accountability 25.93 accountability 75.12 integrity 27.62 integrity 49.05 transparency 46.02 transparency 71.53 corruption 71.30 corruption 70.83 trust 30.67 trust 46.57 based on the given data for resident perception in melaka city council, implementing cib has had mixed effects on the residents' perception in melaka city council. while there have been improvements in accountability and transparency, there has been a decline in integrity and trust. the corruption score remains relatively stable. these changes indicate that there is still room for improvement in maintaining integrity and building trust among residents despite progress in accountability and transparency. table 9. monitoring committee perception (scale: 0-100) before cib score after cib score accountability 7.58 accountability 80.56 integrity 8.33 integrity 81.93 transparency 10.61 transparency 85.83 corruption 90.91 corruption 17.71 trust 8.94 trust 82.23 based on the given data for monitoring committee perception in melaka city council, the highest score after cib implementation, with a significant increase from 10.61 to 85.83. this suggests the monitoring committee has improved transparency in their operations and decision-making processes. the second-highest score after cib implementation, with a notable increase from 8.33 to 81.93. this indicates that the committee has significantly improved in maintaining integrity and ethical standards. moreover, the third-highest score after cib implementation, with an increase from 8.94 to 82.23. this suggests the committee has gained more stakeholder trust due to its improved performance and actions. the fourth-highest score after cib implementation, with a substantial increase from 7.58 to 80.56. this indicates that the committee has become more accountable for its actions and responsibilities. tajuddin et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 5(1) (2023), 1-10 8 in the same way, the lowest score after cib implementation, with a significant decrease from 90.91 to 17.71. this suggests that the committee has made considerable efforts to combat corruption within its operations. implementing cib has had a transformative effect on the perception of the monitoring committee in melaka city council. there have been significant improvements in transparency, integrity, trust, and accountability, while the score for corruption has decreased significantly. these changes indicate a positive shift towards a more transparent, accountable, and trustworthy committee with reduced corruption. table 10. contractor perception (scale: 0-100) before cib score after cib score accountability 56.25 accountability 57.50 integrity 56.04 integrity 57.13 transparency 54.17 transparency 53.75 corruption 43.75 corruption 43.75 trust 55.90 trust 56.43 based on the given data for contractor perception in melaka city council, here are the before and after cib: there was an improvement in the scores for accountability, integrity, and trust among contractors in melaka city council. however, there was a slight decrease in the transparency score, while the corruption score remained the same. these changes suggest that there has been progress in enhancing accountability, integrity, and trust in the council, but there may be room for improvement in transparency. conclusions the paper delineated the correlation between trust and local authorities (las) performance, particularly in garbage collection, drainage, and grass clearance. within this context, the significance of service delivery is paramount, given the community's sensitivity in these las toward the cleanliness and environmental conditions of their areas. consequently, trust emerges as a foundational element, wielding a direct impact on both service delivery and the overall performance of las. the active participation and engagement of the monitoring committee, local community, and contractors underscore the critical necessity for las to consider multiple stakeholders, thereby consolidating trust and portraying a positive image of the las. moreover, las must integrate the trust agenda into their core operations to lead transformative change and cultural shifts from the community's perspective. it is not merely a superficial display but needs to be ingrained in the corporate culture of las. while acknowledging the exploratory nature of the study, it contributes distinctly in several aspects: (i) challenging the notion that trust is merely theoretical and generic, demonstrating its quantifiability through both reality and perception as evident in the three samples of las, though premature for definitive conclusions, it merits further examination, (ii) the study operationalizes the concept of trust, transforming it from an abstract idea into a tangible reality, (saib, 2004); providing a defined meaning from both professional and academic perspectives, and (iii) emphasizes the imperative need for a revamped approach and culture within las, emphasizing a people-centric community focus as a prerequisite for delivering responsive and trustworthy services, promoting trust, and instigating administrative reform. in summary, our propositions warrant further discussion. specifically, regarding proposition 1, we are firm in our conviction that there is a positive correlation between trust and the performance of local authorities (las). our hesitation in unequivocally asserting this relationship stems from the limited body of research on trust within the public administration domain, as previously emphasized by klijin et al. (2010) and the multidimensional concept of trust (mcallister, 1995; mayer & davis, 1999; hossain et al., 2021; gillespie, 2003; tzafrir & dolan, 2004; asheq et al., 2021). nevertheless, we hold a positive outlook on proposition 2. we regard trust as a distinctive product/service differentiation strategy in this context. here, local authorities (las) can actively cultivate positive values and trust within the community, thereby contributing significantly to the long-term success of the national anti-corruption plan (nacp). limitations the findings of this research have at least two areas for improvement. first and foremostthe sample size of 3 las restricts the generalization of the results to be extended to other public entities vertically or horizontally (ministry et al. or other las not only in peninsular but also in sabah and sarawak). if we are to make generalizations, structural and policy differences need to be considered, as well as cultural perspectives. this is fundamental due to the different trust practices in las. making inferences and generalizations will be more appropriate if the sample is more significant. secondly, it is essential to note that this study captures only a momentary perspective, relevant at a specific time and contingent upon the ongoing nature of the exploratory project. the aspiration is that this study prompts a heightened sense of proactivity and responsiveness, emphasizing the importance of trust at both individual and organizational levels. implications in summary, this study serves as a vital connection between theoretical concepts and practical applications, delving into the discourse and operationalization of trust within the context of local authorities (las). the examination encompasses elements such as accountability, integrity, transparency, and corruption to define the concept of trust in this paper. they anticipate that the findings will offer valuable insights for practitioners and professionals in assessing contractor tajuddin et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 5(1) (2023), 1-10 9 performance and the responsiveness of local communities. furthermore, for la managers, prioritizing trust in their daily activities can enhance service delivery and overall organizational performance. additionally, the research provides researchers with insights into quantifying trust and its positive influence on organizational performance. author contributions: conceptualization, a.f.b.a.t., h.b.m.s. and a.b.b.; methodology, a.f.b.a.t.; software, a.f.b.a.t.; validation, a.f.b.a.t., h.b.m.s. and a.b.b.; formal analysis, a.f.b.a.t., h.b.m.s. and a.b.b.; investigation, a.f.b.a.t., h.b.m.s. and a.b.b.; resources, a.f.b.a.t., h.b.m.s. and a.b.b.; data curation, a.f.b.a.t.; writing – original draft preparation, a.f.b.a.t., h.b.m.s. and a.b.b.; writing – review & editing, a.f.b.a.t., h.b.m.s. and a.b.b.; visualization, a.f.b.a.t., h.b.m.s. and a.b.b.; supervision, a.f.b.a.t.; funding, a.f.b.a.t., h.b.m.s. and a.b.b. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study due to the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgement: not applicable. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references ammeter, a. p. 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(1996). the role of institutionalization in cultural persistence. american sociological review, 61(5), 726743. publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2023 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences (p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 36-41 36 humanities, arts and social sciences aijhass vol 6 no 1 (2024) p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass published by american center of science and education, usa the depiction of quebec society through the novels of gérard bessette and marie claire blais ashis mahato (a) nishant singh (b)1 (a)assistant professor, department of french, chandernagore college, chandernagore, hooghly, west bengal, india; e-mail: ashismahato502@gmail.com (b)assistant professor, department of foreign languages, school of liberal arts & sciences (slas), mody university of science and technology, lakshmangarh, distt. sikar (rajasthan), india; e-mail: nishantfrench1@gmail.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 24th september 2024 reviewed & revised: 24th september to 25th december 2024 accepted: 27th december 2024 published: 30th december 2024 keywords: quebec society, great darkness, quiet revolution, quebec literature, marie claire blais and gérard bessette jel classification codes: j12, j13, j17, p30, y9 peer-review model: external peer review was done through double-blind method. a b s t r a c t the study investigates the portrayal of quebec society during the transition from the great darkness to the quiet revolution through the analysis of two novels, “le libraire” by gérard bessette and “une saison dans la vie d’emmanuel” by marie claire blais. the objective is to analyze the presence and effects of these two significant movements in quebec francophone literature. the research addresses questions such as whether the socio-political changes of the 60s influenced the literature of that era, the reflection of the great darkness and the quiet revolution in the selected novels, and how the main characters and stories represent these themes in contemporary society. this study employs a qualitative methodology, relying on secondary data from various sources. the historical method is used to critically investigate past events to produce accurate descriptions and interpretations, while the analytical method helps define research needs and problems and establish a strategy for obtaining answers. the results reveal that “le libraire,” captures the transitional phase by depicting the lingering conservatism of the great darkness alongside emerging new values. “une saison dans la vie d’emmanuel” vividly portrays the suffering and societal injustices of the great darkness era. these novels illustrate the social, economic, political, and cultural shifts in quebec society during this transformative period. the findings suggest that these novels not only document historical realities but also highlight the ideological foundations and social challenges that shaped modern quebec. by analysing the themes and narratives in both works, the study underscores the critical role of literature in reflecting and influencing societal change. © 2024 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction this study is relevant as it provides valuable insights into the cultural, social, and historical dynamics of quebec, reflecting its unique identity and challenges. chasse (2006) analyses québécois identity in the novels of marie-claire blais, emphasizing the evolving representation of this identity in contemporary literature. by analysing the works of these two prominent authors, the study highlights their contributions to quebec literature and addresses critical issues such as identity, class, and modernity, thereby fostering a deeper understanding of societal transformations, particularly during significant historical moments like the quiet revolution and the great darkness. this study also fosters interdisciplinary connections between literature, sociology, and history, enriching our comprehension of the dynamics within quebec society. the research question explores how the novels of gérard bessette and marie claire blais reflect and critique the socio-cultural dynamics of quebec society during transformative periods. society and literature maintain a reciprocal relationship, as the former profoundly influences the creation of the latter. literature often serves as a reflection of social values, struggles, and aspirations, a concept particularly evident in the context of quebec’s literary landscape. belleau (1980), the québécois novels reveal insights particularly within the cultural context of quebec literature. as quebec society navigated the historical challenges of the great darkness and the quiet revolution during the nineteen sixties’, writers became increasingly engaged in topics surrounding identity, language, and cultural preservation (rochon, 2020). the quebec literature of this era acted as a potent form of social commentary, 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0009-0000-5510-3507 © 2024 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of acse, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v6i1.334 to cite this article: mahato, a., & singh, n. (2024). the depiction of quebec society through the novels of gérard bessette and marie claire blais. american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences, 6(1), 36-41. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v6i1.334 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://www.openaccess.nl/en https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v6i1.334 https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6718-3964 https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5510-3507 mahato & singh, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 36-41 37 critiquing the overwhelming influence of the catholic church and advocating for a society that embraced secularization and modernization (beaudoin & gagnon, 2022). bolduc (1978) examines the complexities of human experience and societal influences on individual growth. the impact of the catholic church was particularly pronounced in mid-20th century quebec, where feelings of guilt, loneliness, and anxiety permeated daily life and were deeply intertwined with social conservatism (tremblay, 2021). maurice duplessis’s regime was frequently viewed as regressive and corrupt, stifling the growth and development of modern ideas (lapointe, 2023). this context contributed to a pervasive culture of fear and scepticism, leading to a significant literary response. over a decade, the volume of literary production more than tripled, with the novel emerging as the dominant genre (fitzgerald, 2023). during this transformative period, critical voices like gérard bessette and marie-claire blais emerged to challenge traditional norms and illuminate the complexities of human experience. bessette’s novel le libraire encapsulates the essence of contemporary societal dynamics, portraying the struggles faced by individuals amid the sweeping changes brought about by the quiet revolution. at the same time, blais’s une saison dans la vie d’emmanuel vividly illustrates the unprotected childhood experiences of poverty and violence that marked quebec society. the dual analysis of these novels allows for an exploration of the interplay between literature and society during a pivotal historical moment. in this context, cancalon (1989) critiques societal norms and expectations, highlighting social issues through characters whose struggles reflect the hardships and constraints imposed by society. this research seeks to investigate the significance of bessette’s and blais’s works as a means of understanding the socio-political climate of quebec in the mid-20th century. by examining these literary texts, the study aims to illuminate how literature not only reflects societal changes but also serves as a catalyst for dialogue about social norms and values. femande (1993) explores the political, social, and cultural movements that shaped the province’s intellectual landscape. utilizing qualitative literary analysis, this research will focus on thematic exploration, character development, and narrative structure to understand how these authors depict the human condition within the historical context of their time. the objective of this study is to analyse the presence and its effects of the great darkness and the quiet revolution of the society in the quebec francophone novels written by gérard bessette: le libraire and marie-claire blais: une saison dans la vie d’emmanuel. the present study will first delve into the socio-political backdrop of quebec during the great darkness and the quiet revolution, followed by an analysis of bessette’s le libraire and its reflections on individual struggles. then it will examine blais’s portrayal of childhood in une saison dans la vie d’emmanuel, exploring its broader implications in understanding the societal fabric of quebec. finally, the conclusion will summarize the findings and reflect on the ongoing relevance of these works in contemporary discussions of identity and culture in quebec. literature review in le colportage d’un nouveau printemps (2006) by brian kennedy examines the conservative authorities and the repressive socio-political situation in quebec, highlighting how these conditions made social revolution inevitable. he discusses how authors like gérard bessette and marie-claire blais contributed to a literary parallel reflecting social ideological change, offering new hope to quebecers. jacques michon’s aspects du roman québécois des années soixante (1980) explores new ideas in quebec literature, emphasizing its aesthetic and linguistic values as distinctive characteristics of contemporary quebec novels. similarly, in le titre du roman québécois des années 1940-1960 by berger (1981). analyses quebec’s novelistic production from the 1940s to 1960s, focusing on historical, social, and psychological novels, noting the dominance of psychological novels in 1950s society. these works examine various aspects of quebec literature and its evolution during significant socio-political changes. this present work differs from these previous studies as it presents a new perspective on quebec society during a transitional period, offering fresh insights and reflecting the unique societal changes that occurred. by focusing on this transition, we try to provide an original contribution to the understanding of quebec’s literary and social evolution. socio-political backdrop from nineteen thirty-six to nineteen thirty-nine then from nineteen-forty-four to nineteen fifty-nine, maurice le noblet duplessis was prime minister of quebec. this era is called the great darkness which is sarcastically referred as the dark ages of quebec by many due to certain level of conservatism displayed by political leaders and the powerful influence of the catholic church which repressed new ideas and liberal demands. kennedy (n.d.) discusses the grande noirceur, exploring its historical and cultural significance in quebec. the article delves into the era’s impact on quebec’s identity, particularly its social and political landscape during the period of duplessis’ leadership. the great darkness precedes the quiet revolution that occurred in quebec in the early nineteen-sixty. the consequences of the revolution included not only a change in the political sphere, but also a considerable wave of secularization, reform of education, health care, the economy, a change in relations between the francophone and anglophone populations in the province, and last but not least, the beginning of the quebec nationalist movement and its desire for an independent quebec, which became the number one issue for several decades throughout canada. the quiet revolution is a period of remarkable transformation that separates and distinguishes modern quebec society from that which existed before. rocher (1973) examines the social and political transformations in quebec, analysing the changes that shaped the province’s identity and its relationship with broader canadian society during a period of significant upheaval. it is seen as the end of the “great darkness” and the beginning of the modernization of quebec. the quiet revolution, with its radical socio-political changes, had a direct influence on the literature of this era. long an mahato & singh, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 36-41 38 agricultural society and the catholic faith, it underwent remarkable evolution in the 20th century in the form of accelerated urbanization and rapid modernization. this transformation manifests itself in all elements of society and literature. the quiet revolution, also was a period of profound social, political, and cultural change in the province of quebec, canada, lasting from approximately the late nineteen-fifties to the early nineteen-seventies. before the quiet revolution, quebec characterized by a conservative society strongly influenced by the catholic religion. the catholic clergy plays a central role in social, political and educational institutions, which limits the modernization and emancipation of the people. the aims of the quiet revolution were to modernize quebec, secularize institutions, promote culture, and establish a welfare state to improve living conditions. materials and method the nature of the study is qualitative. we obtained and analysed the information found in literature from various sources. this present study is based on secondary data. a lot of secondary information has been studied in the form of books, articles published in magazines, journals, newspapers, press articles, etc. to accomplish this study, we required to apply the historical and analytical method. the historical method is a process of critically investigating past events, in order to produce an accurate description and interpretation of those events. the analysis method is a research strategy that invites the researcher to stay in contact with the field and reality which is to learn to define the needs and problems of an investigation, while establishing a strategy for obtaining answers. discussions gérard bessette, got grand jury prize for letters, was born on twenty fifth february in ninety twenty, and died on twentyone february, two thousand five in quebec. he was one of the important writers of contemporary quebec literature. bessette studied at the university of montreal, where he earned a doctorate in literature. he taught literature at the university and was a professor of french at the university of sherbrooke. his literary work includes novels, essays and short stories. he is known for his satirical and ironic style of writing, where he often criticized conservative and traditional aspects of quebec society. one of his most famous novels le libraire, is published in nineteen sixty which was praised for its social satire and its criticism of traditionalism in quebec. the study of this novel will help us to better appreciate the originality and quality of the work where ideologies, social forces, characters and human conditions are represented successfully through the plot and characters of the novels. le libraire, takes place between the nineteen fifty’s and nineteen sixty’s during the transition period between the great darkness, an era dominated by religion and conservatism, and the quiet revolution, characterized by the liberalization of morals. a satirical story of ten chapters in the form of a fictional diary, bessette’s text attacks the traditionalism of quebec society by presenting the story of hervé jodoin who taught in an educational institution before working for a provincial bookstore in saint-joachin, a small town in the heart of a rural environment totally different from the metropolis of montreal that he left. there he works as a bookstore employee where reading is strictly monitored and censored by the religious and political elite. « des livres à ne pas mettre entre toutes les mains » (le libraire). he started writing a diary and recounts his uninteresting routine. but his boss léon chicoine entrusts him with responsibility for the capharnaum, the room filled with forbidden, “amoral” books intended to be sold to very private customers. hervé sells one of these books to the wrong person, a high school student. this gets him in trouble. despite this oppressive situation, hervé leads a fight against taboos and social restrictions. « au bout d’un certain temps, m. le curé est descendu et m’a demandé de la même voix confidentielle si nous n’avions pas en stock “ certains livres dangereux ”. je l'ai regardé l'air perplexe en relevant les sourcils et l'ai prié de m'éclairer sur ce qu'il entendait par “ livres dangereux ”. » (bessette, 1993) he began selling books condemned by religious authority, which were carefully hidden in a secret closet. in addition, he indulges in drinking daily and begins a sexual affair. bessette uses his antihero jodoin to challenge religious authoritarianism, the multiple taboos and ideological oppression in quebec society in the first half of the 20th century. marie-claire blais is a novelist, playwriter and poet, born in quebec, canada, on fifth october in the year nineteen thirty-nine and died on thirty november in the year two thousand twenty-one in florida. among the best-known and most studied canadian authors, she has published approximately 50 literary works. in his works, inner and outer desolation pursues asocial people, exiles, prostitutes, homosexuals and, above all, mothers and children through loveless relationships. blais recreated a harsh environment of crushing poverty, populated by victims bound by ignorance. her most famous work, “une saison dans la vie d’emmanuel,” written in 1965 as a response to the genre called “roman du terroir,” is centred on a family whose members suffer from poverty, child abuse, of the reform school, the monastery and premature death. it is a novel of realities of the misery and suffering inherent in rural quebec life in the mid20th century. this story deals with a poor family. the novel is divided into seven chapters, each of which focuses on a specific event. through the characters blais represents the transition period between the great darkness and the quite revolution. after the analysis of the selected novels, we can state that the characteristics of the great darkness (le grande noirceur) and the quite revolution (la revolution tranquille) are reflected impressively through the theme, plot and characters of the novels. the evolution of quebec society, since nineteen sixty, is characterized as an “exhibition of freedom” and a “need to break constraints and to transgress taboos”. le libraire was written in nineteen sixty, which is to say at the very beginning of the quiet revolution in quebec. the author therefore wanted to denounce the censorship imposed by the clergy ant the church at that time. the themes that the novelist exploits in the novel which corresponds to the contemporary society i.e. the era known as “the great darkness”, evoked from the start by the plan of the city upon the arrival of jodoin in saintmahato & singh, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 36-41 39 joachin and which dates from nineteen thirty-six, precisely the date of maurice duplessis’s seizure of power and the rise of the national union, a right-wing party. through the voice of jodoin, bessette denounces the situation of the contemporary society in le libraire. however, the work of marie clare blais reflects the decline of the church and shows the liberation of the society. because, in place of ecclesiastical authority, the elite religious authority is the guardian of public morality. le libraire is a perfect representation of the transition period between the great darkness and the quiet revolution, all the characters are torn between their desires and the need to comply. indeed, the protagonists undertake contrary actions to the values established by the church at that time. thus, although léon chicoine expresses a desire to free himself through the initiative of capharnaum, selling books conveying morals said to be questionable by the clergy and ideas likely to divert parishioners from the right path, he ultimately rejected the fault, when caught in the act, on hervé jodoin, all in order to preserve his reputation. however, he does not bow down with joy, he does it simply because the church holds the power. « ...eh ben, ce n’est pas bon pour la santé de contrer les curés. les ficelles, c'est eux autres qui les ont, vous comprenez... » (bessette, 1993) gérard bessette underlines that a considerable effort is necessary if we want to change things, hence the difficulty of the transition from the great darkness to the quiet revolution. furthermore, hervé jodoin refuses to see what is happening, literally as in society. he deliberately blinds himself because his ideas diverge from those of the majority. « moi, j’ai voulu à la lueur de la raison et de mes connaissances juger par moi-même et j’ai par suite mis de côté un tas d’opinions léguées par des gens qui tirent leur autorité de notre paresse cérébrale et du fait qu’ils ont vécu des siècles avant nous. » (bessette, 1993) léon chicoine denounces censorship and advocates individual freedom during a period, the great darkness, characterized by the control of the church. on the other hand, he does it with hesitation, especially when he discusses it with hervé jodoin. indeed, he criticizes the extreme censorship exercised by religious people in front of hervé jodoin, without however making any comments directly incriminating him. « quoi de plus noble, messieurs, quoi de plus admirable que de répandre ainsi la culture et le goût du beau chez les masses ouvrières, que de semer la bonne parole. » (bessette, 1993) the character of rose bouthiller, through her search for immediate pleasure, also highlights a value contrary to those of the time. when she gets drunk with hervé jodoin, her words and actions clash, her desires going against what she knows to be the norm. just like léon chicoine, she refuses to commit herself completely. thus, gérard bessette, by describing protagonist’s incapable of fully assuming their ideas different from the dominant culture, shows how difficult it is to move from the conservative values of the great darkness to the progressive values of the quiet revolution. gérard bessette, through his characters, he focused on the conflict between the desire to evolve and the obligation to act according to standards, reducing léon chicoine to conformism and hervé jodoin to immobility. always through the characters, we observe the birth of new ideas: the right to freedom of thought for each individual. in le libraire, gérard bessette represents a transition period, highlighting the conservatism of the great darkness while presenting new values which will become the foundation of the quite revolution. the novel une saison dans la vie d’emmanuel represents the misery and suffering inherent in rural quebec life in the mid-20th century. this novel is divided into seven chapters, each of which focuses on a specific event. it would take a long time to introduce everyone in this family but the characters represent the theme of unhappy consciousness in a firm manner. chardin (1998) examines the concept of “unhappy consciousness” in literature, providing insights into the intricate dynamics of consciousness within narrative form. the family is led and dominated by grandmother antoinette. she is the mother of an unnamed woman who is more of a baby-making machine than a human being, and who is married to an unnamed man whose only paternity instinct is to mercilessly beat the child who found nearby. as the novel starts, the woman has just given birth to her sixteenth child, emmanuel. the poverty, misery and ignorance of a traditional rural family are omnipresent. the plot begins in winter with the birth of emmanuel, at the time of the first or second world war, as confirmed by this single passage which allows us to date the novel: « c’est un bien mauvais temps pour naître », confie grand-mère antoinette, « nous n’avions jamais été aussi pauvres, une saison dure pour tout le monde, la guerre, la faim et puis tu es le seizième » (blais, 1965) emmanuel’s brothers and sisters are pomme, héloïse, “septième” (his real name fortuné-mathias) and jean-le maigre. the author wanted to show the radical transformation of quebec society, of which she evokes the withdrawal into itself, even the great darkness, which preceded the awakening of the sixties. in this novel we find the mother-priest coalition, the absence of the father, the domination exercised by religion, the impossibility of living for children who sink into despair or take refuge in writing (a means of escape), the past itself, death, ultimately failure. contestation of religion, such as it is practiced and taught in the quebec of the great darkness. the orphanage and the novitiate are the places where people coexist with an ideal of perfection vice and lust, just as the convent that héloïse attends. the younger, jean le maigre, the septième and two other brothers, engage in collective masturbation; the first two still have fun with a parody of confession. this era of obscurantism described in the novel which evokes the domination exercised by the catholic clergy. the alienation, the submission, the numerous allusions to large families, the little importance given to education, the omnipresence of religion, these are all elements which relate to the traditional society. the winter season in which emmanuel was born, evokes a dark season of quebec society, represents the great darkness which fortunately gives a way to spring, announced at the end. hope is reborn, or so it seems, because, mahato & singh, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 36-41 40 grandmother antoinette says « l’hiver a été dur, [... ] le printemps sera meilleur [... ] ce sera un beau printemps » (blais, 1965) the priest is the supreme authority in the village who preaches the greatness of large families to ensure the survival of the race. the father is against education and progress. in this novel, each character wants to escape from life because of the difficult situation of the family and contemporary society. they would like to fly like a bird: « je prendrai mes ailes et je m’envolerai. . . toi, tu resteras ici. tu te lèveras à six heures et tu iras couper du bois moi je volerai dans le ciel comme une colombe. » (blais, 1965) in the character of jean-le-maigre we find the representation of the great dankness and the quite revolution at the same time. jean-le-maigre, the only child who could really contribute to society in a meaningful and lasting way. jean is growing up poorly, but he is intellectual. somehow, even in the midst of this environment, he is in love with books and is eager to read whatever comes to hand. but his father doesn’t like his instincts, and jean is often beaten for reading. later, he is beaten when he is found writing poetry. instead, he develops tuberculosis and is sent to the novitiate (a form of religious sanatorium) either to die in peace or to heal himself. in this context, we can mention the words of jean-le maigre « la vie est impossible ». (une saison dans la vie d’emmanuel). the sicker and weaker he becomes, the more his genius for words becomes more pronounced. when he dies, the family has a moment of enlightenment, briefly realizing his intelligence and worth. but this revelation makes no sense. he would like to be a poet, but because of contemporary conservative society and his family situation his dream ends with his death. héloïse wanted to live well at the beginning. but she has become the victim of lust by a social institution and is lost in obscurity. later, she started leading a life as a prostitute. there, she was also mentally and physically abused. all these events in his life bring him into an unhappy situation. attacked by a social institution, seventh’s mental and physical state deteriorates. later, he started stealing and was beaten almost every day by the people which led him to an unhappy state. the father experiences a sense of doom as he struggles to ensure a happy family life. current social conditions prevent him from earning enough money to support his family. unfortunately, this caused him to become very harsh, often abusing his children for no reason. he also feels isolated within himself. after the discussion, we can state that the socio-political changes during the year nineteen sixty significantly influenced quebec literature, with gérard bessette’s le libraire and marie-claire blais’s une saison dans la vie d’emmanuel reflecting the transition from the great darkness to the quiet revolution. both novels vividly portray the oppressive religious conservatism and censorship of the great darkness and the emerging liberalization and intellectual freedom of the quiet revolution. viswanathan (2006) explores the complexity of the protagonist and the narrative techniques used to develop the character in the context of quebec literature. through characters like hervé jodoin and jeanle-maigre, the novels illustrate the tension between personal desires and societal expectations, highlighting the human cost of oppression and the transformative potential of societal change. thus, these works effectively encapsulate the themes and effects of the great darkness and the quiet revolution on contemporary quebec society. conclusions this article examines the socio-political landscape of quebec before the year nineteen sixty, focusing on the conservative and oppressive influence of the church, which demanded the sacrifice of the present for the future in the name of religion. the study highlights how this repressive environment, characterized by prohibitions and taboos, stifled freedom of thought and action. through the lens of gérard bessette’s le libraire and marie-claire blais’s une saison dans la vie d’emmanuel, the article explores the transition from the great darkness to the quiet revolution, reflecting the conflict between traditional values and emerging progressive ideals. guindon (1988) examines the interplay of tradition, modernity, and nationhood in quebec society, highlighting their role in shaping quebec’s cultural and political identity. the findings reveal that bessette’s work captures the slow shift in mentality leading to the quiet revolution, portraying characters who struggle between the desire to evolve and the obligation to conform. similarly, blais’s novel symbolizes this transformation through the cyclical change of seasons, with winter representing the great darkness and spring symbolizing the hope and renewal of the quiet revolution. the unique contribution of the paper lies in its detailed analysis of how these novels reflect and critique the socio-cultural dynamics of quebec society during periods of transformation. tremblay (2004) explores how fiction reflects the evolving identity and cultural dynamics of quebec during this period. the theoretical implications suggest that literature can serve as a mirror to societal changes, providing insights into the socio-political climate of an era. managerially, the study recommends promoting literary works that reflect historical and social changes to encourage a deeper understanding of cultural evolution. the research is limited by its focus on a specific period and region, which may not be generalizable to other contexts. future research could expand this analysis to include a broader range of literary works and explore similar transitions in different cultural settings. the article underscores the importance of examining literature as a tool for understanding socio-political changes, offering recommendations for educators, policymakers, and literary scholars to incorporate these insights into their practices. future studies should consider a comparative approach, analysing how other regions and periods of significant sociopolitical change are depicted in literature, to further enrich our comprehension of the interplay between literature and society. author contributions: conceptualization; a.m. and n.s., methodology, a.m. and n.s; software, not applicable; validation, not applicable; formal analysis, a.m. and n.s.; investigation, a.m. and n.s; resources, a.m. and n.s.; data curation, not applicable; writing-original draft preparation, a.m. mahato & singh, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 36-41 41 and n.s; writing -review & editing, a.m. and n.s; visualization, not applicable.; supervision, a.m. and n.s., funding, a.m. and n.s. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: this study was not subject to ethical review and approval, as it does not pertain to sensitive topics or vulnerable groups. funding: the authors did not receive any specific funding for this research. acknowledgement: not applicable. informed consent statement: consent was obtained from all participants involved in the study. data availability statement: the data supporting this study are available upon request from the corresponding author. due to restrictions, the data are not publicly accessible. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references beaudoin, s., & gagnon, l. (2022). the influence of socio-religious dynamics on quebec literature. journal of canadian studies, 45(1), 34-56. belleau, a. (1980). le romancier fictif, essai sur la représentation de l’écrivain dans le roman québécois. québec : les presses de l’université du québec. berger, r. (1981). le titre du roman québécois des années 1940-1960. voix et images, 7(1), 79–94. https://doi.org/10.7202/200305ar bessette, g. (1993). le libraire. montréal : editions pierre tisseyre. blais, m. c. (1965). une saison dans la vie d’emmanuel. montréal : editions du jour. bolduc, y. (1978). recherche de la signification d’une saison dans la vie d'emmanuel. si que, 3, 51-68. cancalon, e. d. (1989). une saison dans la vie d’emmanuel : le discours du conte. voix et image, 102-110. chardin, p. (1998). le roman de la conscience malheureuse. droz editeur. chasse, p. (2006). le québécois d’après les romans de marie-claire blais. modern language studies, 2(2), 83-89. femande, o. (1993). histoire des idéologies au québec aux xixe et xxe siècles. québec: boreal. fitzgerald, m. (2023). the novel in quebec: transformation and resistance. québec studies, 29(2), 78-92. guindon, h. (1988). quebec society: tradition, modernity, and nationhood. toronto: university of toronto press. kennedy, b. (n.d.). grand noirceur. retrieved from https://www.lenouvelliste.ca/2016/08/20/grande-noirceur075ce20d36391aa630a7aadc96de13ab/ lapointe, p. (2023). remembering the great darkness: literature as a reflection of social struggles. canadian literature review, 15(3), 112-130. michon, j. (1980). aspects du roman québécois des années soixante. the french review, 51(6), 812-821. rocher, g. (1973). le québec en mutation. montréal : editions hurtubise hmh. rochon, a. (2020). artistic expression in times of change: a study of quebec's literary output. journal of francophone literature, 39(6), 243-260. tremblay, r. (2004). l’écrivain imaginaire, essai sur le roman québécois 1960–1995. montréal: cahiers du québec. tremblay, r. (2021). the legacy of catholic influence in quebec: continuities and changes in society. historical studies in canada, 18(4), 67-89. viswanathan, j. (2006). une saison dans la vie d’emmanuel : introduction à l'analyse du personnage romanesque. the french review, 52(5), 755-758. publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2024 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences (p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://www.lenouvelliste.ca/2016/08/20/grande-noirceur-075ce20d36391aa630a7aadc96de13ab/ https://www.lenouvelliste.ca/2016/08/20/grande-noirceur-075ce20d36391aa630a7aadc96de13ab/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 16-26 16 humanities, arts and social sciences aijhass vol 4 no 1 (2022) p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass published by american center of science and education, usa investigating the financial strength in the energy sector: a study on tgtdcl md. salim chowdhury (a) md. al-imran (b) md. faisal-e-alam (c) md. eqtedar ul hoque (d) taposhi parvin (e)1 (a) college of graduate and professional studies, trine university, allen park, michigan 48101-3636, united states of america; e-mail: mchowdhury23@my.trine.edu (b) college of graduate and professional studies, trine university, allen park, michigan 48101-3636, united states of america; e-mail: malimran23@my.trine.edu (c) department of management studies, begum rokeya university, rangpur-5404, bangladesh; e-mail: faisal14.ru@gmail.com (d) department of business administration, daffodil international university, dhaka-1216, bangladesh; e-mail: eqtedar19@gmail.com (e) department of business administration, daffodil international university, dhaka-1216, bangladesh; e-mail: taposhi11-6176@diu.edu.bd a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 24th october 2022 revised: 30th november 2022 accepted: 24th december 2022 published: 30th december 2022 keywords: liquidity, financial strength, energy sector, tgtdcl. jel classification codes: g30, g32, q48 a b s t r a c t this study presents a descriptive study analyzing the financial strength of titas gas transmission and distribution company limited (tgtdcl) in the energy sector. the study examines various financial aspects, including shareholding pattern, annual turnover, net assets value per share, liquidity ratios, profitability ratios, working capital ratios, capital structure ratios, contribution to the national exchequer, and system loss reduction. employing a descriptive research design, the study utilizes purposive sampling to select tgtdcl. data is collected from tgtdcl's annual reports spanning 201718 to 2020-21 and analyzed using ms excel, incorporating descriptive statistics and ratio analysis. findings indicate that tgtdcl's operations are influenced by government control. nevertheless, the company exhibits consistent growth in annual turnover, indicating effectiveness in capitalizing on market opportunities and meeting gas demand. the upward trend in net assets value per share reflects growth of assets, benefiting shareholders. additionally, positive liquidity ratios highlight improved financial health and effective short-term obligation management. however, profitability ratios reveal a decline in profit generation and conversion of revenues to earnings. the study emphasizes inventory management, enhanced collection processes, and optimized payment cycles for financial strengthening. capital structure ratios underscore the need for managing debt levels and improving cash flow generation. tgtdcl's contributions to the national exchequer demonstrate financial responsibility and positive impact on the economy. efforts in system loss reduction enhance operational efficiency and cost management. the findings contribute to understanding the financial landscape of the tgtdcl and offer insights for policymakers, industry practitioners, and researchers. future research should consider qualitative factors and detailed financial data to comprehensively assess financial position of industries in the energy sector. © 2022 by the authors. licensee cribfb, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction the energy sector in bangladesh plays a vital role in driving economic growth and ensuring the sustainable development of the nation (amin & rahman, 2019). it is widely recognized that energy consumption is closely linked to the level of progress in modern societies (mondal et al., 2010). in this context, the creation of sdg 7 in 2015 occurred at a time when the world was experiencing a serious energy crisis and energy development gaps, where more than 1 billion people still live without power and one-third of bangladesh's population does not have access to electricity (amin & rahman, 2019). the energy sector encompasses natural gas, electricity, coal, liquid fuel, wind, solar, and other non-petroleum fuels. within the diverse energy industry of bangladesh, natural gas stands out as the most widely utilized energy source (jahan, 2015). according to the power system master plan 2016, the peak year for domestic gas production was 2017 in bangladesh. besides, the government is also working to import liquefied natural gases (lngs) in order to fulfill the rising demand for natural gas 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0001-5499-677x © 2022 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of acse, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v4i1.285 to cite this article: chowdhury, m. s., al-imran, m., faisal-e-alam, m., hoque, m. e. u., & parvin, t. (2022). investigating the financial strength in the energy sector: a study on tgtdcl. american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences, 4(1), 16– 26. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v4i1.285 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5499-677x mailto:mchowdhury23@my.trine.edu mailto:malimran23@my.trine.edu mailto:eqtedar19@gmail.com mailto:taposhi11-6176@diu.edu.bd http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v4i1.285 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9340-5642 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7341-7945 https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6263-4597 https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7871-0266 chowdhury et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 16-26 17 (islam & khan, 2017). within this sector, companies involved in the transmission and distribution of natural gas hold significant importance in meeting the energy needs of industries, businesses, and households. titas gas transmission and distribution company limited (tgtdcl) is one of numerous gas transmission and distribution companies in bangladesh, and it is also one of the largest (suma, 2021). as the demand for energy continues to rise, it becomes imperative to assess the financial strength of companies like tgtdcl to gauge their contribution to the overall energy landscape. understanding the financial strength of a company is crucial for various stakeholders, including investors, regulators, and policymakers (jesover & kirkpatrick, 2005). financial analysis enables a complete evaluation of a company's financial performance, providing insights into its operational efficiency, liquidity, and solvency (mavlutova et al., 2021). by delving into tgtdcl's financial indicators and ratios, a deeper understanding of its financial position could be gained and make informed assessments about its ability to withstand market fluctuations, capitalize on growth opportunities, and fulfill its financial obligations. in addition to financial analysis, exploring the financial strength of tgtdcl can aid in identifying areas where improvements or interventions may be needed to ensure long-term sustainability, and promote competitiveness within the sector. this study can also serve as a valuable reference for benchmarking tgtdcl's financial performance against industry standards and best practices, facilitating knowledge-sharing and the adoption of measures that enhance financial stability and resilience. literature in the field of financial analysis within the energy sector has highlighted the significance of evaluating the financial strength of companies operating in this domain (savchina, 2021). previous studies have emphasized the importance of various financial indicators and ratios in assessing the financial position of energy companies, including those involved in natural gas transmission and distribution (eyüboglu & çelik, 2016; borodin et al., 2023). additionally, the insights gained from the study can support as a scope for future studies, enabling further advancements in financial analysis methodologies. considering the importance of the energy sector and the significant role of natural gas transmission and distribution, it becomes crucial to measure the financial performance of tgtdcl. the subsequent sections of this study are divided into the literature review, methods and materials, results, discussion, and conclusion, culminating in comprehensive insights into tgtdcl's financial strength. literature review it is difficult to define and even more challenging to measure financial strength. a company's financial health can be described in a variety of ways under the umbrella term "financial strength." financial strength is the capacity of the financial system to maintain a healthy financial position by evaluating risks and to maintain its capacity to perform key functions over time through self-corrective processes. most analysts focus on the financial system's risks and vulnerabilities since they are simpler to understand and quantify due to the imprecision of the broader perspective of financial system strength (gadanecz & jayaram, 2008; ali et al., 2020; ali et al., 2021; nayeen et al., 2020; nahar et al., 2021; rahman et al., 2021a; rahman et al., 2021b; zayed et al., 2021b; ahmed et al., 2022; shayery et al., 2022). the evaluation of a company's financial strength is of great value to those who are interested in the growth of a company. financial ratio investigation has proven to be particularly useful in identifying company strength and financial difficulties (bei & wijewardana, 2012). in this regard, financial performances are critical aspects of assessing the strength of companies in the any industry. financial performance analysis includes the general analysis performed to identify the strategic direction to be taken by identifying the potential financial risks that industries may experience (argun & altnoluk, 2022; iqbal et al., 2021; kader et al., 2019; kader et al., 2021a; kader et al., 2021b). scholars have paid increased attention to the financial performance of energy corporations over time (iovino & tsitsianis, 2020; chowdhury et al., 2020; chowdhury et al., 2021a; s. chowdhury et al., 2021b; kabir et al., 2021). according to san ong et al. (2015), excellent corporate governance practices increase transparency and boost a company's financial success. it involves establishing a balance between the interests of many parties, including shareholders, management, employees, customers, and the general public. while ownership patterns cannot offer an accurate picture of corporate governance, they are an important factor to examine. according to shliefer and vishny (1997), p. 773, the interaction between shareholders and the company's management is the main focus of corporate governance. an effective framework for financial supervision must include sound corporate governance (mayes et al., 2001; rubi et al., 2022; zayed et al., 2021a). the company's financial statements include a significant total revenue component. specifically, the gas company recognizes revenue based on consumption, issuing invoices to customers (excluding domestic customers) at the end of each month for gas consumed. for domestic customers, revenue is recognized based on fixed rates. the oil and gas industry generates revenue through various mechanisms (newell & raimi, 2018). additionally, gas prices play a crucial role in determining the revenues of gas producers and influencing both the supply and decisions of gas customers (dopierała et al., 2022). on another note, the net asset value per share (navps) is derived from the financial statements of companies listed on the stock exchange. navps has an impact on determining the stock price (irsath et al., 2015). it serves as a measure representing the total equity of a firm minus its debts. comparatively, it is easier to compare the net asset value per share to the share price traded on the stock exchange rather than the total market value of the firm or its total net asset value (mårtensson & johansson, 2022). maintaining sufficient liquidity is crucial for a company as it directly influences profits, a portion of which is typically distributed to shareholders (saleem & rehman, 2011; shahriar, 2021a; shahriar, 2021b; zayed et al., 2021a). iovino and migliaccio (2019) conducted an analysis of the financial performance of italian energy companies between 2008 and 2014. their study utilized two financial metrics, namely the quick ratio and financial leverage ratio, focusing on companies that survived the crisis. the analysis of liquidity ratios concentrated on the current ratio, quick ratio, and cash ratio (ebimobowei et al., 2021; al-quraan et al., 2022; faisal-e-alam et al., 2022; mia et al., 2022; bhuiyan et al., 2022). chowdhury et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 16-26 18 short-term liquidity reflects operational efficiency, while long-term liquidity refers to the financial capacity to repay longterm debts in the energy sector companies (ali, 2021). previous literature has extensively reported that liquidity constraints play a significant role in hindering firms' performance (afrifa, 2013). research has found a statistically significant relationship between liquidity parameters and the performance of energy companies (ramlan et al., 2019), indicating that changes in liquidity levels can have an impact on profitability. profitability ratios are utilized to assess a firm's performance and operational efficiency. these ratios can be categorized into various types, such as returns on capital employed (roce), return on assets (roa), return on total assets (rota), return on equity (roe), and return on sales, which can be measured through net profit percentage or gross profit percentage (ebimobowei et al., 2021). according to the trade-off theory, highly profitable firms tend to target a higher debt ratio due to factors like tax savings, bankruptcy risk, and over-investment (mohammed et al., 2020). practitioners employ profitability ratios to forecast the future success of companies (bhatt, 2012). capece et al. (2013) conducted an analysis of 111 italian gas companies from 2004 to 2009, focusing on financial, profitability, and liquidity indicators. they used specific metrics to categorize companies based on factors such as age, size, geographical location, and business diversification. financial metrics like cash flow and leverage ratio were employed as capital indicators, while return on investment (roi) and return on equity (roe) were used as profitability indicators. a comprehensive understanding of a company's financial structure incorporates both long-term (capital structure) and short-term (working capital structure) financing components. for energy companies, financial security is assessed through indicators such as ebit margin, roe, roic, roa, cost, balance-sheet structure, debt, liquidity, and operational efficiency (zając et al., 2023). the financial performance of companies is influenced by their practices in working capital management, which is a subset of the overall financial structure (mandipa & sibindi, 2022). effective management of cash, receivables, inventory, and payables is all part of working capital management (naser et al., 2013). according to kwenda and matanda (2015), effective working capital management is essential to maximize shareholders' wealth. working capital management has received considerable attention in both theoretical and empirical studies due to its influence on a firm's profitability. the findings from studies conducted on public oil and gas companies can be utilized to evaluate, forecast, and implement measures to enhance the efficiency of working capital and assets in other companies (shimko, 2020). the stability of a company's capital structure in the energy sector relies on the stability of macroeconomic conditions and business activity (rashid, 2013). while the modigliani & miller (m&m) theorem argues that capital structure is irrelevant in determining a company's value, empirical evidence shows that capital structure choices can deviate from the m&m's theorem (foo et al., 2015). this has led to research demonstrating that capital structure does indeed impact a company's value and performance. agnihotri (2014) suggests that depending on a firm's competitive strategies and market conditions, choosing an appropriate capital structure can result in lower cost of debt and enhance performance, regardless of whether the leverage is high or low. in essence, capital structure refers to a company's financing composition through a combination of equity and debt (mujahid & akhtar, 2014). therefore, the parameters of capital structure are closely related to a firm's performance (georgakopoulos et al., 2022). recognizing this, ravindra & rao (2014) proposed the analysis of financial and capital structure within the gas industry. in a research published in 2021, kludacz-alessandri and cygaska studied the effects of corporate social responsibility (csr) activities on the investment strategies of corporations in the energy industry and underlined the link between csr efforts and financial success. approximately half of the research undertaken revealed a favorable association between csr and financial success (margolis & walsh, 2001). csr initiatives provide the provision of high-quality products and services, a reliable supply chain, stable cash flow, loyal customer bases, positive social image, and overall top performance for stakeholders and three gas companies (ngai et al., 2018). for instance, the vietnam national oil and gas group (petrovietnam), with its diverse range of operations, contributes a significant amount of money to the national exchequer, thereby promoting sustainable business development (hung & tuan, 2018). however, it is important for stateowned corporations to achieve commercial success, as measured by their contribution to the national exchequer (akram, 2003). the transportation and distribution of gas unavoidably leads to gas losses, which are influenced by various factors such as the method and type of transportation, the quality of transport systems, the quality of gaseous fuel, and the calibration and quality of metering devices. countries' experiences with gas consumption demonstrate that natural gas is among the safest energy products (brkovic et al., 2014). therefore, reducing losses in the distribution of natural gas is crucial as it enhances safety, ensures a regular supply, and contributes to the price reduction of natural gas for end-users. the financial performance analysis of the examined companies based on the dataset reveals that the transformation of energy is partially funded by energy consumers (dopierała et al., 2022). consequently, reducing system losses can yield significant financial advantages for energy companies, particularly gas providers, by reducing costs, increasing revenue, improving operational efficiency, complying with regulations, enhancing customer satisfaction, and gaining a competitive advantage. based on the literature mentioned above, it is evident that some researchers have utilized a limited number of components to evaluate financial performance, while the majority have focused on profitability and liquidity ratios as indicators of an organization's financial strength. many researchers have relied on traditional tools, such as single ratio evaluation, for performance assessment, which may not provide an accurate representation of the actual scenario. however, no one has explored a composite performance measure for the energy sector, specifically tgtdcl. consequently, this study stands out from existing research by analyzing the financial strength, which serves as a representation of tgtdcl's financial well-being and performance. chowdhury et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 16-26 19 materials and methods research design this study employed a descriptive research design to investigate the financial strength of tgtdcl in the energy sector. the study focused on analyzing the shareholding pattern, annual turnover, net assets value per share, liquidity ratios, profitability ratios, working capital ratios, capital structure ratios, contribution to national exchequer, and system loss reduction. sampling technique the sampling technique used in this study is purposive sampling, where a sample of tgtdcl was selected based on availability and relevance to the study. because, tgtdcl is a prominent player in the energy sector, specifically in the gas transmission and distribution industry. purposive sampling allows for the selection of a specific case that can provide meaningful and relevant information within the available resources. data collection and analysis the data was collected using secondary sources, such as company reports and financial statements. the study collects data from tgtdcl's annual reports from the years 2017–18 to 2020–21. the data from the annual reports is analyzed using ms excel. the analysis includes descriptive statistics for calculating percentages and ratios to analyze the financial strength of tgtdcl. data interpretation is performed by creating tables to present the data in a clear and concise manner. ethical considerations the study adheres to ethical considerations such as obtaining permission from tgtdcl to use their annual reports and maintaining the confidentiality of the data collected. results shareholding pattern the shareholding pattern is divided into two categories: public and government. under the public category, there are three subcategories: individual & joint, institutions, and foreign. the government category consists of the shareholding held by petrobangla, which represents the government's ownership. the table 1 below illustrates the shareholding pattern of tgtdcl over a four-year period, indicating the percentage distribution of shares among different categories of shareholders. table 1. shareholding pattern category 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 public individual & joint (%) 9.42 8.97 8.79 9.57 institutions (%) 13.44 14.15 14.44 14.81 foreign (%) 2.14 1.88 1.77 0.63 government petrobangla (%) 75 75 75 75 note: the percentage values represent the shareholding percentages in each category for the respective years source: annual reports of tgtdcl (2017-18 to 2020-21) from table 1, the petrobangla holds a consistent majority stake in tgtdcl, with a shareholding of 75% over the periods. the shareholding of institutional investors in tgtdcl showed a gradual increase over the specified period. so, institutional investors, including banks, insurance companies, mutual funds, and other financial institutions, have been progressively increasing their ownership stake in tgtdcl. the shareholding of individual and joint investors in tgtdcl experienced a slight decline from 9.42% in 2017-18 to 8.97% in 2018-19. however, it remained relatively stable at 8.79% in 2019-20 and slightly increased to 9.57% in 2020-21. the foreign shareholding in titas gas transmission and distribution company limited (tgtdcl) declined from 2.14% to 0.63% over the specified period, indicating a decreasing level of ownership by foreign investors in the company. annual turnover tgtdcl is the major source of revenue for the government of bangladesh under petro bangla. the revenue of tgtdcl includes revenues from two sources, including gas sales revenue and operating income. the gas customers are power, fertilizer, industrial zone, captive power, fed gas for cng, domestic, and commercial users. the operating income includes the rent of the meter, the minimum charge, the heating charge, the charge for connection and reconnection, commission fees, penalties, and profit from stores' sales. table 2. annual turnover category 2017-18 2018-19 2019-2020 2020-2021 annual turnover (in crore tk.) 14289.93 13622.09 16950.41 17831.27 source: annual reports of tgtdcl (2017-18 to 2020-21) from table 2, tgtdcl experienced lower annual turnover from the years 2017-18 to 2018-2019. the turnover increased from tk. 13622.09 crores in 2018-19 to tk. 17831.27 crores in 2020-2021. this indicates a positive trend of growth in revenue for the company over this period. the significant increase in annual turnover from 2018-19 to 2020-2021 suggests improved financial performance for the company. net assets value (nav) per share the price per share at which an investor can purchase and sell shares is known as net assets value. it is determined for a chowdhury et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 16-26 20 business by deducting the value of liabilities from the value of assets. it displays the value of the corporation per share. the net assets value per share for the previous four years is displayed in the following table 3. table 3. net assets value (nav) per share category 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 net assets value (nav) per share (tk.) 67.28 70.08 71.39 72.57 source: annual reports of tgtdcl (2017-18 to 2020-21) the net assets value per share has shown a consistent upward trend over the years. it increased from tk. 67.28 in 2017-18 to tk. 72.57 in 2020-21 (see table 3). it reflects a positive financial performance and indicates that the company's assets are growing at a faster pace than its liabilities. the effective use of financial resources by the management aids in the company's rise in share value. liquidity ratios the current ratio, quick ratio, and cash ratio are three liquidity ratios that provide information on tgtdcl's liquidity and short-term solvency. the current ratio gauges how well the business can use its current assets to pay its short-term debts. a current ratio of 1.5:1 or greater often means the business has enough short-term assets to meet its short-term liabilities. inventory is excluded from current assets in the quick ratio, commonly referred to as the acid-test ratio, which is a stricter measure of liquidity. it focuses on the assets that are the most easily convertible into cash, marketable securities, and accounts receivable in order to determine the company's capacity to meet its immediate obligations. the cash ratio evaluates the company's capacity to fully fund its current liabilities from its cash and cash equivalents. a stronger capacity to satisfy short-term obligations with readily available cash is indicated by a larger cash ratio. table 4 shows three liquidity ratios for tgtdcl over four consecutive years. table 4. liquidity ratios category 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 current ratio 1.21:1 1.31:1 1.47:1 1.61:1 quick ratio .68:1 0.77:1 0.95.1 1.01:1 cash ratio .11:1 .18:1 .24:1 .28:1 source: annual reports of tgtdcl (2017-18 to 2020-21) over the analyzed period from 2017-18 to 2020-21, the tgtdcl's liquidity position showed consistent improvement. the current ratio, which indicates the company's ability to cover short-term obligations with its current assets, increased from 1.21:1 to 1.61:1. this upward trend suggests that the company had a stronger ability to meet its immediate financial obligations, reflecting improved liquidity management. similarly, the quick ratio, which excludes inventory from current assets, experienced a gradual increase from 0.68:1 to 1.01:1, indicating an enhanced ability to cover short-term liabilities without relying heavily on inventory. additionally, the cash ratio, reflecting the proportion of cash available to cover short-term obligations, grew from 0.11:1 to 0.28:1, indicating a strengthened cash position over time (see table 4). profitability ratios the profitability ratios including eps (earnings per share), net margin ratio, return on fixed assets, return on capital employed, and return on equity, provide insights into tgtdcl's profitability and efficiency. eps measures the profit generated per share outstanding and provides an indication of the company's profitability on a per-share basis. the net margin ratio represents the percentage of each revenue taka that translates into profit after deducting all expenses, including taxes and interest. the return on fixed assets measures the efficiency and profitability of the company's utilization of its fixed assets. the return on capital employed measures the profitability generated from the capital invested in the business. the return on equity measures the profitability generated in relation to the shareholders' equity. the calculated data for these ratios is shown in table 5. table 5. profitability ratios category 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 earnings per share (eps) (tk.) 3.43 4.70 3.64 3.50 net margin ratio (%) 2.38 3.27 2.12 1.94 return on fixed assets (%) 38.19 55.19 34.12 34.57 return on capital employed (%) 6.63 6.46 4.80 4.61 return on equity (%) 5.1 6.7 5.1 4.8 source: annual reports of tgtdcl (2017-18 to 2020-21) starting with the earnings per share (eps) of tgtdcl, we observe fluctuations in the company's per-share profitability. the eps increased from tk. 3.43 in 2017-18 to tk. 4.70 in 2018-19, indicating improved profitability per share. however, it declined in subsequent years, reaching tk. 3.50 in 2020-21 (see table 5). moving to the net margin ratio, we note that the company's profitability as a percentage of revenue showed a mixed trend. the ratio increased from 2.38% in 2017-18 to 3.27% in 2018-19, indicating improved profitability relative to revenue. however, it declined in the following years, reaching 1.94% in 2020-21 (see table 5). examining the company's returns on fixed assets and capital employed, we find that the return on fixed assets increased from 38.19% in 2017-18 to 55.19% in 2018-19, signifying improved efficiency and profitability in utilizing fixed chowdhury et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 16-26 21 assets. however, the ratio declined in subsequent years, settling at 34.57% in 2020-21. similarly, the return on capital employed declined from 6.63% in 2017-18 to 4.61% in 2020-21, indicating a decrease in the company's ability to generate returns on the capital invested (see table 5). lastly, the return on equity remained relatively stable at 5.1% from 2017-18 to 2019-20, implying a consistent return for shareholders. however, it decreased to 4.8% in 2020-21, indicating a lower return on shareholders' equity (see table 5). working capital ratios the management of working capital entails effectively managing three primary components inventory, accounts receivable, and accounts payable in order to ensure that a business has sufficient resources to operate smoothly. the inventory ratio measures the number of times the company's inventory is sold and replaced during a given period. a higher inventory turnover ratio generally indicates efficient inventory management. the accounts receivable ratio measures the number of times the company's accounts receivable are collected during a given period. a higher accounts receivable ratio indicates timely collection of payments, adequate credit policies, or customers who may be creditworthy or financially stable. the accounts payable ratio measures the number of times the company's accounts payable are paid during a given period. a high accounts payable ratio indicates prompt payment to creditors and suppliers, while a low ratio implies a slower payment process for the company's obligations. table 6. working capital ratios category 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 inventory turnover ratio (times) 92.37 74.74 85.12 94.91 accounts receivable turnover ratio (times) 3.78 3.51 3.38 3.07 accounts payable turnover ratio (times) 4.13 3.65 3.67 3.68 source: annual reports of tgtdcl (2017-18 to 2020-21) the ratios of working capital are presented in table 6. first, the company experienced a decrease in inventory turnover ratio in 2018-19 from the previous year but then saw an increase in the following years, with the highest ratio recorded in 2020-21. tgtdcl's accounts receivable turnover ratio slightly decreases from 3.78 times in 2017-18 to 3.07 times in 2020-21. this suggests that, on average, the company takes longer to collect its accounts receivable. it could indicate slower collection of outstanding payments or changes in customer payment behavior. the accounts payable turnover ratio over the last three-year period has been relatively stable, ranging from 3.65 times to 3.68 times. this indicates that, on average, the company takes a similar amount of time to pay its suppliers, except for the period of 2017-18 where it takes less time to pay its suppliers than the following three years. capital structure ratios capital structure ratios are financial indicators that evaluate the composition and proportion of a company's long-term sources of funding, which include both debt and equity. the debt-to-equity ratio, debt service ratio, and cash dividend are the measures that provide information on the financial leverage, risk profile, and stability of the organization. the debtequity ratio calculates how much total debt a company has compared to total equity. it shows the degree of financial risk and leverage the firm has taken. the debt service ratio indicates the company's ability to cover its debt service payments, typically measured as the ratio of cash flow to debt service obligations. the cash dividend percentage represents the portion of profits that the company distributes to shareholders in the form of cash dividends. table 7. capital structure ratios category 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 debt-equity ratio 03.97 4.96 4.96 4.96 debt service ratio 15.88:1 45.10:1 35.94:1 35.27:1 cash dividend (%) 25 26 26 22 source: annual reports of tgtdcl (2017-18 to 2020-21) in 2017-18, the debt-equity ratio was 3.97. however, in 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21, the debt-equity ratio increased and remained constant at 4.96, indicating that the company had approximately 4.96 units of debt for every unit of equity during the last three years. moving to the debt service ratio, a significant increase from 15.88:1 in 2017-18 to 45.10:1 in 2018-19, implying a higher ability to service its debt obligations. however, the ratio then declined to 35.94:1 in 2019-20 and further to 35.27:1 in 2020-21. regarding the cash dividend percentage, the company distributed dividends of 25% in 2017-18 and 26% both in 2018-19 and 2019-20. but, the dividend percentage decreased to 22% in 2020-21, suggesting a reduced distribution of profits to shareholders during that year (see table 7). contribution to national exchequer table 8 represents the contributions made by a company to the national economy in terms of dividend, corporate tax, dls (development levy surcharge), and cd/vat (customs duty/vat) for the years 2017-18 to 2020-21. table 8. contribution to national exchequer category 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 (in crore tk.) (in crore tk.) (in crore tk.) (in crore tk.) dividend 163.22 185.48 192.89 192.89 corporate tax 342.89 362.6 395.81 440.89 dls 24.28 25.74 10.47 10.17 chowdhury et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 16-26 22 cd/vat 28.08 18.73 9.74 11.68 total 558.47 592.55 608.91 655.63 source: annual reports of tgtdcl (2017-18 to 2020-21) over this period, the company's contributions to the exchequer varied across different categories. dividends distributed to shareholders amounted to tk. 163.22 crores in 2017-18, tk. 185.48 crores in 2018-19, tk. 192.89 crores in 2019-20, and remained the same at tk. 192.89 crores in 2020-21. these dividend payments reflect the company's financial performance and its share of profits allocated to shareholders. in terms of corporate tax payments, the company paid tk. 342.89 crores in 2017-18, tk. 362.6 crores in 2018-19, tk. 395.81 crores in 2019-20, and tk. 440.89 crores in 2020-21, contributing to government revenue based on taxable profits. the company also made contributions in the form of dls, with amounts of tk. 24.28 crores in 2017-18, tk. 25.74 crores in 2018-19, tk. 10.47 crores in 2019-20, and tk. 10.17 crores in 2020-21. additionally, cd/vat payments totaled tk. 28.08 crores in 2017-18, tk. 18.73 crores in 2018-19, tk. 9.74 crores in 2019-20, and tk. 11.68 crores in 2020-21, reflecting customs duties and value-added taxes paid on imports (see table 8). system loss reduction system loss reduction refers to the efforts made to minimize losses that occur during the generation, transmission, and distribution of energy. these losses can occur due to various factors such as technical inefficiencies, transmission line losses, theft, metering errors, and other operational challenges. table 9. system loss reduction financial year difference between purchase and sales (total system loss/gain) in volume (mmcm) in percentage (%) 2017-18 201.19 1.17 2018-19 1003.83 5.71 2019-20 308.32 2.00 2020-21 323.64 2.00 note: mmcm stands for "million cubic meters" and is a unit of measurement used to quantify natural gas volume. source: annual reports of tgtdcl (2017-18 to 2020-21) over the analyzed period, tgtdcl demonstrated a consistent effort to reduce system losses. the data shows that tgtdcl achieved a significant improvement in system loss reduction from 2017-18 to 2018-19, with a substantial reduction of 5.71% of the total volume. although the subsequent years saw smaller reductions, tgtdcl maintained its focus on controlling and mitigating losses, achieving reductions of around 2.00% in system losses for both 2019-20 and 2020-21 (see table 9). discussions tgtdcl has strong government influence and control over the company's operations, strategies, and decision-making processes. it may limit tgtdcl's ability to adapt to market changes. to ensure long-term success, tgtdcl may need to strike a balance between government control and private sector participation while maintaining a stable regulatory environment. on a positive note, the consistent growth in annual turnover specifies that the tgtdcl has been effective in capitalizing on market opportunities and meeting the growing demand for natural gas. sustained revenue growth can instill confidence in existing shareholders and attract new investors, further strengthening the company's financial position and supporting future expansion plans. the consistent upward trend in net assets value per share implies that the company has been able to generate profits and accumulate assets, which can be seen as a positive indicator of financial strength and value creation for shareholders. increasing net assets value per share is generally viewed favorably by investors as it reflects the company's ability to generate sustainable returns and build a solid foundation for future growth. the positive trends in liquidity ratios signify the company's improved financial health and its capacity to manage short-term obligations effectively. moreover, the upward trend in current ratio, quick ratio, and cash ratio can inspire confidence in the company's stakeholders, including investors and creditors, as it indicates a reduced risk of defaulting on short-term payments and an overall stronger financial position. overall, the profitability ratios indicate that the company's ability to generate profits and convert revenues into earnings has decreased over the given periods. it would be important to analyze the underlying factors impacting profitability, such as cost management, revenue generation, and functioning efficiency, to understand the declining profitability. the company should focus on managing inventory levels effectively to avoid stockouts or excess inventory despite the high turnover ratio. moreover, in spite of effective management of receivables, there are opportunities to enhance the collection process for better cash flow. on the other hand, the accounts payable turnover ratio indicates improvements in payment cycles could be explored. the results of capital structure ratios highlight the need for the company to carefully manage its debt levels, improve cash flow generation, and strike a balance between financial leverage and shareholder returns. specifically, total contributions to national exchequer illustrate the company's financial responsibility and its significant role in contributing to government revenue and public funds. these implications emphasize the company's positive impact on the national economy and its role as a responsible corporate citizen. finally, the information on system loss reduction over the periods demonstrates the tgtdcl is actively trying to improve its operations, infrastructure maintenance, and efficient gas distribution, ultimately benefiting its financial performance and overall reliability. the study contributes to the literature on government-business relations. the study also contributes to our understanding of financial management practices in the energy sector. it sheds light on the various aspects of the company’s financial performance in terms of revenue growth, accumulation of assets, liquidity, profitability, working capital chowdhury et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 4(1) (2022), 16-26 23 management, and capital structure. the financial responsibility of tgtdcl signifies the business ethics and enhances its public image. tgtdcl's system losses reduction yields practical benefits for energy system planning and sustainability. in general, the findings provide valuable implications for policymakers, energy industry practitioners, and researchers interested in understanding the financial dynamics specific to the energy sector. conclusions tgtdcl's financial strength is influenced by government regulations and policies while the company's consistent revenue growth, asset accumulation, liquidity position, contributions to the national exchequer, and efforts in system loss reduction contribute to its overall financial strength in the energy sector. however, there are areas that require attention to enhance tgtdcl's financial position. declining profitability and the need for effective working capital management should be addressed. it is crucial for the company to closely monitor its increasing leverage, improve its debt repayment capacity, and sustain the positive trajectory of increasing dividend percentages. continued efforts in system loss reduction are essential to improve operational efficiency and cost management. it is important to acknowledge the limitations of this study. relying on publicly available financial statements and reports may introduce potential inaccuracies or omissions in the data used for analysis. incorporating qualitative factors, such as the regulatory environment, geopolitical risks, and technological advancements, would provide an in-depth assessment of tgtdcl's financial strength in the energy sector. future studies should consider integrating qualitative factors and obtaining more accurate and detailed financial data to enhance the understanding of tgtdcl's financial position. by addressing the identified concerns and expanding the scope of analysis, tgtdcl can further strengthen its financial position and ensure long-term success in the dynamic energy sector. author contributions: conceptualization, t.p., m.s.c. and m.e.h.; methodology, t.p., m.a.i. and m.f.a.; software, t.p. and m.f.a.; validation, m.a.i, m.e.h. and m.s.c.; formal analysis, m.f.a.; investigation, m.s.c., t.p. and m.e.h.; resources, t.p., m.s.c. and m.a.i.; data curation, m.e.h. and m.a.i.; writing – original draft preparation, m.f.a. and t.p.; writing – review & editing, t.p. and m.f.a.; visualization, t.p., m.f.a. and m.s.c.; supervision, m.a.i. and m.f.a. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgement: not applicable. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references afrifa, g. 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https://doi.org/10.35741/issn.0258-2724.56.3.47 https://doi.org/10.35741/issn.0258-2724.56.3.47 https://doi.org/10.46281/afbr.v5i1.1015 https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15090402 https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci12040138 https://doi.org/10.3390/su142315789 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 33-49 33 humanities, arts and social sciences aijhass vol 3 no 1 (2021) p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass published by american center of science and education, usa an analysis of the importance of research and development: evidence from capital market of bangladesh md. ali imran (a)1 jasia mustafa (b) tahrima haque beg (c) naseem jobayer (d) (a)assistant professor and head, department of business studies, faculty of business & entrepreneurship, daffodil international university, dhaka, bangladesh, e-mail: headdbs@daffodilvarsity.edu.bd (b)senior lecturer, department of business studies, faculty of business & entrepreneurship, daffodil international university, dhaka, bangladesh, email: jasia.bba@diu.edu.bd (c)assistant professor, department of management and finance, faculty of agribusiness management, sher-e-bangla agricultural university (sau), dhaka, bangladesh, e-mail: sau.finance1@gmail.com (d)independent researcher, department of business administration, faculty of business & entrepreneurship, daffodil international university, dhaka, bangladesh, e-mail: naseem11-5917@diu.edu.bd a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 24 october 2021 accepted: 15 december 2021 online publication: 31 december 2021 keywords: capital market, stock market, capital market research jel classification codes : o3, h54 a b s t r a c t there are various economic indicators that demonstrate the strength or weakness of a country's economic condition and gross domestic product is one of them, with capital market turnover contributing significantly to gdp. the broad objective of the study is to show an analysis of the importance of research and development of capital market of bangladesh. and also is to provide identify the investors perception about the research and development of capital market of bangladesh and give some recommendations and strategic insight to improve the quality research to contribute on future development of the capital market of bangladesh. moreover, how capital market research will help to improve the capital market growth, finding new opportunities, diversifying market products and segmentations, improving market efficiency, attracting foreign investment, increasing liquidity as well as making investment decisions. the research is based on a structured questionnaire survey procedure. the findings revealed that investors are interested in investing in the secondary market with lack of enough knowledge, confidence and market expertise. © 2021 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction the stock market is one of the most important avenues for businesses to raise significant amounts of capital from both domestic and international investors. investors have the opportunity to purchase a company's stock on the open market. the stock market is stated to be an intermediary organization that bridges the gap between surplus and deficit units in an economy. investing in stocks has been more popular than investing in other investment sectors for millions of bangladeshi middle-class educated people in recent years. stocks are more liquid than other investment options for investors since they allow them to sell and buy ownership at any moment with no restrictions. over the last few years, bangladesh's capital market has experienced rapid growth that has not kept pace with the country's real-economy progress. although the securities and exchange commission (sec) of bangladesh has attempted to remedy the market's irregular behaviors, it is frequently asserted that the regulator's lack of proper decisions has contributed to the market's instability. furthermore, manipulating the stock market benefits some groups of people. because the lack of expertise and sufficient market information of investors' gives them the opportunity to influence the smarket. "how to stand with proper structure and information?" is the most crucial question. scholars have created some well-funded hypotheses after examining the operation of the stock market in the developed countries. 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0002-4732-063x © 2021 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of american center of science and education, usa. to cite this article: imran , m. a. ., mustafa , j. ., beg , t. h. ., & jobayer , n. . (2021). an analysis of the importance of research and development: evidence from capital market of bangladesh. american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences, 3(1), 33–49. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v3i1.244 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v3i1.244 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4732-063x https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1245-5550 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0149-5968 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5272-2820 imran et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 33-49 34 literature review the remark of the study is to provide one perspective on major area of capital market research that will make important contribution to development of bangladesh capital market. several studies in are explored and review in this sector to find the various problems of this market and have established a positive link between stock market development and economic growth. sultana et al. (2016) in his study titled “investigating the present capital market crisis and recovery strategies in bangladesh” found that the main reasons of crash of capital market in 2010 which are increased slr and crr, fluctuating directives of sec, and withdrawal of reserved money by banks, according to respondents. lack of qualified and professional financial analyst in the capital market, knowledgeable manpower, administrative and other supportive activities, good scripts, better monitoring, investor awareness program are some other major reasons causing the crisis. at end of the study suggests measures and ways to ensure a stable capital market in bangladesh in support of the country's rapid development needs. islam and islam (2019) reported in an article like “analyzing the variability of growth of the capital market in bangladesh: an empirical study on the dhaka stock exchange limited”. the study has found a dearth of effective application of the rules and regulations to control the capital market in bangladesh like as lacks of investor’s awareness and intensive rumor based market transactions have made the market more vulnerable to instability. datta, nath, and barua (2021) focused in the research paper titled “an analysis of the effects of stock market development on economic growth in bangladesh” about the relationship between stock market development and economic growth in bangladesh. the study are examined that bangladesh's stock market is ready for a quick turn of events. for this, they gives some recommendation is that the bsec, dse, cse, and all market players should cooperate with the administration. and for the investors is that they should comprehend that in any securities exchange economy and plays a role among saeers and organizations looking for extra finance for business extension. saha (2012) examine the stock market of bangladesh could not play the desired role to the economy of bangladesh on his report “capital market in bangladesh: an overview”. again, as per the study, regulatory systems are not transparent as well as not sound and foreign investments do not take place in time as well. islam and rahman (2014) shows “an analysis of small investors in the capital market of bangladesh” and found that majority of general investors in bangladesh stock market don’t have enough knowledge about the stock market and they just buy shares depending on rumor and artificial financial report of companies. they also found that some investors even don’t know about the company and its business operation and buy share of the company based on others suggestion. alam (2015) in his study the title of “r&d investment and capital markets: evidence from emerging markets” has made various contributions. it takes into account firm-, macroand institutional-level variables in analyzing their impacts on firms’ r&d investment decisions in emerging countries. and it has compared the macroeconomic determinants of r&d investment behavior between advanced and emerging markets and identified the institutional determinants of r&d investment in emerging markets. dsti/eas/stp/nesti (2015) “the impact of r&d investment on economic performance: a review of the econometric evidence” the study reviewed of the econometric literature has shown that despite the various measurement and estimation approaches, researchers generally find a positive and statistically significant impact of r&d on productivity and economic growth. from analysis, find that social rates of return to r&d are in turn found to be significantly larger than private rates of return to r&d. rasul (2013) in his study the title of “barriers to the development of bangladesh capital market” has characterized bangladesh capital market by poor liquidity with high market concentration. find so many problems as low transparency of market transaction, rumors’ and so many regulators barriers. finally the study made some unique recommendation to develop the reliability and efficiency of stock exchanges as investment market. banerjee et al. (2017) in his analysis of “stock market and economic growth: bangladesh perspective” indicates moderate contribution of equity market to economic development. the findings from the study are that stock market development has long term positive impact on economic growth. but this relationship is not statistically significant. and the interesting findings are that stock market starts to contribute significantly to economic growth from the fourth year of generating funds through ipos (zayed et al., 2021a; zayed et al., 2021b; ali et al., 2020; chowdhury et al., 2021; chowdhury et al., 2020; chowdhury et al., 2020; iqbal et al., 2021a; iqbal et al., 2021b; kader et al., 2019; kader et al., 2021a; kader et al., 2021b; kabir et al., 2021; nayeen et al., 2020; nahar et al., 2021; rahman et al., 2021a; rahman et al., 2021b; shahriar et al., 2021a; shahriar et al., 2021b). objectives of the study the broad objective of the studies is to offer an analysis of the importance of research and development of capital market of bangladesh. the following specific objectives have been identified in order to achieve the overall goal:  to identify the investor’s perception about the research of capital market of bangladesh.  to give some recommendations and strategic insights to improve the quality of research to contribute to the future development of capital market of bangladesh. limitations of the study for issues of confidentiality, several respondents were hesitant to share their thoughts, which, if shared, would have made the study more accurate and factual. for the sake of the study, respondents were picked at random from the dhaka metropolitan area. as a result, the viewpoints expressed in this study may appear to be biased. the survey was unable to obtain the opinions of a number of potential respondents because they were in a rush during trading hours or were severely imran et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 33-49 35 depressed as a result of the market's decline. there is also a scarcity of data and articles on the capital market and capital market research for the purpose of obtaining information for a thorough report. methodology source of information, the research is based on empirical evidence. the information was gathered from both primary and secondary sources. secondary data was gathered from a variety of sources, including the bangladesh securities and exchange commission's (sec) recent directives on the development of the capital market, the sec's quarterly review, the dhaka stock exchange (dse) and the cse's monthly review, bangladesh bank publications, the bangladesh economic review, and the dse, cse, sec, and lbsl's websites. 52 respondents who were the general investors of dhaka stock exchange (dse) and employees of bangladesh finance securities limited and prime securities limited provided primary data via an open-ended and closed-ended questionnaire survey. the study employed a convenience sampling technique. introduction to capital market of bangladesh capital market acts as a bridge of long term financing for the industrial development of an every year, the sale and purchase of shares, debentures, bonds, mutual funds, treasury bills, certificates, and other securities, as well as the turnover of the capital market, contribute to the gdp. bangladesh's capital market is the smallest in asia, but it is the most important in the south asian region. the dhaka stock exchange (dse) and the chittagong stock exchange (cse) are the two fully automated stock exchanges in bangladesh (cse). the bangladesh securities and exchange commission (bsec) acts as a watchdog over the country's stock exchanges. the dhaka stock exchange (dse) is bangladesh's first and largest stock exchange. it was founded on april 28, 1954, as "east pakistan stock exchange association limited," and began trading in 1956. trading was disrupted for 5 years due to the liberation war in 1971. in 1976, the dse resumed trading with nine businesses listed. as of november 2021, the dse included 614 securities, 347 companies, 37 mutual funds, 8 debt instruments, 222 government treasury bonds, and 1 corporate bond, with a total market value of bdt 5863189.561 million or usd $ 68195.75 million. the chittagong stock exchange (cse), on the other hand, began operations on october 10, 1995. bangladesh securities and exchange commission (bsec) was founded on june 8, 1993, under the securities and exchange commission act, 1993. the bsec's purpose is to protect investors' interests, create a transparent and vibrant securities market, and ensure proper issuance of securities and compliance with securities legislation. the bsec is primarily responsible for overseeing the business of stock exchanges, as well as providing thorough training to the exchange's intermediaries, registration and regulation, and the analysis and publication of valuable research. on august 20, 2000, the central depository bangladesh limited (cdbl) was established. cdbl offers services such as enhancing the productive delivery, settlement, and transfer of securities using an automated book entry system, as well as registration of securities transfers. current scenario of capital market of bangladesh at the end of november 2021, both dse and cse exhibited a downward trend in terms of index and turnover as compared to the end of october 2021. at the end of november 2021, broad index of dse and all share price index of cse were 4.25 percent and 4.23 percent lower than that of october 2021. at the same time, total turnover value of traded shares of dse and cse were 27.92 percent and 30.57 percent lower than that of october 2021. dhaka stock exchange (dse) at the end of september 2021, the total number of listed securities was 611. there were 343 corporations, 37 mutual funds, 221 government bonds, 8 debentures, and 2 corporate bonds among the listed securities. there are 32 banks, 23 financial institutions, 51 insurance firms, and 237 other businesses represented. during november 2021, total turnover value of traded shares stood at bdt 266.83 billion which was 27.92 percent lower than that of october 2021 and53.29 percent higher than that of the same month of the last year (table-1). source: dhaka stock exchange imran et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 33-49 36 dse broad index (dsex) stood at 6703.26 at the end of november 2021which was 4.25 percent lower than that of october 2021 and 37.73 percent higher than that of the same month of the previous year. the market capitalization of dse stood at bdt 5344.40 billion at the end of november 2021 which was 4.49 percent lower than that of october 2021 and 37.04 percent higher than that of november 2020 (chart-1). the ratio of market capitalization to gdp (at current market price) stood at 15.34 percent at the end of november 2021which was 18.58 percent at the end of october 2021. table 2. market capitalization to gdp ratio month market cap. to gdp ratio nov-21 15.34 oct-21 18.58 sep-21 19.31 aug-21 18.53 jul-21 17.75 jun-21 18.39 may-21 18.02 apr-21 16.83 mar-21 16.41 feb-21 16.65 jan-21 17.13 dec-20 16.03 nov-20 13.95 source: bangladesh bank publication the price-earning (p/e) ratio stood at 17.79 at the end of november 2021 which was 18.75 at the end of october 2021. the ratio was 12.98 at the end of november 2020. on the other hand, the yield of all share slightly increased to 3.93 at the end of november 2021 which was 3.72 at the end of october 2021 and 3.73 at the end of november 2020. trends of priceearnings ratio and yield are shown in the chart-3. chittagong stock exchange (cse) the total number of listed securities in the cse stood at 353 at the end of november 2021. during november 2021, total turnover value of traded shares stood at bdt 9.56 billion which was 30.57 percent lower than that of october 2021 and 64.72 percent higher than that of the same month of the previous year. the market capitalization of cse stood at bdt 4552.33 billion at the end of november 2021 which was 4.81 percent lower than that of october 2021 and 41.71 percent higher than that of november 2020. all share price index of cse stood at 19614.38 at the end of november 2021 which was 4.23 percent lower than that of october 2021 and 40.19 percent higher than that of november 2020 (chart-6). imran et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 33-49 37 performance of bangladesh capital market and peer countries bangladesh's capital market is dominated by equity, with a market capitalization of around $50 billion. the market capitalization is around 15.34% of nominal gdp. because bangladesh's capital market contribution to gdp is lower than that of neighboring nations such as india, sri lanka, and indonesia, we can conclude that the capital market in bangladesh is still in its early stages of development. the bar graph that follows; there are numerous reasons behind the situation. the current global economic downturn has hampered the growth of the capital market; an imbalance in our trade reduces export earnings; high inflation in recent years has polluted the investment environment; as a result, investors, particularly small investors, are concerned about their investment returns. due to the low interest rate and high inflation rate in the market, small investors are increasingly interested in investing their money in the stock market. and they appear to receive the desired profits on a regular basis, but things do not remain constant due to a variety of socioeconomic and global economic factors. however, an investor's ability to participate in the stock market might be expressed. with the goal of ensuring proper issuance of securities while protecting investors' interests, strengthening the capital and security markets, and maintaining control. many countries contribute significantly to gdp through the capital market; yet, this success was not achieved in a short period of time. it takes a long time to complete. if we look at the capital markets of india, nepal, and sri lanka, we can see that they have a diverse market with a wide range of investable products, which allows investors to diversify their portfolios. there are, however, elements other than market capitalization measures that can be used to evaluate the attractiveness of a capital market. the country's capital market is set to post the highest return in a decade in the outgoing fiscal year (fy), 2020-21 compare to other countries like india, hong kong. the dhaka stock exchange (dse) has more listed companies than emerging markets like, mexico or egypt, or the gulf cooperation council (gcc) markets like saudi arabia, uae and kuwait. but there is a significant divergence between dse's listed economy and real economy. the ratio of the market cap of its top-200 companies to gross domestic product (gdp) was one of the lowest, along with sri lanka, vietnam, egypt, tanzania and turkey. it ranked amongst the lowest even in the revenue of its top-200 companies to gdp. at the same time, the trading velocity in bangladesh is reasonably high, in line with china and india. both those countries have seen a high dec-1 2018 dec-1-2019 dec-1-2020 dec-1-2021 dse -15.97% -10.05% 3.05% 39.62% bse-sensex 10.38% 12.59% 9.44% 29.18% kse100 -2.22% 2.46% 3.84% 8.89% hang seng -6.51% -2.71% 0.46% -10.95% -20.00% -10.00% 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% % r e tu rn market retrun 15.3% 104.0% 19.8% 45.2% 100.4% 121.0% 17.4% 0.0% 50.0% 100.0% 150.0% bnagladesh india srilanka indonesia nepal malaysia pakistan maket cap to % gdp maket cap to % gdp source: ceic data imran et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 33-49 38 churn-rate from speculative investors driving volumes. if one combines bangladesh's low market cap/gdp with its high velocity, there seems a high proportion of churn-mentality there as well. this is counter-productive for deepening long-term interest in the equity markets, since umpteen studies have shown only long-term investors make money. eventual losses from speculation lead to client attrition, putting open pressure for new client-addition. pushing more institutional investment, both domestic and foreign, is imperative. india has itself seen significant asset accretion to domestic mutual fund assets recently, apart from continued interest from foreign institutional investors. new dimensions in bangladesh capital market sme platform: the dhaka stock exchange (dse) launched its sme platform on september 30, two and a half years after its launch, with the goal of allowing small-cap companies to list on the stock exchange. unlike the main trading boards, the sme platforms are only available to qualified investors, such as registered qualifying institutional investors and individuals who have invested at least tk50 lakh in the stock market. because of the low-cap structure of the market and the comparably broader range of daily price deviation allowed, retail investors are only allowed to sell on the sme boards. on the other hand, the chittagong stock exchange (cse) began trading on its sme platform with nialco alloys limited on june 10, 2021. in november 2018, the bangladesh securities and exchange commission (bsec) gave final approval to the (qualified investor offer by small capital companies) rules 2018 with some adjustments and amendments. commodity exchange: bangladesh is getting a commodity exchange market for the first time, where diverse items are traded like stocks. the chittagong stock exchange (cse) received main permission from the bangladesh securities and exchange commission on october 28, 2021. the suggested commodity exchange can make it easier to buy and sell the commodities in question, as well as providing buyers and sellers with hassle-free solutions and a more efficient price discovery method. along with common global commodities such as gold, silver, and industrial metals, the exchange also trades rice, jute, tea, potatoes, mangoes, and a variety of other agro commodities that thrive in bangladesh's lush terrain. all across the world, commodity exchange markets are quite popular. these markets exchange a wide range of consumer items, including jewels like gold. if this market is implemented in bangladesh, it will aid in the reduction of capital market. analysis investors perception about the capital market of bangladesh this study employed a survey research approach to obtain data from a random sample of respondents by questioning them about their opinions, attitudes, and behavior. this approach was appropriate for this type of study since the researcher wanted to gather data in order to make fact-based investment decisions. surveys are used in this type of study to get informed feedback from investors. it is frequently used to investigate the general state of people and organizations since it investigates people's behavior and opinions by questioning them. the study's target population was all of the investors on the dse. a basic random sample of three brokerage firms was chosen, and 52 individual investors were chosen at random to fill out one questionnaire each. the respondents were used in the most practical way feasible. for a survey of investors' perceptions of capital markets, the majority of the respondents were picked from those who had approached brokerage companies. questionnaires were used to collect primary data, which were then analyzed by the researcher. the surveys were given to each investor on a one-on-one basis. this strategy was acceptable because it encouraged responders to answer quickly. the results the data collected through the survey based questionnaire in this study was sorted and tabulated. the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics using simple frequency and percentage. all the investors reached provided responses and therefore giving a response rate of 92%. investment time horizon table 1. the preference of investment time horizon of investors investment time horizon frequency short term 29 mid term 18 long term 5 short term 56% mid term 34% long term 10% investors investment time horizon imran et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 33-49 39 the above table 1 presents the preference of investors investment time horizon. out of the selected respondents, majority of respondents (29i.e. 42%) were having short term following by (18 i.e. 33%) respondents midterm and (05 i.e. 10%) are long term. components are considered before making investment decision table 2. components are considered before making investment decision components frequency fundamental analysis 5 insight info 7 broker suggestion 0 technical analysis 0 both (fundamental & technical) 26 all of the above 14 the table 2 shows the components are considering for investment decision. out of the selected respondents, majority of respondents (26 i.e. 51%) were considering the both (fundamental & technical) following by (14 i.e. 26%) respondents all of these, (07 i.e. 13%) are insight info and (5 i.e. 10%) are considering fundamental analysis while taking the investment decision. which fundamental indictor investors focus on more? table 3. focus on fundamental indictor fundamental indictor frequency eps 7 dividend yield 2 revenue growth 5 nav 0 price earnings ratio (p/e) 0 all of these 38 none of these 7 the table 3 shows the fundamental indictors that are investors focus on more before making the investment decision. out of the selected respondents, majority of respondents (38 i.e. 73%) were considering all of these following by (7 i.e. 14%) 10% 13% 0%0% 50% 27% components are considered before making investment decision fundamental analysis insight info broker suggestion 14% 3% 10% 0%0% 73% 0% focus on fundamental indictor eps dividend yield revenue growth nav price earnings ratio (p/e) all of these none of these imran et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 33-49 40 respondents eps, (5 i.e. 10%) are revenue growth and (2 i.e. 3%) are dividend yield analysis while taking the investment decision. for long term investment, which sight/aspect will focus to choose the stock? table 4. sight/aspect are considered for long term investment decision components frequency company performance 18 share price movement 5 market information 0 all of the above 29 the table 4 shows the sight/aspect is considered for long term investment decision. out of the selected respondents, majority of respondents (29 i.e. 57%) were considering all of these following by (18 i.e. 33%) respondents company performance, (05 i.e. 10%) are considering share price movement before taking long term investment decision. which components do bias to make investment decision? table 5. components do bias to make investment decision components frequency insight info 31 rumors 8 technical 3 fundamental 10 the table 5 shows components do bias to make investment decision. out of the selected respondents, majority of respondents (31 i.e. 60%) were biased by insight info following by (10 i.e. 20%) respondents fundamental, (08 i.e. 13%) rumors and (03 i.e. 7%) technical before making investment decision. 33% 10% 0% 57% components company performance share price movement market information all of the above 60% 13% 7% 20% components do bias to make investment decision insight info rumors technical fundamental imran et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 33-49 41 do they study the company annual report? table 6. consideration of annual report particular frequency yes 36 no 16 the table 6 shows consideration of annual report. out of the selected respondents, majority of respondents (36 i.e. 70%) were studied the company annual report and (16 i.e. 30%) of respondents were not studied the company’s annual report before making investment decision. preference of research report before making your investment decision table 7. preference of research report before making your investment decision preference of research report frequency yes 23 no 29 irrelevant 0 the table 7 shows preference of research report before making your investment decision. out of the selected respondents, majority of respondents (29 i.e. 57%) were not preferred research report and (23 i.e. 43%) of respondents were preferred research report for making investment decision and no one think that it is irrelevant. how was recent investment decision? table 8. recent investment decision particular frequency good 29 bad 23 70% 30% consideration of annual report yes no yes 43%no 57% irrelevant 0% preference of research report imran et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 33-49 42 the table 8 shows recent investment decision of respondents. out of the selected respondents, majority of respondents (29 i.e. 57%) were good. they think that the decision was good because of the decisions based on dividend model, own analysis and insight info. and (23 i.e. 43%) of respondents investment decision were bad because they think that the market was volatile, over performance of junk stocks, and manipulated by some parties. preference to manage portfolio table 9. preference to manage portfolio preference to manage portfolio frequency by them self 40 by broker 5 by portfolio manager 7 the table 9 shows preference to manage portfolio. out of the selected respondents, majority of respondents (40 i.e. 77%) were preferred to manage their portfolio by themselves, (7 i.e. 10%) of respondents were manage their portfolio by broker and (5 i.e. 13%) of respondents were manage their portfolio by portfolio manager. trust factor to portfolio manager to manage their portfolio table 10. trust factor to portfolio manager particular frequency yes 23 no 29 the table 10 shows the trust factor to portfolio manager to manage their portfolio. out of the selected respondents, majority of respondents (29 i.e. 57%) are not trust portfolio manager to manage their portfolio, (23 i.e. 43%) of respondents will trust portfolio manager to manage their portfolio and they are looking forward to good portfolio manager. 57% 43% recent investment decision good bad 77% 10% 13% preference to manage portfolio by themself by broker by portfolio manager yes 43%no 57% trust factor to portfolio manager imran et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 33-49 43 consideration of newspaper for before making investment decision. table 11. consideration of newspaper particular frequency yes 45 no 7 the table 11 shows the consideration of newspaper before making investment decision... out of the selected respondents, majority of respondents (45 i.e. 87%) are considered newspaper before making investment decision and they follow the newspaper such as financial expressed, the business standard, daily star, artasuchok, bonik barta, smart investors, amar suchok and share news 24. (07 i.e. 13%) of respondents are not considered newspaper before making investment decision. problems of bangladesh capital market lack of knowledge & confidence among small investor this topic is of the utmost relevance to the intern as a source of market distress. the majority of our capital market's investors are small investors. and it has been observed that many of them lack adequate market expertise. for the average retail investor, trying to invest money on their own makes little sense. these investors thus rely on their brokers or friends to guide them regarding investment decisions they just purchased a share in order to profit three days later when the shares matured. but they had no idea how or why they were meant to make money. as a result, when the market fell, investors were advised to wait rather than sell at a loss. however, they were worried and sold their stock at a loss. as a result of this mentality, the market has remained in a bearish state. the market has fallen as a result of investors' current lack of confidence, risk aversion and encashment attitudes, and reluctance to take new risks. poor half-year earnings from a number of banking organizations have further shattered their faith. though the liquidity situation remains good, investors are hesitant to increase their investments due to value worries. lack of quality market research stock markets are known for being volatile and influenced by both national and global factors. the importance of research in the stock trading process cannot be overstated. when it comes to financial investments, thorough study is recommended, especially in the case of stock trading. stock trading is a sophisticated procedure that necessitates extensive research and cannot be done on the spur of the moment. bangladesh has 396 brokerage firms, 250 of which are members of the dhaka stock exchange and 146 of which are members of the chittagong stock exchange. brokerage houses are directly involved in dealing with investors, and some brokerage houses' operations assist in boosting investor confidence. however, the majority of brokerage houses in bangladesh lack a research staff to study the market and share. as a result, they are unable to provide research reports, advisory services, or a relationship manager in addition to assisting investors in the purchase and sale of securities. lack of awareness of equity research public awareness is important to increase enthusiasm and support, stimulate self-mobilization and action, and mobilize local knowledge and resources. most of the investors of bangladesh stock market think that research report is irrelevant in their investment decision. before investing in a company’s stocks, investors have not to pay attention to its market value. they just do rush on the stocks on basis of the price movements, insights information and rumors. biased by rumors, speculation and manipulation a market rumor is an untrustworthy story that could have an impact on the stock market. bad rumors might cause investors to lose faith in stock markets. panic selling can result from a loss of confidence, which can be worsened by "naked" short selling. as a result, security prices may fall arbitrarily and unnecessarily below the price level that would have emerged from a normal price discovery process. these rumors are disseminated by the media, broker houses, compromised members of the sec, and numerous gamblers for their own unethical purposes. there was also erroneous supposition and manipulation. 87% 13% consideration of news paper yes no imran et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 33-49 44 shortage of qualified portfolio manager bangladesh has serious shortage of qualified investment professionals in the industry from the investor’s perspectives. for the average retail investor, trying to invest money on their own makes little sense. in bangladesh capital market most of the traders with certain experienced are becoming the portfolio manager. moreover, they do not have any education knowledge regarding investment; they just make investment decision based on insight info and price movements. therefore, investors did not have any preference to manage their portfolio by portfolio manager because of lack of trust on the quality of portfolio manager. recommendation to improve research to future development of capital market of bangladesh bangladesh has been a remarkable economic success story since independence 50 years ago, thanks to sensible government policy choices and the energy of the private sector, particularly in the last two decades. before the pandemic, yearly gdp growth averaged over 6%, the extreme poverty rate was cut in half, child mortality was cut in half, life expectancy was raised by seven years, and per capita income nearly doubled, putting it ahead of several of its neighbors. in 2026, bangladesh is expected to graduate from the least developed country (ldc) classification. this is a significant step forward, but there is still a long way to go on the road to prosperity, and significant social and economic development needs remain. developing new investment channels will help businesses thrive and create jobs. bangladesh's government has set the ambitious goal of becoming an upper-middle-income country by 2031 and a high-income country by 2041 in its perspective plan 2021-41. for these goals to be realized, private sector growth must be fueled by investment. this will necessitate continuing investment and increased access to private financing. however, bangladesh's capital markets remain underdeveloped, making it difficult for the country to attract the necessary investment. markets must take the chance to modernize in order to meet the country's long-term financing needs by issuing long-term bonds and other financial instruments. market literacy workshop for investors through brokerage houses in the investment decision-making process, individual investors are faced with very complex factors, and it is important, well, to identify all the confusing variables that drive them to make the right decision, as this can avoid or reduce losses in the future. the financial literacy has a positive and statistically significant impact on the investment strategy of individual investors who trade on capital market. interestingly, not only financial attitudes and behavior, but also financial knowledge affects the investment strategy of investors. this means that, by increasing the level of knowledge in financial literacy and increasing the ability to analyze financial information, an individual investor can enhance capacity building in risky investments to generate high returns through efficient investment management. mandatory qualified research team in every brokerage house bangladesh has 396 brokerage houses, 250 of which are members of the dhaka stock exchange and 146 of which are members of the chittagong stock exchange. brokerage houses are directly involved in dealing with investors, and some brokerage houses' operations assist in boosting investor confidence. however, the majority of brokerage houses in bangladesh lack a research staff to study the market and share. if the regulator mandated that every brokerage has a research team with at least one or two qualified individuals that would be a game changer. as a result, they not only help individuals and institutions purchase and sell equities on the stock markets, but they also provide crucial investment advice to their clients. this will contribute to increased market liquidity as well as investor confidence. if the regulator set some criteria of mandatory research report in certain period of time and every house must have at least one or two publication in one year then it will improve the market efficiency as well as market potentiality. it will show the market potentiality in global that will attract foreign investor. improve public awareness and understanding of research public awareness is important to increase enthusiasm and support, stimulate self-mobilization and action, and mobilize local knowledge and resources. awareness rising requires strategies of effective communication to reach the desired outcome. most of the investors of bangladesh stock market think that research report is irrelevant in their investment decision. so, for creating awareness organizations can arrange such campaign and seminar regarding the research and show them the real impact in their investment decisions. publish report in local language and make it short investing in stocks has been more popular than investing in other investment sectors for millions of bangladeshi middleclass educated people in recent years. they came from a wide range of backgrounds. as a result, they are unfamiliar with the financial terms and language utilized in study reports. if the researcher publishes the report in a local language, such as bangla, it will be more understandable to the reader and will urge them to make the best research report decision possible. encourage students to involve in capital market research in bangladesh there are total 156 public and private universities. most of students are unaware about the capital markets. most common problem in bangladesh education system is the curriculum is the not relevant with industry needs. if the organization and institutions are work to gather regarding the capital market it will benefited for the both parties. and organization should arrange different literacy program, competitions, projects in different university that will encourage imran et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 33-49 45 students to involve in capital market and it research. therefore, students will be interested in capital market for career chooses that may bring the qualified portfolio and fund manager. how research will contribute in future development of the capital market of bangladesh improve the market growth along with economic growth: well developed capital market is the key component of economic growth and thereby yield positive effects on employment. the correlation between capital market development and economic growth has been well-established in the empirical literature. capital markets has big contributions into the economy, making more capital available to companies, which may then in turn create jobs and facilitate real-wage growth. for the well-developed economy at first have to build well-structured and developed capital market. research is a driver of the capital market growth. research is elaboration of knowledge stock where we can find out more information of anything and we can utilize the application of this extra information in the building of component to achieve the goals. capital market will be developed when the liquidity is increased money flow and economy is stable and investment friendly regulation. research finds the deep information of market actually what are happened inside and choose the right time to make impact. moreover, from the investors’ perspective, research finds profitable investment opportunities and risk management tools. capital market has wide range of instruments; research can provide investors with a diversified portfolio, which contributes to risk management. that will attract more potential investors with attractive investing opportunities in terms of their return than other investment, albeit with a higher risk. diversifying capital market segmentations and products: diversifying the capital market is a strategy for achieving growth by introducing new financial products and marketplaces that are unconnected to the existing ones. diversification is critical for reducing total market risk. it gives investors a wider range of products and services to choose from. diversification can aid in risk management and decrease the volatility of an asset's price changes. research can play an important role in diversifying market products and lowering market risk. regardless of the size of the market or the number of items available, research is essential for identifying target consumers and encouraging involvement. here are some specific areas where market research can assist in the development of a more robust market. market research helps policymakers understand the profile of the target audience before releasing new items so that they can design focused optimum positioning. also, it can assist in identifying new market opportunities that may be available. it can assist in identifying potential expansion areas and/or determining whether the market is ready for new products or services. here are some of the findings from the research on average consumers and demographics' reactions to the new product. how investors make decisions before investing in stocks; how they react when new items enter the market; how risk averse and taker they are; and what percentage of their income they save. marketing initiatives can achieve faster results, enhanced efficiency, and higher overall performance by focusing efforts on the proper target market. improving market efficiency: the degree to which market prices represent all accessible, relevant information is referred to as market efficiency. if markets are efficient, all information is already included into prices, and there is no way to "beat" the market because no cheap or overpriced stocks exist. efficient capital market, globalization effect, and easy access to financial services tempt cross-broader capital flow over the past decade. it is because financial market efficiency, the abolition of information constraints along with easy access to information technology, and the emergence of new financial product and services act as key impute of deliberating capital flow in the economy. availability of financial news, financial reports and etc is the critical to market efficiency. additionally, such information should be available to the all investors equally. research finds a way to improve the capital market efficiency and help to make available the information to all. attracting foreign investment: foreign direct investment (fdi) is most often seen as a major blessing to an economy. cross-border equity investment has become one of the key sources of investment diversification among developed countries; using equity investment channels developed countries can mobilize funds to developing countries. one obvious benefit of foreign portfolio investment is investment diversification for both domestic and foreign investors. efficient capital market and foreign capital flow exhibit a feedback relationship by affecting each other. furthermore, empirical literature also provided evidence of unidirectional causality between foreign capital flows and financial market development. a group of researchers provide evidence and explain the role of well performed capital market encourage foreign capital flows in the economy. on the other hand, another group of empirical studies also acclaimed that foreign capital flows positively caused capital market development. make impact to investment decisions: research is an essential aspect of the stock trading process. as the saying goes “look before you leap”, it is always too prudent to conduct thorough research before arriving at any decision. when talking about financial investments, it is advised to perform comprehensive research, and more so in the case of stock trading. imran et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 33-49 46 risk measurements: before taking the plunge, one has to gather the basic information of the company, like its records, operating structure, history of the company’s management, and its performance in the unpredictable market, and so on. most of the information will be available on the company’s website or its corresponding sites. but everyone is not able to analyze the data to find potential stocks based on the available information to make an effective portfolio. however, research analyzes all of the financial data and considers the current situation and future plan of the company to find the potentiality and opportunities of growth that help the investors to make an effective portfolio. moreover, research always help to finds diversified stocks to make an effective portfolio to get highest return against low risk. conclusions the purpose of this study is to demonstrate the importance of research in the capital market and to examine investor perceptions of bangladesh's capital market. a convenience sampling strategy was used to conduct a questionnaire survey to achieve the goal. the study's sample includes 52 bangladesh finance limited and prime securities limited investors and staff. according to the findings of the study, the current problem is caused by a lack of skilled and professional financial analysts in the capital market, knowledgeable staff, administrative and other supported activities, appropriate scripts, better monitoring, and an investor awareness campaign. investors cannot make sound judgments without access to high-quality market and stock research h. all efforts failed to keep the stock market stable due to a lack of coordination among different regulatory bodies, contradictory remarks and actions made and taken by government high-ups, and liquidity shortages among institutional investors, all of which contributed to market volatility, which could exacerbate the situation. if more investor-friendly policies and high-quality research measures were to be created and implemented, the capital market would surely play a key part in propelling bangladesh towards becoming asia's next tiger, with growth akin to india, vietnam, and taiwan. institutional investors should remain involved in the market because it will boost small investors' confidence. to improve the flow of money, the government should take policies that benefit the stock market. institutional investments would help to restore investor confidence and stabilize the market. they would feel more at comfortable investing now that the money market has softened even more and the call money rate and inflation rate have both dropped to single digits. investor confidence would be boosted by the central bank's "market-friendly" monetary policies. the banking sector's profitability and strong return served as a critical component in attracting institutions and foreign investors. above all, it's a positive sign that the government's action has given the bangladesh stock market hope. author contributions: conceptualization, m.i.a.; data curation: m.i.a.; methodology: m.i.a.; validation: m.i.a.; visualization: m.i.a.; formal analysis: m.i.a.; investigation: m.i.a.; resources: m.i.a.; writing – original draft: m.i.a.; writing – review & editing: m.i.a.; supervision: m.i.a.; software: m.i.a.; project administration: m.i.a.; funding acquisition: m.i.a., j.m., n.j. and t.h. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references alam, m. a. 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(2021b). an analysis on the effects of coronavirus (covid-19) on the financial management of multinational corporations. australian finance & banking review, 5(1), 43-53. https://doi.org/10.46281/afbr.v5i1.1015 https://www.abacademies.org/articles/analysis-on-the-marketing-strategy-and-competitive-advantage-of-banking-industry-1528-2686-27-4-552.pdf https://www.abacademies.org/articles/analysis-on-the-marketing-strategy-and-competitive-advantage-of-banking-industry-1528-2686-27-4-552.pdf https://doi.org/10.35741/issn.0258-2724.56.3.47 https://doi.org/10.35741/issn.0258-2724.56.3.47 https://doi.org/10.46281/afbr.v5i1.1015 imran et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 33-49 48 appendices appendix a: questionnaires for interview investor’s perception about the capital market of bangladesh name: age: (18-24) (25-35) (35 above) gender: male female [instruct the investors to carefully read each question and then (√ ) on the most possible answer.] 1. what is your preferred investment time horizon? a. short term b. mid term c. long term 2. how do you make your investment decision a. fundamental analysis b. insight info c. broker suggestion d. technical analysis e. both (fundamental & technical) f. all of the above 3. if fundamental (tick this) which fundamental indictor you focus on more? a. eps b. dividend yield c. revenue growth d. nav e. price earnings ratio (p/e) f. all of these g. none of these 4. if you want to buy a stock for long term, which sight/aspect you will focus to choose the stock? a. company performance b. share price movement c. market information d. all of these 5. which components do bias your investment decision a. insight info b. rumors c. technical d. fundamental 6. do you study the company's annual report? a. yes b. no 7. do you prefer to study any research report before making your investment decision? a. yes b. no c. irrelevant 8. how was your recent investment decision? a. good if good then write the at least one reason: b. bad if good then write the at least one reason: 9. how do you prefer to manage your portfolio? a. by your self b. by broker imran et al., american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 3(1) (2021), 33-49 49 c. by portfolio manager 10. would you trust your portfolio to be managed by portfolio manager? 11. do you follow any daily newspaper for market knowledge? what’s that? if you have any comment/ suggestion/ expectation regarding this survey, we would appreciate to have it below publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2021 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences (p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 7(1) (2025), 1-5 1 humanities, arts and social sciences aijhass vol 7 no 1 (2025) p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass published by american center of science and education, usa climate change, gender and green social work pranita sunil indulkar (a)1 (a) doctoral scholar (srf), delhi school of social work, university of delhi, new delhi, india; e-mail: indulkarpranita@gmail.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 18th september 2024 reviewed & revised: 18th september 2024 to 10th may 2025 accepted: 15th may 2025 published: 19th may 2025 keywords: green social work, gender and climate change jel classification codes: q54, j16, o15 peer-review model: external peer review was done through double-blind method. a b s t r a c t climate change, recognized by the united nations as a critical challenge of the 21st century, disproportionately impacts poor and marginalized communities, particularly women. these women, often responsible for managing households and supporting their families, face heightened vulnerability due to systemic gender inequalities, such as limited access to land and resources. despite their critical roles in resource collection, energy provision, and climate adaptation, women are frequently excluded from decision-making processes, reinforcing their position as a "secondary gender." this exclusion extends to climate policy discussions, where gender inequities hinder women’s participation and recognition. this study examines the intersection of gender issues and climate change, focusing on societal barriers that restrict women’s engagement and exploring strategies to enhance climate resilience. drawing on secondary sources, including existing literature and fieldwork, the research analyzes women’s roles in climate response, adaptation, and mitigation. the results reveal significant gender disparities in climate-related decision-making and highlight the essential contributions women make to resource management and sustainability efforts. the findings underscore the necessity of integrating gender-sensitive perspectives into climate policies to address these disparities effectively. furthermore, the study emphasizes the critical need to acknowledge and support women as central actors in climate action, which is fundamental to improving the overall quality and effectiveness of climate change responses. © 2025 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction during climate induced calamities, the responsibility to provide for food, water and fuel as usual fall on women. they have to travel to faraway places to collect the essentials. livelihoods are affected during calamities and the male members migrate to other areas or cities to look out for employment opportunities. whereas, women are obliged to stay back and look after the children and household. climate action’s report on climate change and women found out that owing to climate induced displacement, women spend additional 10-12 hours on regular chores (choudhuri, 2022). climate change and calamites escalate the already existing burden on women and exacerbates the vulnerabilities in terms of gender-based violence, sexual harassment, domestic violence, forced and child marriage, human trafficking and much more. even in the relief camps/shelters, women are subjected to sexual violence, trafficking and labour exploitation. a feminist human-rights defender, matcha phorn-in has rightly said, “if you are invisible in everyday life, your needs will not be thought of, let alone addressed, in a crisis situation” (explainer: how gender inequality and climate change are interconnected, 2022). this statement stands true in every society including ours in india. the climate change and issues arising out of it call out to a holistic approach from the policy makers and social work professionals. it is high time to formulate and incorporate gender-sensitive and adaptive climate change mitigative responses. social work professionals work on macro, mezzo and micro level with grassroot level organizations and common masses in various terrains. green social work, as invented by dominelli, intends to expand the arena of environmental discourses and incorporate social work practice and interventions into it (dominelli, 2012a). the prime objectives behind this paper therefore are to understand climate change and the gender dimension attached to it, and analysing the available literature to understand the role of social work in empowering the vulnerable women impacted due to climate change and its consequences. the focus shall be on the means to enhance social worker’s role in mitigating gender related issues and carving sustainable actions with community participation in this scenario. equality, social justice and empowering marginalized sections of the society forms the core 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0009-0002-4579-8397 © 2025 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of acse, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v7i1.350 to cite this article: indulkar, p. s. (2025). climate change, gender and green social work. american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences, 7(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v7i1.350 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://www.openaccess.nl/en https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v7i1.350 https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4579-8397 indulkar, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 7(1) (2025), 1-5 2 of social work profession and expanding social work’s room shall do justice to the profession positively. the paper highlights the multifaceted challenges women face during climate-induced displacement and underscores the critical role of social workers in fostering women’s leadership, equitable participation, and gender-sensitive climate strategies. this paper is divided into several sections that explore the intersection of climate change, gender, and green social work. the first section examines the paradigm of climate change, highlighting the specific challenges and vulnerabilities faced by women and their compounding effects. the second section delves into the concept of green social work and its relevance in addressing gendered impacts of climate change. the final section emphasizes the crucial role of social workers in ensuring women's active participation in grassroots climate dialogues, utilizing tools like focus group discussions to capture their lived experiences, inform gender-sensitive policies, and advocate for integrative and inclusive relief measures that address women’s specific needs during climate crises. discussions climate change and gender in today’s time, owing to excessive development and modernization, the climate is bearing the brunt of its ramifications. the effects arising out of climate change is presenting danger to several communities. india being a vast country, having various ecological zones and climatic conditions, makes it highly vulnerable to the repercussions associated with climate change. in south asia, approximately 800 million people will be badly hit by 2050 (fallesen, khan, tehsin, & atishay, 2019). the rising sea water, floods, droughts, deforestation etc. threatens the coastal areas, plains and the mountainous regions of india. the impacts get worsen by the rampant global inequalities and gender disparities, which lead to excruciatingly disproportionate consequences of climate change on women. recurring cyclones, droughts, floods etc. is pushing people to migrate to urban areas in search of employment. given the typology of society in india, oriented to patriarchy, the men folk usually travel to different places and the women of the families stay back to cater to the household duties and child care. the vulnerabilities to women are much higher than men as they are multifariously marginalized, along with it, for the fulfilment of gender roles, the dependency of women on natural resources such as forests, common property resources, water bodies, farms etc. is higher for their livelihood opportunities. climate change and the resulting impacts act as impediments in carrying out daily duties of procuring water, collecting fuelwood, arranging food etc. the prevailing inequalities, as mentioned earlier, restrict women from participating in decision making, confines them within the four walls of their houses and thrusts unequal or even restrained access to resources, making their lives even tougher and exclusionary. inequality in access to resources between men and women is rampant especially on account of the ownership and production technology disparities in the rural areas. women are paid unequally for the same amount of work as done by men, both in urban and rural spheres. for the same reason, women in india face discrimination in labour market, which is clear from the global gender gap report 2022, with india standing poorly at a position of 135 out of 146 countries. women in our society work harder, yet, are overlooked as a consequence of deepened patriarchy, uneven access to education, inequality in terms of employment, lack of women centred polices and exiguous implementation of the available ones, gender bias, higher responsibilities on women in rural areas such as fetching water and arranging fuel, gender based violence and much more. despite the fact that women work more with the natural environment, their hard work and commitment is overlooked for reasons discussed above. there is a need to acknowledge the role of women in conserving nature as it is a crucial part of their livelihood and their understanding about the same is evidence and experience based. therefore, the inclusion and participation of women in policy formation concerning climate change and mitigative strategies is must to promote constructive and productive implementation. the climate induced migration is pellucid in various parts of our country, especially apparent in the coastal areas. lately, sunderbans, a unesco world heritage site is being susceptible to massive human migration for the reasons associated with climate change such as soil erosion, rise in sea level, incessant floods, paucity of potable drinking water and risked agricultural activities because of increased salinity, and huge storms. the flight to urban areas for the sake of employment could be forecasted to be increasing, for the prime bread earning occupations such as fishing, tourism and agriculture is at stake due to drastic climate changes (kugelman, 2020). the issue of climate crisis, displacement and migration are highly inter-twined, and therefore presents severe challenges especially to women during climate induced displacement. the difficulties faced by the women impacted due to climate change and resulting displacement is similar to the women displaced due to other causes. the women are posed with safety and security issues, discrimination, sexual exploitation, trafficking and similar grave issues in the relief or shelter camps. the women usually face discrimination and delay in accessing basic needs such as food, water, heath care, clothes and shelter. it also exacerbates compromised menstrual and personal hygiene for women, which even in normal scenarios is considered as secondary for women belonging to backward, tribal and poor communities. the climate change, displacement and migration breaks their social ties, escalates their dependency on the male members, increases their burden of sustaining their families and providing for the basic needs of their children and elderly members, resulting in their deteriorated physical health along with compromised state of mental health, both of which are entirely neglected as well. in case of migrating to some other place, it becomes the responsibility of the women to set up the household from scratch, wander to arrange water and fuel, look up for the educational and other requirement of their children and taking care of the entire family in the new location. women being seen as the secondary gender in the indian households, are burdened with greater responsibilities with their own personal needs totally ignored. the state of women belonging to marginalized and poor sections of our society is further critical. as per debabrat patra from action aid india, during the rehabilitation and assistance drive post cyclone fani in odisha in the year 2019, the women were amongst the last group to find a place in the shelters. they were repetitively discriminated against and majority themselves approached the shelters late, as they had the responsibility to gather all the left essentials before leaving their home site (rahman, 2022). this unsaid and unpaid work concerned with household chores indulkar, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 7(1) (2025), 1-5 3 and child rearing continuously done by the women speaks in itself for the colossal negligence of women’s hard work and overburdening attributable to the harsh patriarchy and stringent gender roles in our society. irrespective of the staunching realities at the grassroot level, the policy discourses negate the gendered dimensions attached to climate change and the its multitude impacts on women because of the inadequate researches and ground data highlighting the same. it is indeed the responsibility of social work professionals to hold and normalise dialogue hovering around gender and climate change, and undertake advocacy initiatives at micro, macro and mezzo level. indubitably, the physical environment is connected with human lives and the intersectionality that it holds with power relations, human rights, human welfare, gender equality, unequal distribution of resources and unequitable accessibility is the key to green social work. the inter-relatedness of humans and the environment drives the role of social work profession to be a part of intervention and large scale positive action in terms of environment conversation. thence, the concept of environmental justice accompanied with sustainability is being included by the social workers in a whole different field of social work known as green social work. the whole paradigm of environmental conservation is not isolated in itself, instead has larger connotations to it. it shall pave the way to countering inequalities and environmental upgradation simultaneously. green social work the domain of social work profession is getting extended into environmental justice and climate change discourses, as the climate change consequences aren’t confined to the environment and raptured weather patterns but has greater intersectionality attached to it. the human aspect linked with the entire phenomenon and the associated human rights violations in terms of right to food, health, shelter and much more explains the above. these issues concerning human lives get compounded, owing to the global environmental degradation. therefore, the concept of green social work is paramount and diligently befitting in these times. green social work, as put forth by dominelli, is the practice that aims at protecting the environment and promoting the welfare of humans through collaborating with the ties they have with their physical, socio-cultural and economic environments. moreover, it intends to integrate the stakeholders and decision-makers who own the majority of the resources, to address the rampant structural inequalities and discrimination (dominelli, 2012b). the dire need of cautious usage of natural resources in order to ensure their sustainability and availability for the future generations also drove the social work professionals to hold hands with the aspects of eco-social justice and environmental conservation, for the availability and equity in procuring natural resources shall sustain the human kind in general. there is immense potential in the larger activism undertaken by communities, facilitated and educated by the social workers. the legislative changes and policy tailoring is the need of the hour and the immense ground knowledge clubbed with the experience of professional social workers with various vulnerable communities at micro level stands as a productive foundation. role of social workers in mitigating climate change issues the versatility of roles played by professional social workers with different populations explains their key position in deliberating and creating a change. the arena of social work profession is vast, as we get to work on micro, mezzo and macro levels and therefore the right actions with optimum utilization of our skill-set shall facilitate a larger scale impact. green social workers need to tackle the diverse disparities in terms of accessibility and availability of resources, unequal distribution of power, structural inequalities and so on. while addressing these issues, the results shall indubitably trickle down to the vulnerable sections of our society that include women, thrusting the necessary social transformation. according to m. rinkel & m. powers, certain duties such as supporting individuals to attain their human and environmental rights, facilitating the masses in environmental conservation and eventually achieving environmental justice, facilitate mobilization of common masses with key persons and stakeholders to enhance inclusivity, empowering the marginalised sections to make them efficient part of policy formulation and decision making process; are to be fulfilled by the social work practitioners (rinkel & powers, 2017). as discussed earlier, women hold close ties with the environment, and their work and expertise should be utilised while holding discourses concerning environmental conservation, disaster mitigative strategies, displacement and migration related issues. there is urgent requirement to counter climate induced displacement with a gendered lens by harnessing the ground knowledge and power of women within their communities. a report suggests specific measures to develop a safer, more inclusive and equitable future, which includes all the stakeholders, position holders and relevant actors and organisations to a) ensure women’s participation in tackling climate change and displacement prevention policies, b) strongly incorporating local women led initiatives in formulating and augmenting disaster and climate change mitigation finance, especially for adapting gendertransformation, c) stringent direction of specific percentage of humanitarian funds to women based and led organizations working on grassroot levels, d) advocating women rights and approaching the mezzo level organisations to cater to the needs of displaced population due to climate change, especially women (care, 2020). thorough and methodical research lays the foundation to in-depth understanding of the subject and developing strategical and workable mitigative interventions. therefore, social work research, especially, gender oriented researches need to be promoted to articulate long term interventions and empowerment of women. the capacity of social work research is huge, as it not only focuses on the recent conditions but also works to provide long-term solutions through its futuristic and pragmatic approach. along with research and field based work, advocacy of women rights is imperative in the way to ensure basic requirements such as adequate living, sanitation, healthcare infrastructure, feminine hygiene, resources for menstrual heath, food, potable water etc. during climate induced displacement and rehabilitation. a study conducted after the floods in assam in the year 2012 highlighted the irresponsible and discriminatory conduct of the government wherein the relief kits totally overlooked the sanitary napkins for menstrual needs, resulting in neglected menstrual health by the indulkar, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 7(1) (2025), 1-5 4 women and contracting several fungal infections during that time (krishnan & twigg, 2016). it reveals the distressing state of basic women rights of female health and hygiene in our country and the blindness of the government on the same. the streamlined efforts from the social work professionals with various civil society organisations, non-governmental organizations, governmental organizations, stakeholders, policy formulators, journalists, teachers, educators, village level governmental bodies, state owned institutions etc. shall develop better awareness among the key bodies concerning the gendered aspect of climate change and the resulting displacement. this shall gradually pave the way to formulate gendered policies, special grants for organizations working on women rights and female health, constructive change in the mindset of the masses, safe and secure relief camps with adequate facilities for females, employment generation opportunities in rural and disaster prone areas, budget for skill development centres especially for women in their communities itself etc. the social workers need to ensure higher participation of women in discussions and dialogues around climate change mitigative strategies at the grassroot level. it will motivate the women to put forward their viewpoint and problems as they face during issues arise due to climate change. tools such as focused group discussion used by social work professionals bring out community realities and collective issues in a comfortable environment. their experiences will help creating a pragmatic and empirical framework to produce in front of the policy makers and government bodies, eventually leading to a constructive change in the policies related to curbing climate change and response during climate induced displacement. women’s lived experiences of compromised conditions of menstrual health in relief camps shall facilitate formulation of integrative, responsible and gender specific rescue and relief operations in future, ensuring women’s safety a female hygiene during emergency contexts. as displacement and migration results in to financial instability and increased dependency over the male counterparts, again trapping women in the same cycle of subordination, overreliance, and gender based violence and so on. financial dependency is imperative in the path to empowerment, therefore, efforts need to be made by the social workers on ground to educate women about the employment opportunities available to them as per their skills and link them to various organisations. this shall have far reaching benefits in their lives, making them self-sustainable and promoting equality and equity. in addition to this, the local knowledge of the women could be harnessed in preserving the nature and developing climate resilience, eventually enhancing their self-worth and sense of significance. conclusions the purpose of this research is to explore the intersection of climate change and gender inequality, highlighting the disproportionate burden borne by women during climate-induced calamities. it emphasizes the pressing need for gendersensitive and adaptive strategies in addressing climate change, particularly through the lens of social work. by analyzing the vulnerabilities faced by women—such as increased domestic responsibilities, exposure to violence, and exploitation in relief settings—this study underscores the critical role of social work in advocating for gender equity and environmental justice. drawing on green social work principles, the research advocates for empowering women, fostering community participation, and implementing sustainable, inclusive interventions. ultimately, it aims to expand the scope of social work to address the gendered dimensions of climate change, reinforcing the profession’s commitment to equality, social justice, and the upliftment of marginalized communities. united nations climate change article says that efforts put in empowerment of women reaps in better and efficacious climate solutions, on account of their traditional knowledge, agricultural land labour, tendency of addressing family needs in times of disasters, and community building (5 reasons why climate action needs women, 2019). it is indubitably the high time to recognise the efforts made by women in their domestic and social fields, thus making their relevance known to the masses. the paper explains how women suffer in myriad ways during climate induced displacement and migration and the role social worker could play in addressing the issues faced by women, and developing climate mitigative strategies with equal participation of women. women leadership should be inspired, which would follow meaningful participation of women in decision making, tackling exacerbated gender disparities, constructing favourable social policies, environment conservation mandates and much more. as per women deliver, a global advocate on gender equality, “incorporating women mitigating climate change shall certainly make provisions for fulfilment of sdgs (sustainable development goals), assurance for clean air, potable drinking water, and ample amount of food and safe shelter for generations to come (population council and women deliver, 2023). social work professionals, using their experience and skill set could bring green social work into constructive practice, ultimately countering the issues put forth by climate change and the further more issues faced by women. in addition to this, empowering women by ensuring their participation, promoting equality, advocating, educating, collaborating, and facilitating financial independence will not only help women sustain in tougher times owing to climate crisis, but, shall empower them for life to make their life decisions and sustain their families. the ‘climate change-migration-gender’ nexus in the indian context, as discussed, tackles the questions on the gender division of resources and climate-induced migration in a broader sense. it brings out the fact that climate changes have affected and further affect the women’s rights making their daily lives more complicated. the findings show that the women’s participation in the natural resource management and their distinct position during the disaster events are often overlooked in policy processes, which consequently deprives them of the decision-making right and capacity. the research articulates that, in india, women due to climate change are most impacted, as they work longer hours, are prone to ill health and violence, and have limited access to resources and opportunities. climate change, this article argues, leads to displacement which in turn leads to erosion of income and reliance upon men, which maintains the cycle of marginalization of women. women's participation in disaster management activities such as relief, recovery and rehabilitation is often neglected in policies and such biases cause policies developed without proper considerations to her health and hygiene. this paper takes part in the ongoing debates on climate change and its mitigation measures related to climate justice by pointing out the importance of undertaking gender mainstreaming in the environment. it requests to be indulkar, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 7(1) (2025), 1-5 5 accepted the perception of women's attendance in environmental protection works and disaster risk reduction, all being incorporated in policies. the work identifies not only the vulnerabilities of women but emphasizes on their possible engagement when it comes to integrative mechanisms on climate resilience. the research calls for a reconfiguration of analytical approaches to both climate change and social work so that it incorporates pragmatic, contemporary and rights-driven framework. healthy management elevates that social work practitioners should rather be on the offense fighting for women and environmental rights, being active in programs and discussions focusing on climate change. possible practical measures are increasing women's involvement in decisions about climate change, incorporating genders in humanitarian contexts, and training and financial support of women in the community for more responsible and environmentally safe approach. although it was an insightful piece, it is only a cursory look at the matter which seems overly focused on india. digging into the past research also means that some important stories and first-hand accounts are likely being left aside, and uncaptured aspects of “local colour”. in future, it will be more instructive to apply an explicitly gendered lens to the impacts of climate change in different cultures and geographies, do empirical fieldwork to capture stories directly from affected women, and evaluate gender-sensitive climate policies, as well as the implications they have for women’s livelihoods in the real world. ultimately, it’s high time to recognise the gendered dimensions of climate change, not only because of the severe fairness implications, but also because climate change not only presents new and unique challenges, but also offers a chance for sustaining progress on otherwise (frighteningly) unsustainable development trajectories. these cannot be sustainably pursued without appreciating the vital role of women in these endeavours, and promoting their participation in decisionmaking platforms – just as in action on the ground. author contributions: conceptualization; p.s.i.; methodology, p.s.i; software, not applicable; validation, not applicable; formal analysis, p.s.i.; investigation, p.s.i; resources, p.s.i.; data curation, not applicable; writing-original draft preparation, p.s.i; writing -review & editing, p.s.i.; visualization, not applicable; supervision, p.s.i.; funding, p.s.i. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: this study was not subject to ethical review and approval, as it does not pertain to sensitive topics or vulnerable groups. funding: the authors did not receive any specific funding for this research. acknowledgement: not applicable. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references care. (2020). evicted by climate change : confronting the gendered impacts of climate-induced displacement. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004322714_cclc_2020-0134-0685 choudhuri, d. (2022, april 27). climate change affects women, girls. the pioneer. dervis, k. (2007, june 1). climate change threatens the development gains already achieved. un chronicle. dominelli, l. (2012a). green social work and environmental justice in an environmentally de-graded and unjust world. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351264402-21 dominelli, l. (2012b). green social work – from environmental crises to environmental justice. british journal of social work, 42(8), 1636-1637. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcs183 fallesen, d., khan, h., tehsin, a., & atishay, a. (2019, november 11). south asia needs to act as one to fight climate change. end poverty in south asia. end poverty in south asia. retrieved from world bank blogs website: blogs.worldbank.org population council and women deliver. (2023). how climate change is shaping young people’s livelihoods and educational opportunities. https://doi.org/10.31899/sbsr2023.1047 rahman, a. p. (2022, march 03). india’s climate policies are failing its women and children. scroll.in. rinkel, m., & powers, m. (eds.). (2017). social work promoting community and environmental sustainability: a workbook for social work practitioners and educators (vol. 1). ifsw. krishnan, s., & twigg, j. (2016). menstrual hygiene: a 'silent' need during disaster recovery. waterlines, 35(3), https://doi.org/10.3362/1756-3488.2016.020 kugelman, m. (2020, september 30). climate-induced displacement: south asia’s clear and present danger. wilson center. women deliver. org. (n.d.). (women deliver) retrieved november 2022, from women deliber website: https://womendeliver.org/investment/invest-women-tackle-climate-change-conserve-environment/ publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2025 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences (p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 13-25 13 humanities, arts and social sciences aijhass vol 6 no 1 (2024) p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass published by american center of science and education, usa corporate environmental accountability (cea) assessment of the corporate organizations of bangladesh steve oscar d rozario (a)1 (a) assistant professor, department of business administration, premier university, chittagong, bangladesh; e-mail: steve.rozario@puc.ac.bd a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 21st september 2024 reviewed & revised: 21st september to 24th december 2024 accepted: 25th december 2024 published: 30th december 2024 keywords: corporate organization, natural environment, environmental management, environmental protection, social responsibility and environmental awareness jel classification codes: q560, p28 peer-review model: external peer review was done through double-blind method. a b s t r a c t due to unplanned industrialization and unsustainable commercial activities, bangladesh is facing serious environmental problems. the research examines if there is any effect of different attributes and sub-attributes in various corporate organizations in bangladesh. this study employs survey data from practitioners and specialists from the department of environment, the judiciary department, ngos, environmental scientists, cost and management accountants, lawyers, industrialists, members of the chamber house (association of industrialists), social and political leaders, and academicians. through the participatory process, 24 sub-attribute cost centers under six attributes cost centers were identified for cea assessment. the weight of each sub-attribute and attribute was determined through a pair-wise comparison matrix. in this study, the weights of 24 sub-attributes have resulted in the cea assessment scale and indicate their effectiveness in measuring the environmental accountability of different corporate organizations. this study uses a multi-criteria decision-making technique to assess bangladesh's corporate environmental accountability (cea). analytical hierarchy process (ahp) was used. the results reveal that given the overall weights of all sub-attributes, it is pretty apparent that from the results, the image/relationship attributes are the most noteworthy, followed by regulatory and contingent. the authors suggest that there should be a unified framework for assessing corporate environmental accountability, and this work is an ongoing attempt to develop such a unified framework for corporate environmental accountability cea) assessment. the findings of this study suggest that the important considerations for each attribute cost center in different corporate organizations are identified. © 2024 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction the environment has turned out to be a central apprehension in today‘s ecological, social and economic setup. environmental issues and sustainable development are more important in our current world, and a large number of people are much more concerned with these. islam et al. (2020) refer that most people now acknowledge that sustaining clean air, water and land is more significant than lowering the cost of production for consumers. environmental awareness, to a certain extent, could be considered a budding value in our society. as a result, the preservation and enhancement of the environmental quality have become a gigantic issue for the corporate world (lee, 2011). business houses and corporate enterprises are held responsible for ensuring a sustainable environment as their activities exerts tension over the environmental composition. it is suggested that one of the primary reasons for its existence is to serve a social and environmental function and given the size of the public sector and its involvement in national economies, the public sector plays a crucial part in promoting environmental sustainability worldwide. (adams, muir, & hoque, 2014; ball et al., 2014). the paradigm of sustainable business development requires holistic, integrated modes of perception. one such mode is the environmental accountability of the corporate organization (burnett & hansen, 2008). in recent years, various tools like life-cycle-analysis, material flow analysis, environmental reporting, corporate environmental disclosure, environmental auditing, and environmental accounting were developed to compare and assess the ecological impacts of products as well as environmental accountability of the companies (ahmad & mousa, 2010; clarkson et al., 2008; cormier & magnan, 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0009-0008-7720-5254 © 2024 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of acse, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v6i1.328 to cite this article: rozario, s. o. d. (2024). corporate environmental accountability (cea) assessment of the corporate organizations of bangladesh. american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences, 6(1), 13–25. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v6i1.328 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://www.openaccess.nl/en https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v6i1.328 https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7720-5254 rozario, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 13-25 14 2007). rahman and rahman (2020) suggest that most of the people are in favor of green reporting and its implications for the company and that the government is firm about its directions and protocols towards green reporting. environmental degradation has direct and indirect health impacts. sultana et al. discuss how air and water pollution increased respiratory diseases and waterborne illnesses, highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive health and environmental policies. over the years, corporate environmental accountability has developed to include environmental contemplation. environmental issues such as environmental pollution and environmental litigations have become more prominent economic, social and political problems throughout the world, particularly in relation to trade and commerce (burnett & hansen, 2008; walsh et al., 2003). these have forced business organizations to engage them to confirm some environmental responsibility in the form of environmental accountability and reporting (cho & patten, 2007). rahman and rahman (2020) emphasize that deforestation for agriculture and urban development threatens biodiversity and exacerbates climate change. the loss of habitat has led to a decline in various species, impacting local ecosystems and communities. environmental accountability of the business organization principally refers to the responsibility of a business organization for the deterioration of the natural environment, implying the allocation of environmental costs to the economic activities that cause such deterioration. environmental protection costs some other environmental cost drivers as well, and more precisely, environmental accountability of this important segment of the society has already been the purpose of several research (clarkson et al., 2008; cormier & magnan, 2007; larrinaga-gonzalez & bebbington, 2001). research by islam et al. (2020) shows that cities like dhaka face severe waste disposal issues, with only about 50% of waste being managed properly. this leads to pollution and health hazards exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure. so, in this study, for the first time, an intention has been made to develop a tool for use in corporate environmental accountability (cea) assessment that allows for comparative analysis and enables more in-depth exploration of the qualitative setting contributing to the quantitative outcome using analytical hierarchy process (ahp). the study’s results indicated that the image/relationship played the most significant role among all the attributes cost center, where remediation was the least important. in order to determine the key criteria for the cost center for corporate environmental accountability (cea) assessment, a series of thirty discussion events were planned with practitioners and specialists from the department of environment, the judiciary department, non-governmental organizations, environmental scientists, cost and management accountants, lawyers, industrialists, members of the chamber house (association of industrialists), social and political leaders, and academicians. twenty-four sub-attribute cost centers were then finalized under the sphere of six attributes cost centers after the attributes and sub-attribute cost centers were tested in the field through ten focus group discussions (fgds) with the corporate organization’s low, mid, and high-level executives. the analytical hierarchy process (ahp) is a popular and useful approach for decision-making regarding multiple criteria. ahp entails creating a matrix of pairwise comparisons between various attributes and sub-attributes. as shown in table 2, ratings are methodically assessed to determine the relative importance of two criteria on a continuous scale from 1/9 (least important) to 9 (most important) (saaty, 1977). this process creates the pairwise comparison matrix. the results clearly show that, when considering the overall weights of all sub-attributes, the image/relationship attributes are the most important (having a 25% weight), followed by regulatory (having a 23%) and contingent (18%). the vector of weights also shows that remediation is the least important (having a 3% weight) to the cea assessment (figure 3). in conclusion, given that businesses around the world are dealing with stricter environmental laws and regulations, heightened public awareness of the ecological effects of commercial and business operations, and growing investor pressure to reconsider their position on environmental issues like climate change. this research suggests that a unified framework for evaluating corporate environmental accountability (cea) should be developed. additionally, this work is an ongoing effort to establish such a unified framework for cea assessment. literature review corporate environmental accountability (cea) has evolved from a supplementary aspect of corporate responsibility to a fundamental component of business strategy. as global environmental concerns rise, organizations increasingly find themselves accountable for their ecological footprint (kramarz & park, 2016). corporate environmental accountability refers to the responsibility of organizations to disclose, manage, and mitigate their environmental impacts. organizations seek to justify their operations to maintain legitimacy in the eyes of stakeholders. theoretical foundations such as stakeholder theory play a crucial role in framing cea, asserting that businesses must address the interests of all stakeholders, including those who are directly or indirectly affected by environmental practices (konwar et al., 2024; schaltegger, hörisch, & freeman, 2019). stakeholder engagement is crucial in assessing environmental impacts. business worlds are increasingly blamed for the environmental impact of their operational activities after the earth summit held in rio de janeiro in 1992, according to belal (2000). the reason for this change can be partly explained by the so-called green revolution and the global environmental concern, especially environmental legislation; the possibility of an environmental crisis, as well as by a wider concern for issues of social injustice (calculli et al., 2021; ahmad & mousa, 2010). other factors include customer awareness, supply chain relations and activities of environmental campaigners like greenpeace and the worldwide foundation for nature. so, corporate environmental accountability has emerged during the last two decades in response to these mentioned issues (moisescu & gicǎ, 2020). the rise in interest in response to these issues has a marked variation across corporations and countries. society, particularly from developed countries, is highly concerned about the impacts on the quality of their life due to air, land and water pollution. as a result, for most of the world’s developed countries, corporate environmental accountability has developed voluntarily (perkins, 2007). bangladesh is still at its initial phase of industrialization. but it does not mean that the risk of environmental degradation from business operations is lower here. rather, the problem of environmental degradation by the business operations is aggravated here to some extent due to poor and weak enforcement of legislation in bangladesh (syed, 2023; hossain et al., 2020). one such incidence of environmental degradation by the business operations is the buriganga river, rozario, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 13-25 15 dhaka. about 60,000 tons of raw hides and skins are processed in these tanneries yearly, releasing nearly 95,000 l of untreated effluents into the open environment daily. bangladesh is under the great menace of environmental stress from corporate business operations because it is the world’s most densely populated country, which means if pollution occurs at any place by even one polluting agent, a large population remains at risk of being exposed to it. bangladesh has been experiencing a shift from traditional agricultural sector to non-traditional industrial and service industries in recent years. the life cycle assessment method evaluates the environmental impacts of a product throughout its life cycle, providing a comprehensive view of corporate responsibility (klöpffer, 2006). studies highlight a positive correlation between transparency in environmental reporting and corporate reputation (delmas & blass, 2010). companies that are more open about their environmental impacts often gain stakeholder trust. several studies both at national (belal, 2000; imam, 1999) and international (lee, 2011; lucas & wilson, 2008; masanet-llodra, 2006; perkins, 2007) have been carried out related to the corporate world emphasizing different aspects of environmental accountability. some pointed out the relationship between environmental management and financial performance (xu & chen, 2020; voinea et al., 2020; lucas & wilson, 2008). lee (2011) tries to explore motivations, barriers, and incentives for companies to adopt environmental management cost accounting and related guidelines. perkins (2007) focuses on the uneven dynamics of corporate greening within a theoretical framework of convergence, firm specificity, and heterogeneity. however, most of the authors (lehman, 1999; masanet-llodra, 2006; yakhou & dorweiler, 2004) focus on either the environmental management system developed, or environmental accounting used as a tool for environmental management systems in today’s corporate world. in bangladesh, all of the prior work (belal, 2000; imam, 1999) is on the company’s disclosed environmental information in the directors’ report or in the chairman’s statement, or elsewhere in their annual reports. research indicates that robust environmental accountability frameworks can lead to better compliance with environmental regulations, reducing the risk of fines and legal challenges (gunningham et al., 2018). investors increasingly rely on environmental, social, and governance (esg) metrics criteria to assess corporate accountability, with numerous indices and rating agencies providing benchmarks for performance (berg et al., 2022; eccles et al., 2014). all of the previous research concludes that the information disclosed is qualitative in nature, that companies did not follow any specific or standard reporting format, and most importantly, that not a single company disseminated any quantitative information on environmental items. therefore, it is important to assess corporate environmental accountability (cea) and scale up the corporate world’s capacity to adapt to the newly emerged issues of environmental accountability. a lack of standardized data makes it difficult to compare environmental performance across organizations (hahn & kühnen, 2013). some companies may engage in superficial environmental reporting to enhance their public image without making substantial changes (lyon & maxwell, 2011). many organizations struggle to integrate environmental accountability into their core business strategies, leading to fragmented efforts (benn et al., 2014). the literature on corporate environmental accountability assessment reveals a growing recognition of its importance in enhancing corporate sustainability and stakeholder trust. while frameworks and methodologies are wellestablished, challenges such as data standardization and greenwashing persist. future research should focus on investigating how corporate environmental accountability integrates with broader csr efforts and the implications for corporate strategy (bhat et al., 2024). moreover, there is also a possibility for research on developing frameworks for assessing the real impact of corporate environmental initiatives on sustainability outcomes, including biodiversity and ecosystem services. materials and methods data collection and research design a succession of 30 discussion events was organized with practitioners and specialists from the department of environment, the judiciary department, ngos, environmental scientists, cost and management accountants, lawyers, industrialists, members of the chamber house (association of industrialists), social and political leaders, and academicians to make out essential criteria cost center for corporate environmental accountability (cea) assessment. through this participatory path, different attributes and sub-attributes cost center were branded for corporate environmentally assessment. the attributes and subattributes cost center were then tested in the field through 10 fgd (focus group discussion) with low, mid and high level executives of the corporate organization and subsequently, 24 sub-attributes cost center under the sphere of 6 attributes cost centers were finalized (table 1). sub-attributes of each attributes were evaluated to come across the environmental accountability condition or status of a corporate entity. the sub-attributes are the foundation of the cea assessment tool that helps to spot the strengths, weakness, and gaps in the accountability assessment. table 1. attributes and sub-attributes for cea assessment in bangladesh attributes sub-attributes regulatory monitoring, inspection and testing; protective equipment; certification and labeling; environmental management plans internal voluntary employee health and satisfaction, environmentally driven r&d, environmental audits, feasibility studies external voluntary environmental studies and research, environmental reporting, environmental training, medical surveillance remediation pollution treatment costs, waste management costs, environmental taxes and fees, recycling image/relationship corporate image, relationships with investors, relationship with customers, relationships with regulators contingent penalties and fines, future compliance, personal damages, natural resource and ecosystem damages analytical hierarchy process (ahp) was developed to enable an individual or group of individuals to define a specific problem and derive a solution based on individuals’ or groups’ experience of that problem, by saaty (saaty, 2008). ahp helps capture both subjective and objective evaluation measures, providing a useful mechanism for checking the consistency of the evaluations thus reducing bias in decision making (wong & li, 2008). the ahp technique is employed rozario, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 13-25 16 to rate a set of alternatives or to select the best in a set of alternatives. the ranking is done with respect to an overall goal, which is broken down into a set of attributes and subattributes. in the present study, the data were collected from 6 types of corporate organization, viz., shipping, banking, manufacturing, telecommunication, construction and pharmaceuticals. data were collected through structured interviews from 300 corporate executives encircling low, mid and high level management. the extent to which the interviewed corporate organizations were within the same category was fairly uniform. as random sampling is not required for the ahp, interviewees were not selected in the present study in a random fashion. accordingly, executives with the greatest experience and respect within each corporate organization were purposely sought. each interviewee was asked to compare a series of elements (attributes and sub-attributes) for ahp that would best explain the cea. ahp methodology is already applied in different studies (karimi et al., 2011; leunga et al., 1998; young et al., 2010). in this study, for the first time, ahp is being used to decompose corporate environmental accountability into a hierarchy that consists of different essential elements. in the context of this study, a simple three-level hierarchical structure was developed (figure 1). figure 1. analytical hierarchy process (ahp) tactic for corporate environmental accountability (cea) assessment in bangladesh. analytical hierarchy process (ahp) and data analysis ahp is widely used as an effective tool for multi-criteria decision making. ahp involves the construction of a pair-wise comparison matrix of different attributes and sub attributes. to develop the pair-wise comparison matrix, ratings are rozario, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 13-25 17 systematically scored for judging the relative importance of two criteria on a continuous scale from 1/9 (least important) to 9 (most important) (saaty, 1977), as represented in the table 2. table 2. the fundamental importance scale used for judging the relative importance of two criteria in the decision making process. 1/9 1/8 1/7 1/6 1/5 1/4 1/3 1/2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 extremely very strongly strongly moderately equally moderately strongly very strongly extremely less important more important to some extent human judgment may inconsistent, and hence the comparison matrix. particularly, a matrix a (i, j) is said to be consistent if all its elements follow the transitivity and reciprocity rules below: a i,j= a i,k. a j,k………………………...(1) a i,j= 1/ a j,i…………………………….(2) where i, j and k are any alternatives of the matrix. a matrix is considered as consistent if it satisfies the following condition. a .w = nw………………………………. (3) where a is the comparison matrix, w is the eigenvector and n is the dimension of the matrix. for an inconsistent matrix, to overcome the inconsistency associated with the pair wise comparison matrix, saaty (2003) shows that there is a relationship between the vector of weights, w and the matrix a. aw=λ max w…………………………… (4) where w is the ndimensional eigenvector associated with the largest eigenvalue λ max. the measure of inconsistency is based on the observation that λ max > n for positive, reciprocal matrix, and λ max> n if and only if a is a consistent matrix. saaty (2008) gave, a measure of consistency, called consistency index (ci) as a deviation or a degree of consistency using the following formula. ci= λ max-n/n-1--------------------------------(5) to use the calculated consistency index, it compared with the random consistency index (ri) as represented in the table 3. table 3. random consistency index (ri) for n= 1, 2, 3…10 used in the decision making process. n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ri 0 0 0.58 0.90 1.12 1.24 1.32 1.41 1.45 1.49 consequently, a consistency ratio (cr) is a comparison between consistency index and random consistency index, to represent the consistent or inconsistent judgment as represented in the following formula. cr=ci/ri------------------------------------------------(6) if the value of consistency ratio is smaller or equal to 10% or 0.10, the inconsistency is acceptable. alternately, if the consistency ratio is greater than 10% or 0.10, the subjective judgment should be revised (saaty, 1977). 24 sub attributes or criteria under 6 attributes were considered for cea assessment in this study (table 1). weights for each criterion was determined through pair-wise comparisons by 300 corporate executives encircling low, mid and high level management. the four sub-attributes of regulatory, internal voluntary, external voluntary, remediation, image/relationship, and contingent were computed at first and then combined all the 24 sub-attributes to assess the corporate environmental accountability (cea) in bangladesh. data analysis for ahp process was performed using ms excel spreadsheet and an example of worked spread sheet is presented in the table 4. statistical analysis was performed using spss 18. table 4. example of worked spread sheet for corporate environmental accountability (cea) in bangladesh weight decimal normalized matrix priority vector m p c e m p c e m p c e m 1 1 1 ½ 1.00 1.00 1.00 0.50 0.2 0.16667 0.33333 0.125 0.22 p 1 1 ½ ½ 1.00 1.00 0.50 0.50 0.2 0.16667 0.16667 0.125 0.16 c 1 2 1 2 1.00 2.00 1.00 2.00 0.2 0.33333 0.33333 0.500 0.35 e 2 2 ½ 1 2.00 2.00 0.50 1.00 0.4 0.33333 0.16667 0.250 0.27 sum 5 6 3 4 5.00 6.00 3.00 4.00 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 rozario, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 13-25 18 note: m= monitoring, inspection and testing, p= protective equipment, c= certification and labeling, e= environmental management plans. λ max= 4.198, ci=0.066, ri=0.9, cr=7.3% 1. we sum each column of the reciprocal matrix and then we divide each element of the matrix with the sum of its column to have normalized relative weight. the sum of each column of normalized matrix is 1. 2. the normalized principal eigen vector or priority vector obtained by averaging across the rows of normalized matrix. since it is normalized, the sum of all elements in priority vector is 1. the priority vector shows relative weights among the attributes and sub-attributes that we compare. 3. λ max= (5.00×0.22) + (6.00×0.16) + (3.00×0.35) + (4.00×0.27)= 4.198. 4. ci= λ max-n/n-1= 4.198-4/4-1=0.066. 5. cr= ci/ri= 0.066/ 0.9= 7.3% results and discussions obtained data from different managerial executives through a structured interview process and consequent data analysis revealed that the six attributes of cost center used during the present study provide an integrated approach for the corporate environmental accountability assessment. explicitly, the present findings provide edifying examples of how different high, mid and lower-level corporate executives of various corporate organization in bangladesh recognize the credence of cost center impact on their capacity to build and manage environmental accountability in their corporate organization in the context of present days highly interactive business, society and natural environment association. the weight of regulatory, internal voluntary, external voluntary, remediation, image/relationship and contingent attributes cost center and relevant sub-attributes cost center for corporate environmental accountability assessment as perceived by different executives of the corporate organizations of bangladesh through pair-wise comparison matrix presented in table 5, 6 and 7. monitoring, inspection, and testing account for 52.8% of shipping, followed by telecommunication (45.31%) corporate organization as perceived by their executives for assessing there environmental accountability. while protective equipment is the concern, different executives weighted it for environmental accountability as 33.9% (construction) followed by manufacturing (31.24%) (table 5). interestingly, corporate image cost centers were weighted as 71.2%, 56.1% and 42.1% for telecommunication, banking and construction, respectively, by their executives for assessing the corporate environmental accountability (table 6). table 5. the credibility of different attributes cost center (regulatory, internal voluntary and external voluntary) and subattributes cost center on corporate environmental accountability assessment as perceived by different executives of the corporate organizations of bangladesh corporate organization attributes subattributes shipping banking manufacturing telecommunicati on construction pharmaceuticals weights % weights % weights % weight s % weights % weights % regulatory monitoring, inspection and testing 0.5283 52.8 0.359 35.9 0.2812 28.12 0.4531 45.31 0.301 30.1 0.3332 33.2 protective equipment 0.3007 30.0 0.240 24.0 0.3124 31.24 0.2673 26.73 0.339 33.9 0.3012 30.1 certification and labeling 0.1002 10.0 0.281 28.1 0.2913 29.13 0.2234 22.34 0.292 29.2 0.3121 31.2 environment al management plans 0.0708 7.08 .120 12.0 0.1151 11.51 0.0562 5.62 0.068 6.8 0.0535 5.35 consistency ratio (cr) 0.0174 0.0132 0.0041 0.0013 0.0024 0.0321 internal voluntary employee health and satisfaction 0.578 57.8 0.667 66.7 0.3907 39.07 0.5531 55.31 0.3476 34.7 0.5142 51.4 environment ally driven r&d 0.256 25.6 .245 24.5 0.3231 32.31 0.0543 5.43 0.1634 16.3 0.3211 32.1 environment al audits 0.100 10.0 0.056 5.6 0.1541 15.41 0.2462 24.62 0.3254 32.5 0.1211 12.1 feasibility studies 0.066 6.6 0.032 3.2 0.1321 13.21 0.1464 14.64 0.2732 27.3 0.0436 4.36 consistency ratio (cr) 0.0043 0.0063 0.0112 0.0021 0.0116 0.0322 external voluntary environment al studies and research 0.153 15.3 0.47 47 0.3346 33.46 0.3541 35.4 0.087 8.70 0.3314 33.1 rozario, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 13-25 19 environment al reporting 0.161 16.1 .177 17.7 0.3412 34.12 0.2453 24.5 0.258 25.8 0.1527 15.2 environment al training 0.383 38.3 0.228 22.8 0.2431 24.31 0.2513 25.1 0.251 25.1 0.1824 18.2 medical surveillance 0.303 30.3 0.125 12.5 0.0811 8.11 0.1493 14.93 0.404 40.4 0.3335 33.3 consistency ratio (cr) 0.01127 0.0036 0.0021 0.0022 0.0018 0.0432 table 6. the credibility of different attributes cost center (remediation, image/relationship and contingent) and subattributes cost center on corporate environmental accountability assessment as perceived by different executives of the corporate organizations of bangladesh corporate organization attributes subattributes shipping banking manufacturing telecommunication construction pharmaceuticals weights % weights % weights % weights % weights % weights % remediation pollution treatment costs 0.1568 15.6 0.0176 1.7 0.3127 31.2 0.0215 2.15 0.0241 2.4 0.2819 28.1 waste management costs 0.2538 25.3 0.0354 3.5 0.2951 29.5 0.0178 1.78 0.4521 45.2 0.1526 15.2 environmental taxes and fees 0.3274 32.7 0.9045 90.4 0.3012 30.1 0.7849 78.4 0.3981 39.8 0.4794 47.9 recycling 0.2620 26.2 0.0425 4.25 0.0910 9.10 0.1758 17.5 0.1257 12.5 0.0861 8.61 consistency ratio (cr) 0.0347 0.0031 0.0561 0.0381 0.0017 0.0021 image/relationship corporate image 0.3738 37.3 0.5613 56.1 0.4162 41.6 0.7123 71.2 0.4218 42.1 0.3781 37.8 relationships with investors 0.1756 17.5 0.0312 3.12 0.1124 11.2 0.0241 2.41 0.2215 22.1 0.2416 24.1 relationship with customers 0.1984 19.8 0.3417 34.17 0.2831 28.3 0.1873 18.7 0.0916 9.16 0.3612 36.1 relationships with regulators 0.2522 25.2 0.0658 6.58 01883 18.8 0.0763 7.63 0.2651 26.5 0.0191 1.91 consistency ratio (cr) 0.0765 0.0051 0.0327 0.0018 0.0026 0.0613 contingent penalties and fines 0.4812 48.1 0.4178 41.7 0.3351 33.5 0.0216 2.16 0.4178 41.7 0.3512 35.1 future compliance 0.3117 31.1 0.5574 55.7 0.3170 31.7 0.7123 71.2 0.5123 51.2 0.3219 32.1 personal damages 0.1666 16.6 0.0123 1.23 0.3329 33.2 0.2451 24.5 0.0531 5.31 0.2918 29.1 natural resource and ecosystem damages 0.0405 4.05 0.0125 1.25 0.0150 1.5 0.021 2.1 0.0168 1.68 0.0351 3.51 consistency ratio (cr) 0.00367 0.0023 0.0031 0.0034 0.0011 0.0713 table 7. the overall credibility of six attributes cost center of corporate environmental accountability assessment for different corporate organizations of bangladesh during the present study attributes corporate organization shipping banking manufacturing telecommunication construction pharmaceuticals weights % weights % weights % weights % weights % weights % regulatory 0.2214 22.1 0.1524 15.2 0.2313 23.1 0.0232 2.32 0.2442 26.4 0.2051 20.5 internal voluntary 0.1816 18.1 0.2815 28.1 0.1825 18.2 0.3122 31.2 0.2012 27.1 0.1914 19.1 external voluntary 0.1521 15.2 0.1731 17.3 0.1523 15.2 0.2871 28.7 0.1161 12.6 0.1061 10.6 remediation 0.0188 1.88 0.0106 1.06 0.2451 24.5 0.0222 2.22 0.1462 17.6 0.0698 6.98 image/relationship 0.2481 24.8 0.2613 26.1 0.1231 12.3 0.3012 30.12 0.2816 30.1 0.2215 22.1 contingent 0.1780 17.8 0.1211 15.1 0.0657 6.57 0.0541 5.41 0.0107 1.07 0.2061 20.6 consistency ratio (cr) 0.0016 0.0135 0.0031 0.0213 0.0014 0.0027 table 7 outlines the results of the overall degree of different attributes for assessing the environmental accountability of the corporate organization. as shown in table 6, the most popular attributes for assessing the corporate environmental accountability are the internal voluntary (31.2%) and image/relationship (30.12%) in telecommunication, while they are lowest in shipping (18.1%) and manufacturing (12.3%), respectively. rozario, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 13-25 20 the weights of 24 sub-attributes have resulted into cea assessment scale and indicate their effectiveness in measuring the environmental accountability of different corporate organizations (figure 2). image/relationship, regulatory and contingent with 24.8%, 22.1% and 17.8% weights, respectively, indicate their highest role in cea assessment in shipping organizations, while remediation weights only for 1.88%. on the other hand, in case of banking and telecommunication, internal voluntary and image/relationship indicate their highest role in cea assessment, while remediation holds the lowest. the executives of the manufacturing organization have given the highest weight to remediation (24.5%) and regulatory (23.1%) for cea assessment, while making the contingent (6.57%) the lowest. image/relationship, internal voluntary and regulatory with 30.1%, 27.1% and 26.4% weights, respectively, indicate their highest role in cea assessment in construction farms, while contingent weights only for 1.07%. image/relationship, contingent and regulatory with 22.1%, 20.6% and 20.5% weights, respectively, indicate their highest role in cea assessment in pharmaceuticals organization, while remediation weights only for 6.98% (figure 2). figure 2. corporate environmental accountability (cea) assessment scale shows the effectiveness of six attributes cost center in different corporate organizations of bangladesh. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 regulatory internal voluntary external voluntary remediation image/relationship contingent regulatory internal voluntary external voluntary remediation image/relationship contingent regulatory internal voluntary external voluntary remediation image/relationship contingent regulatory internal voluntary external voluntary remediation image/relationship contingent regulatory internal voluntary external voluntary remediation image/relationship contingent regulatory internal voluntary external voluntary remediation image/relationship contingent pharmaceuticals construction telecommunication manufacturing banking shipping figure 2: corporate environmental accountability (cea) assessment scale shows the effectiveness of six attributes cost center in different corporate organizations of bangladesh. rozario, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 13-25 21 in view of the overall weights of all sub-attributes, it is quite apparent that from the results that, the image/relationship attributes are the most significant (with 25% weight), followed by regulatory (23%) and contingent (18%), while the vector of weights indicates the remediation is the least significant (with 3% weight) to cea assessment (figure 3). 0 20 40 60 monitoring , inspection and testing protective equipment certificatio n and labeling environme ntal manage… 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 employee health and satisfaction environme ntally driven r&d environme ntal audits feasibility studies 0 5 10 15 20 25 regulator y internal voluntary external voluntary remediat ion image/re lationship continge nt 0 10 20 30 40 environme ntal studies… environme ntal reporting environme ntal training medical surveillanc e rozario, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 13-25 22 figure 3. the integration process of 24 sub-attributes cost center of regulatory, internal voluntary, external voluntary, remediation, image/relationship and contingent cost center for corporate environmental accountability assessment in bangladesh. 0 10 20 30 40 pollution treatment costs waste manageme nt costs environme ntal taxes and fees recycling 0 10 20 30 40 corporate image relationshi ps with investors relationshi p with customers relationshi ps with regulators 0 5 10 15 20 25 regulatory internal voluntary external voluntary remediatio n image/rela tionship contingent 0 10 20 30 40 50 penalties and fines future compliance personal damages natural resource and ecosyste… rozario, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 13-25 23 using the 24 sub-attributes of cost center as the input helps to develop our understanding of how the governing and managerial body at different levels of different corporate organizations adapt and respond proactively to emerging environmental issues and sustainable business development. during the present study, ahp has been applied to data from a large qualitative study obtained through structured interviews with many corporate executives to comprehend more evidently what enhances or erodes a corporate organization’s environmental accountability to adapt to the changing circumstances of worldwide environmental concern and sustainable development. findings from the study, highlight important considerations for each of the attributes cost center in different corporate organizations and suggest ways that the different corporate entities can develop and manage their environmental accountability. this approach, suggested here, may also be an important tool for different regulatory government organizations of bangladesh, such as the department of environment (doe), commerce and industrial ministry, to assist with the corporate environmental accountability development process in bangladesh. the government can then consider what, specifically, different corporate organizations need to develop organization-wide environmental accountability at the policy level by providing support and different resources. we thus point out that this study contributes to this sphere of literature and to broader international arguments and conversations regarding how to construct and develop the environmental accountability assessment for corporate organization worldwide. conclusions the purpose of this study is to find out the significance of each of the attributes and sub attributes cost centers in different corporate organizations. with the strategy of sustainable economic development, the policy of bangladesh government is that social and economic growth should not sacrifice environment. to ensure a sustainable economic development through economic and commercial activities, corporate environmental accountability (cea) assessment undoubtedly plays a crucial role. in this research, the multi-criteria decision making ahp technique was used to assess quantitatively the cea of the different corporate organization of bangladesh. monitoring, inspection and testing; protective equipment; certification and labeling; and environmental management plans sub-attributes cost center perceived as dominant and environmental management plan is the least for cea assessment in various organizations under regulatory attributes cost center. the obtained results have reflected that the image/relationship attributes are the most significant, followed by regulatory (23%) and contingent (18%), while the vector of weights indicates the remediation is the least significant to cea assessment. this indicates that, at present, most of bangladesh’s corporate organizations have no environmental management plan. employee health and satisfaction; environmentally driven r&d sub-attributes cost center has been weighted most, while environmental audits and feasibility studies under internal voluntary attributes cost center were low rated for cea assessment. in view of specific organization, image/relationship, regulatory and contingent attributes cost center with 24.8%, 22.1% and 17.8% weights, respectively, indicate there highest role in cea assessment in shipping organization, while remediation weights only for 1.88%. in case of banking and telecommunication, internal voluntary and image/relationship indicate there highest role in cea assessment, while remediation holds the lowest. what is undoubtedly required is now further interest to building framework of these six attributes cost center into more systematic baseline measures in order to develop a standard criterion, so that a corporate entity can use them as a tool to assess its environmental accountability. there is, of course, somewhat a very good scope for future research. new research can be conducted on government organizations, non-government organizations, and social organizations. furthermore, this research has been done on shipping, banking, manufacturing, telecommunication, constructions and pharmaceuticals where the research can be conducted only on one sector separately. however, like many other research studies, there are limitations to this research. only 30 discussion events were organized with practitioners and specialists. if these events could be more than 100, the result would be more accurate. then such attributes and sub attributes were tested through 10 focus discussion group which could be around 30. lastly, the research has been conducted on the said six sectors only where there are many other sectors available in the country. the contribution of this study to the society is to make the society aware that the image/relationship attributes is the most significant attribute and different corporate entity must develop their environmental accountability. in conclusion, as different companies worldwide are facing more stringent environmental laws and regulations, increased societal awareness regarding the ecological impacts of the commercial and business activities, and mounting pressures from investors to rethink their stance toward environmental issues like climate change. this research work suggests that a unified framework for assessing the corporate environmental accountability should be developed and this work is an ongoing attempt to develop such unified framework for corporate environmental accountability (cea) assessment. author contributions: conceptualization, s.o.d.r.; methodology, s.o.d.r.; software, s.o.d.r.; validation, s.o.d.r.; formal analysis, s.o.d.r.; investigation, s.o.d.r.; resources, s.o.d.r.; data curation, s.o.d.r.; writing – original draft preparation, s.o.d.r.; writing – review & editing, s.o.d.r.; visualization, s.o.d.r.; supervision, s.o.d.r.; funding, s.o.d.r. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study due to the research does not 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(2010). application of the analytic hierarchy process for selecting and modeling stormwater best management practices. journal of contemporary water research & education, 146(1), 50-63. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1936-704x.2010.00391.x publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2024 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences (p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.239 https://doi.org/10.1016/s0361-3682(98)00044-0 https://doi.org/10.1016/s0165-7836(98)00097-6 https://doi.org/10.1016/s0165-7836(98)00097-6 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-9134.2010.00282.x https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9029-1 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-2496(77)90033-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/s0377-2217(02)00227-8 https://doi.org/10.1504/ijssci.2008.017590 https://doi.org/10.1016/s0149-2063_03_00082-5 https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.395 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1936-704x.2010.00391.x http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 1-12 1 humanities, arts and social sciences aijhass vol 6 no 1 (2024) p-issn 2643-0061 e-issn 2643-010x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijhass published by american center of science and education, usa the shift of power: analysing the decline of usa's influence in africa in favour of china patrick mushitsi (a)1 nay min san (b) (a) school of international relations, university of international business and economics, beijing, china; e-mail: mushitsipatrick@gmail.com (b) school of international relations, university of international business and economics, beijing, china; e-mail: nayminsan@iuj.ac.jp a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 4th january 2024 reviewed & revised: 5th january to 24th march 2024 accepted: 25th march 2024 published: 30th march 2024 keywords: africa, china, united states, belt and road initiative, diplomacy, trade, foreign aid, soft power. jel classification codes: f51, f53, n40 a b s t r a c t in recent years, the african continent has emerged as a key arena in the global power rivalry between the united states and china. this study delves into the shifting power dynamics in africa, with a focus on the increasing influence of china amidst receding american dominance. the research employs document review to analyze the multifaceted nature of china's engagement in africa, encompassing trade, infrastructure investments, and diplomacy, establishing china as africa's primary trading partner. notably, the belt and road initiative (bri) plays a pivotal role in reshaping africa's infrastructure and economic landscape. conversely, the united states has witnessed a decline in diplomatic presence, foreign aid reductions, and a diminished focus on economic engagement, leading to a decrease in its influence. the outcomes of this evolving dynamic are far-reaching. while africa stands to benefit from potential economic transformation, concerns regarding debt sustainability and reliance on chinese support persist. geopolitically, africa's strategic significance has triggered competition between china and the u.s., with potential implications for regional security. moreover, africa's critical role in global supply chains, particularly in resources such as minerals and energy, amplifies china's influence in global markets. african nations face the challenge of balancing economic growth, sovereignty, and regional stability. to counter china's expanding presence and enhance relations with african countries, the united states should prioritize revitalizing diplomacy, formulating a comprehensive trade policy, emphasizing development assistance, and collaborating on regional security initiatives. cultivating cultural exchanges and respecting african agency are equally imperative steps in this endeavor. © 2024 by the authors. licensee cribfb, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction in a period characterized by international strains and power shifts, only a few competitions stand out, like the continuous challenge between the u.s. and china. these two worldwide monsters, each having impressive financial ability and compelling political reach; wind up participating in a multi-layered fight for matchless quality that rises above borders. while this contention stretches out across different fronts, one field where it has unfurled with striking power is the african landmass. this immense and various scene has progressively turned into a landmark for superpower rivalry. in this developing story of worldwide impact, the rise of china as an unmistakable player in africa has reclassified the standards of commitment and flagged a huge change in the customary elements of force. africa frequently alluded to as the "support of mankind" for its verifiable importance, has, as of late, become a focal stage for this international show. the landmass' bountiful assets, prospering business sectors, and key significance have prompted a flood in global interest, especially from financial heavyweights trying to get their traction in the district. at the front of this flood is china, a country that has executed a surprisingly determined and aggressive technique, situating itself as an impressive competitor on the african stage? the proposition at the core of this talk is evident in its importance and extension: “in recent years, china has expanded its economic, political, and cultural presence across africa, reducing traditional american dominance in the region." this declaration exemplifies a seismic change in the international scene, which has been consistently unfurling over the last many years and has arrived at a basic crossroads. to completely get a handle on the size of this shift, it is fundamental to dig into the unpredictable snare of elements that have made ready for china's domination in africa. 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0009-0004-1474-1835 © 2024 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of acse, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v6i1.311 to cite this article: mushitsi, p., & san, n. m. (2024). the shift of power: analysing the decline of usa’s influence in africa in favour of china. american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences, 6(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v6i1.311 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://www.openaccess.nl/en https://doi.org/10.46545/aijhass.v6i1.311 https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1474-1835 https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8796-8948 mushitsi & san, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 1-12 2 as we explore the complexities of this rising power dynamic, recognizing the set of experiences that set up this contemporary rivalry is basic. the twentieth century saw the u.s. applying its impact across the african mainland with discretionary drives, financial associations, and key collusions that molded the area's political scene. as the new thousand years unfolded, china set out on an extraordinary mission of commitment to africa, one that would significantly modify the current overall influence. china's suggestions to africa, which started picking up speed in the mid-2000s, have been out and out surprising. dissimilar to conventional western powers, china showed up on the scene with a special methodology, focusing on monetary collaboration over political impedance. economic accords, framework speculations, and vital collusions immediately turned into signs of china's african methodology. this methodology, set apart by practicality and a readiness to meet the quick requirements of african countries, quickly earned favor across the landmass. on the other hand, late organizations in the u.s. have flagged a change in needs, prompting a downsizing of conciliatory presence, unfamiliar guide cuts, and a diminished accentuation on financial commitment with africa. this essential turn, joined with china's proactive job in the district, has worked with the slow disintegration of customary american predominance. while this decline may not be outright, it is meaningful of a more extensive change in the worldwide power structure. the meaning of africa, with its immense assets, growing business sectors, and international significance, could not possibly be more significant. as both the u.s. and china, perceive the likely advantages of getting major areas of strength for the landmass, their opposition increases. this competition is not financial additions or political impact; it is an impression of the changing elements of worldwide power, a harbinger of what the 21st century might hold. in the accompanying segments of this article, we will dig further into the verifiable and contemporary elements of us-china commitment in africa. we will investigate the unmistakable results of china's prospering presence and break down the ramifications of america's reducing impact. besides, we will contemplate how the u.s. can explore this new reality and recalibrate its way of dealing with africa to stay an important and persuasive player in the locale. literature review the authentic setting of u.s. contribution in africa during the twentieth century is a perplexing embroidery woven with a blend of interests, philosophies, and developing connections. this period denoted a crucial time when american commitment to the mainland underwent huge changes, eventually molding the underpinning of american impact in africa (da cruz & stephens, 2010). at the beginning of the twentieth century, the u.s. restricted direct contribution in africa compared with its european partners. all things being equal, its inclinations were fundamentally financial, based on shipping lanes and admittance to africa's plentiful regular assets. the skillet african development, driven by figures like w.e.b. du bois, tried to feature the common battles of africans and african americans and caused them to notice the landmass' issues, cultivating an incipient feeling of african-american fortitude. in any case, the episode of the second great war and the ensuing virus war adjusted the scene of u.s.-african relations. the u.s. perceived africa's significance in the worldwide philosophical battle between private enterprise and socialism. this acknowledgment prompted an expanded spotlight on african countries as possible partners in the battle against the spread of socialism. key figures like kwame nkrumah in ghana and gamal abdel nasser in egypt became significant partners for the u.s. in the locale. during the virus war, a mix of discretion, unfamiliar guide, and philosophical arrangement set american impact in africa apart. the u.s. gave monetary and military help to different african countries, frequently fully intent on advancing favorable to western systems (qobo, 2022). now and again, this prompted collusions with pioneers who were despotic or participated in denials of basic freedoms, mirroring the realism of the virus wartime. one crucial occasion in u.s.-africa relations was the finish of politically sanctioned racial segregation in south africa. american social equality activists and legislators assumed a huge part in pushing for sanctions against the politically sanctioned racial segregation system. the u.s. at last joined the worldwide local area in monumental authorizations on south africa, adding to its possible change to greater part rule and a vote-based system. throughout the twentieth century, the u.s. developed associations with african pioneers, upheld advancement drives and participated in strategic endeavors to address local struggles. notwithstanding, it is fundamental to perceive that american commitment to africa was often persuaded by essential interests, prompting both positive and unfortunate results for the mainland. china's obligation to africa in the 21st century denotes a groundbreaking change in the global scene of the mainland. beginning during the 2000s, china left on a confident undertaking pointed toward reinforcing its binds with african countries. this coordinated exertion has re-imagined the elements of force and impact in the district, significantly affecting africa's worldwide relations (tull, 2006). china's way of dealing with africa is multi-layered, reaching out across monetary, strategic, and infrastructural areas. financial commitment has been a foundation of china's system, with significant ventures and exchanges joint efforts. the belt and street drive (bri), sent off in 2013, demonstrates china's obligation to reshape africa's foundation scene, encouraging network and financial turn of events. the bri has become a critical driver of china's impact, making a snare of foundation projects that interface african countries and add to their financial development (bräutigam, 2011). strategically, a "no surprises" strategy portrays china's commitment to africa. unlike conventional western accomplices, china has not forced political or administration conditions on its guide and speculations. this approach has reverberated with african countries looking for monetary improvement without outer impedance, setting china's allure as a solid accomplice (alden & alves, 2018; bräutigam, 2011). china's obligation to africa has re-imagined the conventional power elements in the locale. largely, western countries, including the u.s. and european powers, held a huge impact. nevertheless, china's rise has rocked the boat. the downfall of western impact, combined with china's proactive commitment, has moved the overall influence in africa (shinn & eisenman, 2012). china's obligation to africa is not only a respective undertaking; it addresses a seismic change in the international scene of the mushitsi & san, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 1-12 3 mainland. through financial ventures, discretionary artfulness, and groundbreaking framework projects, china has become a vital engineer of africa's contemporary worldwide relations, testing and reshaping the verifiable examples of impact overwhelmed by western powers. the outcomes of this shift reach a long way past financial participation, making a permanent imprint on africa's position in the worldwide field. materials and methods during the preparation of this paper, the methodology selected for use is document review. the approach of document analysis entails a meticulous examination and interpretation of various documents that hold valuable insights related to the specific case under study. to execute this document analysis, a variety of resources will be employed. these resources encompass academic papers, research outputs from international bodies, materials from non-governmental organizations, and governmental publications. through the utilization of these diverse outlets, a holistic comprehension of the subject matter can be attained. the objective of this document examination is to amass pertinent and credible data that will enhance the overall research and analysis carried out in the paper. by drawing upon a range of sources, a comprehensive viewpoint can be established, ensuring a thorough exploration of the case study at hand. results and discussions exchange as a mainstay of china's african commitment its hearty exchange associations most outstandingly portray china's obligation to africa, an essential commitment that started during the 2000s. this period denoted the inception of a significant improvement as china tried to tie down admittance to africa's immense normal assets, including oil, minerals, and rural items, to fuel it is quickly developing economy. this responsibility was noticeably exhibited during the china-africa culmination in 2006, where china vowed billions of dollars in advances, awards, and ventures, embodying its asset-driven approach (taylor, 2008). a particular component of china's way of dealing with african exchange is the sheer extent of its monetary inclusion. in 2020, china became africa's biggest exchange accomplice, with two-sided exchange surpassing $200 billion yearly (bräutigam, 2011, 2011). this monetary organization is supported by different drives, mostly the discussion on china-africa participation (focac). laid out in 2000, focac provides a far-reaching system to exchange and joint efforts on different issues, including monetary turn of events, well-being, and training. china's monetary binds with africa reach out past asset extraction, mirroring a complex technique. the belt and street drive (bri), sent off in 2013, is critical in encouraging foundation improvement across the mainland. this aggressive program expects to improve availability and exchange by developing streets, railroads, ports, and energy projects. remarkable instances of the chinese-assembled framework remember the mombasa-nairobi standard measure rail route for kenya and the addis ababa-djibouti rail route in ethiopia (du plessis, 2016). china's asset-driven approach is clear in its exchange designs with africa, zeroing in on tying down admittance to key items. this technique is firmly aligned with china's more extensive financial objectives, especially the supported development of its modern area. china has gotten a predictable stockpile of normal assets critical for its assembling and energy needs through economic deals and ventures. the china-africa culmination in 2006 denoted a turning point in this direction, with china committing significant monetary assets to tie down admittance to african assets. credits, awards, and ventures were stretched out to african countries, cultivating financial ties that have just extended throughout the long term. while scrutinized for its capability to make reliance, this asset-driven approach has irrefutably assumed a critical part in molding china's financial relationship with africa (otele, 2020). china's monetary commitment to africa is not restricted to asset extraction. the gathering on china-africa participation (focac) has been instrumental in giving a system for more extensive joint efforts. laid out in 2000, focac works with a significant level of discourse and collaboration on various issues, including exchange, venture, and improvement help. this multilateral stage mirrors china's obligation to cultivate an exhaustive and commonly helpful organization with african countries. the belt and road initiative (bri) is a key part of china's african monetary system. sent off in 2013, the bri plans to upgrade availability and advance monetary improvement by putting resources into foundation projects. this drive has prompted the development of significant transportation organizations, such as rail lines and ports, adding to further developed exchange between china and africa. the mombasa-nairobi standard measure railroad in kenya and the addis ababa-djibouti rail line in ethiopia are conspicuous instances of a chinese-fabricated framework that has fundamentally affected the local network (huang, 2016). overall, china's obligation to africa, especially through exchange and financial commitment, has reshaped worldwide relations on the mainland. the asset-driven approach, exemplified by significant speculations and credits, has situated china as africa's driving exchange accomplice. the sheer size of this monetary association, combined with drives like focac and the bri, highlights china's multi-layered technique in encouraging reasonable and commonly valuable binds with african countries (strange et al., 2017). while difficulties and scrutinizes exist, the effect of china's obligation to africa is irrefutable, adding to the financial turn of events and framework change across the landmass. speculation and funding china's extending interest in africa has appeared across different areas, mirroring a key and diverse methodology for cultivating monetary turn of events and mechanical progression on the landmass. chinese organizations have been instrumental in forming africa's modern scene, effectively forming modern zones, exceptional financial zones, and innovation parks in different african countries (bräutigam, 2011). this sweeping association highlights china's obligation mushitsi & san, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 1-12 4 to upgrade africa's modern capacities. a champion element of china's commitment to africa is its significant interest in the energy area. chinese firms have made striking commitments to the foundation of force plants and reasonable energy projects, tending to africa's rising energy needs. this aligns with china's extensive worldwide obligation to be harmless to the ecosystem and economic advancement rehearses (senadjki et al., 2022). by putting resources into cleaner and more effective energy arrangements, china contributes not exclusively to africa's turn of events but additionally to the worldwide objective of moderating environmental change. the farming area has likewise been a point of convergence for chinese interest in africa. hisense, among different organizations, has made critical interests in horticultural handling offices, assuming an essential part in modernizing africa's rural practices. besides, china's rural innovation display focuses have worked with innovation moves and information sharing, upgrading africa's farming abilities (pigato & tang, 2015). this cooperative methodology aligns with china's innovation aptitude and readiness to impart progressions to its african accomplices. china's monetary commitment stretches past direct speculations, with monetary help and credits assuming a critical part in supporting africa's foundation and improvement projects. the china exim bank has been a significant wellspring of financing and funding drives going from transportation framework to energy projects (bräutigam, 2011). while this monetary help has been essential for africa's turn of events, concerns have arisen concerning the maintainability of the obligation caused. the huge obligation loads a few african countries looked at have prompted conversations about the drawn-out ramifications of china's monetary help. dependable obligations, the executives' methodologies are presently a subject of thought to guarantee that the advantages of chinese venture and monetary help convert into enduring financial improvement in africa (shinn, 2019). overall, china's advantage in africa traverses different areas, exhibiting an extensive and vital commitment. from modern zones to energy projects and farming headways, china's commitments have critically influenced africa's turn of events. notwithstanding the maintainability of monetary help and obligation, the board stays basic to guarantee the drawn-out progress of these cooperative endeavors. china's developing job in africa reflects financial interests and a promise to encourage maintainable and commonly useful organizations. strategy and social trades a diverse and comprehensive methodology has described china's political suggestions to africa. undeniable level visits, conciliatory missions, and one individual to the next trades were critical in growing vital relations between china and african countries. these endeavors add to fortifying political ties and the foundation of common understandings. an unmistakable part of china's political commitment is using delicate power through social trade. the foundation of confucius organizations in different african nations embodies this methodology, filling in as stages for showing chinese language and culture. these drives cultivate social comprehension and add to individual-to-individual associations between china and africa. china's african political system underlines non-impedance in homegrown undertakings, lining up with the rule of sway, a worth profoundly valued by numerous african countries (carmody & owusu, 2007). this position remains as opposed to customary western strategy, which frequently accompanied political circumstances appended to help and help. china's methodology pull regarding power resounds with african countries and structures a reason for trust in their strategic relations. fundamentally, china's political ideas for africa go past customary discretionary channels, integrating social trades and regarding the power of african countries, making a particular and cooperative way to deal with worldwide relations. substantial instances of chinese presence  sino-african exchange: starting in 2020, china's exchange with africa encountered a critical flood, reaching a significant figure of $207.2 billion (ajakaiye, 2006). this strong trade enveloped a different merchandise exhibit, including hardware, gear, and materials sent out by china, while africa responded with commodities of wares like oil, minerals, and rural items. the outstanding development in exchange mirrors the extending monetary ties between china and african countries. this significant trade meets china's modern and energy needs and contributes to africa's monetary turn of events. the reliance on exchange features the commonly advantageous nature of the monetary relationship, with the two players utilizing each other's assets and assets for shared flourishing.  foundation ventures: china's effect on the african mainland is unmistakably exemplified through its foundation projects, leaving an enduring engraving. the addis ababa-djibouti railroad, a huge endeavor supported and developed by china, remains a demonstration of this impact. the railroad has decreased travel time between ethiopia and djibouti, upgraded territorial availability, and worked on nearby organizations (leviker, 2021). this framework improvement is essential for china's more extensive belt and street drive (bri), an enormous venture to cultivate a worldwide network. by putting resources into and building imperative transportation joins, for example, the addis ababa-djibouti railroad, china contributes not exclusively to the monetary advancement of the particular districts included but additionally to the general improvement of exchange and network across the mainland. the apparent effect of such undertakings stretches out past superior planned operations; it implies an essential methodology by china to support its monetary and international impact in africa. these foundation ventures make unmistakable advantages for african countries, encouraging financial development, working with exchange, and adding to the advancement of nearby networks.  asset arrangements: china's essential commitment to african nations must be sure of empowered admittance to significant assets, which alden and alves (2018) featured. this advantageous relationship is clear in angola and zambia, where china has tied down admittance to secret weapons to fuel its financial development. angola, a critical player in the worldwide oil market, has become one of china's significant oil providers. through essential arrangements mushitsi & san, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 1-12 5 and organizations, china has gotten a steady and solid wellspring of oil from angola, supporting its developing energy requests. this coordinated effort benefits china and adds to the monetary advancement of angola through exchange and venture. likewise, in zambia, china has laid out an essential organization for copper supply. zambia's plentiful copper holds are essential for china's modern turn of events, particularly in areas like gadgets and development. by tying down admittance to zambia's copper assets, china guarantees a consistent stockpile of this fundamental product to support its financial development and industrialization. this approach mirrors china's realistic international strategy, which uses financial organizations to meet its asset needs while at the same time encouraging monetary improvement in accomplice nations. while certain pundits contend that this dynamic might prompt reliance or inconsistent advantages, it highlights the overwhelming transaction of financial interests in contemporary worldwide relations.  interest in assembling: chinese endeavors, exemplified by substances like the huajian gathering, have decisively settled assembling offices in africa, quite in ethiopia. this sets out work, opens doors, and catalyzes modern improvement in the district. such assembling units add to innovation move, abilities improvement, and monetary broadening, lining up with china's more extensive financial commitment procedure on the landmass. by encouraging modern development in african countries, these chinese associations assume a part in building self-supporting economies and adding to the financial progression of the locale. comparison of u.s. and china foreign aid and investment throughout the last decade, the u.s. and china have fundamentally elevated their unfamiliar guide and interest in african countries; however, their methodologies and needs have veered particularly (dreher et al., 2021). an exhaustive investigation of their commitments highlights particular procedures and fluctuating effects on african nations. the u.s., generally a noticeable entertainer in worldwide improvement help, has focused on propelling a majority rules system, common liberties, and administration through the u.s. office for global turn of events (usaid). the contingent guide describes this approach, where political and administration conditions are joined to monetary help, accentuating the u.s.'s obligation to vote-based values and great administration (dreher et al., 2021). on the other hand, china has embraced a common sense and non-impedance position in its unfamiliar guide approach, quite through the belt and street drive (bri), a critical instrument for china's commitment to africa. the bri has worked with significant interests in foundation projects across the mainland. chinese guides will generally have fewer political or administration conditions, exemplifying a "no surprises" approach, which reverberates with african countries looking for financial improvement without outer obstruction. the unique methodologies of the u.s. furthermore, china uniquely affect african nations. u.s. help has zeroed in on encouraging vote-based administration, common freedoms, and social turn of events. china's accentuation on framework improvement adds to financial development and upgraded availability. while the u.s. approach is well established in political qualities, china's methodology is impelled by monetary practicality and the quest for important assets. the opposition between the u.s. and china for impact in africa has animated discussions regarding the ramifications of these unmistakable methodologies. defenders contend that the u.s. accentuation on administration and basic freedoms lines up with the drawn-out interests of african countries, encouraging a manageable turn of events (dreher et al., 2021). then again, advocates for china battle that its framework ventures yield quick monetary advantages and add to the landmass' improvement objectives. overall, the previous ten years have seen an uplifted commitment by both the u.s. what is more, china in africa, each chasing after particular systems. the u.s. focuses on advancing majority rule values and administration, while china emphasizes monetary improvement through significant framework speculations (blanchard et al., 2008). the effects of these systems on african nations highlight the complex exchange of political qualities, financial sober-mindedness, and the unique development of worldwide impact. the u.s. the us has been a huge donor of unfamiliar guide to africa, stressing areas like wellbeing, training, administration, and philanthropic help. key drives incorporate the president's crisis plan for helps alleviation (pepfar) and the millenium challenge partnership (mcc), which center around medical care and framework improvement. nonetheless, there has been a remarkable change in the u.s. help system towards africa as of late, with suggestions for the landmass' turn of events (meyer & martin, 2021). specifically, there has been a perceivable change in u.s. unfamiliar guide needs, set apart by decreased help spending plans and a fixation on vital and security concerns. this shift has prompted cuts in customary advancement help programs, influencing african countries that depend on u.s. help for medical services, instruction, and neediness decrease drives (bendavid et al., 2011; divon & derman, 2017). the repercussions of this shift are especially obvious in regions like clinical consideration, where programs fighting sicknesses like hiv/helps have confronted financing difficulties (unger & jones, 2008). key drives like pepfar sent off to battle the hiv/helps pandemic in africa, have confronted vulnerabilities because of changes in help needs. pepfar's effect on general well-being in african countries has been critical, and any decrease in financing presents difficulties in supporting advancement in fighting irresistible sicknesses. the thousand years challenge enterprise, which centers on monetary advancement through framework projects, has additionally confronted monetary requirements. this influences the capacity of african countries to attempt urgent framework projects that could add to long-haul monetary development (asante, 2015). this change in the u.s. help technique mirrors a more extensive pattern of reconsidering needs considering international contemplations. while vital and security concerns are fundamental, the decrease in customary advancement may affect african populaces' prosperity. taking everything into account, the customary job of the u.s. as a significant mushitsi & san, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 1-12 6 benefactor of unfamiliar guides to africa has seen a change lately, with a more articulated center around vital and security needs. this change has influenced critical improvement help programs, possibly hampering progress in regions like medical services, schooling, and framework and featuring african countries' difficulties in adjusting to advancing guide elements. china china's way of dealing with unfamiliar guides and commitments to africa essentially contrasts from that of the u.s. china puts areas of strength for framework improvement, asset extraction, and monetary joint effort as focal parts of its commitment system with african countries, as denoted by copper (2016). one unmistakable sign of this approach is the belt and street drive (bri), a huge endeavor diverting significant interests into different african foundation projects, like streets, rail routes, and ports (bräutigam, 2011). chinese unfamiliar guide to africa frequently appears as concessional advances and backing for framework projects. these ventures add to africa's turn of events, encourage monetary development, and further develop networks inside the landmass. nevertheless, the imbuement of huge scope chinese ventures has led to worries over the manageability of the obligation brought about by african nations, possibly prompting issues of obligation reliance (bräutigam, 2011). while china's interests in africa have undoubtedly added to the mainland's turn of events, questions have been raised about the drawn-out ramifications of the obligation gathered by african countries. the worry fixates on the potential for these nations to become excessively dependent on chinese support, raising issues of power and financial autonomy (fon & alon, 2022). as african countries get significant sums for foundation improvement, the ability to reimburse these credits turns into a basic thought. one key challenge related to china's methodology is the need for more straightforwardness in the conditions of these advances and the possible natural and social effects of the related tasks. the idea of chinese ventures, frequently seen as driven by monetary realism, has started conversations about the requirement for mindful loaning practices and farreaching appraisals of the drawn-out results of these undertakings (bräutigam, 2011). compared to the u.s., which customarily puts a more noteworthy accentuation on administration, a majority rules government, and social improvement in its unfamiliar guide, china's methodology aligns with its monetary advantages and asset needs. as china keeps extending its impression in africa, tending to worries about obligation manageability and encouraging more straightforward and capable loaning practices will be significant for guaranteeing the positive effect of chinese ventures on the landmass' drawnout advancement. influence on african countries  framework improvement: china's significant interest in african nations has prompted huge foundation updates, cultivating monetary turn of events and networks (leviker, 2021). the belt and street drive (bri) is a noticeable illustration of china's obligation to reshape africa's foundation scene, with interests in streets, rail lines, and ports. these tasks add to the landmass' development and work with territorial systems administration. nevertheless, close to these positive effects, concerns have arisen concerning the supportability of the obligation brought about by african countries. the enormous scope of advances related to these foundation projects brings up issues about the capacity of african nations to reimburse, possibly prompting issues of obligation reliance. besides, there are anxieties about the gamble of losing vital resources in case of reimbursement troubles, featuring the perplexing elements encompassing china's monetary commitment to africa.  philanthropic and advancement help: u.s. help has customarily assumed an urgent part in tending to well-being crises, the hiv/helps emergency, and supporting training and administration drives (bauer et al., 2009). nonetheless, late decreases in help spending plans have forced difficulties on african countries wrestling with well-being and financial emergencies. the president's crisis plan for helps help (pepfar), a huge u.s. drive, has been instrumental in battling hiv/helps in africa. in any case, financing cuts raise worries about the supportability of these basic well-being programs, possibly compromising the advancement accomplished. in addition, schooling and administration drives, fundamental for long-haul improvement, face requirements because of reduced help designations. these decreases highlight the effect of moving u.s. help needs on the capacity of african countries to address squeezing well-being and improvement challenges.  different financial associations: african countries have profited from expanded monetary choices, with china giving an option in contrast to western direction and venture. this broadening offers the possibility to upgrade financial adaptability, lessening reliance on a solitary wellspring of help. china's methodology, frequently portrayed by framework speculations and concessional credits, remains as opposed to the restrictive guide given by western countries. while this presents african countries with new roads for monetary turn of events, it likewise creates difficulties overseeing contending interests. while adding to development, the mixture of chinese capital raises worries about obligation maintainability and likely reliance on china's monetary largesse. adjusting the advantages of monetary broadening with the difficulties of overseeing complex monetary connections becomes a vital errand for african countries exploring the developing elements of worldwide financial organizations.  international contemplations: u.s. help and speculation frequently accompany political circumstances attached to administration and common freedoms, mirroring the country's accentuation on advancing popularity-based values. conversely, china sticks to a non-impedance strategy, forgoing forcing political circumstances on its guide. this principal contrast in approach remarkably affects the international strategy choices of african nations. while thinking about help and speculation choices, african countries face a decision between the contingent idea of u.s. help and the non-obstruction guideline of chinese commitment. while lining up with vote-based values, the u.s. mushitsi & san, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 1-12 7 approach might be viewed as meddling by a few african countries, possibly prompting pressures in two-sided relations. then again, china's non-impedance position might speak to nations esteeming sway and independence in navigation. this differentiation affects the international arrangements of african countries, molding their international strategy directions in light of the idea of help they get. the nuanced transaction between political circumstances and non-obstruction approaches turns into a critical figure in deciding the essential decisions of african nations in their worldwide relations. china's soft power in africa china's way of dealing with delicate power in africa has recently seen a critical flood, set apart by essential worldwide strategies and social drives that expect to cultivate generosity and a positive view of china across the mainland (lum et al., 2008). this delicate power methodology is supported by two key components: china's non-obstruction strategy and its shortfall of political conditionalities, close by vigorous endeavors to advance social trades and instructive drives. china's non-impedance strategy remains a conspicuous difference from customary western methodologies, especially that of the u.s. this approach needs to include regard for the sway of african countries, ceasing from contribution in their homegrown undertakings. the shortfall of political circumstances appended to help, and ventures have collected favor among african countries, giving an option in contrast to western help models (power & cristina, 2012). moreover, china's obligation to social trades and instructive drives is a foundation of its delicate power methodology in africa. drives, for example, the confucius organizations, laid out in a few african nations, assume an urgent part in advancing the chinese language and culture. by putting resources into social comprehension and instructive open doors, china tries to improve its picture as a generous accomplice inspired by common learning and collaboration (power & cristina, 2012). these delicate power endeavors align with china's more extensive international objectives in africa. by cultivating positive insights and social ties, china plans to reinforce discretionary relations, improve its impact, and establish a good climate for monetary and vital organizations. china's delicate power in africa is portrayed by its non-impedance strategy, absence of political conditionality, and vigorous social and instructive drives. this multi-layered approach mirrors china's expectation to fabricate positive associations with african countries because of common regard and collaboration. as china keeps on growing its presence on the landmass, the effect of its delicate power procedure on molding discernments and strategic relations in africa will probably stay an urgent part of its worldwide commitment. non-obstruction strategy and absence of political conditionality china's non-obstruction strategy remains as opposed to the conditionality’s frequently joined to western guide and venture. chinese pioneers have reliably underscored that they do not look to force their political or administration models on african countries.this approach aligns with numerous african nations' standards of power and self-assurance (rasoanomenjanahary, 2021). chinese authorities abstain from mediating in the homegrown issues of african countries regarding their entitlement to decide autonomously. this position is especially interesting to african pioneers who view unfamiliar obstruction as a test of their sway. moreover, china's way of dealing with unfamiliar guides and speculation is portrayed by adaptability and realism (harteveld, 2011). dissimilar to a few western benefactors, china does not force severe political or administrative conditions while giving help. this permits african countries to fit their associations with china to their particular advancement needs and conditions. social trades and instructive drives china has effectively advanced social trades and instructive drives as a feature of its delicate power methodology in africa. these endeavors have added to an upgraded picture of china as a country that values social variety and information trade.  confucius establishments: china's foundation of confucius establishments across different african countries fills in as an essential move to work with social trade and instructive cooperation. these organizations, by giving assets and skills to educating the chinese language and culture, assume an urgent part in cultivating a more profound comprehension of china. as center points for social trade, they add to building positive discernments and improving instructive open doors, lining up with china's more extensive delicate power procedure in africa.  grants and preparing projects: china's obligation to africa reaches out to training through grants for african understudies, working with advanced education valuable open doors in china. furthermore, china conducts different preparation programs to improve african experts' abilities and information across assorted fields, going from horticulture to innovation. these drives add to human resources improvement, encouraging cooperation and building skills among the african people group, displaying china's obligation to enable the up-and-coming age of pioneers on the landmass.  social strategy: china decisively puts together complete occasions in african nations, including customary music and dance exhibitions, craftsmanship shows, and film celebrations. through these social features, china means to feature its rich social legacy and set out open doors for social exchange. by carrying different parts of chinese culture to the front, these occasions add to cultivating common figuring out, appreciation, and joint effort among china and african countries. this social tact improves individual-to-individual associations and is critical in building a positive view of china in the african mainland.  media and correspondence: china has extended its media presence in africa through stations like the china global television network (cgtn) (mackinnon, 2008). this expansion empowers the scattering of chinese viewpoints mushitsi & san, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 1-12 8 on worldwide issues, cultivating media-coordinated efforts among china and african nations. by laying out a media impression, china tries to upgrade its impact by molding stories, advancing social trade, and developing conciliatory ties. this media commitment plays a significant part in introducing different perspectives, working with multifaceted comprehension, and adding to the developing elements of china-africa relations. these social and instructive drives advance enthusiasm for chinese culture and work with individual-to-individual associations, cultivating a feeling of generosity and understanding among african populaces. decline of u.s. influence the decay of u.s. impact in africa has been a subject of developing concern and examination. this decline can be credited to a few key elements, including the downsizing of political presence, unfamiliar guide cuts, and decreased monetary commitment under ongoing u.s. organizations. to comprehend this peculiarity, we will dig into these perspectives and give contextual analyses delineating the winding down u.s. impact in africa. downsizing of political presence the outstanding decrease in political presence inside the locale exemplifies the detectable decrease in u.s. impact in africa. a vital part of this shift has been the scaling down and conclusion of u.s. international safe havens and offices. remarkably, the conclusion of the u.s. consulate in eritrea in 2018 illustrates this pattern. referring to security concerns and stressed relations, the conclusion lessened the u.s. discretionary impression in the horn of africa, a district of vital significance because of its closeness to the red ocean and the worldwide elements encompassing it. additionally, the conclusion of the u.s. department in mogadishu, somalia, in 2015 and its ensuing migration to kenya highlighted a decreased direct commitment to one of the mainland's most struggle-ridden countries. while security concerns assumed a part in these choices, they likewise conveyed huge political outcomes, influencing the impression of u.s. obligation to the area. the conclusion of political missions is not simply representative; it has substantial repercussions on the conciliatory scene. it lessens the roads for direct commitment, correspondence, and comprehension of the intricate issues that numerous african countries face. the shortfall of an actual conciliatory presence can dissolve the trust and prevent the improvement of nuanced, set, explicit discretionary methodologies. these terminations mirror a more extensive pattern of recalibration in u.s. international strategy needs. the accentuation on security concerns is apparent, especially in struggle-inclined districts. notwithstanding, the gradually expanding influence of these choices reaches out past prompt security contemplations. it influences the u.s.'s capacity to shape accounts, impact local elements, and assemble long-haul political connections. as other worldwide players, strikingly china, grow their impact in africa through political, financial, and social channels, the lessening u.s. political presence turns into considering the changing international scene. the combination of strategic missions and the scaling back of political commitment convey a message about the recalibration of u.s. needs and the advancing idea of its relationship with african countries. effect of unfamiliar guide cuts unfamiliar guide has been a crucial part of u.s. commitment to africa, offering critical help for improvement, medical care, training, and magnanimous undertakings (tucker, 2022). nonetheless, late significant cuts in unfamiliar guides have presented critical difficulties to african nations, affecting their capacity to accomplish improvement objectives. remarkably, decreases in u.s. responsibilities to worldwide well-being drives, for example, the president's crisis plan for helps alleviation (pepfar) and the u.s. office for worldwide turn of events (usaid), have had expansive results (tucker, 2022). these cuts have especially influenced africa's ability to battle illnesses like hiv/helps, tuberculosis, and jungle fever, endangering progress in further developing medical services foundation and saving lives (tucker, 2022). the decrease in subsidizing for worldwide well-being drives raises worries about the supportability of endeavors to address general well-being challenges and accomplish long-term well-being results. additionally, the withdrawal of u.s. support for peacekeeping missions in africa has had huge consequences, as in the choice to stop financing the african association mission in somalia (amisom). this move has stressed endeavors to balance out somalia and counter the impact of extremist gatherings, sabotaging provincial security and solidness (norris, 2021). these unfamiliar guide cuts signal a change in u.s. needs and have more extensive ramifications for africa's advancement direction. the decrease in help for basic areas like well-being and peacekeeping raises issues about the u.s.'s obligation to tend to worldwide difficulties and encourage steadiness in districts powerless to struggle and sickness. it highlights the many-sided transaction between unfamiliar guides, worldwide well-being, and local security in molding the elements of u.s. africa relations. diminished monetary commitment monetary commitment is a basic part of u.s. impact in africa. mostly, the u.s. greatly influenced exchange, venture, and financial improvement on the mainland. nonetheless, ongoing years have seen a decrease in u.s. monetary commitment. one valid example is the african development and opportunity act (agoa), a u.s. exchange drive to advance monetary ties between the u.s. and qualified african nations. while agoa has been expanded, its true capacity has not been completely acknowledged because of restricted limit-building endeavors and an absence of proactive commitment from the u.s. furthermore, the shortfall of a far-reaching u.s.-africa exchange strategy has left a void that different countries, outstandingly china, have looked to fill. china's significant interests in foundation, assembling, and asset extraction have mushitsi & san, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 1-12 9 fortified its african monetary presence. contextual analyses  south sudan: the extended common struggle in south sudan delineates a lessening u.s. impact. notwithstanding assuming an urgent part in south sudan's journey for freedom, the u.s. has attempted to work with an enduring harmony amid heightening viciousness. local entertainers and other global players have expected an unmistakable job in intervention endeavors, featuring a shift where the impact of the u.s. has subsided. this powerlessness to facilitate getting through harmony highlights the perplexing difficulties of compromise in the area and the developing elements of worldwide association intending to emergencies.  vote-based republic of congo (drc): the democratic republic of congo (drc) flaunts huge regular assets and holds critical international significance. mostly, the u.s. has taken part in endeavors to balance out the locale, yet its impact has yet to disappear. local entertainers, including adjoining nations and china, have acquired conspicuousness in molding the drc's political and monetary scene. these arising impacts highlight a change in the international elements, where nearby and worldwide players, other than the u.s., assume essential parts in deciding the direction of the drc's turn of events and solidness.  ethiopia: amid ethiopia's political commotion and the continuous struggle in the tigray locale, the u.s. has adopted a nearly controlled strategy contrasted with other worldwide entertainers. all things being equal, the contribution of african association mediators and the unified countries has expected an unmistakable job in tending to the emergency. this nuanced system mirrors a wary position by the u.s., maybe considering local elements and the viability of cooperative global endeavors in settling ethiopia's mind-boggling difficulties. strategic importance of africa africa's essential significance lies in the convergence of bountiful assets, blossoming purchaser markets, and worldwide importance, making it a point of convergence for both the u.s. and china. the landmass' rich regular assets, including minerals, oil, and rural items, are crucial for worldwide monetary exercises. in addition, africa's developing purchaser markets present worthwhile open doors for venture and exchange. for the us, africa's importance is established in its monetary and international interests. admittance to africa's assets upholds the u.s. economy, while steady and prosperous african countries add to worldwide soundness. additionally, africa's essential area has suggestions for oceanic shipping lanes and counterterrorism endeavors, further underlining its significance in u.s. international strategy (lake et al., 2006). then again, china considers africa a critical part of its belt and street drive (bri), a gigantic framework project that aims to improve network and exchange. africa's assets are critical in filling china's financial development, and the landmass is a pivotal market for chinese products. china's commitment to africa is additionally determined by its craving to grow its effect on the worldwide stage (alden, 2017). this opposition to impact in africa has more extensive ramifications for the worldwide overall influence. the u.s. furthermore, china's commitment to the area mirrors their endeavors to get assets, extend financial ties, and apply international impact. africa's essential significance enhances this opposition's force, and the results will shape the direction of worldwide legislative issues and financial aspects. bountiful assets africa's tremendous abundance of regular assets, crossing minerals, oil, gas, and agrarian items, holds principal significance for worldwide financial strength and development. these assets are basic for supporting businesses around the world. regarding the u.s., admittance to african assets is vital for guaranteeing energy security and supporting its assembling areas. strikingly, african oil assumes a huge part in fulfilling the energy needs of the u.s. additionally, china intensely depends on african assets to control its financial extension and modern turn of events. tying down admittance to these assets remains a vital inspiration behind china's powerful commitment to the landmass. the accessibility of minerals and energy assets from africa is fundamental for china's assembling and foundation projects, supporting its job as a worldwide financial force to be reckoned with. the u.s. and china perceive the essential significance of africa's normal assets in keeping up with their financial imperativeness. the opposition to admittance to these assets is a characterizing element of their commitment to the landmass. this unique shapes the financial scene of africa and impacts the worldwide overall influence as these two key parts explore their inclinations and conditions in the district. developing buyer markets africa's segment profile, described by a young, quickly growing, and progressively urbanized populace, has situated the landmass as a promising business sector for shopper labor and products. this segment profit has yet to slip through the cracks by major worldwide players, with both the u.s. and china perceiving africa's true capacity as a critical driver of future monetary development. china has been proactive in drawing in with africa to saddle its segment potential. the chinese government's significant interests in africa have included aggressive foundation projects like ports, streets, and media transmission organizations. these infrastructural improvements fill a double need: they work with exchange and network and position china to take advantage of the developing african market. one key drive outlining china's essential methodology is the belt and street drive (bri), sent off in 2013. the bri is a thorough foundation project to upgrade worldwide networks and exchanges. this drive has become a huge interest in ports and african transportation organizations. the objective is clear to further develop availability, smooth out shipping lanes, and cultivate monetary development for china and african countries (huang, 2016). china's advantage in africa mushitsi & san, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 1-12 10 stretches out past simple monetary contemplations. the segment scene of africa, described by an enormous youth populace, aligns with china's financial and modern objectives. the nation sees africa as a business opportunity for its items and a wellspring of work, development, and monetary essentialness. by putting resources into the foundation, china is laying the preparation for supported monetary commitment and collaboration. the u.s. also perceives africa's importance as a blossoming market. with its segment difficulties, including a maturing populace, the u.s. quickly takes advantage of the energetic and dynamic african shopper base. even with china's foundation-centered approach, the u.s. commitment to africa has generally underscored economic accords, monetary organizations, and advancement help. the african development and opportunity act (agoa), started in 2000, demonstrates u.s. endeavors to cultivate financial binds with african countries. agoa furnishes qualified african nations with obligation-free admittance to the u.s. market, boosting exchange and financial participation. while the u.s. does not match china's degree of infrastructural speculations, its accentuation on economic alliance and financial organizations highlights an alternate way to deal with drawing in with the african market. africa's urbanization further intensifies its allure as a business opportunity for customer products. as additional africans move to metropolitan focuses, there is a rising interest in a wide exhibit of items and administrations, going from innovation to quick purchaser products. both the u.s. and china, perceiving this shift, are adjusting their methodologies to care for the developing requirements of metropolitan shoppers. africa's segment elements, set apart by a young populace and urbanization patterns, position the mainland as a vital market for both the u.s. and china. while china's framework emphasis aligns with its worldwide methodology, the u.s. underlines economic alliances and financial organizations. the opposition to impact in this powerful market mirrors the more extensive worldwide challenge for monetary predominance. africa is an important landmark for molding the future direction of these central parts. international importance africa's international significance is highlighted by its area, which joins europe, asia, and the americas. command over key sea courses and admittance to the red ocean and the suez channel are critical for worldwide exchange and military methodology. moreover, africa's part in local security and compromise cannot be undervalued (tieku, 2013). the landmass has a few peacekeeping missions and has vital importance in the battle against psychological oppression and robbery. conclusions lately, africa has arisen as a basic performance center in the developing worldwide epic showdown between the u.s. and china. this opposition has seen an eminent change in impact elements, with china's rising and the comparing decline of american strength in the locale. as we sum up the primary discoveries of this moving power dynamic, it becomes obvious that china's rising impact is reshaping africa's international scene, conveying huge ramifications for the mainland and the worldwide overall influence. china's growing presence in africa is portrayed by complex commitment, including vigorous exchange connections, significant interests in framework, and vital tact. these undertakings have resulted in china turning into africa's biggest exchange accomplice, outperforming the u.s. china's belt and street drive (bri) had an essential impact in reshaping africa's foundation scene, interfacing countries and advancing financial development. its "no hidden obligations" way of dealing with unfamiliar guides and speculations has won favor among african countries looking for financial advancement without political impedance. conversely, the u.s. has seen a downsizing of strategic presence in africa, the effect of unfamiliar guide cuts on medical care and improvement drives, and a decreased accentuation on financial commitment. while the u.s. has generally assumed a huge part in africa, these new improvements signal a reduced american impact. the decay is especially apparent in regions like peacekeeping endeavors, where u.s. subsidizing cuts have stressed missions and blocked endeavors to address provincial struggles. the moving power dynamic in africa conveys significant ramifications for the landmass and the worldwide overall influence in the 21st 100 years: china's speculations and framework projects can drive monetary change in africa, encouraging network, exchange, and occupation creation. notwithstanding, worries over obligation supportability and possible reliance on china's financial largesse warrant careful thought. africa's essential significance is progressively perceived, with china and the u.s. both competing for impact in the locale. this realignment can prompt complex international elements and influence territorial security and solidness. africa's assets, particularly minerals and energy, are pivotal in worldwide stock chains. as china ties down admittance to these assets, it acquires more prominent influence in worldwide business sectors, possibly influencing enterprises worldwide. african countries are given open doors and difficulties as they explore relations with china and the u.s. adjusting monetary development, sway, and territorial solidness is a fragile errand. to address china's developing presence in africa and possibly fix relations with african countries, the u.s. should consider a few key methodologies: the u.s. should expand its discretionary presence in africa, reaffirming its obligation to association and collaboration. this incorporates keeping up with and fortifying existing collisions while producing new ones because of common interests. foster a complete u.s. africa exchange strategy that cultivates monetary commitment, speculation, and improvement. supporting drives like the african development and opportunity act (agoa) can improve monetary ties and advance manageable development. focus on improvement help and unfamiliar guide to address squeezing medical services, instruction, and foundation needs. restore financing for basic worldwide wellbeing drives like pepfar to battle infections and upgrade general wellbeing frameworks. work together with african countries on territorial security and peacekeeping endeavors, supporting the significance of aggregate security and steadiness. put resources into social trades, instructive drives, and individual-to-individual associations to support american delicate power in africa. advancing social getting it and instructive open doors can upgrade the impression of the u.s. in mushitsi & san, american international journal of humanities, arts and social sciences 6(1) (2024), 1-12 11 the area. perceive the organization of african countries in forming their fates. avoid forcing political conditionalities and regard their power while teaming up on shared objectives. author contributions: conceptualization, p.m. and n.m.s.; methodology, p.m.; software, not applicable; validation, not applicable; formal analysis, p.m. and n.m.s.; investigation, p.m. and n.m.s.; resources, p.m. and n.m.s.; data curation, not applicable; writing – original draft preparation, p.m. and n.m.s.; writing – review & editing, p.m. and n.m.s.; visualization, not applicable.; supervision, p.m.; funding, p.m. and n.m.s. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study due to the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgement: not applicable. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references ajakaiye, o. 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