EFFECT OF SELECTED INSECTICIDE ON …centreofexcellence.net/J/JSS/Vol4/No3/JSSarticle2,4(3)pp... ·...

Journal of Social Sciences (COES&RJ-JSS)ISSN (E): 2305-9249 ISSN (P): 2305-9494 Publisher: Centre of Excellence for Scientific & Research Journalism, COES&RJ LLCOnline Publication Date: 1st July AprilJulyJuly 2013 20145 Online Issue: Volume 234, Number 3233, July AprilJulJuly 2015 20132014http://www.centreofexcellence.net/J/JSS/JSS Mainpage.htmhttp://centreofexcellence.net/J/JSS/Vol2/No2/JSSJuly2013.htm

Application of Remote Sensing Technologies to detect the vegetation changes during past two decades in Islamabad, Pakistan

Nusrat Shaheena , Dr. Muhammad Anwar Baiga , Muhammad Ahsan Mahbooba , Saeed Akbarb, Dr. Muhammad Fahim Khokara

a National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), H-12, Islamabad, Pakistan 44000 b WWF-Pakistan, G5-2, Islamabad, Pakistan 44000

Abstract: Islamabad was built in 1960 as a capital of Pakistan. It is a city famous for its beauty, greenery, and beautiful trees. The total area of Islamabad is 906 km2 . With increasing population, a lot of development projects have been initiated within the city, which had a huge impact on the vegetation. Awareness of urban vegetation, environmental quality and knowledge is really important for conservation of natural resource, management and improvement of ecosystem of urban resources. The impact of these development activities on vegetation was assessed for the last twenty years within Islamabad using remote sensing techniques. For this purpose, satellite images of Landsat were acquired for 1992, 2000, and 2013. Supervised classification and NDVI analysis were done to calculate the area under vegetation and other classes of all the images. Analysis of these satellite images revealed that vegetation was very dense in the past, but with the passage of time the vegetation loss became significantly prominent. Sector wise analysis was done to find out the most vulnerable area with respect to vegetation loss. The included H-10, G-13, G-5, and D-13. Although, some initiatives are being introduced to control vegetation area, but they do not match the pace of vegetation loss. Necessary measures need to be taken to maintain and improve vegetation to the desired level.

Keywords: Remote sensing, Normalized Difference Vegetation index (NDVI), Islamabad, Satellite images, Development activities

Citation: Shaheen, Nusrat; Baig, Dr. Muhammad Anwar; Mahboob, Muhammad Ahsan; Akbar, Saeed; Khokar, Dr. Muhammad Fahim; Application of Remote Sensing Technologies to detect the vegetation changes during past two decades in Islamabad, Pakistan ; (July, 2015); Journal of Social Sciences (COES&RJ-JSS), Vol. 4, No. 3, pp:886-885.

1 Introduction1.1 BackgroundAs a component of the environment and climate, vegetation plays an important role in terrestrial biosphere 1 and terrestrial biosphere is affected greatly by global warming2 . For assessing the agricultural and natural land production, the status of vegetation is mainly used3,4,5 . The browning or declining of vegetation is an indication of degradation of land6,7 . Vegetative productivity is always correlated with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)8 and for browning or greening the NDVI trends are used as a representative9,10. The vegetative productivity is affected by different factors like management system and climate change so it is really complicated to determine the exact cause and effects11,12 .

http://www.centreofexcellence.net/J/JSS/JSS

Journal of Social Sciences (COES&RJ-JSS), 34(233), pp. 27381886-900-276398Journal of Social Sciences (COES&RJ-JSS), 2(3), pp. 114-139

1.2 Urban Vegetation and its condition in PakistanFor the conservation of natural resources, and quality of urban environment the understanding and deep knowledge vegetation and environmental quality of urban environment is crucial13 . The relationship between environment and

v egetation environment shows various underlying factors resulting in different patterns of vegetation patterns of urban ecosystems 14 , 15 . The pool of species and environmental factors greatly affects the richness of the vegetation species in an urban ecosystem16 although because of limited knowledge of natural vegetation benefits these factors are always ignored

by the city planners and policy makers and planners. Due to rapid industrialization, population growth, and urbanization, Pakistan is also facing environmental degradation like most of the developing countries,. On the correlation of land use types and urban vegetation types not much research has been done in Pakistan. Unfortunately, among decision makers and the general public, there is very low concern about this issue in the general public and policy makers. With increasing projects the and clearing of land for these projects, the structure of Islamabad has been largely changed in past years. 1. 3 Importance of Vegetation Analysis of Islamabad

The original Master Plan of Islamabad, was never enforced, which covers the urban areas of Rawalpindi. The root cause behind this weak enforcement is the lack of institutional development. In 1960, CDA was established under Federal Government to guide implementation and planning of the capital. But CDA authority was limited to the urban area. Absence of proper planning, imbalance resource allocation and the administrative fragmentation of Rawalpindi and Islamabad are the major obstacles to implement the original Master Plan of Islamabad17 .2. Materials and Methods

2.1 The Study Area: Islamabad As shown in Figure 1, the study area selected for this research is Islamabad, which is located at 33.43°N

73.04°E with an elevation of 1,770 ft. Islamabad and Rawalpindi are located as twin cities as there is no precise boundary between them. The total area of the city of Islamabad is approximately 906 km2 .

225

http://tools.wmflabs.org/geohack/geohack.php?pagename=Islamabad&params=33.43_N_73.04_E_

http://tools.wmflabs.org/geohack/geohack.php?pagename=Islamabad&params=33.43_N_73.04_E_

Global Cultural Process Application of Remote Sensing Technologies ...........How to have a long-lasting multicultural marriage?….L2 Learners’ Performance ….

Figure 1 Map of Study Area

2.2 Datasets Used Three Landsat images having resolution 30 m and three bands red, green and near infrared were taken from

WWF-Pakistan. The images were of different dates 1992, 2000, and 2013 with the vector layers of the whole Islamabad having 30 by 30 resoultion.2.3 Softwares Used

Following are the softwares used in this research1. Erdas Imagine2. ArcGIS

2.4 MethodologyThe estimation of vegetation cover has been done by two different methods. As shown in Figure 2, the

whole methodology is composed of 06 stages: 1. Mosaicing.2. Clipping images with vector layer.3. Visual analysis of vegetation cover.4. Estimation of NDVI.5. Supervised classification.6. Analysis of the results.

By using ERDAS IMAGINE 9.1 and ArcGIS 9.2, input data were processed and analyzed. Mosaicing was done on all the images and the vector layer of the Islamabad was used to clip and subset the image. Pre-processing along with geo-rectification was also done on all images to reduce or remove the errors in the satellite images. A typical Landsat scene covers a large area. At times, it makes sense to cut out a subset of this larger image to simplify your analysis and focus on the portion of the scene that is of primary interest. Enhancement techniques were applied to increase the brightness values to increas the visually contrast.

Figure 2 Methodology Flow Chart

226


2.5 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) AnalysisRemote Senisg (RS) and Geographical Information System are proven to be a very useful tool because RS gives

spatial as well as spectral data from satellites without physical contact with the object. The satellite imagery is the most reliable data

in several contexts of the earth's surface like land use, biodiversity and topography, etc. GIS is the most recent technology for geographers which acts

as a computer based system for displaying, checking, storing, collecting, retrieving, integrating, manipulating and analyzing. It provides the

users different components like software, computer system, spatial data and analysis procedures. The emerging technique from RS and GIS is NDVI known as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, which is used to check the spatio-temporal change in the vegetation cover for small regions on the surface of the earth 18 , and condition19 ,2 0 . Apart from checking the change in vegetation it can also quantify the photosynthetic capacity of the forest. The value of NDVI remains from -1 and +1. NDVI less than zero represent non-vegetation areas and 0-1 value always means wide variation in vegetation.

227


2.6 Supervised ClassificationIn the identification of desired features the indices are known as important tools by combining of two or more than two spectral bands. For the comparison of vegetation/greenery from different images NDVI can be used a standard method as it is the indicator of greeness and biomass 21 . To get best results from supervised classification the maximum likelihood classifier (MLC) should be used22 . For the calculation of non vegetative and vegetative cover the supervised classification has been proven best. Prior knowledge of the land cover of the area under study is really important for doing supervised classification, making it more instinctive procedure mapping the land-cover changes. The calibration pixels in supervised classification are selected and the associated statistics are generated for all the classes.By applying MLC the training samples for the supervised classification were utilized to classify the satellite image. Around six training sites for each class were taken and then using a maximum likelihood algorithm the supervised classification was done. Then the image was classified into different classes on the basis of spectral response. After that classes were being merged according to the type of class. 3 Results and Discussion3.1 Overall Condition of Vegetation and Settlement

NDVI Analysis and supervised Classification were done on all images and the images were then compared with google imagery to validate the results. During pre-processing and geo-rectification errors were eliminated or reduced to get the most accurate results. Different sectors were selected to further study the change in vegetation within the different areas of Islamabad where the vegetation loss was evident. The selected sectors were: H-10, G-13, G-5 and D13. In all the maps of 1992, 2000 and 2013 the RS data was used to generate maps of vegetation cover generated by supervised classification3.1.1 NDVI Analysis

NDVI was calculated to analyze the change of green area in Islamabad by making two classes i:e vegetation and non-vegetation area. As shown in Table 1, the values of NDVI shows that almost 21% vegetation area has been removed as the vegetation cover in 1992 is 56 percent of the total area and in 2013 it is 35 percent of the total area of Islamabad. NDVI is a very helpful method for classification of vegetation cover. Literature review of NDVI confirmed that overall accuracy of NDVI is aroun 98%.

Table 1 Results of NDVI AnalysisYear No of

PixelsArea of one

PixelTotal Area under under Vegetation

Total Area of Islamabad

(km2)

Percentage

1992572834

0.0009 515.5 906 56

2000493117

0.0009 443.8 906 48

2013356979

0.0009321.2

906 35

3.1.2 Results of Supervised Classification The RS data was used to create maps of non vegetation and vegetation cover by two methods, i.e.,

supervised classification and NDVI. The study of vegetation generated from the Landsat demonstrates a clear area of vegetation in Islamabad. The spatial analysis of the vegetation covers clearly indicate that the biomass become poor with the passage of time.

In Table 2 the loss of vegetation and settlement increase is given. Vegetated area which is estimated at September 1992 was 529.12 km2 , 58% of the total area of Islamabad. While in 2000 it was 455.43 km2 around 50% of the total area and in 2013 the area under vegetation has been rapidly decreased to 308.67 km2 , which means it is 34% of the total area of Islamabad. From 1992-2000 settlement was increased from 15% to 18% and in 2013 it has reached to 23%. The rate of vegetation loss from 1992 to 2013 was 10.02 km2 per year that is 1.09 % of the total area of Islamabad per annum. From 1992 to 2013 total of 226.21 km2 of vegetation has been removed up till now.

Table 2 Change in Vegetation and Settlements during 1992-2013

228


Area (km2 ) 1992-2000 Area (km2 ) 2000-20013Vegetation loss -73.69 -146.76 Settlement increase +24.13 +41.84

3.2 Land Cover ClassificationLand cover classification of Landsat images was performed using MLC of supervised classification to

categorize vegetation cover. The results showed the area covered by non vegetation and vegetation cover. The land use categories of interest in my research are Vegetation, Settlement, Water, and other lands.In the Figure 3 the map of 1992 is clearly showing a larger area under vegetation because in 1992 as Islamabad was constructed as a forward capital in 1960 and it was not highly developed during 1992 which is the main reason behind more greenery during this time period.In the Figure 4 the supervised classified map of year 2000 is

showing removal of vegetation which is mainly due to the constructions of new buildings and sectors in Islamabad ultimately increasing the built up area at the cost of greenery. The area, where Convention Centre, Serena Hotel and the under-construction Grand Hyatt Hotel stand today, was designated as green belt in the original master plan. The changes were made in 1995 to allow construction on the green area.

While Figure 5 shows a huge loss of vegetation because until now many mega projects have been initiated. The metro bus project, a new parade avenue and the

Centaurs Mall all made it to the city’s landscape only after making changes to the original master plan. Similarly, a new road for running parallel to the Islamabad Highway starting from Faizabad Interchange to the Lok Virsa signal was approved after making another change to the original master plan, while several trees had to cut to level the land for the parade avenue.

Figure 3 Map showing the vegetation of Year 1992

229


Figure 4 Map Showing the vegetation of Year 2000

3.3 Vegetation CoverOne cannot estimate and monitor the change in area under vegetation effectively for past years without

applying the remote sensing technologies. The change in vegetation covered area facilitates us to unearth the impacts of decreasing and increasing trends on the environment. Assessment done in this research gives us a reliable warning of the changes in the vegetation cover and shows a declining trend of vegetation during the time period of 1992 to 2013 in Islamabad as shown in Figure 6. Vegetated area estimated for 1992, 2002, and 2013 shows that total vegetation is 58, 50, and 34 % of the total area. The overall rate of vegetation loss from 1992 to 2013 was 10.02 km 2

per year that is 1.09 % of the total area of Islamabad per annum, while the other land cover classes are increasing with respect to time as shown in Table 3.

230

Figure 5 Map showing Vegetation of Year 2013


Figure 6 Change in Vegetation Cover over the Past Years

Table 3 Trend of different classes from Supervised Classification3.4 Sector Wise Analysis

Different sectors were selected to further study the change in vegetation within the different areas of Islamabad where the vegetation loss was evident. The selected sectors were:, H-10, G-13, G-5 and D-13. Residential sectors (G-13 and D-13) were found to be at high risk as compared to the educational sector and diplomatic enclave . 3.4.1 Sector G-13

Sector G-13 is a newly developed sector so in the Figure 7 the supervised classified image we can is clearly showing a huge vegetation loss from 1.96 km2 in 1992 to 0.05 km2 in 2013. This is due to new development activities being done in this sector affecting the natural vegetation at an alarming rate.3.4.2 Sector H-10

The H-10 sector has The International Islamic University and the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (FAST-NUCES). In Figure 8 The supervised classified image of 1992 shows that there was enough vegetation in 1992 around 1.62 km2 , but then in 2000 the vegetation has been decreased to 0.57 km2 . In the year 2013 again vegetation has been increased from 0.57 km2 to 1.40 km2. The vegetation increase is due to the fact that this sector contains the institutions and re vegetation has been done by the management of International Islamic Univeristy and FAST-NUCES.3.4.3 Sector G-5

Vegetation loss in the Secteriate area of G-5 is not high as vegetation in 1992 is 1.40 km 2 and 1.24 km2 in 2013 as seen in Figure 9 and Figure 10. While in diplomatic enclave the vegetation loss is very high. This is due to the fact that in the area of Pakistan secretariat there are so many government institutions operating so they have maintained the ration of vegetation within that area while in diplomatic enclave the high vegetation loss is because later all the embassies were shifted out of the red zone and they are located now in diplomatic enclave that’s why the vegetation is continuously decreasing in this area as many new embassies were also built and while doing all this lot of green vegetation was removed .3.4.4 Sector D-13

In the Supervised classified image of D-13 the vegetation has been decreased from 0.99 km2 in 1992 to 0.06 km2 in 2013 as shown in Figure 11. Previously, there was no development in D-13 but it has been developed as a new sector so the image clearly shows the decrease in vegetation while the rapid increase in the settlement area. The image of 2013 shows a high area under other lands which shows that more settlements are under construction that’s why the area under other lands (barren soil) is very high in 2013.

231

ClassesArea in Km2

1992 2000 2013

Vegetation 529.13 455.50 302.91

Settlements 143.92 168.06 209.90

Water Bodies 17.35 19.94 13.53

Other lands 213.40 260.26 377.03


Figure 7 Map Showing Vegetation Change in G-13

Figure 8 Map Showing vegetation Change in H-10

Figure 9 Map Showing Vegetation Change in G-5 Pak-Secretariat

232


Figure 10 Map showing Vegetation Change in G-5 Diplomatic Enclave

233


Figure 11 Map showing Vegetation Change in Sector D-13

4 Conclusions and Recommendations4.1 Conclusions This study confirms reports of vegetation degradation within Islamabad. The results of the study are very important for the governmental organizations, non governmental organizations and the general public to respond faster and address the problem. The problem here is not only to do with the Islamabad vegetation alone, but also all other cities of the country. Otherwise, the lives of present and future generations are at stake. Based upon the results and analysis of the data the following conclusions were drawn from the present study.

• From 1992-2000 total area of 73.63 km2 of vegetation was removed in Islamabad with an annual rate of vegetation removal increasing from 0.9% to 1.3% in 1992 to 2013.

• From 2000 to 2013 total area of 152.59 km2 of vegetation was lost in Islamabad with an increase in the annual rate of settlement from 2.7% to 3.22% during 1992-2013)

• Residential sectors are losing vegetation at a very alarming rate as compared to the other sectors. • The flora of Islamabad is under a constant threat..

4.2 RecommendationsThe development and management of cities need greater consideration. The first thing is for the governments to identify the seriousness of the urban issues. The second step is to get right context to create a suitable policy of development which means economic growth requiring a favorable climate for the public and private investment. After that, it is essential to structure the improvement program which requires thorough examination of all the development activities in urban areas. There is also a need to adopt a program for the control of population growth and urban expansion at a rapid rate. Based upon this research work, the following recommendations can be made for future work.

1 It is necessary to engage the local community in planning stage for sustainable urban development. 2 Strong awareness movement is needed to aware people of Islamabad regarding naturally existing resources and

engages them in managing the resources3 This study can be successfully used for monitoring the growth of cities/removal of vegetation and it can be applied

for other cities of Pakistan4 For further research high resolution data can be used like 20m or 10m.5 Remote sensing data should be used as input for analysis and decision supporting system.6 This type research can be used as a support for the Sustainable development.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWords cannot express how grateful I am to my Parents and Siblings specially Asif Kahn and Shakeela Naz for all of the sacrifices that they have made on my behalf. I am really thankful to Zohaib Amjad, who always encouraged me to go on every adventure, especially this one.

234


I am highly thankful to IGIS-NUST and WWF-Pakistan for providing me the data and facilitating me in using different remote sensing softwares. Many thanks to Farhat Jabeen and Javeria Abbas, for their constant support.References:

1. Foley, J. A., Levis, S., Costa, M. H., Cramer, W., & Pollard, D. “Incorporating dynamic vegetation cover within global climate models,” Ecological Applications, 10, 1620−1632. (2000).

2. IPCC. Synthesis Report. “4th Assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change” (pp. 52) ( 2007).

3. Cai , X. L., & Sharma, B. R. “Integrating remote sensing, census and weather data for an assessment of rice yield, water consumption and water productivity in the Indo-Gangetic river basin” (2010).

4. Sims, D. A., Rahman, A. F., Cordova, V. D., El-Masri, B. Z., Baldocchi, D. D., Bolstad, P. V., et al. “A new model of gross primary productivity for North American ecosystems based solely on the enhanced vegetation index and land surface temperature from MODIS,” Remote Sensing of Environmen, 112, 1633−1646 (2008).

5. Yu, D., Shi, P., Shao, H., Zhu, W., & Pan, Y. . “Modelling net primary productivity of terrestrial ecosystems in East Asia based on an improved CASA ecosystem model,” International Journal of Remote Sensing, 30, 4851−4866 (2009).

6. Metternicht, G., Zinck, J. A., Blanco, P. D., & Del Valle, H. F.. “Remote sensing of land degradation: Experiences from Latin America and the Caribbean,” Journal of Environmental Quality, 39, 42−61 (2010).

7. Zika, M., & Erb, K. H. “The global loss of net primary production resulting from human-induced soil degradation in drylands,” Ecological Economics, 69, 310−318.(2009)

8. Prince, S. D., & Tucker, C. J. “Satellite remote sensing of rangelands in Botswana II.NOAA AVHRR and herbaceous vegetation,” International Journal of Remote Sensing, 7, 1555-1570 (1986).

9. Alcaraz-Segura, D., Chuvieco, E., Epstein, H. E., Kasischke, E. S., & Trishchenko, A. “Debating the greening vs. browning of the North American boreal forest: Differences between satellite datasets,” Global Change Biology, 16, 760−770 (2009).

10. Bai, Z. G., Dent, D. L., Olsson, L., & Schaepman, M. E. “Proxy global assessment of land degradation. Soil Use and Management,” 24, 223−234 (2008).

11. Lupo, F., Reginster, I., & Lambin, E. F. “Monitoring land-cover changes inWest Africa with SPOT Vegetation: Impact of natural disasters in 1998–1999”. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 22, 2633−2639 (2001).

12. Wessels, K. J., Prince, S. D., Malherbe, J., Small, J., Frost, P. E., & VanZyl, D. “Can human-induced land degradation be distinguished from the effects of rainfall variability? A case study in South Africa,” Journal of Arid Environments, 68, 271−297 (2007).

13. P. Pysek, K. Prach, M. Remanek and M. Wade “On the terminology used in plant invasion studies,” In: Plant invasions: General Aspects and Special Problems. (Eds.). SPB Academic. pp. 71-81 (1995).

14. Zeleny, D. “Patterns of vegetation diversity in deep river valleys of the Bohemian Massif,” Ph.D Thesis. Faculty of Science. University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic. pp. 126 (2008).

15. Pausas, J.G. and M.P. Austin. “Patterns of plant species richness in relation to different environments,” J. Veg. Sci., 12: 153-166. (2001).

16. Leps, J. “What do the biodiversity experiments tell us about consequences of plant speciesloss in the real world?,” Basic. App. Ecol., 5: 529-534 (2004).

17. Tayler, G. “Some ecophysiological and historical approaches to species richness andcalcicole/ calcifuge behavior – contribution to a debate,” Folia Geobotanica, 38: 419-428 (2003).

18. Sanders, N.J. “Elevational gradients in ant species richness: area, geometry and Rapoport’srule,” Ecography, 25: 25-32 (2002).

19. Hermy, M. and J. Cornelis. Towards a monitoring method and a number of multifaceted and hierarchical biodiversity indicators for urban and suburban parks. Landscape.Urb. Plan., 49:149-162 (2000).

20. Rhoades, J.D. and R.J. Stipes. “Growth of trees on the Virginia Tech campus in response to various factors,” J. Arboriculture, 25: 211-215 (1999).

21. Dyer, S.M. and D.L. Mader. “Declined urban sugar maples: growth patterns, nutritional status and site factors,” J. Arboriculture, 12: 6-13.(1986).

22. Close, R.E., P.V. Nguyen and J.J. Kielbaso. “Urban vs. natural sugar maple growth: stress symptoms and phenology in relation to site characteristics,” J. Arboriculture., 22: 144-150.(1996).

23. Fostad, O. and P.A. Peterson. Vitality, variation and causes of decline of trees in Oslo center (Norway). J. Arboriculture, 23: 155-165.(1997).

24. Alvey, A.A. Promoting and preserving biodiversity in the urban forest. Urb. Forest. Green.,5: 195-201.(2006).

235


25. Qadir, A., R.N. Malik and S.Z. Husain. “Spatio-temporal variations in water quality of Nullah Aik-tributary of the river Chenab, Pakistan,” Environ. Monit. Assess., 140: 43-59.(2008)

26. Luther, J. E., R. A.Fournier, D. E. Piercey, L. Guindon, and R. J. Hall. “Biomass mapping using forest type and structure derived from Landsat TM imagery,” International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation. 8, 173-187.(2006)

27. Rossini, M., C. Panigada, M. Meroni and R. Colombo. “Assessment of oak forest condition based on leaf biochemical variables and chlorophyll fluroscence,” Tree Physiology. 26, 1487-1496(2006)

28. Wulder, M. A., J. C. White, B. Bentz, M. F. Alvarez, and N. C. Coops. “Estimating the probability of mountain pine beetle red attack damage,” Remote Sensing of Environment. 101, 150-166.(2006)

29. Schowengerdt, R.A., “Remote Sensing: Models and Methods for Image Processing,” Second ed, Academic Press, San Diego, 522 pp.(1997)

30. Boone, R. B., and K. A. Galvin. “Generalizing ElNino effects upon Maasai livestock using hierarchical clusters of vegetation patterns,” Photogrammetric Eng. Remote Sensing, 66(6): 737–744 (2000).

31. IDNP. “A methodology for identification of waterlogging and soil salinity conditions using remote sensing”. CSSRI, Karnal and Alterra-ILRI, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 78 (2002).

Nusrat Shaheen is working as a Senior Conservation Officer at WWF-Pakistan Islamabad. She has a working experience of around 3 years in the field of Environmental Science. She received her BS Hons Degree in Environmental Science from Punjab University Lahore and MS degrees in Environmental Science from the National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad in 2012 and 2015, respectively.

Caption List

Fig. 1 Map of the Study AreaFig. 2 Methodology Used in this Research to asses Vegetation Cover.Fig. 3 Map showing the vegetation of Year 1992.Fig. 4 Map showing the vegetation of Year 2000.Fig. 5 Map showing the vegetation of Year 2013.Fig. 6 Change in Vegetation Cover over the Past Years.Fig. 7 Map showing Vegetation Cover change in H-10.Fig. 8 Map showing Vegetation Cover change in G-13.Fig. 9 Map showing Vegetation Cover change in G-5 (Pakistan Secteriate).Fig. 10 Map showing Vegetation Cover change in G-5 (Diplomatic Enclave).Fig. 11 Map showing Vegetation Cover change in D-13.Table 1 NDVI AnalysisTable 2 Total Change in Land Cover AreaTable 3 Area under Classes of Land Cover during 1992-20

-------------------------- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx --------------------------

236


Exploring private universities service quality in Kenya: A structural equation modeling technique

Eric E. Mang’unyiSchool of Management, IT and Governance,

University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South AfricaCorresponding email: [email protected]

Abstract:The Kenyan private higher education sub-sector is considered one of the fastest rising and as such, pivotal within the economy. Whereas achieving higher service quality is challenging among private universities, it is not easy to come up with extraordinary service delivery deliverables which will fully entice customers. Therefore, a university has to discern their customers well, and in turn, provide superior services in order to achieve significant customer satisfaction. The aim of the present research was to empirically investigate specific dimensions of service quality (SQ) that influence customer satisfaction with, service delivery in private universities and the consequent contribution towards internal customers’ satisfaction in a Kenyan context. One aspect emphasized is taking cognizant dimensions tested in intricate situations as well as the reality in a developing country which in itself is self-contradictory. The study employed an adapted HEdPERF survey type with higher education service quality attributes namely; non-academic, academic, reputation, access, programme issues and understanding aspects, and structural equation modelling (SEM). The fit of the HEdPERF model to the data gained through stratified random sampling from ‘internal customers’ – students and employees was checked using SEM. Results claimed that in respect to private higher education, not all HEdPERF SQ variables are significant to internal customers. Two dimensions of SQ were identified and have the greatest predictive power on internal customers’ satisfaction ratings with regard to the quality of service, and these were presented in model(s) to indicate their inter-relatedness in terms of service quality and customer satisfaction. This research presents significant insights towards better understanding of internal customers’ attitudes. Private universities will be able to design and improve their internal services and/or internal

237

mailto:[email protected]


marketing strategies as per their consumers’ preferences in a different cultural context. Finally, the use of SEM in exploring the HEdPERF model is also a valuable contribution.

Keywords: Service quality, private university, satisfaction, HEdPERF, Kenya. JEL: M00Citation: Mang’unyi , Eric E.; Exploring private universities service quality in Kenya: A structural equation modeling technique; (Jan., 2015); Journal of Social Sciences (COES&RJ-JSS), Vol.4, No.1, pp: 578-596.

IntroductionService quality and customer satisfaction are fundamental marketing constructs that have grown in prominence among service producing organizations in the business arena. For over three decades, the quality of service has been adopted as a superior operational goal all over the world. However, even with ever growing research in the higher education industry (Alaba & Olanrewaju, 2012; Calvo-Porall, Levy-Mangin & Novo-Corti 2013; Govender & Ramroop 2012; Khodayari & Khodayari 2011; Ong and Nankervis, 2012), the quality of service (SQ) and customer satisfaction (CS) have remained a great concern to many institutions in the service sector. Among private universities it is a subject that cannot be undervalued in management studies and the strategic planning processes. According to Zeithaml, Bitner & Glembler (2009), SQ and CS are inherent attributes that if rightly implemented will create positive customer experiences which would translate to good organizational performance, cost reduction, increased market shares and surpluses. Furthermore, for staying ahead of competition, researchers indicated that customer satisfaction and service quality is the significant predictors (Perez, Juan, Gema & Raquel 2007; Shahin & Samea 2010). The aforementioned attributes, no doubt, become the focus for any company regardless of the sector (public or private) in contemporary customer-oriented market and, service quality remains an important subject for consideration among leaders, managers and researchers (Zahari, Yusoff & Ismail 2008). Researchers (Brown and Bitner, 2007) and practitioners in the marketing domains allude to the importance for organizations to measure and evaluate the quality of service encounters for the reason that, there is rapid development of and competition for service in both developing and developed realms. Kimani (2011) affirm that several aspects of service quality have cumulative outcomes on its perception, thus they complement each other and therefore cannot be treated in isolation. Therefore, by not paying attention to SQ, organizations may risk their competitiveness, since satisfaction and competitiveness are inter-related (Hishamuddin & Azleen, 2008). Thus, to be successful, companies must look at its service delivery performance as well as the needs and wants of their customers. The continuation of low quality services in a higher education institution (HEI) can have undesirable consequences to the organization for instance, dissatisfaction and customers switching to a competitor. That is the reason why many researchers have constantly emphasized the importance of service quality and customer satisfaction in higher education and beyond (Firdaus, 2006; Calvo-Porall, Levy-Mangin & Novo-Corti 2013; Govender and Ramroop, 2012; Ojo 2010; Quinn, Lemay, Larson and Johnson, 2009).

Service quality and customer satisfaction in educational institutions in the higher education industry in the developing nations remains a challenging task despite receiving varied treatment amid growing attention. For instance, the measurement of service quality and customer satisfaction in a majority of the available studies in higher education (HE) has leant towards the use of traditional SERVQUAL methodology (Rajasekhar, Muninarayanappa & Reddy 2009; Sunanto, Taufiquarrahman & Pangemanan 2007; Shekarchizadeh, Rasli & Hon-Tat 2011) as well as other various instruments to measure the impact of SQ delivery on customer satisfaction within HE (Firdaus 2006; Wang & Shieh, 2006; Calvo-Porall, Levy-Mangin and Novo-Corti, 2013; Govender & Ramroop, 2013). Furthermore, studies regarding the determination of higher education service performance variables have been elusive and, in actual fact, virtually non-existent (Kimani 2011), with no study employing the use of structural equation modelling technique to explore service quality and customer satisfaction in private higher education. In light of the above, this paper put forward results of an empirical study which employed the methodology developed by (Firdaus, 2006; 2005) to measure service quality in higher education via non-academic, academic,

238


reputation, access, programme and understanding aspects (HEdPERF) and, to determine the significance of each of the service quality dimensions and their influence on satisfaction.

Review of LiteratureConceptualizing Service Quality ConceptConceptualization of ‘service quality’ in the higher education context has often, been shrouded by differing views and debates. According to Quinn et al. (2009), defining service quality in higher education institutions has proved to be an uphill task. This has presented higher education institutions (HEIs) with great challenges in the implementation of quality-based practices. The aforementioned researchers have defined service quality in higher education in terms of educational, administration and supporting services.

Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction – The Higher Education PerspectiveMany researchers have addressed the association between service quality and customer satisfaction. For example, Zeithaml et al. (2009) assert that service quality and customer satisfaction are closely related, although conceptually they are distinct constructs. Firdaus (2006) study in higher education in Malaysia among 409 students posited that students’ perceptions of service quality are constrained within six dimensions namely non-academic aspects, academic aspects, reputation, access, programme issues and understanding. Ham and Hayduk (2003) who explored the relationship between the five dimensions of SERVQUAL found that every dimension of service quality had a positive relationship with satisfaction, with Reliability having the strongest relationship, followed by Responsiveness, Empathy, Assurance and Tangibility. In a study in Malaysian higher education institutions, it was determined that all the quality attributes had a significant relationship with students’ satisfaction, and highly correlated with one another (Hishamuddin & Azleen, 2008). Trivellas and Dargenidou (2009) looked at the influence of organizational culture and job satisfaction on the quality of services provided in higher education in Greece. The researchers drew on a sample of faculty and administration members to measure the institute’s culture, job satisfaction and the quality in services and internal processes using different frameworks. The results indicated that specific culture variables were linked with different dimensions of higher education service quality.

DeJager and Gbadamosi (2010) carried out a survey among 404 students from universities in South Africa in an attempt to examine the gap between students, perception and importance attached to service delivery, as well as possible predictors of overall satisfaction with their respective universities. Perceptions of willingness to change, students’ intention to leave, trust in administration and support, availability of accommodation facilities, and academic performance were found to be significant determinants of students’ overall satisfaction with the university explaining up to 30 per cent of its variance. An empirical research by Ravichandran, Kumar & Venkatesan (2012) using HEdPERF among professional engineering institutions in India using a sample of 106 respondents established eleven factors (11) loaded that surpassed original HEdPERF scale. Using the HEdPERF scale, Kumar and Yang’s (2014) study of SQ in Malaysia among 275 international undergraduate students in a university found, four determining factors of satisfaction among students namely; reputation, access, programme issues and career prospects and that satisfaction exerted positive significant effect on loyalty. In light of the aforementioned, this paper aims to explore internal customer’s perceptions of private universities services in terms of Firdaus’s (2006) service quality dimensions namely: non-academic, academic, reputation, access, programme and understanding aspects (HEdPERF), and to outline strategies to improve HE service quality from the research results.The Kenyan Private Universities EnvironmentUniversities in Kenya have experienced a tremendous effect on the higher education sector because of the increase and development of private institutions of higher learning. In spite of the successes, Kenyan private higher institutions have continued to experience numerous challenges that may negatively impact on their performance of quality of service delivery hence affecting the perceptions of consumers of their services. Tremendous increase in competition especially from non-traditional sources including e-universities has put pressure on the higher education sector (Chen, Yang & Shiau 2006). Technological pressures have seen huge investments in higher education in many countries in the world in an effort to sustain global competition. According to Roostika (2009), the driving force of wealth creation is knowledge economy which has made access to higher education more and more significant. The aforementioned researcher further notes that although demand has come to exceed supply, it does not make things easier for higher learning institutions in terms of attracting students. Kenya as a developing country is encountering intense competition among local institutions.

239


An audit of the Kenyan education system indicates that individual private universities display unique sets of characteristics with regard to ownership, formation and structure (Onsongo, 2011). Each of these in turn backs the reputation and standing of the university. At the same time all private universities are accredited by the Commission for University Education (CUE), a body that was established through an Act of Parliament in 1985. This means that there is a level of equality across all players. Kenyan universities like other universities in a developing world have encountered challenges ranging from limited variety of programmes of study, student supply, inadequate physical facilities, financial constraints, increasing competition for university students and staff and attracting qualified staff and students (Mwiria, Ng’ethe, Ngome, Ouma-Odero, Wawire & Wesonga, 2007; Tuitoek, 2006; Ngome, 2010; Oketch, 2004; Otieno, 2007; Mutula, 2002; Wesonga, Ngome, Ouma-Odero & Wawire, 2007).

In light of the above background, the impact of ‘competition’ amid other challenges on private universities, especially in the Kenyan setting, can be seen as having widely applicable implications for these institutions. Private universities compete directly in the higher education market place for both school leavers and postgraduates. Private providers meeting specific customer criteria often deliver for instance, unique student experience as opposed to what is regarded as a standard student experience (Materu, 2007) emanating from quality of service. They have also been acknowledged to attract ‘employee-customers’ due to strategies such as retention of skilled human capital (Materu, 2007) and unique experience, which has led to a reduction in professional emigration (Odhiambo, 2011). In view of the above mentioned, with increased global competition, quality of the service may play a bigger role in dictating consumer satisfaction. Furthermore, private universities must be aware of their own offerings and how these are perceived in the higher education marketplace for them to satisfy student requirements as well as employee desires. This research examines internal customers (employees and students) of HE with the objective of exploring their perception of service quality, and service satisfaction. The perceived experiences of the internal customers are important since, it may provide more objective and practical information for assessing making service quality and customer satisfaction in the HE context.

The HEdPERF Measure of Service Quality and HypothesisNotwithstanding the large quantity of research on service quality (SQ) and consumer satisfaction (CS), inadequate empirical evidence exists regarding context specific situations, a case in point, customer satisfaction with the service of private universities bearing in mind how the state of affairs in different countries and cultural backgrounds might determine both the employee and student expectations, perceptions, experience and more so conceptualization of service quality. Since service quality is a construct that fits a specific context (Roostika, 2009) it is important that service quality dimensions are designed for a specific study suiting a specific context like the current one. Furthermore, HEdPERF – Firdaus’s (2006) model has been tested ‘positively’ in a few developed and developing world higher education contexts (Kimani, 2011; Ravichandran et al., 2012; Calvo-Porall et al., 2013; Kumar and Yang, 2014). However, it is apparent that conflicting results have been produced on how the concept of service quality was observed and measured or how institutions can use it to improve their service performance. The research therefore wanted to further test Firdaus’s model in a Kenyan higher education context.

Higher education industry service quality studies have shown that SQ is a multidimensional construct. The most current and fast growing set of service quality dimensions reported in the last decade as measure for service quality in the context of HE has been proposed by Firdaus (2005), comprising a six factor structure with 41 items. Firdaus (2006) argues that HE has clear and distinct dimensions, namely; academic aspects, reputation, non-academic aspects, access, program issues and understanding. In our research, we empirically test this argument in a third world country context. The study therefore proposes that: Each university (HEdPERF) service quality dimension (academic aspects, non-academic aspects, programme aspects, access, reputation and understanding) has a direct positive and significant relationship with customer satisfaction.

Research MethodologyThis study was accomplished by conducting a questionnaire survey. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the relationships between service quality and customer satisfaction in the context of private university services. While SEM has been utilized in studies in numerous fields, in general, it has gained prominence recently as a standard tool in various scientific disciplines and the HE field, as researchers have started to take cognizance the value of this new statistical approach. For example, SEM has become a preferred data analysis technique for empirical research in the field of higher education (Firdaus 2006; Govender and Ramroop, 2012, 2013; Calvo-Porall et al., 2013). A two-step approach under SEM advocated by researchers (Hair, Black, Babin & Anderson, 2010; Lee,

240


Ooi, Tan and Chong, 2010) was employed, where; an assessment of the model fit was performed prior to evaluating structural model relationships. The fit of the hypothesized model can be ascertained by employing the maximum likelihood Chi-square statistics including other standard analysis of moment structures namely; Chi-square value to degrees of freedom (X2/df), Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), Normed Fit Index (NFI), Relative Fit Index (RFI), Incremental Fit Index (IFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) and Comparative Fit Index (CFI) all provided for in the AMOS 21 output – a software package for SEM. The aforementioned goodness-of-fit tests were used to measure the relationships between service quality and customer satisfaction. In order to obtain a best fit model, the RMSEA must be less than 0.04, NFI, RFI, IFI and CFI must surpass 0.9 value and CMIN/DF (X2/df) must be smaller than 2 (Hair et al. 2006; Schumacker and Lomax, 2004). The probability value (p-value) was used to test the hypothesis that the fit of the model to the sample data fits perfectly, since the p-value in relation to the Chi-square must be superior than 0.05 (‘non-significant’) thus symbolizing a better fit. The reliability of the constructs for maximizing internal consistency of multi-dimensional Likert-type questionnaires was analyzed using Cronbach alpha coefficient (Wille 1996 in Raubenheimer, 2004). The Cronbach alphas are greater than the recommended 0.7; this indicates good internal consistency for all the latent variables with respect to their adapted measurement items.

MeasuresThrough a thorough review of literature, the measures of service quality and customer satisfaction in the questionnaire were designed based on the measurement scale adapted from previous studies in the higher education context (Firdaus, 2006; Kimani 2011). Furthermore, some items conceived in the quality dimensions were included in order to measure customer satisfaction, perceived overall quality and general satisfaction. Due to the modification and adaptation of already existing scales, the researcher used a panel of experts to review the questions and content. In all the measures of the two constructs under investigation, respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement with service quality items in higher education services on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = lowest value, while 7 the highest (Leedy and Omrod, 2005).

Data Collection, Sample and Sampling ProceduresThis study employed a cross-sectional survey where stratified random sampling strategy was used. The data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire survey. The data were collected from September 2013 to January 2014. There were about five months in this data collection period. The study’s target population was all employees (academic and administrative) and students of four select private universities in Kenya. The sample target for the study was determined as 600 students and 250 academic and administrative employees. The four universities were selected based on geographical location and ownership thus faith-based and ‘commercial’ categories and were included using a stratified purposeful random sampling technique. Sample size was determined using the

formula (Krejcie and Morgan, 1970, in Sekaran, 2006: 293) in the 95% confidence level. The researchers’ propose a sample size of 380 cases as this is satisfactory to derive adequate effect sizes for structural equation modelling (Kline, 2011).

Before the distribution of the questionnaires, the researchers’ briefly explained the purpose of the present study to respondents, and where necessary helped them to complete the questionnaires. It was also made obvious to the participants that participation would remain voluntary and that they were free to leave the study if they so wish, confidentiality and anonymity were also expounded. To ensure higher response and usable rates, questionnaires were distributed in equal proportion per university filled out and returned through a ‘drop and pick’ approach to students randomly in classrooms and they were given about 15 to 20 minutes to fill them in. On the other hand, the majority of academic and administrative staff emphatically refused to participate in this study citing several reasons like timing of the study etc. for their complete refusal to participate in the study; some did not fill in the questionnaires distributed to them, while others lost the questionnaires. All in all, these did not affect the response rate thus a satisfactory response rate was achieved. Through these processes, about six hundred and seventy completed questionnaires were collected. After excluding missing data or incomplete response, 655 responses were used in the data analysis.

241


The socio-demographic characteristics of the final percentage of the sample were: the majority of the employee respondents were administrative (59.4%) while academics (40.6%). Most respondents were male (54.9%) and female (44.4%). With regard to age, the majority of the employees were middle aged or younger (47.4%) formed 30 to 39 years, (31.6%) were aged 40 to 49 years and (19.5%) were below 30 years. A majority (78.9%) had worked up to 10 years, with (77.8%) academics and (79.7%) administrative where PhD (27.8%). In terms of management 42.1% were middle managers, technical (9.8%) and senior managers (6.8%). In contrast, the students sample percentage profiles included; students aged between 18 and 23 years (66.3%), there were more female students (51.6%) in the full-time degree programme than there were male (48.4%) with those pursuing first degree (70.5%) and postgraduate degree 9% with first year’s (37.4%) and second year (30.1%), third (20.3%) and a few (7.1%) in fourth year of studies.

Data AnalysisThe researcher used the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 and AMOS 21 to conduct exploratory factor analysis (EFA), structural equation modeling (SEM) test the relationships, since Schumacker and Lomax (2004) asserted that SEM is clear and testable, and competing models can be analyzed, synthesized and understood and, their effect whether direct, indirect or both can be investigated.

Results of Empirical Analyses Scale Reliability and ValidityThe dimensions of the measurement constructs were tested by applying the Cronbach alpha coefficients using Stepwise Reliability Analysis and the following coefficients were produced for students: non-academic aspects 0.941; academic aspects 0.928; reputation 0.889; access 0.923; programmes 0.854; understanding 0.853 and overall satisfaction 0.933. Similarly, employees’ coefficients were: non-academic aspects 0.758; academic aspects 0.763; reputation 0.87; access 0.853; programmes 0.817; understanding 0.807 and overall satisfaction 0.819. The aforesaid reliability coefficient alphas were acceptable (exceeds 0.7); this implying that the measurement instruments were fairly reliable. Furthermore, internally inconsistent items were sequentially deleted, therefore maximizing the scales’ reliability at 0.70 (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010: 325).

This study employed various validity measures where the researchers ensured adequate coverage and representative set of items that capture the concepts, evaluated the questionnaire for relevance of the items that try to capture the targeted variables. Construct and discriminant validity were assessed through Exploratory Factor Analysis using Principal Component Analysis with oblique method rotation to summarize the factor loadings under study (Browne, 2001). A factor loading of 0.4 was employed to indicate that the structure was well defined (Hair et al., 2010).

Factor Analysis ResultsExploratory Factor analysis (EFA) was used to reduce all the measurement attributes in a large number into smaller sets of underlying dimensions in order to maximize the validity of the instruments (Hair et al., 2006). The use of Likert scale questionnaires prompted the researchers to opt for the EFA technique for the factor analysis. According to Hair et al. (2010) and Zikmund, Babin, Carr & Griffin (2010), the underlying purpose is to determine stronger linear combinations of many variables that aid in investigating the interrelationships effectively without pre-conceived hypotheses. Therefore, in order to clarify the pattern of relationships among the service quality dimensions, factor extraction was done by use of Principle Component Analysis (PCA) (Field, 2009), which was used to reduce the many factors to more manageable sets with strong correlations and also enabled understanding of variables’ structures (Hair et al., 2006). The oblique rotation method proposed by Jennrich and Sampson (1966) was used to summarize the construct’s structures of the variables studied (Browne, 2001). The 0.4 was regarded as an acceptable factor loading cut-off point (Hair et al., 2010).

242


As illustrated in Table 1 (student sample) and Table 2 (employee sample) below, four factors have been extracted for student sample while five factors were extracted for employee sample that loaded on each factor. As given in Table 1, the four factors were labelled and described as Factor 1 non-academic (administration quality), Factor 2 was named health quality (understanding), Factor 3 programme quality, and Factor 4 was named satisfaction. Similarly in Table 2, the five rotated factors were described as follows: Factor 1 - Satisfaction, Factor 2 - Quality of Academic Programmes, Factor 3 - Academic Quality, Factor 4 - Health Quality, and Factor 5 - Credibility. These factors have been identified in previous studies (DeJager and Gbadamosi, 2010; Firdaus, 2006; Kumar and Yang, 2014; Ravichandran et al., 2012).

Table 1 Rotated factor analysis for modified students’ service quality attributes.

Quality AttributesFactor Loading

Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor 4Understanding 1 -- .738 -- --Understanding 2 -- .737 -- --Understanding 3 -- .780 -- --Programme 1 -- -- .743 --Programme 2 -- -- .705 --Programme 3 -- -- .785 --Programme 4 -- -- .655 --Non-academic 1 .711 -- -- --Non-academic 2 .722 -- -- --Non-academic 3 .817 -- -- --Academic 1 .773 -- -- --Academic 2 .792 -- -- --Reputation 1 .482 .613 -- --Reputation 2 .610 .457 .417 --Access 1 .576 .450 -- --Access 2 .574 .505 -- --Satisfaction 1 -- -- -- .868Satisfaction 2 -- -- -- .751Overall quality -- -- -- .579

Table 2 Rotated factor analysis for modified employee service quality attributes

Quality Attributes

Factor Loading

Factor (1) Factor (2) Factor (3) Factor (4) Factor (5)non-academic 1 .607 -- -- -- --non-academic 2 -- -- -- -- --non-academic 3 .727 -- -- -- --non-academic 4 .844 -- -- -- --Academic 1 -- -- .786 -- --Academic 2 -- -- .652 -- --Academic 3 -- -- .739 -- --Academic 4 -- -- .823 -- --Reputation 1 .758 -- -- -- --

243


Quality Attributes

Factor Loading

Factor (1) Factor (2) Factor (3) Factor (4) Factor (5)Reputation 2 .662 .468 -- -- --Access 1 .794 -- -- -- --Access 2 .678 -- -- -- --Access 3 .668 -- -- -- --Satisfaction 1 .544 .422 -- -- --Satisfaction 2 .755 -- -- -- --Programme 1 -- .714 -- -- --Programme 2 .414 .657 -- -- --Programme 3 -- .831 -- -- --Programme 4 -- .769 -- -- --General quality -- -- -- -- .873Understanding 1 -- -- -- .813 --Understanding 2 -- -- -- .778 --Understanding 3 .474 -- -- .567 --

Structural Equation Modelling Results and Hypotheses VerificationStructural Equation Modelling with latent variables (SEM) is a process that is used to analyze relationships among variables, was used to predict the variance in the dependent variables through regressing (CS) against the independent variable (SQ) (Sekaran, 2006: 406). According to Kline (2011), SEM is a combination of statistical techniques which allow a set of relationships between independent variable(s) and dependent variable(s) to be examined. In this study SEM was preferred because it enables clarity and testability of competing models therefore enhancing the potential to further understand the analysis (Schumacker and Lomax, 2004). Through SEM quality of results are enhanced since various linear models in an integrated manner fit and their effect whether direct, indirect or both effects can be explored. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed to purify the proposed models before testing the structure model and thereafter examine the underlying relationships between the two constructs under study (Lee et al., 2010; Schumacker and Lomax, 2004). By using Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) research data was fitted to the observed data and a critical ratio (CR) estimate value > = 1.96 suggested significance of the causal path between the latent variables (Kline, 2011; Hair et al., 2010).

The structural models for the student and employee samples were assessed in terms of: their structural and measurement fit measures, the contribution of every assessed path coefficient, the extent of each expected path coefficient measurement and the bearing of each structural path coefficients. To assess the fit of the model to the data, Chi-Square value, Chi-square per degrees of freedom, RMSEA, CFI, CMIN/DF and the p-value were computed. An acceptable fit for the student sample was found (X2 = 33.5, df = 28, RMSEA = 0,021, CFI = 0.998, CMIN/DF = 1.20) and, the p-value was 0.215, which is non-significant at the 5% level, implying that the proposed conceptual model for student sample (Figure 1) fitted to the research data was indeed a good one. Furthermore, the aforementioned results show that the required values for the goodness of fit indices for the proposed factor structures from the student sample for private higher education (PHE) service quality and customer satisfaction are all supported (Hair et al., 2010; Kline, 2011; Browne and Cudeck, 1993; Hu and Bentler, 1999).

On the employee sample, the fitted model (Figure 2) had a Chi-square test statistic of 37.9 with a p-value 0.384, which is non-significant at the 5% level, thus the employee conceptual model (Figure 2) fitted to the research data as well (Hair et al., 2010). Furthermore, the CFI was 0.997, the RMSEA was 0.019, x2/df was 1.052 with a p – value of 0.384 and the NFI, IFI, TLI were greater than 0.9, all confirming a good fit of the model (Hair et al., 2010; Hu and Bentler, 1999).

Fig 1 A model of the relationship between private university service quality and student satisfaction toward a university

244


Source: Author’s own elaboration

Fig 2 A model of the relationship between private university service quality and employee satisfaction toward a university

Source: Author’s own elaboration

Whereas structural model results showed that the academic, reputation understanding and access have positive relationship with satisfaction among the students, going by the regression weights (Table 3), it is evident that only ‘understanding’ and ‘access’ significantly (5% level of significance) influenced the students’ satisfaction of private universities services. It was also found that employees’ satisfaction was significantly influenced by ‘access’ and ‘reputation’ dimensions of private universities service quality. It is also interesting to note that the academic aspect (employee sample) has a negative coefficient estimate, whilst access and reputation have positive coefficients.

Table 3 Regression weights – private university services

Quality dimension

Student Result Employee ResultEstima

te SE t-value p-value

Estimate Standard error

t-value p-value

Academic 0.072 0.093 0.782 0.434 -0.055 0.037 -1.468 0.142

245


Quality dimension

Student Result Employee ResultEstima

te SE t-value p-value

Estimate Standard error

t-value p-value

Reputation 0.085 0.135 0.632 0.527 0.494 0.236 2.092 0.036Understanding 0.115 0.062 1.852 0.049 - - - -Access 0.258 0.129 2.002 0.043 0.438 0.204 2.146 0.032Source: 2013 fieldwork by author

Discussion and Study ImplicationThe SEM model results, including standardized path coefficients and t-values, shown in Table 3 above revealed that the ‘direct’ effect of the student-customer ‘understanding’ quality (β = 0.115; p<0.05) and ‘access’ quality (β = .258; p<0.05) were significant. Regarding the employee-customers, ‘access’ quality (β = 0.438; p<0.05) and ‘reputation’ quality (β = 0.494; p<0.05) were also significant. These results indicate that service quality is positively related to customer satisfaction. In addition, Table 4 indicates that ‘access’ quality and ‘reputation’ quality are the most important constructs affecting customer satisfaction in private university services (De Jager and Gbadamosi, 2010: 4; Firdaus, 2006; Owlia and Aspinwall, 1996). The other service dimensions, programme and non-academic, were found not to fit the model.

Understanding specifically student needs with reference to counselling and health quality services will lead to greater satisfaction (Watson, 2003). The aforementioned also emphasizes the importance of understanding the service quality dimensions in explaining student satisfaction. Thus, it is suggested that ‘access’ and ‘understanding’ dimensions should be incorporated when examining student satisfaction. Accordingly, service quality managers at universities should emphasize firstly ‘understanding’ and later the other dimensions. Firdaus (2006) also found that access and understanding qualities of service were among the top six variables that positively correlated with service satisfaction from student viewpoint in tertiary education.

In HE environments, the importance of access and reputation as factors that may influence the perception of quality of university service in turn increase satisfaction has been accredited (DeJager and Gbadamosi, 2010; Marx and Erasmus, 2006). Employees in service organizations have been widely acknowledged for organizational efficiency, considering their responsiveness and understanding (Parasuraman, Berry & Zeithaml, 1988), allegiance (Farber and Wycoff, 1991), satisfaction (Voss, Tsikriktsis, Funk, Yarrow & Owen, 2005), contact (Soteriou & Chase, 1998), motivation (Hays & Hill, 2001) and competence (Parasuraman et al., 1988). In an attempt to explore the extent to which the service quality and customers satisfaction are interrelated, DeJager and Gbadamosi, (2010) assert that employee expectations of a university depend on their experiences and individual preferences (DeJager and Gbadamosi, 2010), and this therefore determines their decision-making process for instance, for maximum commitment. If processes and personnel crucial to service quality are well implemented, then, the organization would experience superior service quality which will in turn, enhance loyalty (Marx and Erasmus, 2006). Therefore, university service providers (administration support) need to be cognizant of drivers of service quality and should work and implement plans that would improve customer satisfaction.

By empirically exploring the relationships between service quality and customer satisfaction in the HE context, through data collected from survey conducted in Kenya, the importance of this findings is evident. A number of theoretical and managerial implications for various stakeholders such as universities, government, higher education stakeholders and university service managers are explained. The rapid expansion of university education and demand for quality are compelling universities to devise ways to enhance quality service so as to sustain stiff competition in the HE industry. Given the competition, an understanding of the factors influencing customers’ perceptions of service is useful for universities so they can prioritize their resources in an effective way. For example, ‘access’ quality and ‘reputation’ quality were found to be the most significant dimensions that have a strong impact on customers’ satisfaction with university services. In addition, ‘academic’ quality and ‘understanding’ quality were found to be related to satisfaction. In order to increase customer satisfaction, universities need to ensure they understand the needs and expectations of their customers in order to improve HE services. This could lead to a multiplicity of effects in that greater service quality and customer satisfaction will lead to higher customer allegiance.

246


This study employed structural equation modelling (SEM) using the AMOS statistical package to test the measurement and structural models. Employing complex statistical methodological tools has been limited in previous studies and more so those done in a developing economy context i.e. Kenya. Therefore, this study sets precedent on the research in higher education sector. It also contributes to identifying measures for the private universities higher education that can derive the different perceived service quality and customer satisfaction by employing the exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate the service quality of Kenya’s private higher education services from the students’ and employees’ standpoints. Moreover, it also attempts to abate the scarcity of the studies in the domain of HE from the emerging countries context.

Concluding Remarks and RecommendationsConsidering that not all HEdPERF dimensions fitted into the sample data sets, this study bears testament that further studies are necessary to explore the primary reasons to be able to provide more concrete generalizations. It is vital that university service providers focus on improving academic and understanding qualities by implementing strategies that will effectively enhance these services among employees and students.

With respect to increasing to reliability of their customers’, service providers should be more customer-focused and furthermore come up with ways to positively manage and influence their customers’ relationships by adopting useful methods. Out of the mutual influence within the customers themselves this will translate to increased satisfaction. Researchers (Becket and Brookes, 2008; Trivellas and Dargenidou, 2009) have shown that efficient and effective internal communication and embracing a service culture within service processes are crucial in improving SQ within HE, and a lack thereof will decrease customers’ faith in administration and support.

Another important factor that may influence the perception of the quality of university service is by regularly evaluating the SQ through data collection. Embracing the data collection activity will make both the employees’ and students’ feel part and parcel of the institutional decision making process. This will enable HE institutions to get to know their customers, the needs of the market and, align services to suit these market needs thereby, offering superior quality to all their customers which should then translate to customer satisfaction. In short, service providers need to include satisfaction surveys in their quality frameworks.

The quality of services is typically accredited to teamwork and support of the administrative staff as well as the academic staff with the students. If students realize that the staff is not concerned with and caring of them they become demoralized, consequently leading to displeasure.

Some form of continuous training and development is paramount. Such training should help contribute especially to employee satisfaction. Hence, efforts should be directed towards improving employees’ awareness and skills because dependability and promise have a direct relationship with employee competence. Knowledge and skills training are a never-ending process, hence without refresher sessions and advanced training there is a risk of the employee ‘becoming stale’ and sloppy (less attention of quality and detail); eventually becoming demotivated. Management can enhance the competence and/or knowhow and develop capacity by involving both operational staff and experts in sessions, socialization and good training programmes.

Limitations and Avenues for Future ResearchHigh data collection costs limited the study to be conducted in two regions namely; Nairobi and Central. Even so, the sample justifies the results of the study and could be duplicated to other regions in Kenya. This research is also limited to assessing private university services from the perceptions of ‘internal customers’. It would be worthwhile to examine perceived differences of private and public university services from the point of view both of internal customers and by extension the external customers. Future research could adopt the HEdPERF framework and consider a mixed method approach to enrich such a study employing SEM to investigate other service related variables for instance, demographic variables to ascertain the generalizability of the model. A longitudinal study could help follow changes in customers’ perceptions of university service performance and customer satisfaction attributes over time.

Acknowledgements

247


The author thankfully acknowledges the assistance provided in data collection by Susan Mwangi.

References Alaba, A., R. and Olanrewaju, A., K. (2012) “Service quality dimensions and thesis writing among postgraduate students in southwest Nigeria” Universal Journal of Education and General Studies Vol. 1, No.7, pp. 188-194.

Becket, N. and Brookes, M. (2006) “Evaluating quality management in university departments” Quality Assurance in Education Vol. 14, No.2, pp. 123-142.

Brown, S. W., and Bitner, M. J. (2007) “Mandating a service revolution for marketing” in The service-dominant logic of marketing: dialog, debate and directions by R. F. Lush and S. L. Vargo, Eds., Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharp, pp. 393-405.

Browne, M. W., and Cudeck, R. (1993) “Alternative ways of assessing model fit” in Testing structural equation models by K. A. Bollen and J. S. Long, Eds., Newbury Park, California: Sage, pp. 136-162.

Browne, M. W. (2001) “An overview of analytic rotation in exploratory factor analysis” Multivariate Behavioral Research Vol. 36, pp. 111-150.

Calvo-Porall, C., Levy-Mangin, J. P., and Novo-Corti, I. (2013) “Perceived quality in higher education: An empirical study” Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Vol. 36, No. 6, pp. 601-619. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17099899. doi: 10.1108/MIP-11-2012-0136, Viewed February 12, 2014. Chen, S., Yang, C., and Shiau, J. (2006) “Scorecard in the performance evaluation of higher education” TQM Magazine Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 190-205.

DeJager, J. and Gbadamosi, G. (2010) “Specific remedy for specific problem: measuring service quality in South African higher education” Higher Education Vol. 60, No. 3, pp. 251 – 267.

Field, A. (2009) Discovering statistics using SPSS (3rd ed.), Sage Publications Ltd: London.

Firdaus, A. (2005) “The development of HEdPERF: A new measuring instrument of service quality for the higher education sector” International Journal of Consumer Studies Vol. 30, No. 6, pp. 569-581.

Firdaus A. (2006) “Measuring service quality in higher education: HEdPERF versus SERVPERF” Marketing Intelligence & Planning Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 31–47.

Govender, K. K. (2013) “Service Performance and Service Quality: Exploring the Post-graduate Research Students’ Perceptions of the Service Encounter” Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 217-224.

Govender, K. K. (2013) “The relationship between the postgraduate research climate and supervisor research service quality” Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 2, No. 3, pp.146-158.

Govender, K. K. and Ramroop, S. (2013) “Managing postgraduate research service quality: Developing and assessing a conceptual model” South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 154 – 169. http://www.sajems.org/index.php/sajems/issue/view/34, Viewed May 9, 2014.

248

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17099899


Govender, K., K and Ramroop, S. (2012) “Relationship between the postgraduate research students’ perception of their role, research climate and service quality” African Journal of Business Management Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 1642-1651.

Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J. and Anderson, R. E. (2010) “Multivariate Data Analysis: A Global Perspective” Pearson Prentice Hall: New York.

Ham, L., and Hayduk, S. (2003) “Gaining competitive advantages in higher education: Analyzing the gap between expectations and perceptions of service quality” International Journal of Value-Based Management Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 223 – 242.

Hays, J. and Hill, A. (2001) “A preliminary investigation of the relationships between employees’ motivation/vision, service learning, and perceived service quality” Journal of Operations Management Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 335-349.

Hishamuddin, F. A. H., and Azleen I. (2008) “Service quality and student satisfaction: a case study at private higher education institutions” International Business Research Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 163–175. Hu, L., and Bentler, P. M. (1999) “Cut-off criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives” Structural Equation Modelling: A Multidisciplinary Journal Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 1-55.

Jennrich, R. I., and Sampson, P. F. (1966) “Rotation for simple loadings” Psychometrika Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 313 – 323.

Khodayari, F., and Khodayari, B. (2011) “Service quality in higher education” Interdisciplinary Journal of Research in Business Vol. 1, No. 9, pp. 38 – 46.

Kimani, W. S. (2011) Business students’ perception of service quality in Kenyan private and public universities, CUEA Press: Nairobi.

Kline, R. B. (2011) Principles and practice of structural equation modelling (3rd ed.), Guilford Press: New York.

Kumar, J., and Yang, C. L. (2014) “Service quality and loyalty of international students studying in the field of hospitality and tourism” Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Management Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 97-118.

Lee, V. H., Ooi, K. B., Tan, B. I., and Chong, Y. L. (2010) “A structural analysis of the relationship between TQM practices and product innovation” Asian Journal of Technology Innovation Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 73 – 96.Leedy, P. D., and Ormrod, J. E. (2005) Practical research: planning and design , Merrill Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Marx, J. M. M. N. and Erasmus, A. C. (2006) “An evaluation of the customer service in supermarkets in Pretoria East, Tshwane metropolis, South Africa” Journal of Family Ecology and Consumer Sciences Vol. 34, pp. 56–68.

Materu, Peter (2007). “Higher education quality assurance in Sub-Saharan Africa: Status, challenges, opportunities and promising Practices” The World Bank working paper number. 124.

Mutula, S. M. (2002) “University education in Kenya: Current developments and future outlooks” The International Journal of Educational Management Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 109-119.

Mwiria, K. Ng’ethe, N., Ngome, C., Ouma-Odero, D., Wawire, V., and Wesonga, D. (2007) “Public and private universities in Kenya: New challenges, issues and achievements in higher education in Africa”. http://www.eldis.org/go/home&id=35863&type=Document, Accessed 15, 2011.

Ngome, C. K. (2010, October) “Massive growth of university education in East Africa and the challenges facing the sector between 2000-2010: The Case of Kenya”. Paper Presented at the 10th Anniversary Celebrations of the

249


Revitalization of the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), Kampala, Uganda. Available online at: http//:www.iucea.org/downloads/Massive_Growth.pdf, Accessed 15 June 2011.

Odhiambo, G., O. (2011) “Higher education quality in Kenya: A critical reflection of key challenges” Quality in Higher Education Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 299 – 315.

Ojo, O. (2010) “The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in the telecommunication industry: Evidence from Nigeria” Broad Research in Accounting, Negotiation, and Distribution Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 88-100.

Oketch, J. O. (2004) “The emergency of private university education in Kenya: trends, prospects and challenge” International Journal of Educational Development Vol. 24, pp. 119-136.

Ong, W. M., and Nankervis, A. (2012) “Service quality in higher education: Students’ perceptions in Australia and Malaysia” Review of Integrative and Business Research Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 277-290. Onsongo, J. K. (2011) Promoting gender equity in selected public universities of Kenya , OSSREA Publications: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Otieno, W. (2007) “Private provision and its changing interface with public higher education: The case of Kenya” JHEA/RESA Vol. 5, No. 2-3, pp. 173-176.

Owlia. M.S. and Aspinwall, E. M. (1996) “A framework for the dimensions of quality in higher education” Quality Assurance in Education Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 12–20.Parasuraman, A., Berry, L. L., and Zeithaml, V. A. (1988) “SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality” Journal of Retailing Vol. 64, No. 1, pp. 12–40.

Perez, M. S., Juan, C. G. A., Gema, M. M. C., and Raquel, S. F. (2007) “Effects of service quality dimensions on behavioural purchase intentions: A study in public sector transport” Managing Service Quality Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 134-151.

Quinn, A., Lemay, G., Larsen, P. and Johnson, D. M. (2009) “Service quality in higher education” Total Quality Management Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 139 – 152. Available online at: doi: 10.1080/14783360802622805, Accessed February 8, 2012.

Rajasekhar M, Muninarayanappa, M. and Reddy, S. V. S. (2009) “The GAP model analysis of service quality in Indian higher education” Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 214-229.

Raubenheimer, J. (2004) “An item selection procedure to maximise scale reliability and validity” South African Journal of Industrial Psychology Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 59 – 64.

Ravichandran, K., Kumar, S. A., and Venkatesan, N. (2012) “Students’ perceptions on service quality” International Academic Research Journal of Business and Management Vol. 1, No. 1, pp 23-38.

Roostika, R. (2009) “The role of customer value within the service quality, customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions relationships: An empirical examination in the Indonesian higher education sector” PhD thesis - Business Management program, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. Available online at: http//www. researchbank.swinburne.edu.au/vital/access/services/, Accessed 8 February 8, 2012.

Schumacker, R. E. and Lomax, R. G. (2004) A beginner's guide to structural equation modelling, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, New Jersey.

Sekaran, U. (2006) Research methods for business: A skill building approach (4th ed.), John Wiley & Sons, Inc: New York.

250


Sekaran, U., and Bougie, R. (2010) Research methods for business: A skill building approach (5th ed.), John Wiley & Sons, Inc: New York.

Shahin, A., and Samea, M. (2010) “Developing the models of service quality gaps: A critical discussion” Business Management and Strategy Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 1-11.

Shekarchizadeh, A. Rasli, A. and Hon-Tat, H. (2011) “SERVQUAL in Malaysian universities: perspectives of international students” Business Process Management Journal Vol. 17, No. 1, p. 67.

Soteriou, A. and Chase, R. (1998) “Linking the customer contact model to service quality” Journal of Operations Management Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 495-508.

Sunanto, S. Taufiquarrahman, T. and Pangemanan, R.(2007) “An analysis of university services quality gap and student satisfaction in Indonesia” The International Journal of Know, Culand Change Management Vol. 7, No. 7, pp. 1-10.

Trivellas, P., and Dargenidou, D. (2009b) “Organisational culture, job satisfaction and higher education service quality: The case of Technological Educational Institute of Larissa” The TQM Journal Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 382 – 399.

Voss, C., Tsikriktsis, N., Funk, B., Yarrow, D. and Owen, J. (2005) “Managerial choice and performance in service management – a comparison of private sector organizations with further education colleges” Journal of Operations Management Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 179-95.

Watson, S. (2003) “Closing the feedback loop: Ensuring effective action from student feedback” Tertiary Education and Management Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 145 – 157.

Wesonga, D., Ngome, C., Ouma-Odero, D. and Wawire, V. (2007) “Private provision of higher education in Kenya: Trends and issues in four universities” in Public and private universities in Kenya by K. Mwiria, N. Ng’ethe, C. Ngome, D. Ouma-Odero, V. Wawire and D. Wesonga, Eds., James Curry Ltd: Oxford.

Zahari, W., Yusoff, W., and Ismail, M. (2008) “FM-SERVQUAL: A new approach of service quality measurement framework in local authorities” Journal of Corporate Real Estate Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 130 – 144.

Zeithaml, V. A., Bitner M. J., and Grembler, D. D. (2009) Service marketing: integrating customer focus across the firm (5th ed.), McGraw-Hill Publishing Company: New Delhi.

Zikmund, W. G., Babin, B. J., Carr, J. C., and Griffin, M. (2010) Business research methods (8th ed.). Cengage Learning: South-Western.

........................................................................................................

251


The significance, role and development prospects of non-profit organizations in the Baltic States, using the example of Estonia

Irina KarpushkinaPh.D. Student, Baltic International Academy,

Lomonosova street 4, Riga, Latvia

Abstract:The non-profit organizations in the economy of any country play a significant role. However, the lack of proper information on the availability of non-profit organizations, specificity of their activity, in-depth research about the necessity of their creation, the mission of already founded and successfully operating, does not allow to evaluate the role and significance of these organizations, both for society and economy of the country.

The empirical researches, the study of problems will allow to determine the reasons and necessity of creation of non-profit organizations, prospects of their development, role and significance for the civil society in the Baltic States.

As an example, was carried out an in-depth analysis of state of non-profit organizations in Estonia, as one of the Baltic States.

Keywords: Non-profit organizations, civil society, the third sector.

Citation: Karpushkina , Irina; The significance, role and development prospects of non-profit organizations in the Baltic States, using the example of Estonia; (Oct, 2014); Journal of Social Sciences (COES&RJ-JSS), Vol.3, No.4, pp: 439-456.

252


In the Baltic States over the last 25 years, i.e., since the acquisition of independence has successfully promoted the process of creation of non-profit organizations (NCOs) as a whole and in each country separately. The Baltic States: Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia unite not only a single geographical space, contributing to the organization of the similar organizational forms of activity, theoretical foundation of knowledge, but also the society inside the economic space.

At the present stage, to the study of the problem of non-profit organizations, the definition of their role for the civil society, the reasons of their creation, the state’s attitude towards such organizations doesn’t pay due attention in the Baltic states, as in each country separately and in general, in the Baltic states in comparison.

The goal of this manuscript is the supplement of knowledge base on the state of non-profit organizations, the assessment of their role and significance for civil society, the determination of the sector in the economy, influencing on the creation of non-profit organizations in the Baltic States and particularly in Estonia.

The non-profit organization is a legal entity, as well as commercial organizations. As early as in the last century, the author of the book “Strategic marketing” Philip Kotler, the founder of the theory of marketing in non-profit organizations, highlighted the main types of legal entities, based on the types of legal capacity that have general and special franchise. As well as, classifying the legal entities, depending on the goals of activity, the author divides the organizations into commercial and non-profit. In the commercial organizations are included partnership associations, societies and productive cooperatives. In practice, each country, adhering to the theoretical basis, uses its identifications of commercial legal entity. The example that confirms the said can serve the carried out analysis, where the identifications have been studied of such types of such legal entities as partnership associations and societies in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia (See, the table 1).

The second type of classification of legal entities on the goals of activity are nonprofit organizations. In a narrow sense, the nonprofit organization (NCO) it is an organization that does not have as a main goal of its activity the profit extraction and that does not allocate the earned profit between the participants. The nonprofit organizations can be created in order to achieve the social, charitable, cultural, educational, political, scientific and mangement goals in the areas of health care, physical fitness and sports promotion, the satisfaction of spiritual and other non-material needs of citizens, protection of rights, legitimate interests of citizins and organizations, settlement of disputes and conflicts, provision of legal aid, as well as for other purposes that are aimed to the achievement of public goods. The nonprofit organizations have a right to run a busines only if this activity is aimed at the achievement of the goals of an organization.

Table 1The names of legal entities in Latvia,

Estonia and Lithuania

253

The commercial legal entities

Partnership associations Societies

The full partnerships of Latvia: PilnsabiedrībaLithuania: TŪB (Tikroji ūkinė bendrija)Estonia: täisühingud

Limited partnerships of Latvia: komandītsabiedrībasLithia: KŪB (Komanditinė ūkinė bendrija)Estonia: usaldusühingud

With the limited liability:Latvia: SIA (Sabiedrība ar ierobežotu atbildību): Lithuania: UAB (Uždaroji akcinė bendrovė)Estonia: Osaühing

With the additional responsibility Latvia: Sabiedrība ar papildus atbildībuLithuania: Papildoma AtsakomybėEstonia: Täiendav vastutus

Open joint – stock companies Latvia: Akciju sabiedrībaLithuania: Atviros akcinės bendrovės (AAB)Estonia: Avatud aktsiaseltsid

Closed joint-stock companiesLatvia: Slēgta akciju sabiedrībaLithuania: Uždaroji akcinė bendrovėEstonia:


The above said reveals the necessity of determination of relation of nonprofit organizations to the economy sectors of the country.

Today, the social economy conditionally divides the social groups of civil society into three sectors: public, commercial and non-profit (See Figure1).

Figure 1. The sectors of civil society

As it can be seen from the figure, the nonprofit organizations are highlighted in a separate group and are not included in the commercial sector. At the same time, adding of a specific nonprofit organization to the public or nonprofit sector is determined by a combination of factors and generally has a subjective nature. In fact, this statement should be studied more deeply. Referring again to the theory of division of the legal entities, Philip Kotler in his scientific papers divided the non-profit organizations into the types, determining: consumer cooperatives, public united organizations, movements, funds, institutions, the organizations of public self-activity, religious organizations, non-profit partnerships, autonomous non-profit organizations, associations and other types as provided for in the legislation of one or another country.

According to the classification of the famous scientist and marketing specialist and presented above, the classifications of sectors of organizations of civil society (Figure 1), let’s distinguish three main sectors, dividing the organizations into: state organizations – public sector (the first sector); - the commercial organizations – the private sector (the second sector); - the non-profit organizations – non-profit sector (the third sector).

Reinforcing the accuracy of the statement of selected scheme of division of organizations into sectors, let’s make additions – the attitude of organizations towards the sources of funding in each sector. And let’s represent the above said in the visual form (See table 2).

Table 2The sectors of citizen sector organization

Characteristics State (public) sector

Commercial (private) sector

Nonprofit sector

Sector The first The second The thirdThe composition of sector

Public authorities of All levels

State nonprofit organizations;Commercial organizations

Nonprofit organizations

The legal form of an organization

For the public authorities — government institution or institution of self-government; for the state organizations — nonprofit

commercial Nonprofit

Founders State Any persons Any persons

254


Human resources

staff Staff and attracted (paid) Staff and attracted (paid and unpaid)

The payment of the human resources

Salary staff — salary, attracted — under a contract of rendering of services

staff — salary; commercial services of attracted— under a contract of rendering of services; the services of volunteers are not paid

The main goals of activity

The management of society and rendering of public services

Profit extraction Generally, but not necessarily socially relevant, including charitable philanthropic, educational, religious, political, social and economic and etc.

The sources of funding State budget yes Only for the enterprises with the

state participationpossible

loan capital yes yes yesissue of securities

yes yes no

Capital of owners

no yes no

Income of commercial activity

yes yes yes

Investments yes yes yesdonations no no yes

Analyzing visually represented material, it is possible to note that capable publi sector, strong private sector and active third sector characterize the civil society.

The third (as well as non-for profit, non-governmental) sector is one of the central parts of the society, operating in the form that do not strive for profit of associations and groups divided into the interests and acting on the principles of civil initiative and volunteering.

Thus, the society can be divided into three coexisting sectors: public or state sector, the participants of which are engaged in the protection of general and national interests, the formation of an appropriate policy, lawmaking and etc., both at the state and local level. In this sector are included state, municipal institutions, public and legal institutions.

- The second sector – the sector of business, dealing with the profit earning in the result of entrepreneurship. It should be noted that the word-combination “private sector” is used not only in business, but in nonprofit sector.

- - The third sector includes two directions, these are: professional, nonprofit area in which people for salary are

engaged mainly in the representation of the public interest, the protection of interests of the sector, the offer of a service and etc., and purely voluntary activity in which the representatives of the other sectors put into practice their civil positions and initiatives on the basis of volunteer services.

- Staying more on the third sector, it should be added that the forms, existing in the third sector of organizations are mainly non-profit association (NCO), funds and partnership. All three forms can be named unprofitable associations and consequently, the third sector – non-profit, unprofitable sector. A great part of non-profit associations are civil associations or free associations based, we emphasize by the private individuals, but not by the institutions of the public authority, non-profit organizations.

255

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%D0%BD%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%B8

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%AD%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D1%86%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D1%8B%D1%85_%D0%B1%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%B3

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%97%D0%B0%D1%91%D0%BC%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BB

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D0%B1%D1%8E%D0%B4%D0%B6%D0%B5%D1%82


Having determined the positions of non-profit organizations in the civil society and in the economy of the Baltic States as a whole, let’s analyze the organizations of the social society, using the example of one of the Baltic States – in Estonia.

The civil society in Estonia is determined as a society in which to the decision –making are involved all people in accordance with their interests and abilities. This society covers the cooperation between: a) people on their own initiative for the implementation of their interests and participation in the discussion, decision –making of public issues and b) associations, networks, institutions, promoting of such cooperation.

According to the legal definition, in the third sector of Estonia are non-profit associations, funds and associations based on the partnership. They all are called civil or free associations. Forms of organizations, operating in the third sector are non-profit organization (Est. MTÜ, NCO), the target institution or fund (Est. SA) and society. The popularity also gains the subtype of NCO, engaging in the social entrepreneurship. The term social entrepreneurship is denoted the use of private enterprises not for profit gaining, but as an auxiliary force in the process of changing of society for the better.

The establishment of organizations of social value, operating within the frameworks of entrepreneurship in the name of society, but not in the name of enrichment that have appeared in Estonia, in recent years should become a shining example of reflection of civil position of society for the other countries. And also this fact can change radically the theoretical positions in the terms of entrepreneurship. Without getting involved in arguments in this respect, let’s represent the general statistics of existence of acting of non-profit organizations and funds in the regions of Estonia. 1

According to the data of Internal Affairs of Estonia as on the 1st of January 2014 were counted 29508 registered non-profit organizations (in the state, Estonian language - MTÜ) and 822 funds (in the state, Estonian language – SA). For more complete idea of the state of non-profit organizations (NCOs) in the regions of the country, let’s represent visually the analysis of statistical data of register of nonprofit organizations of Estonia, in the table 3.

Table 3The statistics of register of NCOs and funds on 01.01.2014 in the regions of Estonia2

Region City NCOs Fund

HarjuHarju 3300 59Tallinn 9752 333aadressita 54 0

Total in Harju 13106 392

Tartu

Jõgeva maakond 606 24Põlva maakond 604 16Tartu 3457 109Valga 655 45Viljandi 939 26

Total in Tartu 6261 220

Parnu

Võru 778 14Hiiu 354 9Järva 736 20Lääne 788 21Pärnu 1857 40Rapla 790 12Saare 992 23

1 Website Estonica - created by the Estonian Institute and supplemented them online edition of Estonia -http://www.estonica.org/ru/Общество/Некоммерческий_сектор_Эстонии:_краткий_обзор/Сегодняшний_день/

2 Register of Estonian companies - http://www2.rik.ee/rikstatfailid/failid/tabel.php?url=14_01mk.htm256


Total in Parnu 6295 139

Viru Ida-Viru 2532 53Lääne-Viru 1313 18aadressita 1 0

Total in Viru 3846 71Total 29508 822

As it can be seen from the table 3, the largest number of NCOs and funds are registered in the region of Harju. Such a high index, according to the opinion of authors is determined by the fact that in this region is included the capital of Estonia – city Tallinn in which are registered 9752 and 333 funds that exceeds the similar figure in the other cities or in general in other regions. The second region according to the number of nonprofit organizations and funds – Parnu, in the third position, with a slight difference takes Tartu. It should be noted that the tracing analogy between the number of funds and NCOs, i.e., is noted a large number of registered funds in the same regions, where a large number of registered NCOs. For the generalization of obtained data of ledger statistics, let’s represent the analysis in the form of graphic chart by cities, state, as on the 1st of January 2014 (Figure 2).

Figure 2. The diagram of ledger statistics of NCOs and funds as on 01.01.2014 by the regions of Estonia. The represented diagram (Figure 2) shows that the largest number of NCOs is registered in Tallinn, Harju and Tartu. This fact, according to the opinion of authors can be explained by the number of people, living in these cities. As a proof, we give some data of the National Statistical Office of Estonia according to which as on 01.01.2014 in Tallinn have lived 430 944 people, in Tartu, at the end of 2013 – 97117, in Harju 572,103 as on the 1st of January 2014, in total number of population in Estonia 1 315 819 people.3 The mentioned data we will analyze and represent visually in the table 4.

Table 4The correlation of population and number of nonprofit organizations in the major cities of

EstoniaCity Population NCOs Fund Correlation in

%

Harju 572 103 3300 59 0,58

3 the official web site of Estonian statistic - http://www.stat.ee/ppe-46953257


Tallinn 430 944 9752 330 2,33

Tartu 97 117 3457 109 3,67

Total in Harju,

Tallinn and

Tartu

1 100 164 16509 4980 1,54

Saaremaa 31 756 922 23 2,97

Total in Estonia 1 315 819 29508 822 2,30

The represented data in the table 4 show the most bright index – coorelation of NCOs with the presence of living population in major cities. The largest coorelation is observed in Tartu - 3.67. Despite this in Saaremaa, the percentage ratio of nonprofit organizations to the population size is 2.97. Such number of nonprofit organizations on a small number of the population is explained by the direction to the development of tourism sector of the economy of this region and specifically the city.

In the last decade in Estonia is observed the increase of number of nonprofit organizations. On an average, approximately increases in 1500 NCOs. However, it should be noted that at the beginning of 2012, almost 33500 organizations were outside the range from the registered nonprofit organizations that significantly disrupted the statistics downwards. The reason for this decline was the not represented the annual reports of economic activity in due time in the register of the legal entities and automatic deletion of organizations from the register. This circumstance was stem from the introduction of new requirements which provide for the submission of annual reports even, if the economic activity is not carry out) by all the registered NCOs and funds (SA) previously release from the submission of annual reports. Thus, during 2011 was excluded 127 organizations, including 19 funds, in 2012 this index reached 2274 of NCOs, among them 121 funds, in 2013 – 1541 among them 34 funds.

Nevertheless, on an average there are about 6000 of nonprofit organizations which are carrying out a passive economic activity, namely, for this reason it is impossible to calculate the total number of NCOs as operating actively. For the social organizations and funds the quantatitive tool is not an indicator of the level of institutionalization of civil society and universality. The real activity of NCOs is necessary to evaluate according to the number of wage workers, attracted volunteers and annual reports. Another positive fact in the favor of the country, where a favourable political and economic climate is created for the creation, functioning and development of NCOs. On the basis of available official statistics, Estonia, in comparison with the other Baltic countries is one of the countries, where the nonprofit organizations can be called „long – lived”. For example, as on the 1st of January 2014 the duration of operation of NCOs was 8 years.

Approximately half (~ 15 000) of the registered of nonprofit organizations are housing cooperatives or associations. Besides that the condominiums and other types of nonprofit organizations implement their activity according to the legislation of Estonia. By the special laws are subject to trade unions, religeous associations (church, monastery and etc.), provincial associations of the local authorities and etc.

Almost one third of them are apartment associations, 18% operate in the field of art, entertainment and leisure, 3 % of organizations are engaged in the field of education or health care and social assistance. According to some evaluations approximately 4 -6 % of working population of the country works in the third sector. In 2014, in the voluntary activity were engaged the residents of Estonia. The most active volunteers constitute 5 % of total population – they act weekly or monthly, they for the most part are the members of civil associations and contribute to the event planning and management of associations, as well as in the management of circle and advocacy of social groups. The 52 % of volunteers participated in the activity on their own inititive and participated under the supervision of any organization or by invitation. The 15 % of all volunteers acted in the institutions of public sector.

258


The carried out researches have also revealed the activity of volunteers, who are the professionals and who contribute to their knowledge pro bono. In rural regions acted about 450 associations based on the partnership to which are added partnerships without agreements and operating in the cities of partnership. More than half included in the register of non-profit associations and funds in the Commercial register of organizations are apartment, garage and gardener’s partnership. According to different estimates the associations employ 4-5% of working population.

The represented analysis, the availability and multi-polarity of fields of activity of non-profit organizations mean that the role of NCOs in Estonia is great and to their creation and activity put special emphasis.

In connection with the above mentioned statement, let’s analyze the availability of cooperation of non-profit organizations with the state institutions of Estonia. It should be noted that in order to provide the safety and open society in the formation of national structures, local self-government authorities and NCOs together, more effectively cope with the MIA of local self-government and regional department of administration of civil rights of state policy analysis, planning, coordination and development of organizations of civil society.

The civil society is a term of wide comprehension and influence on everybody. The civil society is considered to be a society, where the basic rights and human liberties are protected and where it is possible to influence on political decisions. There is cooperation – spontaneous, public, pursuing its own interests, implying the discussion of public issues and participation in the decision-making process. But it should be taken into the consideration that fact as mentioned earlier (See. Figure 1) that the civil society is a part of the third sector or non-profit sector – a part of society which is not a part of state authority or profitable business sector.

Another important fact – is a civil society in Estonia is based on the strategic development of civil concept of development of society (EKAK). In Estonia this document is the development concept of civil society approved by the parliament of Estonia – Riigikogu on the 12 th of December 2012. In this regard, it should be noted that both in Latvia and in Lithuania is just holding a discussion, concerning the role of non-governmental organizations in the society and are looking for an appropriate form of the cooperation agreement. Let’s settle on this moment and give the explanations on the concept of development of civil society in Estonia.

An Estonia development concept of civil society (in Estonian language - Eesti kodanikuühiskonna arendamise kontseptsioon - EKAK) - EKAK – is a document that determines the complementary roles of state authority and civil initiative as well as the principles of cooperation in the field of formation and implementation of state policy, as well as the formation of civil society of Estonia. In August of 2014, the government of Republic also approved the action programme within the frameworks of EKAK, the use of which is coordinated by the joint committee of civil associations and government sector, convened by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Forms of cooperation involve a wide range of tools and mechanisms. Mainly, the government supports the civil sector, forming a favourable legal base for institution, functioning and sustainability of organizations (i.e., creating mechanisms, allowing NGOs to use different sources of finances). The government and NCOs have increased the level of cooperation in the field of provision of social services. In its turn, the government has strengthened the support of NCOs, providing the various grants and subsidies.4

An Estonian Civil Society Development Concept is approved by the parliament in December 2002. The concept of civil society and government authority allowed formulating the partnership basis and to determine the development prospect of active citizenship that would contribute to the consolidation of democracy in the country. In the same period was created a commission that determined the priority forms of responsibility, control over the implementation of concept and its development prospects.

In 2007, the meaning and role of commission were supported by an official document of the government under the number № 380 of 16th of August, where was approved its composition, in the amount of 22 members, including: five

4 Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organizations, NENO (or EMSL in Estonian) - http://www.ngo.ee/ngo/210/article/8149

259


ministries, chancellors, fund managers in the state, employers and employees of organizations, public associations and carefully elected representatives.

The last change was in the composition of the joint EKAK committee on the 5 th of July 2012, where the committee should be based on the institution. In general, the committee is consisting of ministries, public funds and non-governmental organizations. It should be emphasized that the representatives of non-profit organizations were elected by the members of the committee in the public competition.

The last decade was marked as directly or indirectly related to EKAK positive events. As a result of active work of representatives of civil associations the state authority became increasingly to recognize the importance of participation of citizens and necessity of cooperation with the third sector. In the ministries work coordinators who are responsible for the increase of involvement of citizens. One of the positive beginnings is the activity of fund of assistance in development of entrepreneurship (EAS) which in cooperation with district development centers (MAK) offers information how to create non-profit associations and how to develop it. In cooperation with district development centers is organized education and consulting of members of non-profit organizations. 5

On the basis of priorities of “development concept of civil society of Estonia” (EKAK) currently are made three promotional programs of civil initiative: 2004-2006, 2007-2010 and 2011-2014. The last of them, namely, the development programme of civil society for 2011-2014 is focused on five topics – civil education, vitality of civil associations, the participation of citizens, the partnership in the field of public services as well as charity and philanthropy. The “development concept” of civil society of Estonia” (EKAK) serves as a basis for the national strategy of support of volunteering. One of the most important documents in this field is the development programme of support of civil initiative for 2007 – 2010. It should be noted that on the development of volunteering movement in Estonia a huge influence had a membership of Estonia in the European Union. 2011 in the European Union was declared the year of volunteering movement in terms of which under the guidance of the center of development of volunteering movement (VTA) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs were carried out the activities related to the training and support of volunteers.

However, the implementation of “concept of development of civil society of Estonia” (EKAK) was very difficult. Many agreements remained only at the level of promises to what is contributed the abstractness of both legal acts and concept itself. For example, in Estonia, was not a clean plan of actions, covering the different aspects of civil education as well as was not a common coordinator of this activity. More difficult problem has appeared that both citizens and civil associations have found that their participation in the decision-making process is often only apparent. A serious issue is the involvement of various minorities. The sounding in the speeches of politicians understanding of importance of civil initiative is very often remains only at the level of words.

Extremely important in the last decade was the activity of the civil associations and activists themselves. The role of union of non-profit organizations and funds of Estonia (EMSL) is still very high, being a representative body of civil associations, a union provides training and offers consultations and provides the information, concerning civil society, etc. The union of non-profit organizations and funds of Estonia publishes a journal Hea Kodanik (Good Citizen) which contains a variety of materials, reflecting the development of civil society. The union of non-profit organizations and funds of Estonia headed work on making up the above mentioned Kaasamise hea tava (the best tradition of involvement) as well as the Code of Ethics of civil associations, reference book of good management and other documents that attempt to regulate the activity of civil associations themselves and to demonstrate the desire of civil society to be more involved in management.6

One of the most famous events of recent times carried out by the initiative of citizens was the project “Let’s do it!”, first was held in 2008 and repeated in 2010, 2011, 2012. In the event worked tens of thousands of people in different parts of Estonia who voluntarily participated in the general garbage collection. Historically, in Estonia was a

5 Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organizations, NENO (or EMSL in Estonian) official website, “Explorer for a year in volunteer activities of the population” - http://www.ngo.ee/ngo/210/article/8149

6 Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organizations, NENO (or EMSL in Estonian) official website,” - http://www.ngo.ee/

260


tradition of participation in volunteer activity. For centuries was the custom at the time of harvest to help each other by the whole village.

After the success of the project “Let’s do it!” many people all over the world were inspired by the idea and decided to carry out the similar large-scale actions on garbage collection in their regions and countries. As an example can be the carried out events:

The 24th of April 2009 – Latvia. In the action took part more than 60,000 people. The 24th of April 2009 – Lithuania. In the action took part more than 110 000 people. The 20th of April 2010 – Portugal. The 17th of April 2010 – Slovenia. In the action took part more than 246 000 people. The 24th of April 2012 - Tunisia joined to the action. Altogether in the world garbage collection within six months

will take part more than eighty countries. 7

The campaign of garbage collection “Let’s do it!” currently has acquired an international character. By 2012 the similar actions were held in 17 states, in them took part more than 3 million of people. 8

Over the past decade the economic situation of civil associations has generally improved, although the majority of organizations operate with a very small budget and subsidies on the part of government and various funds are short-term. The most part of funding of free associations comes from local sources, first of all from the local government and funds. Such funds as the Center of Environment Investments (KIK), Tax council on gambling, capital of culture, fund of integration and migration “Our people” (MISA) support the projects and organizations in their field. Established in 2008, the target capital of support of development of civil society (KÜSK) annually receives a certain amount to support non-governmental organizations, civil education and development of democracy then and there. Still retains its value the government – sponsored fund of Norway and Switzerland. The fund manager of civil associations in Estonia is the Fund of Open Estonia (AEF). The major associations first of all can get money through funds and EU projects. The recipients of money from the state budget are primarily are target institutions with the state participation.

Acting in the interests of society the non-profit associations and target institutions under the certain conditions may be added to the list of associations that receive tax remissions. At the same time the concept “public interest” was not clearly defined not by any law and therefore the tax remissions are used only a small part of organizations that actually operate in the interests of society. In recent years the leaders of civil society are fighting for the principles of simplifying of getting tax remissions.

The variety of sources of funding of civil associations makes a difference. It is important that the civil associations don’t become dependent on one source whether it is foreign money or government support. It can be said that the range of sources of funding in comparison with 1990 has grown considerably. The researches of the second half of 1990 showed that the most part in funding of associations of citizens were the membership dues then followed the subsidies of local self – government authorities and state authorities.9

In the last decade the situation has changed. An economic crisis had a significant influence on funding that began in 2008. In comparison with 2009, in 2004 significant were both funds allocated from the state budget and support on the part of Estonian entrepreneurs. Much less in 2009 were mentioned the subsidies from the foreign organizations, foreign entrepreneurs and private individuals. But in 2009 more is mentioned the funding of public funds. On the other hand, the share of the EU programme has increased twice. It is obvious that it is a consequence of entrance of Estonia to the European Union and opening for it the structural funds of EU. The membership dues as the sources of

7 official web page of Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Estonia http://www.sisemin.gov.ee/atp/index.php?id=5637

8 official web page of Youth Association "Open Republic" - http://www.or.ee/1082

9 The official web page of the Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) - http://www.meis.ee/rus-avaleht

261


funding of non-profit organizations are mentioned quite often, although their share in the budgets of associations is not significant.10

Comparing the sources of finance of target associations in 2004 and 2009 it should be noted that their funding from the means of state budget has also been reduced and at the same time has increased the value of public funds. On the other hand, if for the nonprofit organizations seriously has increased the support through EU programs then for the target associations the growth of this funding has remained extremely moderate. However, for the target associations the funding at the expense of EU programs is still remained more affordable than for non-profit organizations.

With the funding is tied also one trend in the development of the Estonian civil society, namely, the provision of public services to free civil associations. The provision of public services primarily occurs at the local level. A great advantage of the implementation of services is the resources saving, the improvement of quality of provided services and proximity to the target group. However, there is a danger that as a result of this the civil associations are excessively professionalized, set forth their goals in accordance with the state priorities, thus turning into a kind of state organization. The problem of financing of rendering of services on a project basis becomes the impossibility to continue the activity, in the case if the project money is running out or state financing is reduced as it has happened during the recent economic crisis. Furthermore, the role of responsible for the interests of the target group has become uncertain and depending on to whom this service has been rendered this year. On the basis of the law, the ultimate responsibility and control over the provision of public services is still attached to the public sector. The excessive focus on the provision of public services reduces the possibility of civil associations to be truly the channel of representing the interests of marginalized groups of population. The last mentioned, in its turn is one of the priorities of “Concept of development of civil society of Estonia” (EKAK)”.

One of the important issues related to the poor organization of people. As it was mentioned above, approximately 70% of residents does not belong to the civil organizations, although in the last decade the number of non-for-profit associations has increase twice, from 15 thousand to 30 thousand. A narrow circle of active members in the organization leads to the fact that appears so-called elite and weakens the contact with the ordinary citizens. Experts repeatedly noted that, although the associations are developing steadily, it is possible to note the stratification among the members of the organization on the level of possibilities. The professional leaders appear a group of enthusiasts are increased. This means that the coming to a society the marginal classes remain weak. Increase the possibility of combination of a comprehensive manner to formulate the public interest and because of this suffers the involvement in the public affairs of various minorities.

The studies have shown that the social activity in Estonia to a greater extent depends on the availability of personal resources. In the public activity, actively took part Estonians, provided people with higher education, mostly young people. The carried out researches in recent years have shown that for example, in volunteer activity, first of all are engaged people at the age of 35- 49 years old (~ 34%), then follow 15 -24 years old (28%) and 50 – 64 years old (24%). People at the age of 65 years old and older are engaged in volunteer work the least. Let’s represent data visually in the form of a structural diagram (See. Fig. 3).

10 Official web page of the project "Let's do it 2009" - http://www.darom09.lt/262


Figure 3. The analysis of the age of people involved in volunteering activity11

The personal well-being for the majority of population is more important than the social welfare and it reduces people’s wishes to contribute to the solution of problems that are not directly related to the personal life, private interests. Even the unemployed people socially are very passive, although it would seem that they have enough free time. It is also one of the reasons why in the last decade experts stressed the necessity of social guarantees for the volunteers and pointed to the difficulties of compensating the expanses on volunteering activity in Estonia.

And finally, as in 1990 the ethnic isolation of Estonian society is preserved. Although in the last decade the Russian – speaking and Estonian – speaking people began to perceive the importance of the civil society equally, the attitude towards the state and the understanding of their place in the society in the Russian-speaking people is different from what Estonian feel. The existing language barrier complicates both the successful functioning of the Russians associations and the communication between the operating in one and the same field of Russian and Estonian organizations. The Russian –speaking inhabitants pessimistically evaluate the possibilities of cooperation between the different ethnic groups, their attitudes and behaviour are still determined by the Russian – speaking information space. It is believed that the internal political crisis in Estonia (including the riots in April 2007 or Bronze night) is related to the real weakness of the civil society in the promotion of dialogue between communities.

According to the data of monitoring of 2014 (2014. aasta Integratsiooni monitooringu) there are the significant differences in the political activity of people with the different status of citizenship. In the measurement of political activity were taken into the consideration such events as the collection of signatures under the proclamations and petitions, the participation in the public meetings, appealing to the state officials and etc. The political activity of Estonian citizens, regardless of nationality is the same; approximately one third of them took part in the above mentioned activities. But among the persons without the citizenship in the political actions took part only one-fifth and among the citizens of Russia only every sixth person. Similarly looks the belonging to the civil associations. 12

Continuing the topic of cooperation with the state institutions, it should be noted that the third sector of Estonia as any integral part of democratic state has undergone for 20 years of independence the significant changes, rising through the ranks from a spontaneous civil activity to institutionalized partially professional environment. Today the cooperation of the first and third sectors of Estonia takes place on mutually agreed terms on a constant basis. The political analyst Nigel Ashford believes that the “enemy of the civil society is not an individual freedom, but the government” which collects power and resources by requiring from people time and money. However, in the



263


scientific community there are another point of views. For example, Rein Ruutsoo convinced that in democratic countries, even with the government funding, civil associations are still implement their own goals, in particular, for the control over the public authority.

Of course, not every criticism can be seen constructively and therefore the public opinion can be met with fierce oppositions.

However, with this opinion cannot be agreed and according to the opinions of authors the government can be a partner of the third sector, passing some of its powers and implementing the support of their activity as well as their execution through the structures of ministries and local self-government authorities.

As at the beginning of 2014 the 62 % of local governments has delegated the provision of public services to non -profit organizations. The most popular areas: the organization of the cultural activity, the offering of social services, the development of local life.

The state allocates funds for the activity of NCOs both through the target institutions and directly. For the allocation of funding, funds and/or ministries carry out the project tenders in which take part the organizations of an appropriate direction. For example, the union of youth organizations of Estonia applies for the base financing along with the other youth organizations in the Ministry of Education and Science and NCOs “Estonian society of NATO”, is engaged in the cooperation in the field of development and increase of awareness of the activity of alliance and receives the financial support of its projects, including from the Ministry of Defence. About the other methods of state funding of activity of the third sector.

NCOs are attracted by almost all ministries of an appropriate field as partners and/or consultants. The civil associations have the possibility to keep their grounds, taking part in the work of various round tables and commissions. The cooperation of umbrella organizations such as EMSL (the union of non-profit organizations and funds of Estonia) occurs first of all with the Ministry of Regional Affairs, operating in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. 13 All the presidents, restoring the independence of Estonia emphasized the importance of civil society in whole and non-profit sector in particular.

Thus, summing up for the carried out research it is possible to claim that to the non-profit organizations in Estonia are of great importance and their role in the formation and democratization of the civil society is great. And gained experienced in the establishment of non-profit organizations from the day, when the country acquire the independence, Estonia could be an example for the other countries of the Baltic States.

The list of references: 1. “Estonica” - created by the Estonian Institute and supplemented them online edition of Estonia

-http://www.estonica.org/ru/Общество/Некоммерческий_сектор_Эстонии:_краткий_обзор/Сегодняшний_день/2. Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organizations, NENO (or EMSL in Estonian) -

http://www.ngo.ee/ngo/210/article/81493. Register of Estonian companies - http://www2.rik.ee/rikstatfailid/failid/tabel.php?url=14_01mk.htm4. The official web site of Estonian statistic - http://www.stat.ee/ppe-469535. The official web page of Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Estonia

http://www.sisemin.gov.ee/atp/index.php?id=56376. official web page of Youth Association "Open Republic" - http://www.or.ee/10827. The official web page of the Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) - http://www.meis.ee/rus-

avaleht8. The official web page of the project "Let's do it 2009" - http://www.darom09.lt/9. Estonian Civil Society Development Concept. – URL: http://www.ngo.ee/node/1090

13 Estonian Civil Society Development Concept. – URL: http://www.ngo.ee/node/1090

264

http://www.ngo.ee/node/1090

http://www.darom09.lt/

http://www.meis.ee/rus-avaleht

http://www.meis.ee/rus-avaleht

http://www.or.ee/1082

http://www.sisemin.gov.ee/atp/index.php?id=5637

http://www.stat.ee/ppe-46953

http://www2.rik.ee/rikstatfailid/failid/tabel.php?url=14_01mk.htm

http://www.ngo.ee/ngo/210/article/8149

http://www.ngo.ee/node/1090


………………………………………………………………….

How to have a long-lasting multicultural marriage?Introducing the accumulation theory of multicultural romantic relationships

Kaarina, Määttä, Jaana Anglé & Satu UusiauttiUniversity of Lapland, Finland

Abstract:

265


The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors enhancing stability of multicultural marriages in Finland. The main question set for the study was: What factors explain the stability of multicultural marriages described by the spouses themselves? This was further divided into two sub-questions of what phases long-lasting multicultural marriages go through and what the special features describing the stability of multicultural marriages are. This was a qualitative study, in which 11 Finnish spouses’ interviews formed the data. The results describe the phases of a long-lasting multicultural marriage and factors enhancing the stability of a multicultural marriage, based on which the stability of multicultural marriages was further discussed. The possible conflicts and supportive factors can be located at various levels each contributing to the quality of the relationship. The accumulation theory of multicultural relationships is introduced as the conclusion.

Key words: Multicultural marriage, immigrant spouse, Finland, multicultural relationship, long-lasting marriage

Citation: Uusiautti, Satu; Kaarina; Määttä; Anglé, Jaana; How to have a long-lasting multicultural marriage? Introducing the accumulation theory of multicultural romantic relationships; (July, 2014); Journal of Social Sciences (COES&RJ-JSS), Vol.3, No.3, pp: 381-398.

1. Introduction

Factors explaining the stability of a romantic relationship have been studied abundantly, varying from spouses’ personal characteristics and skills and mutual relationship (Rusbult, 1983) to the couple’s social network and wider societal factors (Cate & Lloyd, 1993). In this study, we were interested in what the chances of success are and how to build a long-lasting multicultural marriage in Finland. The study focused on long-lasting multicultural marriages in Finland.

There are numerous well-known theories about love and its stability in romantic relationships. John Lee’s (1973) well-known typology of love compared the forms of falling in love with the colors of a rainbow. Lee distinguished the primary three forms (erotic, playful, and companionable love) with secondary forms (manic, considerate, and unselfish love) that form numerous combinations. Other classifications about the phases or essence of love include, for example, Tzeng’s (1992) octagon model, Shirley’s (1983) a vector model, and Reiss’ (1960) circle. Furthermore, there are a filter theory (Kerckhoff & Davis, 1962), ABCDE-model (Levinger, 1983), as well as balance, exchange, and equilibrium theories (Walster, Walster, & Berscheid, 1978). Similarly, Robert J. Sternberg (1998) tried to explain why people find someone attractive but not others and why some intimate relationships endure even if facing hardships but others fail. Sternberg distinguished 26 love stories which he categorized into five different types of story.

Marital satisfaction and happiness have also been self-evaluated (Bradbury, Fincham, & Beach, 2000) in order to examine marital adjustment (Glenn, 1990) as well as marital stability (Karney & Bradbury, 1995). The findings

266


show that despite its hardness, it is important to accept dissimilarities and changes in the other (see also Nock, 1979; Vespa, 2014). Accepting changes requires compromises, flexibility, and bargaining but not excessively (see also Uusiautti & Määttä, 2012). A loving spouse and family do not suppress but, at their best, make one feel good and accepted as one is and, at the same time, give space to renew and develop oneself in a direction that one desires (Soons & Kalmijn, 2009). Numerous psychological theories (e.g., Gable & Haidt, 2005) emphasize the meaning of healthy self-respect in creating and maintaining satisfying human relationships.

According to numerous medical and psychological studies (e.g., Robles & Kiecolt-Glaser, 2003; Robles, Slatcher, Trombello, & McGinn, 1014; Rohrbaugh, Shoham, & Coyne, 2006), satisfying romantic relationship also contributes to well-being. A crucial and ever-topical question therefore is how to create and maintain happy relationships. Our research on happy marriages along with work (Määttä & Uusiautti, 2012a) summoned up seven principles of happy and long-lasting marriages: (1) The Ability to Turn Downs into Ups, (2) Activity, Creativity, and Imagination, (3) Tolerating the Dissimilarity and Change, (4) Patience, Flexibility, and Humbleness, (5) Acknowledgment, Support, and Admiration, (6) Commitment and Dedication, and (7) Self-Respect (see also Määttä & Uusiautti, 2013a; Uusiautti & Määttä, 2012). At their best, spouses are able to comfort, support, and encourage each other in the tumults of life. The relationship stays alive in times of trouble if partners are willing to slow down, soothe, stay by each other’s side, introduce new views, encourage, and seek a better life arising from even the most intolerable situations (Carrére et al., 2000). Likewise, men and women engaging in more nontraditional gender roles in work and family domains has influence on the quality of relationships as well (Perrone, Wright, & Jackson, 2009).

Lamanna and Riedmann (2009) consider the stability of love and relationship as a sum of four factors: (1) recognition of the importance of relationship (one has to appreciate the relationship), (2) accepting and supportive communication, (3) reciprocal friendliness (”love should not hurt mentally or physically), and (4) humor and surprises that brighten the everyday life. But what are the special features of multicultural relationships? Are there any theories that reveal keys to a stable marriage especially between spouses from different cultures?

2. Special characteristics of multicultural relationships

Love processes are told to progress somewhat similarly regardless of age, gender, or cultural background (Määttä & Uusiautti, 2013a). The beginning of a relationship is one the most important phases in the relationship development. While multicultural relationships often are based on freedom of partner selection, in other words on love, the risk of breaking up is higher in these relationship compared to monocultural relationships. This is partly due to the difficulty of combining both spouse’s cultural values and expectations successfully (Beck-Gernsheim & Beck, 1995; Heikkilä, 2011; Määttä, 2011).

Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim (1994) emphasizes the construction of the shared reality in multicultural relationships. Communication, rituals, and shared values are elements that have to be agreed upon in everyday life. Common habits should be created. As such, it is incorrect to argue that monocultural relationships would be more effortless when considering practical issues. Communication problems are always a salient part of relationship communication (Määttä & Uusiautti, 2013b). When ti comes to multicultural relationships, language, lifestyles, values, cuisine, or different ways mindsets can cause trouble (see Karney & Bradsbury, 1995; Spickard, 1989).

Furthermore, life involves various stressful situations that are either family-bound or come from outside. The former refers to, for example, alcohol abuse or mental or physiological illnesses. The latter covers, for example, unemployment or negative attitudes in one’s environment. Reuben Hill (1949) studied families’ and couples’ adjustment phases that always start from the individual, the nature of a crisis, and how the individual adjusts to the situation. The second phase happens at the couple level and reveals how the couple adjusts to the situation. The third phase involves the whole family and what new roles emerge in the family due to the crisis (Hill, 1949). Hill’s model of family stress was complemented by Hamilton McCubbin and his colleagues (1983) (see also Boss, 1992; Lavee, McCubbin, & Patterson, 1985; Malia, 2007). They developed the ABCX model that emphasizes the salient role of resources in romantic relationships and families. This model also helps analyzing multicultural marriages, as it illustrates well how families function in stressful situations. In the model, A refers to the stressful situation, B to the resources the family possess, C to the family members’ interpretations about the stressful situation, and X to the

267


family adjustment. The theory is based on family system theories and family stress theories that all consider family adjustment as a dynamic and developmental process (White & Kline, 2008).

3. Method

The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors enhancing stability of multicultural marriages in Finland. One research question was set for the study: What factors explain the stability of multicultural marriages described by the spouses themselves?

This was further divided into two sub-questions: (1) What phases do long-lasting multicultural marriages go through?(2) What are the special features describing the stability of multicultural marriages?

This was a qualitative study, in which 14 Finnish spouses who were married to a foreigner were interviewed. Of these interviews, 11 were used as data. What was crucial in this study was how Finnish spouses talked about their relationships and families. The interest was in their opinions on how a romantic relationship functions and how they describe their partners and themselves as well as their romantic relationships. The selection was made because interviews with Finnish spouses could be done in the Finnish language without the use of interpreters and further familiarization with the cultural backgrounds of foreign spouses in order to do interviews successfully. At first, it seemed that it was difficult to reach suitable participants for the study and have people talk about their marriages to a stranger, but these fears were unfounded.

The interviews were carried out across Finland among Finnish spouses who had been married to a foreigner approximately 15 years. The interviewees represented both women (N=8) and men (N=3), aged 32-51. The foreigner spouses’ countries of origin or continents will not be revealed in this article in order to protect the research participants’ anonymity. However, immigrants come from all over the world.

The narrative interviewing method was chosen to this study (Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiac, & Zilber, 1998; Polkinghorne, 1995). Narratives are considered data that participate in forming and producing culture, identities, and political projects. Before going to asking how to do research with narratives, it is important to realize what narratives are and how narratives work in the social life (Bruner, 1986; Gudmundsdottir, 1996). For example, Koski (2007) divides the concept of narrative into four, partly overlapping juxtapositions: (1) singular, designated narratives vs. narrative as a theoretical concept; (2) narrative as a research target vs. narrative as a methodological tool for analyzing a phenomenon produced by narrating; (3) the definition of narrative based on its form vs. its content; and (4) narrative as a concrete expression vs. narrative as a mere metaphor describing human activity.

Narrative research has developed during past decades, but it cannot be seen as a coherent paradigm or method (Zilber, Tuval-Mashiach, & Lieblich, 2008). Merely, narrative is a framework for research related to narratives. These studies share the position of narratives in transmitting and constructing of reality. It means that a narrator has a central role between the reality and narrative (Bal, 1999).

The data were analyzed with the methods of narrative analysis and analysis of narratives (Polkinghorne, 1995). The analysis of narratives focused on analyzing the contents of narratives. The narrative analysis analyzed the data as a whole by categorizing by themes and types. Elements emerging from narratives were organized into a new, comprehensive narrative. Each interview were formed into a narrative and then these narratives were combined into a meta-narrative that was compared to the interviewees’ stories (Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiac, & Zilber, 1998). This resembled a combination of elements emerging from the data, forming a plotted narrative (Polkinghorne 1995). Analyses focused on differences between individual narratives and the meta-narrative: why do they differ and what do the themes tell about the phenomenon. Themed narratives cannot be considered all-encompassing, but they bring out the core contents from the data (Tinker & Armstrong, 2008).

4. Results

4.1 Phases of a long-lasting multicultural marriage 268


This results section illustrates the phases multicultural marriages according to the research participants had involved. Different phases give an impression about what special features typify multicultural marriages.

The first encounter is a memorable event, and the participants remembered it well in the interviews. They could describe the meeting in great detail. Indeed, these first encounters formed one of the core parts of the narratives because they include specific meeting time, place, and situation giving the trigger to the relationship. Both women and men remembered this first time equally well (cf. Eagly, 2013). Narratives included powerful, pleasant feelings that, for example, Robert Stenberg (1998) noticed as a part of the excitement of the phase of falling in love. Although one could assume that the Finnish participants would have had previous positive experiences of foreigners (cf., Khatib-Chahidi, Hill, & Paton, 1998), this was not accented in this study.

Usually the participants started the interviews by describing their first encounter with their spouse or talking about the time preceding the event. The first phase of the relationship naturally is located in the time of the first encounter and beginning of the relationship.

The second phase included moving to Finland among those spouses who had met each other abroad. They had to negotiate about which country they would be living in, and quite often, the Finnish spouses were unable to move abroad from Finland. The second phase of the relationship among those who had met in Finland also involved planning of the future together.

The third phase of the relationships focused on settling down in Finland. This phase was described very carefully in the interviews and influenced the next phases of the relationships either positively or negatively depending on how well or poorly the initial phases had succeeded.

“It would have been important to her to know where she was about to come…that people are not necessarily very responsive, and it is cold and dark…and oh, the language, how important it would be to know the language…” (Man No. 2)

“First, we moved in Helsinki [the capital of Finland] and everything went well there because we had jobs and everything… He made friends at work and the Finnish language was not a problem because he did well in English… He started a language course but did not feel up to attending it…” (Woman No.2)

The previous data excerpts illustrate diverging narratives about the initial phases of a multicultural relationship. The spouses referred in these interviews present two groups of immigrants treated differently in Finland. The first group consists of western people who speak English as their native language, while the second group covers people coming from developing countries and without language skills. When arriving Finland, they are in unequal positions because representatives of the former group are not necessarily expected to know the Finnish language but the latter group is, especially when applying for a job. Johanna Leinonen (2011) concluded the same in her studies.

Moving to a strange country can be a cultural shock. For example, Lucy Williams (2010) reminds how life as a marital immigrant does not necessarily measure up to one’s expectations, nor do immigrants always get relevant information about their new home country. This viewpoint by Williams was evident in the data of this study as well. The Finnish spouses described how moving to Finland was first experienced as something exotic. Immigrant spouses were fascinated by the beautiful and pure nature, exciting local people, and decorating the new home. The Finnish spouses helped with all practical matters; otherwise, many things would have been much more difficult to handle.

“Indeed, my spouse has been saying to me that how she would have handled everything without a Finnish spouse. Well, of course it would have been difficult – when you know nothing about anything and do not know the language…” (Man No. 2.)

The fourth phase of the relationship focuses more on the everyday life and the ways the multicultural couples manage to create shared daily practices and habits. Some couples also made their relationships official during this phase, while others had been married shortly after the first encounter. This phase could be especially prone to crises

269


and spouses’ roles could change many times during the phase. One example of the role change was unemployment and related changes in everyday life.

“Well, at first it was quite depressing when he had no job, and there was not any job available either. And let’s say that he had unemployment periods first, and that is why he ended up in this school; just go there. So, he saw everything very negatively and blamed the Finns. And then he started complaining that he does not like it and seemed to just miss his home country…” (Woman No. 7)

The length of the fourth phase differed depending on a couple. For example, the start of the relationship and how fast the relationship had progressed as well as the initial status of the immigrant spouse influenced the length of the fourth phase. Spouses without the knowledge of the Finnish language had not been able to realize how important the language skills would be especially for job applicants. The situation caused frustration in many immigrant spouses, and they got negative experiences of Finnish people and society. Not only communication problems within a relationship due to the usage of a third language (see Breger & Hill, 1998), but also the strain the Finnish spouse has when being obliged to take care of all practical matters for his or her spouse (see Cools, 2011) put pressure on the multicultural marriages. The immigrant spouse became easily dependent on the Finnish spouse in many ways.

“I took care of all insurances, bank accounts, and all phone calls… it started to be a burden… it became our typical cause of disagreement…” (Woman No. 6.)

As the immigrant spouses’ reliance on the Finnish spouses could last for years, many interviewees had asked and begged their spouses to learn the Finnish language. Certainly, multicultural marriages involve unspoken discussion over how interaction changes and how spouses’ beliefs, emotions, attitudes, values, behaviors, and identities change along with time (Liebkind, 2000). Outi Tuomi-Nikula (1997) refers to multicultural relationships in which acculturation takes place at the micro and macro levels. In the micro level, the immigrant spouse has to integrate in the new country and its society.

“Then we were just thinking that if he cannot find a job, he has to learn Finnish so well that he will find… and that is what happened.” (Woman No. 8)

However, at the second level, both spouses go through an acculturation process by familiarizing with and getting used to each other’s expectations of their roles in marriage and values. One of the interviewees described how her spouse had found it difficult to adjust to the Finnish society and expected his Finnish spouse to follow the habits of his culture at their home. The fifth phase included the time after crises when the marriages and family roles had been molded according to the double-ABCX model (Hill, 1949, 1958; McCubbin & Patterson, 1983a). Family roles can be regarded as a continuum that can change even several times during one’s life span.

4.2 Factors enhancing the stability of a multicultural marriage

Binding Daily Chores

Fluent everyday life consists of simple things as described by the research participants. Like in any relationship, also spouses in multicultural marriages appreciated basic, balanced everyday life instead of, for example, exotic trips to abroad or expensive presents.

“When we started to do things together and function as a family… everything changed… I noticed that it did me a favor…” (Woman No. 7)

Shared daily chores, such as washing dishes, cleaning, and minding children, represented these small matters referred by the participants. One of the interviewees told that their marriage was happy if they were able to find moments together in their everyday life, for example preparing a meal together, watching a film after children’s bedtime, or something similar. Another Finnish spouse emphasized small trips together with the spouse; these breakaways were important to their relationship. Regardless of the way of finding time together, doing the effort for the relationship mattered. Interviewees described how important it was to show caring concretely and by doing things together.

270


“She likes presents, and I do not care about them much. I rather long for time together…” (Man No. 1)

”I like doing and going together. We do not need something, we, for example, cook together and chat… We have not ever been saying that you wash dishes and clean up, and you do this and that, but we both do always what is needed… and if I, for example, have a headache, he says to me that I should go to sleep and I will take care of it…”(Woman No. 4)

Noteworthy, every human being loves and shows love in his or her own way, and spouses should bother to find out each other’s personal love styles. Everyday life can turn into a treasure land of love in multicultural marriages if spouses are willing to show caring by daily actions.

Caring and Loving Actions

Many interviewees talked about the importance of time spent together. While some of them appreciated little, daily honors, others preferred breakaways from the everyday life. Gifts or gentle gestures and favors were considered as manifestations of love. Physical intimacy and its importance to the quality of relationship were mentioned in all interviews.

“Of course, it [sex] cannot be the same any longer… passionate, like in the beginning… now, it is like; we can hold our hands and it does not always have to lead to anything…” (Woman No. 4)

In multicultural marriages, acceptance and intimacy can become tested for example in situations where spouses do not fully understand each other because of language problems. Likewise, cultural differences can cause difficulties if expressions of love are interpreted differently. Therefore, finding the mutual way of showing love and caring that suits both spouses is especially important in multicultural marriages.

Accepting and supportive communication

As a natural continuum to the previous element, it is important to realize that different ways of communicating and expressing ourselves make an important part of communication in relationships (Määttä & Uusiautti, 2013b). Gestures, tones, use of space, and facial expressions are part of everyone’s communication, and vary between cultures (Frame, 2004; Roos, 2009). When moving to a new country, culture-specific habits of what one can and should not say would be important to learn. Likewise, non-verbal communication (e.g., body language, positions, and movements) is different in different countries (Viertola-Cavallari, 2009).

Interviewees described many situations in which their spouses could have said hello to all oncoming people and when not being greeted in return, they considered Finnish people rude. One interviewee described the spouse’s first visit to parents-in-law: the spouse had not looked the parents directly in the eye, which had made a bad impression and caused a conflict. These situations could have been avoided with sufficient familiarization of both spouse’s cultures.

“We could have solved these issues if we had talked about them. But you cannot consider everything… so we have learned the hard way.” (Man No. 2)

When it comes to multicultural marriages, it seems all the more important to be aware of the various forms of communication. For example, Tuula Pukkala (2006) emphasized in her study on long-lasting Finnish relationships that the importance of quality communication for the stability of relationships has been known for a long time (see also Määttä & Uusiautti, 2013b).

“He is really talkative and open, which is probably that non-Finnish character. I realized that very clearly. We talked about everything and he kind of taught me to talk about all things. - - We have discussed how we handle this relationship. - - This negotiation is a really important element in our life, and I noticed that he does not do anything without negotiating with me first. And I have learned it from him, and in my opinion, it has become our strength and salvation in many possible conflict situations.” (Woman No. 1)

271


The previous data excerpt shoes how important it has been to learn habits that foster the multicultural relationship. The spouse’s willingness to take into account each other’s opinions, characteristics, and habits and to appreciate them can turn into the footing of a relationship. This was important in the busy everyday life that was often referred to in the interviews. How to maintain positive atmosphere and friendly, constructive way of paying attention to each other was reflecting to the inner balance of the relationship, as described by the following Finnish spouses:

“Spending time together, paying attention… - - I started to address my husband more respectfully and thought more of what I say to him…” (Woman No. 3)

“Certainly, if you do not have any respect you do not have anything else either. That is the basic thing, right?” (Man No. 1)

Humor

When the interviewees were asked to think of advice they would like to give to other multicultural couples, many of them emphasized the meaning of humor. Without an ability to look at the funny sides of daily events, marriages would not have probably last. Humoristic attitude helped to survive with various daily chores when even going to a grocery store necessitated thorough negotiations.

“You have to have a sense of humor. If the corners of your mouth are downward all the time, it starts to affect the family… and the relationship too… So we laugh a lot…” (Woman No. 7)

“…and you have to have humor. It helps to pass any time of trouble…” (Man No. 3)

Commitment, and ability to compromise and make up

All relationships have conflicts that usually can be solved. Multicultural marriages may require more conscious commitment to the relationship due to the various daily challenges that monocultural relationships do not necessarily have, for example, when the foreign spouse does not know the Finnish language. Spouses’ perseverance is tested when they have to find the right cultural combination in their relationship and life the everyday life in Finland. Conflicts occur inevitably, but it is the spouses’ ability to make compromises that can help the relationship to develop. Likewise, the ability and active willingness to make up is the most important ingredient of a successful multicultural marriage. These elements were described in the data as follows:

“We had to stop before we would face a bankruptcy. That was crazy: we had to take loans to be able to pay loans and employ ourselves… I also tried to handle my other job elsewhere… now we think that what if we would move to a bigger place where there would not be so much racism either…” (Woman No. 3)

Support from others

Social networks that supported the spouses were considered important. In many cases, relatives lived faraway and practical help was not possible. Instead, mental support when available was seen crucial. Some of the interviewees told that their spouses had not been accepted as family members. Lack of social networks, disparaging and hostile attitudes toward the foreign spouse had caused tension also inside the family and relationship. These issues had to be discussed and solved.

“One thing is that we have always been along, depended on each other. We have not had any supporting network around us. We have not had grandparents to watch our children, and we have always had to find solutions by ourselves…” (Woman No. 2)

Many couples in this study had survived without friends’ and relatives’ help. Only a few had been helped by their circle of acquaintances. Lack of concrete support had created personal dynamics and systems in the relationships. Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim (1994) calls these kinds of negotiations as relationship work, which appeared as a strong element in the multicultural marriages in this study.

272


Lack of acceptance causes extra strain for the relationship, even though couples in this study had found ways to triumph over these adversities. However, friends’ and relatives’ acceptance can become important supportive factor for a multicultural relationship, as described one of the participants:

“My mom helped us… I do not know how we would have survived without her help…” (Woman No. 3)

5. Discussion

The main purpose of this study was to find keys to long-lasting multicultural marriages in Finland. The narratives obtained from the Finnish spouses were quite lifelike and included concrete issues that support and test multicultural relationships in Finland. The phases of the relationships varied based on how the relationships had started and whether the spouses had already lived in Finland or moved to Finland from abroad. The initial status of the foreign spouse could become a determining factor of the relationship quality. Likewise, employment and the knowledge of the Finnish language defined how well the immigrant spouses integrated in Finland. The longer the marriage, the lesser cultural differences influenced the multicultural relationships. Instead, spouses’ personal differences started to have a bigger role (see also Ozer & Benet-Martinez, 2006).

Some common features could be found that especially describe the stability of multicultural marriages. As the interviews in this study showed, the possible conflicts and supportive factors can be located at various levels that, when considering as an entity, each contribute to the quality of the relationship. We call this the accumulation theory of multicultural relationships (see Figure 1). The theory has four levels that can enhance or shake the relationship, which is illustrated by the bright and dark sides of each level.

Figure 1. The accumulation theory of multicultural romantic relationships

The theory can be further opened by discussing how each level influences the multicultural relationship (see Figure 2). At the first level, the couple itself, the spouses’ personal features, form the basis and the core of the relationship. Their fundamental features, accepting, tolerant, and adaptive features, form the foundation of a successful

273


multicultural relationship. At the next level, the spouses’ relationship skills have a significant role. This level covers the spouses’ abilities and willingness to maintain and nurture their relationship by

appreciating mutual everyday life. Positively-toned communication, love and affection, ability to compromise and tolerate disagreements all are features that support the relationship and its positive development. Without these skills, the multicultural relationship would not probably stay strong at times of facing for example threats or trouble from outside the family.

Figure 2. Positive and negative extremes of each level influencing multicultural romantic relationships

Indeed, the third level of our theory includes the resources that support the relationship from outside. Friends, relatives, and other circles of acquaintances represent social networks that contribute to the quality of a multicultural relationship in many ways: not only as concrete help but also as acceptance of the multicultural relationship and welcoming of the immigrant spouse.

The fourth dimension occurring from the data is the society. The surrounding society can provide resources that help the multicultural relationship flourish. Such resources are, for example, employment, accepting attitudes, and values. In addition, economic support can be seen especially important at the phase of settling in the new home country. Opportunities to learn the local language and culture enhance the foreign spouse’s integration, as do fluent processes with immigration and other officials.

Naturally, all these levels are interconnected as well. Unwillingness to adjust to the society and learn the local culture can threaten the spouses’ mutual commitment to cherish their relationship and make a lousy impression to the possible social contacts at the third level of relationship resources. On the other hand, lack of society’s or social network’s support can put strain to the relationship, but if the spouses are able and willing to maintain their relationship, the multicultural marriage can last. All starts from the individual spouses themselves, but as a couple they also form a unit that is a part of their intermediate surrounding environment and network of relatives and friends and the society and culture they live in. The ideal situation is the one where all these levels contribute to the relationship positively and supportively.

6. Conclusion

Although Finland has had cultural minorities for centuries, cultural encounters are more mundane today than before. It is important to understand events related to the phenomenon (Bras & Kok, 2005; Leitzinger, 1999). The group of immigrants in Finland is homogenous compared to other European countries, partly due to the strict immigration law of Finland (Fingerroos & Haanpää, 2011; Komulainen, 2012).

This study described the factors behind long-lasting multicultural marriages in Finland. As the results showed, integration in the new home country can be problematic to a foreign spouse and includes various phases (Williams, 2010). In Finland, multicultural marriages are often studied from the point of view of acculturation process, and immigration researchers are especially interested in immigrants’ integration, identities, and adjustment, and marital acculturation (Tuomi-Nikula, 1997). Moving to a new country is always somewhat challenging, especially when an

274


immigrant does not know the local language or culture. Likewise, Finnish culture and language can be seen challenging, if the immigrant spouse is not familiar with them before moving in Finland (Leinonen, 2011).

In all, it is worth remembering that attempts and efforts to integrate in the new home country do not mean that one should forget his or her own culture. For balanced life and healthy cultural identity, also in marriage, one should pursue balance with one’s own and the spouse’s culture. Multiculturalism in a relationship can turn into an empowering richness when the suitable balance in found (Padilla & Perez, 2003). However, the study also showed that especially in multicultural relationships, it is not just the individual spouse’s and their fit but also the surrounding people and society can function either a supportive or challenging, even shaking, factor when it comes to the stability and successful development of a multicultural relationship.

7. References

Bal, M. (1999). Narratology: Introduction to the theory of narrative. (2nd ed.) Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Beck-Gernsheim, E. (1994). Auf dem Weg in die postfamilie Familie – Von der Notgemeinschaft zur Wahlverwandschaft. In U. Beck & E. Beck-Gernsheim (Eds.), Riskante Freiheit. Individualisierung in Modernen Gesellscaften (pp. 7-19). Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.

Beck-Gernsheim, E., & Beck, U. (1995). The normal chaos of love. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Boss, P. (1992). Primacy of perception in family stress theory and measurement. Journal of Family Psychology, 6(29), 113-199. doi: 10.1037/0893-3200.6.2.113.

Bradbury, T. N., Fincham, F. D., & Beach, S. R. H. (2000). Research on the nature and determinants of marital satisfaction: A decade in review. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(4), 964-980. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2000.00964.x

Bras, H., & Kok, J. (2005). “They live in indifference together”: Marriage mobility in Zeeland, The Netherlands, 1796-1922. International Review of Social History, 50(13), 247-274. doi: 10.1017/S0020859005002130

Breger, R., & Hill, R. (1998). Introducing mixed marriages. In R. Breger & R. Hill (Eds.), Cross-cultural marriage. Identity and choice (pp. 1-32). Oxford: Berg.

Bruner, J. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.

Carrére, S., Buehlman, K. T., Gottman, J. M., Coan, J. A., & Ruckstuhl, L. (2000). Predicting marital stability and divorce in newlywed couples. Journal of Family Psychology, 14(1), 42–58. doi: 10.1037/0893-3200.14.1.42

Cate, R., & Lloyd, S. (1993). Courtship. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Cools, C. (2011). Relational dialectics in intercultural couples’ relationships. Jyväskylä: Jyväskylä University Press.

Eagly, A. H. (2013). Sex differences in social behavior: A social-role interpretation. London: Lawarence Erlbaum Associates.

Fingerroos, O., & Haanpää, R. (2011). Strangers from the East-Narratives of Karelian exiles and re-immigrants from Russia Regarding their integration in Finland. In I. G. Rozenberga & M. Zirnite (Eds.), Oral history: Migration and local identities. Latvia: University of Latvia.

Frame, M. W. (2004). The challenges of intercultural marriage: Strategies for pastoral care. Pastoral Psychology, 52(3), 219-232. doi: 10.1023/B:PASP.0000010024.32499.32

275


Gable, S. L., & Haidt, J. (2005). What (and why) is positive psychology? Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 103–110. doi: 10.1037/1089-2680.9.2.103

Glenn, N. D. (1990). Quantitative research on marital quality in the 1980s: A critical review. Journal of Marriage and Family, 52, 818–831.

Gudmundsdottir, S. (1996). The teller, the tale, and the one being told: The narrative nature of the research interview. Curriculum Inquiry, 26(3), 293-306.

Heikkilä, E. (2011). Multicultural marriages and their dynamics in Finland. In E. Heikkilä & B. S. A. Yeoh (Eds.), International marriages in the time of globalization (pp. 89-101). New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers.

Hill, R. (1949). Families under stress. Adjustment to the Crises of war separation and reunion . New York, NY: Harper & Brothers.

Hill, R. (1958). Generic features of families under stress. Social casework, 49, 139-150.

Karney, B. R., & Bradbury, T. N. (1995). The longitudinal course of marital quality and stability: A review of theory, method and research. Psychological Bulletin, 118(1), 3-34. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.118.1.3

Kerckhoff, A. C., & Davis, K. E. (1962). Value consensus and need complementary in mate selection. American Sociological Review, 27(3), 295–303.

Khatib-Chahidi, J., Hill, R., & Paton, R. (1998). Chance, choice and circumstance: A study of woman in cross-cultural marriage. In R. Breger & R. Hill (Eds.), Cross-cultural marriage, identity and choice (pp. 49-66). Mid-Glamorgan: Berg.

Komulainen, S. (2012). “White flight” in Finland? A qualitative study into Finnish-born families’ housing and school choices in Turku. In Finnish yearbook of Population Research XLVII 2012 (pp. 51-64). Helsinki: Väestöliitto.

Koski, K. (2007). Katsaus: Mikä kertomus on? Tieteidenvälisyyden haasteita “kertomusten” tarkastelussa [Review: What is a narrative? The challenges of interdisciplinarity in analysis of “narratives”]. Elore, 14(1), 1-11.

Lamanna, M. A., & Riedmann, A. (2009). Marriages and families. Making choices in a diverse society. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learing.

Lavee, Y., McCubbin, H. I., & Patterson, J. M. (1985). The double ABCX model of family stress and adaptation: An empirical test by analysis of structural equations with latent variables. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 47(4), 811-825.

Lee, J. (1973). The colors of love: An exploration of the ways of loving. Ontario: New Press.

Leinonen, J. (2011). Elite migration, transnational families, and the nation state: International marriages between Finns and Americans across the Atlantic in the twentieth century. (PhD Diss., University of Minnesota, USA).

Leitzinger, A. (1999). Tataarit Suomessa [Tatars in Finland]. In T. Sakaranaho & H. Pesonen (Eds.), Muslimit Suomessa [Muslims in Finland] (pp. 25-58). Helsinki: University of Helsinki.

Levinger, G. (1983). Development and change. In H. H. Kelley, E. Berscheid, A. Christensen, J. H. Harvey, T. L. Huston, G. Levinger, E. McClintock, L. A. Peplau, & D. R. Peterson (Eds.), Close relationships (pp. 315–359). New York, NY: W.H. Freeman.

Lieblich, A., Tuval-Mashiach, R., & Zilber, T. (Eds.). (1998). Narrative research: Reading, analysis, and interpretation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

276

http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0033-2909.118.1.3


Malia, J. A. (2007). Basic concepts and models of family stress. Stress, Trauma, and Crisis: An International Journal, 9(3-4), 141-160. doi: 10.1080/15434610600853717.

McCubbin, H. I., & Patterson, J. M. (1983). The family stress process: The double ABCX model of adjustment and adaptation. Marriage & Family Review, 6(1-2), 7-37. doi: 10.1300/J002v06n01_02.

Määttä, K. (2011). The throes and relief of divorce. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 52(6), 415-434. doi: 10.1080/10502556.2011.592425

Määttä, K., & Uusiautti, S. (2012a). Seven rules on having a happy marriage along with work. The Family Journal, 20(3), 267-273. doi: 10.1177/1066480712448997

Määttä, K., & Uusiautti, S. (2012b). Who is the one? The difficulty in selecting the partner. International Review of Business and Social Sciences, 1(6), 67-88.

Määttä, K., & Uusiautti, S. (2013a). Many faces of love. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

Määttä, K., & Uusiautti, S. (2013b). Silence is not golden: Review of studies of couple interaction. Communication Studies, 64(1), 33-48. doi: 10.1080/10510974.2012.731467

Nock, S. L. (1979). The family life cycle: Empirical or conceptual? Journal of Marriage and the Family, 41(1), 15–26.

Ozer, D. J., & Benet-Martinez, V. (2006). Personality and the prediction of consequential outcomes. Annual Review Psychology, 57, 401-421. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190127

Padilla, A. M., & Perez, W. (2003). Acculturation, social identity, and social cognition: A new perspective. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 25(1), 35-55. doi: 10.1177/0739986303251694

Perrone, K. M., Wright, S. L., & Jackson, Z. V. (2009). Traditional and nontraditional gender roles and work–family interface for men and women. Journal of Career Development, 36(1), 8–24.doi: 10.1177/0894845308327736

Polkinghorne, D. E. (1995). Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis. International journal of qualitative studies in education, 8(1), 5-23. doi: 10.1080/0951839950080103.

Pukkala, T. (2006). Millaiset avioliitot kestävät? Pitkässä parisuhteessa eläneiden käsitykset pysyvän avioliiton avaimista [What kind of marriages last? A study avout the concepts of people living in lasting romantic relationships]. (PhD Diss., University of Lapland, Finland.)

Reiss, I. L. (1960). Towards a sociology of the heterosexual love relationship. Marriage and Family Living, 22(2), 139-145.

Robles, T. F., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2003). The physiology of marriage: Pathways to health. Physiology & Behavior, 79(3), 409-416. doi: 10.1016/S0031-9384(03)00160-4

Robles, T. F., Slatcher, R. B., Trombello, J. M., & McGinn, M. M. (2014). Marital quality and health: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 140(1), 140-187.

Roos, J. (2009). Monikulttuuriset perheet Suomessa [Multicultural families in Finland]. In P. Oksi-Walter, J. Roos, & R. Viertola-Cavallari (Eds.), Monikulttuurinen perhe [A multicultural family] (pp. 128-156). Helsinki: Kustannus Oy Arkki.

277


Rohrbaugh, M. J., Shoham, V., & Coyne, J. C. (2006). Effects of marital quality on eight-year survival of patients with heart failure. The American Journal of Cardiology, 98(8), 1069-1072. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2006.05.034

Rusbult, C. E. (1983). A longitudinal test of investment model: the development (and deterioration) of satisfaction and commitment in heterosexual involvements. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45(1), 101-117. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.45.1.101

Shirley, H. (1983). Mapping the mind. Chicago, IL: Nelson-Hall.

Soons, J. P. M., & Kalmijn, M. (2009). Is marriage more than cohabition? Well-being differences in 30 European countries. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71(5), 1141-1157. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00660.x

Spickard, P. (1989). Mixed blood. Intermarriage and ethnic identity in twentieth-century America. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press.

Sternberg, R. J. (1998). Love is a story. A new theory of relationships. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Tinker, C., & Armstrong, N. (2008). From the outside looking in: How an awareness of difference can benefit the qualitative research process. Qualitative Report, 13(1), 53-60.

Tuomi-Nikula, O. (1997). Kaksikulttuurinen perhe eurooppalaisen etnologian tutkimuskohteena [Bicultural family as a research target of European ethnology]. In T. Korhonen & P. Leimu (Eds.), Näkökulmia kulttuurin tutkimukseen [Perspectives to cultural research] (pp. 269-298). Turku: University of Turku.

Tzeng, O. (Ed.) (1992). Theories of love development, maintenance, and dissolution: Octagonal cycle and differential perspective. New York, NY: Prager.

Uusiautti, S., & Määttä, K. (2012). The successful combination of work and family in Finland: The ability to compromise as the key factor. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 43(2), 151–163.

Vespa, J. (2014). Historical trends in the marital intentions of one-time and serial cohabitors. Journal of Marriage and Family, 76(1), 207-217. doi: 10.1111/jomf.12093

Viertola-Cavallari, R. (2009). Opas: Naimisiin ulkomaalaisen kanssa [Guide: Getting married to a foreigner]. In P. Oksi-Walter, J. Roos, & R. Viertola-Cavallari (Eds.), Monikulttuurinen perhe [A multicultural family] (pp. 157-193). Helsinki: Kustannus Oy Arkki.

Walster, E., Walster, G., & Berscheid, E. (1978). Equity: Theory and research. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

White, J. M., & Kline, D. M. (2008). Family theories. (3rd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Williams, L. (2010). Global marriage. Cross-border marriage migration in global context. England: Palgrave Macmillan.

Zilber, T. B., Tuval-Mashiach, R., & Lieblich, A. (2008). The embedded narrative navigating through multiple contexts. Qualitative inquiry, 14(6), 1047-1069. doi: 19.1177/1077800408321616.

GLOBAL CULTURAL PROCESSES IN THE CONTINUITY AND THE PROSPECTIVE OF THE MUSICAL TRADITION Aida Islam, Stefanija Leshkova Zelenkovska

Abstract

278

http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.45.1.101


When we mention the word “tradition,” we immediately think of the past. Certainly, the past, in a semantic sense, associates something passed that cannot be returned. However, we are witnessing that in the construction of new and contemporary tradition, we often return to the past and in that way we continuously relive it again. The new achievements are not only the product of adaptation and cultural processes, but they are also new qualitative systems of creative motivations that differ from traditional values. We are considering this study through the prism of the Turkish population in rural settlements, which in certain periods has changed and transformed in its way to modernity as evidenced by today's material and spiritual cultural heritage. They are a reflection of this path, which often passes through contrasts and inevitable contradictions that model the emergence of some new values. In this paper, we traced this complex process from the perspective of the most striking indicators of the spiritual and material musical tradition: musical instruments, performing ensembles, repertoire, and dance. We observed these aspects through the most massive and most abundant ritual ceremonies––weddings that were observed and recorded by field research in the rural settlements of several geographical locations in eastern and western Macedonia. Regardless of the location of settlement, new–modern forms of expression of musical culture are prevailing through the dominance of western provenance instruments, imported repertoire that inevitably entail changes in other ethnological features, as in the costume and during the ritual.

Key words: Cultural Processes, Continuity Musical Tradition, Turkish population, R. of Macedonia.

Citation: Islam, Aida; Zelenkovska , Stefanija Leshkova; Global cultural process in the continuity and prospective of musical tradition; (April, 2014); Journal of Social Sciences (COES&RJ-JSS), Vol.3, No.2, pp: 271-276.

Introduction

We are considering the relation between the tradition and modernity through the prism of the Turkish population in rural settlements in the Republic of Macedonia In certain periods tradition of this ethnicity has changed and transformed in its way to modernity as evidenced by today's material and spiritual cultural heritage. One part of this population consists of Yuruks, a tribe of Turkmen origin inhabiting mostly the mountainous areas of eastern and partly western Macedonia. Due to their compactness and specificity, Yuruks are among the most interesting Turkish groups in the Balkans.

We focused our research of the Yuruk community in eastern and western Macedonia on the current situation in the music traditions–the spiritual and material components of musical cultural heritage, above all, on the musical instruments, performing ensembles and the repertoire. We observed these aspects through the most massive and most abundant ritual ceremonies–weddings that were observed and recorded by field research during the last 5 years in the rural settlements of several geographical locations (eastern Macedonia–Kodzali, Alikoch, Pirnali, Chalikli; western Macedonia–Kodzadzik, Novak, Еlessa, Breshtanic etc.). As additional knowledge, we used videos of two decades old, recordings on which are registered wedding rites with all attributes of the Yuruk tradition. In our field research, we had interviews with informants, mostly members of the older generation, to directly perceive the situation in the musical tradition that is transmitted by oral tradition. We will also use the comparative method to see the causal and consequential influences of socioeconomic and cultural conditioning of the regions that affect today's image of the music culture in this population.

1. The Yörük population in Macedonia279


The issue of ethnicity, ethnic consciousness, and ethnic name of Yörüks can hardly be clarified by studying only one scientific field, and this is the main reason that Yörüks are spoken of as a social and not ethnic category.

Yörüks are nomadic tribes that migrated from Anatolia to the territory of Macedonia. We find the oldest records of the presence of Yörüks in the census books (turk. defters) in the Prilep region from 1440, in the Bitola region–1448, Lerin region–1481, where villages are mentioned inhabited by Yörüks. By adapting to the new geographical environment, by changing the nomadic way of life to a settled one, by changing the economic activities, by upgrading the ethnic traits passed from parent area, a Yörük population was formed in Macedonia. Scattered in smaller or larger oases, in different parts, as seminomadic cattlemen or farmers, or as semi-military rows in the Turkish army, through their five centuries of living, Yörüks left traces in the Macedonian toponyms and culture, nurturing their ethnic history through oral tradition. They have preserved their language, which differed significantly from that of the Rumelian Turks and which is very similar to the language of the other Yörük groups in Anatolia. Names of the villages inhabited by Yörüks show that at the time of their settlement they kept the family - tribal organization.

Yörüks exist as specific communities that are characterized by geographical, ethnological, linguistic, and cultural isolation. In the mountainous rural areas that are distant from the urban cores, main roads, infrastructure, and modern social conditions, a greater individuality can be noticed. These features are the result of their long closed social community and delayed provision of some basic benefits of modern living that contributed to maintaining some certain archaic elements.

2. Material cultural tradition

Material culture is conditioned by the level of urban development as confirmed by our field research of some of its elements as architecture, costume, crafts, musical instruments, etc. The houses in which Yörüks live by their program content and architecture reflect the multiple factors that influenced their formation: climate, terrain, materials for construction, material conditionality, etc. Porches and balconies of the houses that were built of crushed stones, mud, and wood, form an integral part of the Yörük houses which have a range of functions in the rural economy. The type of settlements and density of their network were mainly a reflection of the relief features of the terrain, and the size and development of these depended on the socioeconomic conditions of the past and those that prevail today. According to the internal distribution today in most of the settlements, the houses represent a single populated area and very rarely can be seen division into two or three neighborhood (Kodzali with Jukari and Ashagi as two neighborhoods and Dorlomboz with Kuzu Jaka and Orta Jaka Ote Jaka). In the central part of the village, on a broader space, there is a mosque with porch and minaret and fountain built of stone.

Houses that were built during the late 20th century mainly continue the tradition in the spatial organization and in the structures and construction materials used; these are usually buildings with ground and first floor, e.g., of the type of houses "Chardaklija". Today, the urban image of almost all districts is experiencing significant changes with the construction of new, modern houses and paved streets, especially in the villages where the majority of the population constitute migrant workers.

As a part of the material culture, folk costumes of Yörüks in Macedonia have their own features that are preserved to this day and that vary in appearance depending on the region (east and west Macedonia), social status (marital status), and the occasion (daily, ceremonial, and ritual). Generally, these differences are observed in terms of colors, patterns, materials, decorations etc. The feminine dresses are still preserved, the ceremonial and daily ones are ornate with very strong colors and decorations which the Yörük women nurture and develop using some modern materials. We find testimony to the ethnic origin of this social group at the female costumes, which are almost identical to the costumes in some regions of the Republic of Turkey (Kastamonu, Konya, etc.). As far as the male costume is concerned, it can be said that in the recent decades it is almost extinct even from the gathering and ritual events. It is due to their greater communication and adaptation to urban areas due to socioeconomic and sociological conditions (education, employment, etc.).

Handicrafts and weavings among the female population in Yörüks which have always been the expression of the folklore identity are still nurtured almost with the same intensity today. As products of the refined taste, creativity,

280


artistic talent, and manual skills, handicrafts are made for different occasions and different purposes, for example, marriage, clothing and decorations, rugs (bridal, fringed, with pieces, etc.), doilies etc.

3. Musical tradition

Music as an integral part of everyday rural life, in which all major moments of life are accompanied with different customs, is subject to changes as a reflection of the new lifestyle imposed by modernization. It resulted in the disappearance and modification of some types of music repertoire (wedding, labour, lullabies, etc.).

Weddings as largest cultural events contribute to the maintenance of social life and community integration, and they are also indicators of the level of maintenance of tradition. Therefore, in our study, greatest emphasis was placed exactly on these occasions. Accepting elements of the urban lifestyle, especially intensified in recent decades, contributes to changing of the image of spiritual and material cultural values of these traditional ritual ceremonies. In terms of the mentality of the population, such changes (eg. costume–modern clothes, traditional - electronic instruments, reduction of parts of the rituals, etc.) are considered to be modernization, which inevitably means acceptance of the compatible elements, but to some extent it is a fad.

Within the wedding ceremony, the bridal ritual called k'na gedzhesi has a great importance and can be traced as a separate traditional rite as it has its characteristic elements. Carriers of this ceremony are members of the female sex. The music segment, characteristic of this ritual which is expressed through collective vocal singing with rhythmic accompaniment by one or more daires, is slowly disappearing, and is being replaced by musical reproduction of modern technical devices.

The occurrence of changes in these collective manifestations varies from one region to another in Macedonia. It was confirmed by the field research, according to which in western Macedonia wedding music tradition still have more authentic character, unlike the east part where they have adapted to more urban elements.

The wedding ceremonies in villages of eastern Macedonia are accompanied by instrumental ensembles of the western provenance with the dominant use of the synthesizer. In addition to the synthesizer are included saxophone, clarinet, electric guitar, and percussion instruments–drums. Musical ensembles that are engaged are from the surrounding cities, and they are with a different structure of performers, which depends not only on the current engagement of the present musicians but also on the cost of their fee.

By contrast, in the western part of Macedonia are still cherished the traditional instruments, drums and zurlas, which is evident from the observed video materials taken during the wedding. Retention of this segment of the musical tradition is due to the geographical location of these mountain villages with emphasized relief features. But we believe that the determining factor is the occupation of the population (which predominantly constitute the migration workers in Italy), which contributes to the nostalgic preservation of the inherited tradition as a symbol of their identity. In this sense, the wedding ceremonies themselves, which are the fundamental collective gatherings especially during the summer, still contain authentic music expression, which confirm their rich tradition.

The music repertoire that is present during the weddings can be divided into traditional and modern. In the first group is present the repertoire in which traditional folk and Rumelian songs of the wider region prevail, while in the second group, the repertoire is dominated by the newly created folk music from the Republic of Turkey.

The traditional repertoire prevails in a small number of rural areas, mainly in western Macedonia where music tradition is still manifested within the inherited tradition. The modern repertoire prevail in east Macedonia, where the choice of music is dictated by the engaged instrumental ensemble, which contributes to the dominant presence of the new folk trend.

Conclusion

281


From the analysis, it can be concluded that the musical tradition of the Yörüks population in Macedonia experiences modifications as a reflection of modern musical trends. That is, technical and technological innovations result in changes in musical instruments, where the traditional instruments have ceded their positions to the modern import instruments, with the dominance of the synthesizer. The reduction in the presence of traditional musical repertoire and dominance of global influences are significant, especially among the younger population, as a result of the acceptance of the novelties of modern urban living.

References

Bose, Fritz (1975) Ethnomusicologija, Univerzitet umetnosti, Beograd.Bowie, Fiona (2006) The Antropolgy of Religion, Blackwell Publishing Limited.Gökbilgin, M. Tayib (1957) Rumeli’de Yörükler, Tatarlar ve Evladı Fatihan, İstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Yayınları, İstanbul, No. 748, pp. 338. Gökçen, İbrahim (1951) “Makedonya Yörük Folkloru”, Türk Folklor Araştırma, 1.c. 17. sayı 3c, Istanbul, pp. 52-61.Islam, Aida (2005) Odrazite na Otomanskata muzichka kultura na sovremenata muzichka kultura na turskata populacija vo R. Makedonija, (doctoral dissertation), Skopje.Kale, Eduard (1982) Uvod u znanost o kulturi, Skolska knjiga, Zagreb.Kartal, Numan (2002) Atatürk ve Kocacık Türkleri, Kültür Bakanlığı, Ankara.Koneska, Elizabeta (2004) Juruci, Muzej na Makedonija, Skopje.Palikrusheva, Galaba (1984) “Etnografskite osobenosti kaj makedonskite juruci”, Etnogeneza na Jurucite i nivnoto naseluvanje na Balkanot, MANU, Skopje.Schultz, A. Emily – Lavenda, Robert (2009) Cultural Anthropology: A Perspective on the Human Condition, Prosvetno delo AD, Skopje.Sims, C. Martha (2010) Living Floklore, Utah State University Press.Sims, Martha - Stephens Martine (2010) Living Folklore. An Introduction in the Study of People and Their Traditions, Academski pechat, Skopje.Toelken, Barre (1996) Dynamics of Folklore, Utah State University Press.Tomovski, Krum (1984) “Juruchkite kuki vo Makedonija”, Etnogeneza na Jurucite i nivnoto naseluvanje na Balkanot, MANU, Skopje. Shulc, A. Emili - Lavenda Robert (2009) Kulturna antropologija, Prosvetno delo, Skopje.

About the Authors:

Ph.D. Prof. Aida Islam graduated at the Faculty of Music Art in Skopje. 2002 finishes the M. A. degree in the area of Theory of Interpretation. She received her Ph.D. in 2005. Since 2001 she works as a professor at the Faculty of Padagogy “St. Climent Ohridski” in Skopje on subjects Methodic of Music education, Basics of Music Education and Musical Instruments.

Ph.D. Prof. Stefanija Leshkova Zelenkovska graduated at the Faculty of Music Art in Skopje - Musicology Department. 2002 finishes the M. A. degree in the area of Musicology. She received her Ph.D. in 2006. Since 2007 she works as a professor at the Faculty of Music Art in Shtip on subjects History of Music, History of Macedonian music, Musical Instruments and Aesthetic of Music .

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

282


283


THEORY OF SEGMENTED ASSIMILATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF NIGERIAN MIGRANTS’ INTEGRATION IN KWAZULU NATAL PROVINCE

Prof Shanta B Singh, Kombi Sausi, Prof Modimowabarwa Kanyane

Abstract: This article applies the framework of segmented assimilation which analyzes different patterns of migrant integration to understand variations in transnational activities among Nigerian migrants in Durban. It examines the role of migrant integration in determining the types of cross-border activities migrants pursue and their level of engagement in these activities. Given the monetary and legal resources needed to facilitate certain transnational activities, the article reveals that migrants with greater social and economic mobility in the host country demonstrate a wider range and an increased frequency of transnational behaviours. For instance, Nigerian migrants having legal migration status and occupational mobility demonstrate greater transnational behaviours than those illegally residing in South Africa and employed in low-wage menial jobs. It further, examines how South Africa’s migration policies and the social context of reception affect the integration of migrants in their transnational activities.

Keywords: Segmented assimilation, Nigerian migrants, transnational activities, South Africa’s migration policies.

Citation: Prof Shanta B Singh, Kombi Sausi, Prof Modimowabarwa Kanyane; Theory of segmented assimilation: A comparative study of Nigerian migrants’ integration in Kwazulu Natal Province; (January, 2014); Journal of Social Sciences (COES&RJ-JSS), Vol.3, No.1, pp: 224-233.

Introduction284


The article examines how the social and economic integration of Nigerian migrants in KwaZulu- Natal Province affect their participation in transnational activities, or behaviours that enable them to maintain social ties in their countries of origin. With the emergence of transnational migration studies, the focus of international migration research has largely shifted from examining migrant integration in receiving nations to exploring their transnational behaviours. However, the relationship between migrant integration in the receiving country and the types of transnational activities migrants pursue, as well as the degree of their involvement in these activities has not been directly studied. Some migration scholars have suggested that transnationalism is, in part, an adaptive strategy, a reaction to the hostile reception and downward mobility that non-white migrants face in post-industrial nations (Basch et al. 1994; Portes 1997, 1999; Waters 1999; Faist 2000). Given the monetary and legal resources needed to facilitate certain transnational activities, downward mobility in the receiving society appears to limit the capacity of migrants to engage in these behaviours. The critical question of how Nigerian migrant integration affects transnational behaviour remains unanswered. The article addresses this issue by exploring how participation in transnational behaviours varies across the different patterns of migrant adaptation as outlined by the framework of segmented assimilation (Portes and Zhou 1993; Zhou 1997).

Segmented assimilation explains the individual and contextual factors that account for the different patterns of migrant integration (Zhou 1997). If the extent to which migrants participate in transnational behaviours depends on the resources available to them, then the transnational activities of migrants with increasing social and economic mobility in the host country is greater in range and frequency. Conversely, the transnational activities of Nigerian migrants with declining mobility are more constricted (Portes 1999; Levitt 2000; Kivisto 2001). Therefore, the article shows that Nigerian migrants with legal immigration status and occupational mobility demonstrate greater transnational behaviours than those illegally residing in South Africa and employed in low-wage labour.

Methodological issues

Based on the research question posed: , how does the social and economic integration of Nigerian migrants affect the types of transnational activities they pursue and the degree of their involvement in these activities, the hypothesis migrants with greater social and economic integration in the host country demonstrate a wider range and an increased frequency of transnational behaviours emerges. This question contains four variables to be measured: a) The level of incorporation of Nigerian migrants in South Africa’s economy; b) The level of their social adaptation; c) The types of transnational activities they practice; and d) The frequency of engagement in these activities.

This article is based on data collected and observation made in 2008-2009 in Durban central business district (CBD) of the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The city’s diversified economy offers opportunities in both the primary and secondary sectors for migrants. An underground economy involving traffic in drugs, sex and stolen goods, in which Nigerian migrants are allegedly engaged coexists with the legitimate economic activities. With the availability of these opportunities, it is not surprising that Durban has one of the largest numbers of African migrants in South Africa. It is for this reason that a high concentration of Nigerian migrants made the city an appropriate field site for this study.

Conceptual and theoretical issues

Basch et al. (1994:7) define transnationalism as the practices that enable migrants to maintain multiple social relations across national boundaries, binding migrants in countries of settlement and non-migrants in countries of origin. These social relations range from individual to collective ties including familial, economic, organizational, political and religious connections (Basch et al. 1994). With regards to the relationship between transnationalism and migrant integration, some researchers of migration studies have interpreted the transnational activities of recent nonwhite migrants as partly a response to the negative reception and marginal status faced in the United States (Portes 1997, 1999; Portes et al. 1999; Waters 1999; Faist 2000). Waters (1999:16) observes that for West Indian migrants in New York City, assimilation means becoming black American, a “stigmatized” minority; whereas a transnational identity, one that transcends nation-states, enables them to circumvent the racial categorization of the United States. However, while transnationalism may be partially a response to downward mobility or negative

285


reception in the host society, income from low-wage menial jobs does not provide the monetary resources needed to facilitate certain transnational activities. Moreover, discriminatory immigration policies deny targeted groups the necessary legal rights to cross national borders.

Offering a different interpretation to the relationship between transnational behaviour and migrant integration, Kivisto (2001:557) defines transnationalism as a form of assimilation on the basis that migrants maintain social ties in their countries of origin while engaging in processes of acculturation in the host society. Moreover, Kivisto further argues that contrary to the transnational view of migrants simultaneously living in two countries, at any given moment migrants are located in one, and the immediate concerns of the receiving country take precedence over the more distant concerns of the sending community. However, understanding transnationalism as a form of assimilation or adaptation does not take into account the variation of transnational behaviours among migrants with comparable familial and social ties in their countries of origin. Why do some migrants travel back and forth while others simply send remittances? This article shows that the socio-economic integration of migrants in the host society accounts for much of the variance in transnational behaviour.

The theory of segmented assimilation offers a framework for understanding the relationship between transnational behaviour and migrant integration. Segmented assimilation attempts to explain the individual and contextual factors that determine into which segments of the host society second-generation migrants become incorporated (Zhou 1997:983). Three distinct outcomes of migrant adaptation are possible and these are (a) upward mobility through conventional acculturation and economic integration into the middle class; (b) positive perception as a result of economic integration into the middle class while retaining the migrant group’s values and affiliation and lastly downward mobility due to acculturation and economic integration into the underclass (Portes and Zhou 1993:85; Zhou 1997:1002). It is now clear that segmented assimilation differs from classical assimilation and multicultural paradigms in its consideration of downward mobility (Portes and Zhou 1993; Zhou 1997).

Although segmented assimilation has been used to describe the possible outcomes of second-generation adaptation with modifications, these outcomes are applicable to the first generation. For example, first-generation migrants can suffer downward mobility as a result of their economic incorporation into low-wage employment while experiencing minimal acculturation. Three features of the receiving environment that contribute to downward mobility: discrimination, residence in impoverished areas, and restricted economic opportunities are identified. The environment in which Nigerian migrants find themselves in South Africa presents all of these features. The limited acceptability of African migrants in South African society, their economic incorporation into the secondary sector, and the clandestine nature of their migration set conditions for the creation of a migrant underclass (Portes and Zhou, 1993:91).

An alternative to less desirable work in the secondary sector is the ethnic labour market. Portes and Zhou (1992) observe that Dominican, Cuban, and Chinese migrants, who remain within the ethnic economy, particularly entrepreneurs, do better than those who are not part of an ethnic economy. Resources made available through ethnic networks and niches enable migrants to avoid downward mobility (Portes and Zhou 1992, 1993). With the possible trajectories of migrant adaptation mainstream, underclass, and ethnic enclave the question of how transnational behaviour varies across the different patterns of adaptation becomes critical. To answer this question we used the variable below to measure the social, economic and cultural integration of Nigerian migrants in Durban.

Variable to Measure Nigerian migrants’ Integration

Occupational, immigration, income and educational levels amongst others are critical measures employed to measure Nigerian migrants in Durban.

Occupational status in South Africa

Because dual labour market theory (Piore, 1979:110) has been the foremost perspective for understanding the economic incorporation of migrants in industrial countries, employment in the primary and secondary sectors are indicators of integration with the former having more weight than the latter. Self-employment, described as an alternative to less desirable work in the secondary sector (Portes and Zhou 1992:507), have a higher score than work in the secondary sector, but is less than employment in the primary sector since entrepreneurship is usually within

286


the ethnic enclave. Occupation has been shown to be the best single predictor of social status and educational attainment and income are correlated with occupation (Miller and Salkind 2002).

Occupation in South Africa

The occupations of migrants is a topic that was covered extensively during interviews and reflected a high mobility within certain segments of the labour market, specifically saloons, cell phone and computer shops and clothing shops which are male dominated. At the time of the interviews three worked in the tuck shop with 1 male and 2 female. One male worked as a shop assistant and 2 males owned a sports bar and 2 others owned taverns. Two women were hair dressers and one owned a saloon. All migrants had changed employment multiple times and sometimes had switched between several sectors. A majority of the Nigerian migrants started working in saloons as hairdresser and ended up becoming self employed. Men ended up owning cell phone shops, computer shops and clothing shops because they find them more lucrative than other type of economic activities available to migrants in Durban. One of the participants from Ijo in the Delta region mentioned that many Nigerians he knew sought out flee market vending and moved to different markets within KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape Provinces. He had done it himself but could not continue because the income from the business was very low. He was a primary school teacher before migrating to Durban but his wife and son are in Nigeria.

Immigration status

Legal status is an essential variable in the process of integration (Massey et al. 1987:1502). Legal status offers economic and social welfare opportunities unavailable to undocumented migrants that encourage integration. Powers et al. (1998:75) found that Mexican migrants in the United States experienced upward mobility from the first jobs they held after legalizing their status. Moreover, residency and citizenship give rights that facilitate particular transnational behaviours. For example, the legalization of status in the host country permits movement between sending and receiving countries without punitive consequences, which increase travel between the two countries. Because Nigerian immigration to South Africa is largely clandestine, many have legalized their immigration status by seeking asylum.

Income level per annum

287


The income level figures for the participants were based on their own estimates of their net weekly or monthly earning, so the results were approximate amounts, but the income level of the fifty participants was divided into six categories. Fourteen participants earn between R40 000 to R59 000 per annum. However, in the interviews conducted, those earning less than R40 000 per annum described their economic situation as unsatisfactory or tight and only eight participants were satisfied with their economic situation. Migrants describe their work schedule as strenuous, having to work six or seven days a week and not being able to take vacations or not willing to do so because it could mean losing customers. Of the two individuals who did not provide any income information, one was unemployed and the other was a woman who could not provide information on her family’s annual income.

Education level

The table shows that all participants have primary education. 20 males attended secondary school and 3 female also completed secondary education. 7 males started tertiary education but did not complete their studies due to financial difficulties and leaving Nigeria to pursue their life in South Africa- hoping that they will return to school once they can afford to finance their studies. 9 females went to university but did not complete their university education due to marriage as well as financial constraints. Only 8 were able to migrate with an undergraduate degree and 3 hold post graduate degrees, 2 of whom hold an honors degree and 1 a masters degree. Looking at these figures; 23 of the 50 participants have a high school certificate.

Nigerian Social Division

The data collected shows that Nigerian migration to South Africa is diverse. For each social grouping there are different patterns, different purposes and different meanings that have characterized the movement. The wave of Nigerian migrancy in Durban is characterized by skilled and unskilled labour. The migrants are perceived by their families at home to be upper class, due to their level of success and achievement, when compared with the lack of opportunities at home. It is apparent from the respondents that most of them left Nigeria because of their inability to fit into the Nigerian working class. For this reason, unskilled migrants who took part in this study characterized their movements as permanent migration. However, skilled migrants range from school teachers to university graduates. Their movement is geared at improving their socio-economic position in order to return to Nigeria. This explains why their orientation is to return home evidenced by remittances of goods and capital. These patterns are

288


differentiated by class, and they are reflected in other institutional orientation of different Nigerian migrants in Durban.

Physical settlement challenges

Nigerian migrants emerge from a high-culture context society which is faced with numerous challenges and adaptation strategies for resettlement. Physical, social, and cultural changes of resettlement create, on the one hand, a multitude of threatening situations associated with novelty, and on the other hand, multiple losses to bear. Baker further proposes that, migrants must be able to find their way around an unfamiliar social and cultural order (Baker, 1993:266). In this sense Nigerian migrants bridge this gap by making friends, learning a new language, getting a job, and establishing a network to recreate home in Durban. They also engage in different cultural activities (playing traditional music, observing ritual such paying respect to Nigerian traditional leaders, eating Nigerian food) to come to terms with the losses and gains of migrating.

Factors influencing the process of Nigerian migrants’ settlement in Durban Factors Short term goal

( settlement)Longer term (integration)

Economic -entering job market-financial independence-employment

career advancement income parity entry into field of prior employments involvement in local economic activities transnational transaction

Social -established social network-diversity within social network-strengthening relations

accessing institution engaging effort to make Nigerian organisation to be of more help to the newly arriving migrants

Cultural -adaptation to various aspects of lifestyle (e.g. diet, family, local language, relationships)-overcoming cultural shock

engaging in efforts to redefine cultural identity adaptation or reassessing local and home values

Political -citizenship-seeking asylum

participation in political activities involvement in socio-political activities

289


seeking permanent residence accessing refugee status

Table 11: NB: the table derives from discussion with Nigerian Migrants during fieldwork

Conclusion

According to segmented assimilation theory, Nigerian migrants involved in the transnational, economic, and educational activities mainly fall within the first option – acculturation and integration into the middle class – because they are doing everything necessary to become part of mainstream South Africa and to advance their socio-economic status. Theoretically, undocumented migrants who are obtaining a higher education will gain entry into the middle class by using their degree to secure a professional position. However, the possibility of pursuing a professional career is in jeopardy if they have not yet become legal permanent residents by the time they graduate. Without this legal status, they will be denied the opportunity to work within their professional fields and instead will be forced to re-join the underclass of undocumented individuals in the service sector.

Therefore, Segmented assimilation theory is most relevant for Nigerians who are legally in the South Africa. It does not fully take into account the role of the state in either incorporating or excluding certain groups of immigrants.

References:

Baker, C. 1993. The stress of settlement where there is no cultural receiving community. In Masi et al (eds) Health and cultures: Exploring the relationships, l 2: 261-276. Oakville-New York- London: Masaic pressBash, L., Schiller.N.G and Szanton, C. 1994. Nations unbond: transnational project; postcolonial predicaments and deterritorialized nation-states. Gordon and Breach. Amsterdam.Faist, T. 2000 ‘Transnationalization in international migration: implications for the study of citizenshipand culture’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 23, 2: 189–222Kivisto, P. 2001. Theorizing Transnationalism migration: A critical review of current effort. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 24, 4:549-577.Levitt, P .2000. Migrants Participate across borders: towards an understanding of its forms and consequences. In Foner, N., Rumbaut, R. and Gold (eds), Immigration research for new century: multidisciplinary perspectives. New-York. Russel Sage Foundation.Massey, D. 1997. The ethno survey in theory and practice, International Migration Review, 21,4: 1497-1522.Miller, D. C and Salkind, N.J . 2002. Handbook of research design and social measurement ( 6 th ed). Thousand oak, NY. American sociological Association. Piore, M 1997. Birds of passage: migrant Labour in industrial societies. CambridgePortes, A. 1999. “ Conclusion: towards a anew world: the origins and effects of transnational activities.”Ethnic and Racial Studies, 22:2.Portes, A. 1997. Globalization from below: the rise of transnational communities. American Journal of world economy. Pp 151-168Portes, A., Guarnizo, L. and Landolt, P. 1999 ‘The study of transnationalism: pitfalls and promise of an emergent research .eld’. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 22,2: 217–37Portes, A. and Zhou, M. 1993. The new second generation: segmented assimilation and its variants. The annals of the American academy of political and social sciences. 530:74-96.Portes, A and Zhou, M. 1992. Gaining the upper hand: Economic mobility among immigrants and domestic minorities. Ethnic and Racial Studies 5,4: 491-522.Powers, M. and Seltzer, W. 1998. Occupational status and mobility among undocumented immigrants by gender. International Migration review, 32, 1: 21-55Waters, M. 1999. Black Identities. West Indian Immigration dreams and American realities. Cambridge, MA. Harvard university press and Russel Sage foundation.

290


Zhou, M. 1997. Segmented assimilation: issues, controversies and recent research on the new second generation. International Migration Review 31, 4:975-1008.

About the Author (s)

Prof Shanta B SinghJob description: Assoc. ProfessorE-mail: [email protected] Organisation: University of KwaZulu-NatalDepartment: Criminology and Forensic Studies

Kombi SausiJob description: ResearcherE-mail: [email protected] Orginisation: Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)Department: Democracy, Governance and Service Delivery (DGSD)And

Prof Modimowabarwa KanyaneJob description: Chief Research SpecialistE-mail: [email protected] Organisation: Human Science research council (HSRC)Department: Democracy, Government and Service Delivery (DGSD)

L2 Learners’ Performance in Three Language Skills: Focus on Sex-Related Differences

Hosni Mostafa El-dali, Ph.D.

Abstract

It is a generally accepted fact in L1 acquisition that females enjoy a rate advantage, initially at least. However, I know of no study that has systematically investigated the rate of second language acquisition (SLA) in females versus males. It might be safe to cite few SLA studies: Farhady, 1982; Eisenstein, 1982; Lakoff, 1973; Zimmerman and West, 1975; and Gass and Varonis, 1986. Although these studies reported sex-related differences, they were incidental to their main focus.

The subjects for the present study are 180 students in the Department of English, Faculty of Arts, Minufiya University, Egypt. They are divided into three groups according to their academic status in their university: Beginners (60); Intermediate (60); and advanced (60). Each group is equally divided into males (30), and females (30). Accordingly, the total number of males is 90, and that of females is 90, as well. All subjects performed three tasks: 1) listening; 2) reading, and 3) structure and written expressions, similar, to those used in the TOEFL test. The

291

hp, 12/01/14,

It is not a scientific statement, please recast

hp, 12/01/14,

You need to identify your population and how you sampled it.

hp, 12/01/14,

State the cauntry





overall umbrella, under which all these tasks are designed, is ‘systematicity’; and/or ‘variability’; and whether learners' sex is responsible for it. Results are obtained and conclusions are made.

Keywords : Variability; L 2 learners’ proficiency, sex.

Citation: Hosni Mostafa El-dali, “ L2 Learners’ Performance in Three Language Skills: Focus on Sex-Related Differences”, (2013), Journal of Social Sciences (COES&RJ-JSS), Vol.1, No. 1, pp114-139.

1. Introduction

Although I know of no study that has systematically investigated the rate of second language acquisition (SLA) in females versus males, it is a generally accepted fact in first language (L 1) acquisition that females enjoy a rate advantage, initially at least. It is possible, however, to cite a few SLA studies that have reported sex-related differences incidental to their main focus. For example, Farhady (1982) found that female subjects significantly outperformed male subjects on a listening comprehension test in his study of 800 university students who were obliged to take a placement test. Eisenstein (1982) also showed that females performed significantly better than males on a dialect discrimination task and in the extent to which they could recognize dialects of greater or lesser prestige. (See Anne Brooks, 2009; Basturkment et al., 2004; Beare & Bourdages, 2007).

In addition to differences in proficiency or dialect discrimination, other sex-linked differences which might affect SLA have been noted. Lakoff (1973) suggests the existence of a ‘woman's language’, which is replete with hedging devices such as question tags. It has also been noted that males tend to interrupt more than females (Zimmerman and West 1975, cited in Gass and Varcinis 1986).

In one SLA study which did not investigate rate of acquisition differences between the sexes but did study the conversational behaviour of male and female second language learners, Gass and Varonis (1986) found that men dominated the conversations. The researchers concluded, therefore, that men received more speaking practice in such interactions; however, since women initiated more meaning negotiations than men, women may have benefited from receiving more comprehensible input (Freeman and Long, 1991; Brantmeier, 2004, 2003; Trenkic; Kissau, 2007).

The present study is a modest attempt to examine the variations in the proficiency of adult learners (male and females) of English. The overall umbrella, under which this study is designed, is "systematicity or variability" in

292

hp, 12/01/14,

DELETE and replace with “ AN”

hp, 12/01/14,

DELETE

hp, 12/01/14,

By who? Research is scientific, therefore it should and ought to be specific.

hp, 12/01/14,

DELETE and go straight to your citation.

hp, 12/01/14,

There are a lot of researches on language!Avoid using articie “I”


adult L2 learners' performance, and to what extent their sex is responsible for it (See Brown, 2009; Cohen, 2008; Conley, 2008; De Bot et al., 2007).

2. Rationale

First, it is well known that some people learn a second language more easily than others. Relatedly, L 2 acquisition is not a simple process; rather, it is quite complex and many factors are involved. Therefore, it is not easy to decide which factor is actually superior to another (See De Keyser, 2003; Echevarria et al., 2004; Ellis, N., 2002, 2005).

Second, the most fundamental change in the area of L2 acquisition in recent years has been a shift from concern with the teacher, the textbook and the method to an interest in the learner and the acquisition process. One of the challenges for L2 acquisition research, then, is to explain not just success with L2 but also failure. Relatedly, L2

researchers have wondered about why most L2 learners do not achieve the same degree of proficiency in a second language as they do in their native language; why only some learners appear to achieve native-like proficiency, and why variations occur in the performance of the individual L2 learner. In this connection, Ritchie and Bhatia (1996: 23) maintain that “we stress the fact that adult L2 production at any given point in the acquisition process is highly variable, changing systematically in a number of ways under a variety of conditions”. Third, variation is a key concept in all kinds of research. In linguistics, as Nunan (1996) points out, when researchers observe systematic variations in language use, they want to identify the linguistic and situational variables to which the linguistic variations can be attributed. These variables might include (1) the linguistic environment; (2) sociolinguistic factors; (3) the type of speech event; (4) the developmental stage of the learner; and (5) factors associated with the data collection procedures. In this regard, Freeman and Long (1991: 152) also maintain that “there is, however, a host of other factors which have been proffered to explain differential success among SL learners, to explain why some acquire a SL with facility while others struggle and only meet with limited success. These factors are native language variable; input variable, and the individual differences that exist among second language learners” (See Ellis, R., 2006; Eskildsen, 2008; Eslamim & Fatahi, 2008; Hoey, 2007; Jiang, 2007; Kimberley, 2009).

Ellis (1990: 387) writes of the variability among second language learners as follows: The essence of a variabilist account of SLA is that the competence of the learner is much more variable than that of the native speaker, for the simple reason that inter-language systems are more permeable to new forms than fully formed natural languages. Often a learner's knowledge is anomalous in the sense that she may not be sure whether form X or Y is required in a given linguistic context. As a result she will sometimes use one and sometimes the other.... (a learner's competence) is inevitably variable because acquisition involves change, and change can only occur when new forms are added to the existing system, resulting in a stage where two (or more) forms are used for the same function”. Relatedly, the problem is how to describe the speaker's knowledge, particularly if the speaker is a SL learner. The variationists may simply be ‘collecting facts’, without a theory to explain them (Brown, 1996). It is widely agreed that second language learners manifest variable control in performance. That is, whereas, on one occasion, they may produce a correct structure, on another occasion, where the same structure, would be appropriate, they produce a deviant structure. In this regard, Tarone (1985) maintains that 'the systematic variability which is exhibited in the learner's performance on a variety of elicitation tasks actually reflects his/her growing capability in IL, and is not just a performance phenomenon'. (p. 35) Tarone, then, is claiming that variability is an inherent feature of the representation of language knowledge among second language learners (Knutson, 2006; Larsen Freeman & Cameron, 2007; Lightbown & Spada, 2006; Mangubhai, 2006).

3. Review of Literature

Cameron (1995) made a distinction between three models of language and gender: (1) the deficit model, (2) the dominance model, and (3) the cultural difference model. In the deficit model, females are seen as disadvantaged speakers and communicators. Accordingly, the speech of men is considered as the accepted norm, while the women's speech is to be perceived as deficient (Aslan, 2009, p. 9). Along the same line, Swan (1989) found that "in contrast to the stereotype of the over-talkative women... it is men who dominate the talk...men have been found to use more interruptions...and simply to talk more than women" (cited in Gascoigne, 2002, p. 83). Along the same line, as reported by Holmes (1995), men use interaction as a means of gaining and exchanging information, whereas women use it as a way to connect to others (cited in Gascoigne, 2002, p. 83). Furthermore, studies of L l classroom interaction have long shown that boys tend to dominate classroom interaction and that educators, at times, reinforce

293

hp, 12/01/14,

Why not merge this sub-heading with the introduction.?

hp, 12/01/14,

mention them please

hp, 12/01/14,

delete

hp, 12/01/14,

RECAST


this type of behavior by giving additional time and attention to males (Gascoingne, 2002, p. 83). According to Holms (1995, cited in Gascoigne, 2002), it is "females who lost out. Their polite ways of participating in classroom talk means they are disadvantaged in mixed-sex classrooms" (p. 203).

The dominance model is, as Aslan (2009) asserts, rather radical in comparison with the deficit model which is more conservative. Along the same line, Block (2002) argues, "In this model women are perceived to perform their 'woman-ness' in an ethnomethodological frame as they continually negotiate their position of relative powerlessness vis a vis men" (p.53). Cultural difference model perceives men and women as belonging to separate but equal cultures which predate the development of individuals who are socialized into them (Block, 2002). Unlike deficit model, it does not take the differences negatively (Aslan, 2009). As Block (2002) reports cultural difference model adopts a socially liberal position that men and women are different but equal: women's speech and communication styles are not inferior to men's; rather the relationship between the two are problematic at least in part because of culture clash (Block, 2002). Overall, if communication breaks down between men and women, it's caused by misinterpreting the other party's form of interaction (Tannen, 1993, cited in Aslan, 2009, p. 12).

In second language acquisition, the concept of gender is variously interpreted. To Ellis (1994), there was nothing conclusive in studies of gender differences in SLA in achievement, attitudes and strategy use at that time. Accordingly, Ellis (1994) holds: “Sex is, of course, likely to interact with other variables in determining L 2

proficiency. It will not always be the case, therefore, that females outperform males. Asian men in Britain generally attain higher levels of proficiency in L2 English than do Asian women for the simple reason that their jobs bring them into contact with the majority English speaking group, while women are often "enclosed" in the home. Sex interacts with such factors as age, ethnicity, and, in particular social class (p. 204).

However, in a study reported by Aslan (2009), it was reported gender influences strategy choice. Along the same vein, females and males are observed to employ various strategies in language acquisition. In a similar study, Ehrman and Oxford (1990) who looked at the strategies used by 1200 university students came to this conclusion that gender differences made a profound influence. Also, Gascoigne (2002), in a study on "the Role of Gender in L 2

Interaction: Socialization via L2 Materials" brings that males tend to use linguistic devices such as interruptions, directives, and sentence-initial conjunctions. Females, in contrast, tend to rely more heavily upon questions, justifiers, intensive adverbs, personal pronouns and word-initial adverbs (Gascoigne, 2002, p. 83). Kimura (2006, cited in Piasecka, 2010, pp. 146-149) thoroughly discusses the differences between females and males in terms of various abilities: With respect to motor abilities, Kimura (2006), concluded men do better at such tasks as throwing things at a target (e.g. a game of darts) or catching objects (e.g. ball games), whereas women have an advantage at the so-called subtle motor activities (e.g. performing movement sequences using fingers, like in weaving, knitting or sewing). In much the same way, females are better at calculations and tests which refer to the material that was learned at school. In terms of verbal abilities, girls usually start speaking earlier than boys; they use longer sentences. Their articulation and grammar are more correct. Consequently, they have a richer vocabulary. Moreover, they are better at spelling, reading and tests in which they have to generate words according to a certain rule (e.g. words that start with a certain letter).

While the research shows that the topic of the text was an important factor in the reading performance; for example, female students did better on female topics, gender differences have also been identified in attitudes to reading. Furthermore, girls have more positive attitudes to reading and higher reading achievement than boys. It appeared that students who had more positive reading attitudes and whose self-concepts were higher were more successful on reading tasks.

Kaushanskaya, Marian, and Yoo (2011) report the mechanisms of gender differences in language acquisition have been proposed to involve the declarative memory system. The existent study shows that gender differences on phonological memory tasks, just same as gender differences on lexical and semantic retrieval tasks, might be driven by women's reliance on the declarative memory system. However, on phonological memory tasks, the involvement of the declarative memory system is constrained by the overlap between the material being obtained and the information stored as part of long-term knowledge. Kaushaskaya et al. (2011), also, continue the mechanism responsible for the female advantage when learning phonologically-familiar novel words therefore appears to be

294


greatly flexible and dynamic in nature, and is likely based on the active recruitment of descriptive structures (long-term memory) during the encoding of verbal information (See Shakouri and Saligheh, 2012; Ehrlich, 1997).

4. The Present Study4.1. The Purpose

This research reports on the results of an experiment, carried out by the author, on speakers of English as a foreign language. The purpose of this experiment is to examine the performance of 90 male-university students and 90 female-university students in three language skills: listening comprehension skill; structure and written expressions, and reading comprehension skills. The overall umbrella, under which the experiment is designed, is 'systematicity', and/or 'variability', and whether learners' gender is responsible for it. In other words, the present study is mainly concerned with clarifying and providing an evidence for the variation in L 2 learners' performance; that is, it shows how their performance is not unitary or systematic. This objective can be expressed in the following questions:To what extent is L2 learners' performance varied from one language skill to another? In other words, do students who perform in a certain way in one skill perform the same way in another? Relatedly, how does their varied or systematic performance in various language skills relate to the underlying representation of their knowledge?, and what does it tell about the nature of each of these skills?To what extent is this variation or systematicity in L2 learners' performance in various language skills related to their progress in language learning or academic status? In other words, is the variation in performance associated with beginning students only?; whereas advanced students' performance is totally systematic, and what is the direction of this variation or systematicity?To what extent does male-students' performance in various language skills vary from that of female-students, within and among groups?

Finding answers to these questions may help us understand the phenomenon of variation or systematicity of L 2

learners’ performance, and the factors that determine their performance in various language skills.

4.2. Methodology

The subjects of this study are 180 undergraduate university students. They are students of English as a foreign language in the faculty of Arts, Department of English, Minufiya University, Egypt. They were equally divided into three levels: 1) Beginners; 2) Intermediate, and 3) Advanced. Each level (N=60 students) was, in turn, equally divided into two sub-groups; males (N=30), and females (N=30). This means that the present study is conducted on 90 male students, and 90 female students, distributed on three different levels.

The subjects were assigned to their level according to their academic status in their university. That is, first-and second-year students were considered `beginners'; third-year students ‘intermediate’, and fourth-year students 'advanced'. The subjects were chosen randomly; and their participation in the present study was mainly due to their belief that this was a g learning experience for them.

The instruments used in the present study consisted of a number of language proficiency measures as described below:

1. TOEFL Listening Comprehension (LC)

TOEFL is a four-choice norm-referenced test of English proficiency consisting of three subjects: 1) listening comprehension; 2) structure and written expression, and 3) reading comprehension.

The (LC) subtest consists of audiotaped texts followed by questions. Specifically, it is made of 58 items; distributed in three parts: part one contains 20 short statements; part two contains 30 short conversations, and part three contains longer conversations followed by 8 questions.

2. TOEFL Structure and Written Expressions (SWE)

295

hp, 12/01/14,

You need to talk on you design, sampling technic, instruments clearly.


This subtest consists of 40 individual items; distributed on o sections; the first section is made of 15 incomplete sentences, and the second one is made of 25 sentences in which each sentence has four underlined words or phrases. Subjects had to identify the one underlined word or phrase that must be changed in order for the sentence to be correct.

3. TOEFL Reading Comprehension (RC)

The reading comprehension subtest consists of several reading texts, each followed by several items. Specifically, it is made of five reading passages (varied in length and difficulty), followed by 50 items.

4.3. Procedures / Analysis

The subjects in each group were met three times. This means that I had nine meetings with all the subjects, since I have three groups of students participated in the study. These meetings were distributed as follows:Meeting 1: Beginners (males and females) were met in the language laboratory to perform on the listening comprehension subtest.Meeting 2: Intermediate (males and females) were met to do the same as above. Meeting 3: Advanced (males and females) were met to do the same as above. It must be mentioned that the above three meetings were conducted one after the other and on the same day.Meeting 4: (two days later) Beginners (males and females) were met to perform or the 'structure and written expression' subtest.Meeting 5: (the same day immediately after meeting 4) intermediate (male and female) did the same as above.Meeting 6. (the same day immediately after meeting 5) Advanced (male and female) did the same as above.Meeting 7, 8, and 9 were conducted in the same order as above with regard to the 'Reading Comprehension' subtest. It should be stated that instructions were given to all subjects in Arabic, and they were given the chance to ask any questions related to what they had to do in any subtest. No specific time was determined for the (SWE) and (RC) subtests; that is, all subjects were given as much time as they needed finish the tasks. Their answer sheets were collected and graded. Finally, the data were analyzed quantitatively; that is, all necessary statistical analyses were carried out, as the following section may illustrate

5. Results / Discussion

Next, the results of the statistical analyses of students' performance in the three language skills will be provided.

1. Subjects’ Performance in the Listening Comprehension (LC) Subtest

Table (1)Descriptive statics of all subjects’ performance in the listening comprehension subtest.

Males Females Total

BeginnersN 30 30 60X 517 567 1084X2 9825 11405 21230

IntermediateN 30 30 60X 577 686 1263X2 11683 16988 28671

296

hp, 12/01/14,

You should and ought to have a comprehensive discussion section that should bring out the point departure between the review of the related literature and the findings of your study.


AdvancedN 30 30 60X 704 660 1364X2 18868 15682 34550

TotalN 90 90 180X 1798 1913 3711X2 40376 44075 84451

Table (2)

Group N X X2 SDBeginners 60 1084 21230 18.07 5.24Intermediate 60 1263 28671 21.05 5.90Advanced 60 1364 34550 22.73 7.68

The above tables show that "Beginners" scored a total of 1084 marks in the listening comprehension skill, with a mean of 18.07 and standard deviation of 5.24; whereas the Intermediate subjects scored a total of 1263, with a mean of 21.05 and standard deviation of 5.90. The Advanced subjects scored a total of 1364 with a mean of 22.73 and standard deviation of 7.68.

To get a more accurate and explanatory picture of all subjects' performance in the listening comprehension subtest, we need to check the performance of both males and females in the three groups with a view to determining whether there is a variation within and among groups in the (LC) skill, or not.

Table (3)

N X X2 SD

BeginnersMales 30 517 9825 17.23 5.52Females 30 567 11405 18.90 4.79

Intermediate Males 30 577 11683 19.23 4.42Females 30 686 16988 22.87 6.59

Advanced Males 30 704 18868 23.47 8.85Females 30 660 15682 22.00 6.22

The above table shows that there is a clear variation in the performance of the subjects in the (LC) subtest within and among groups. The females in the Beginning and Intermediate groups scored better than the males in both groups. However, the males in the Advanced group scored better than the females. Moreover, comparing the performance of all males in the three groups shows that there is a systematic progress in learners, performance; that is, Advanced males performed better than the Intermediate males in the three groups shows that there is a systematic progress in learners’ performance; that is, Advanced males performed better than the Intermediate males who, in turn, performed better than the Beginning males. This is not the case, however, if we compare the performance of all females in the three groups. The females in the Advanced group didn't achieve the highest score, as the males did. The females in the Intermediate group did better than those in the Beginning and Advanced groups. The following Tables will clearly illustrate this observation.

297


Table (4)

Comparison GroupsMeans Standard

Deviations T SignificantSD1 SD2

Beginning(1)

Males

17.23 5.52 1.52 InsignificantIntermediate(2) 19.23 4.42

Beginning(1)

Males17.23 5.52 3.22 0.01

Advanced(2) 23.47 8.85Intermediate (1)

Males19.23 4.42 2.31 0.05

Advanced(2) 23.47 8.85

N1 = N2 = 30T = 2.00 Significant at the level of 0.05T = 2.66 Significant at the level of 0.01

The above table shows that there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the males in the Advanced and Beginning groups at 0.01 in favor of the advanced group. The T value that signifies these differences is 3.22, which is statistically significant at the level 0.01. Similarly, there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the males in the Advanced and Intermediate groups at 0.05 in favor of the Advanced group, as well. The T value that signifies these differences is 2.31, which is statistically significant at the level 0.05. Moreover, there are not significant statistical differences between the scores of the males in both the Beginning and Intermediate groups. The T value is 1.52 which is not statistically significant.

Table (5)

Comparison GroupsMeans

Standard

T Significant

SD1 SD2Beginning(1)

Females18.90 4.79 2.62 0.05

Intermediate(2) 22.87 6.59

Beginning(1)

Females18.90 4.79 2.13 0.05


Females22.87 6.59 0.52 Insignificant

Advanced(2) 22.00 6.22

The above table shows that there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the females in the Beginning and Intermediate groups at 0.05 in favor of the Intermediate group. The T value that signifies these differences is 2.62, which is statistically significant at the level 0.05. Similarly, there are, naturally, significant statistical differences between the scores of the females in the Beginning and Advanced groups at 0.05 in favor of the Advanced group. Moreover, there are not significant statistical differences between the scores of the females in both the Intermediate and Advanced groups. The T value is 0.52, which is not statistically significant.

Table (6)Means and standard deviation of the subjects’ scores (Males and Females) in the (LC) subtest

Comparison GroupsMeans Standard Deviations

T Significant298


Advanced(2) 22.00 6.22Intermediate (1) 21.05 5.90 1.33 InsignificantAdvanced(2) 22.73 7.68

N1 = N2 = 602.62 Significant at 0.011.98 Significant at 0.05 The above table provides us with a conclusive summary of the performance of the subjects in the three groups in the (LC)

subtest. There are significant statistical differences between the scores of the subjects in both the Beginning and Intermediate groups in favor of the latter group. The T value that signifies these differences is 2.90 which is statistically significant at the level of 0.01. Also, there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the subjects in both the Beginning and Advanced groups in favor of the latter group. The T value that signifies these differences is 3.85, which is statistically significant at the level or 0.01. Moreover, there are not significant statistical differences between the scores of the subjects in both the Intermediate and Advanced groups. The T value is 1.33 which is not statistically significant.

Table (7)Analysis of variance (2x3) in the subjects’ scores in Listening Comprehension: Gender x Language Level

Source of Variance Squares Degrees of Variance F Sign.

Total 7942.55 119 Between Groups 942.18 5 Within Groups 7000.37 174 40.23 Gender 73.47 1 73.47 1.83 Insign.Language Level 670.23 2 335.12 8.33 0.01Interaction 198.48 2 99.24 2.47 Insign.

(1.174) 6.81 Significant at 0.01 3.91 Significant at 0.05(2.174) 4.75 Significant at 0.01 3.06 Significant at 0.05

The above table shows that the subjects' gender (being male or female) had no significant effect on their performance in the Listening Comprehension subtest. On the contrary, being Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced learners had significant effect on their performance; an observation which sheds light on the nature of L y learners' interlangua. The F value that signifies this effect is 8.33, which is statistically significant at the level 0.01. The above table also shows that there is no significant statistical interaction between the subjects' gender and language education level (Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced). The F value for the interaction between them is 2.47, which is not statistically significant. The following figure may illustrate this case.

Figure (1)

2. Subjects’ Performance in the Structure and Written Expressions (SWE)299


The following table presents a descriptive statistical analysis of all subjects (males and females) in the structure and written expressions subtest.

Table (8)Descriptive statics of all subjects’ performance in the Structure and Written Expressions (SWE)

Males Females Total

BeginnersN 30 30 60X 620 679 1299X2 13458 15927 29385


AdvancedN 30 30 60X 934 906 1840X2 29974 27840 57814

TotalN 90 90 180X 2345 2378 4723X2 65451 65558 131009

Table (9)Group N X X2 SD

Beginners 60 1299 29385 21.65 4.59Intermediate 60 1584 43810 26.40 5.76Advanced 60 1840 57814 30.67 4.81

The above tables show that the beginning subjects scored a total of 1299 in the (SWE) subtest, with a mean of 21.65 and standard deviation of 4.59; whereas the Intermediate subjects scored a total of 1584, with a mean of 26.40 and standard deviation of 5.76. The Advanced subjects scored a total of 1840, with a mean of 30.67 and standard deviation of 4.81.

To get a more accurate and explanatory picture of all subjects' performance in the (SWE) subtest, we need to check the performance of both males and females in the three groups with a view to determining where there is a variation within and among groups in the (SWE) subtest, or not.

Table (10) N X X2 SD


IntermediateMales 30 791 22019 26.37 6.23Females 30 793 21791 26.43 5.26

AdvancedMales 30 934 29974 31.13 5.46Females 30 906 27840 30.20 4.00

The above table shows that there is a clear variation in the performance of the subjects in the (SWE) subtest within and among groups. The females in the Beginning and Intermediate groups scored better than the males in both groups. This is not the case, however, in the Advanced group; that is, the males scored better than the females. This was the situation in the listening comprehension subtest.

Moreover, comparing the performance of all males in the three groups shows that there is a systematic progress in learners' performance; that is, Advanced males performed better than the Intermediate males who, in turn, performed better than the Beginning males. The same can be applied to the females in the three

300


groups. It should be kept in mind that this was not the case in the (LC) subtest. The following table will illustrate this observation more clearly.

Table (11)


Standard

T Significant

SD1 SD2Beginning

Males20.67 4.64 3.95 0.01

Intermediate 26.37 6.23

BeginningMales

20.67 4.64 7.86 0.01Advanced 31.13 5.46Intermediate

Males26.37 6.23 3.09 0.01

Advanced 31.13 5.46

N = N2 = 302.66 Significant at 0.012.00 Significant at 0.05

The above table shows that there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the males in the Beginning and Intermediate groups at 0.01 in favor of the latter group. The T value that signifies these differences is 3.95. Similarly, there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the males in the Beginning and Advanced group in favor of the latter group, at 0.01. The T value that signifies these differences is 7.86. Moreover, there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the males in the Intermediate and Advanced groups at 0.01 in favor of the latter group, as well. The T value that signifies these differences is 3.09.

Table (12)


Standard

T Significant

SD1 SD2Beginning

Females22.63 4.32 3.01 Insignificant


BeginningFemales


Females26.43 5.26 3.08 0.01

Advanced 30.20 3.99

301


The above table shows that there are not significant statistical differences between the scores of the females in the Beginning and Intermediate groups. The T value is 3.01 which is not statistically significant. It also shows, however, that there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the females in the Beginning and Advanced group. The T value that signifies these differences is 6.93. Similarly, there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the females in the Intermediate and Advanced groups at 0.01 in favor of the Advanced group. The T value that signifies these differences is 3.08.

Table (13)Means and standard deviation of the subjects’ scores (Males and Females) in the (SWE) subtest


T SignificantSD1 SD2

Beginning(1) 21.65 4.594.95 0.01

Intermediate(2) 26.49 5.76Beginning(1) 21.65 4.59

10.42 0.01Advanced(2) 30.67 4.81Intermediate (1) 26.40 5.76 4.37 0.01Advanced(2) 30.67 4.81

N1 = N2 = 602.62 Significant at 0.011.98 Significant at 0.05

The above table provides us with a conclusive summary of the performance of the subjects (Males and Females) in the three groups in the (SWE) subtest. There are significant statistical differences between the scores of the subjects in the Beginning and Intermediate groups in favor of the latter group, at the level of 0.01. The T value that signifies these differences is 4.95. Relatedly, there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the Beginning and Advanced groups in favor of the latter group, at the level of 0.01. The T value that signifies these differences is 10.42. Moreover, there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the subjects in the Intermediate and Advanced groups in favor of the latter group at the level of 0.01. The T value that signifies these differences is 4.37.

Table (14)Analysis of variance (2x3) in the subjects’ scores in the (SWE) subtest:Gender x Language Level

Source of Variance Squares Degrees of Freedom Variance F Signif.Total 7082.73 Between Groups 2512.49 Within Groups 4570.24 174 26.27 Gender 6.05 1 6.05 0.23 Insign.Language Level 2441.34 2 1220.67 46.47 0.01Interaction 65.10 2 32.55 1.24 Insign.

The above table shows that the subjects' gender (being male or female) had no significant statistical effect on their performance in the (SWE) subtest. On the contrary, being Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced learners (Language level) had significant effect on their performance; an observation which sheds light on the nature of L2 learners' interlangua. The F value that signifies this effect is 46.47, which is statistically significant at the level 0.01.

The above table also shows that there is no significant statistical interaction between the subjects' gender and language education level. The F value for the interaction between them is 1.24, which is not statistically significant. The following figure may illustrate this case.

302


Figure (2)3. Subjects’ Performance in the Reading Comprehension (RC) subtest

The following table presents a descriptive statistical analysis of all subjects (males and females) in the reading comprehension subtest.

Table (15)Descriptive statics of all subjects’ performance in the Reading Comprehension (RC) subset

Males Females Total

BeginnersN 30 30 60X 727 854 1581X2 18407 24988 43395


AdvancedN 30 90 60X 936 2606 1511X2 30260 78538 39615

TotalN 60 60 180X 1740 1925 5176X2 52058 64355 156028

Table (16)Group N X X2 SD

Beginners 60 1511 39615 25.18 5.10Intermediate 60 1740 52058 29.20 5.16Advanced 60 1925 64355 32.8 6.56

The above tables show that the Beginning subjects scored a total of 1511 in the (RC) subtest, with a mean of 25.18 and standard deviation of 5.10; whereas the Intermediate subjects scored a total of 1740, with a mean of 29.00, and standard deviation of 5.16. The Advanced subjects scored a total of 1925, with a mean of 32.8 and standard deviation of 6.58.

To get a more accurate and explanatory picture of all subjects' performance in the (RC) subtest, we need to check the performance of both males and females in the three groups with a view to determining whether there is a variation within and among groups in the (RC) subset, or not.

Table (17) N X X2 SD


IntermediateMales 30 854 24988 27.47 4.75Females 30 886 27070 29.53 5.49

AdvancedMales 30 989 34095 32.97 7.05Females 30 936 30260 31.20 5.94

The above table shows that there is a clear variation in the performance of the subjects in the (RC) subtest within and among groups. The females in both the beginning and Intermediate groups scored better than the males in both groups. This is not the case, however, in the Advanced group; that is, the males scored better

303


than the females. This was the situation in the (LC) and (SWE). Moreover, comparing the performance of all males in the three groups shows that there is a systematic progress in learners' performance; that is, Advanced males performed better than the Intermediate males, who, in turn, performed better than the Beginning males. The same can be applied to the females in the three groups. It should be kept in mind that this was the case in the (SWE), but not in the (LC) subtest.

Table (18)



BeginningMales

24.23 5.13 3.27 0.01Intermediate 28.47 4.75

BeginningMales


Males28.47 4.75 2.85 0.01

Advanced 32.97 7.05

N1 = N2 = 302.66 Significant at 0.012.00 Significant at 0.05The above table shows that there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the males in the Beginning

and Intermediate groups at 0.01 in favor of the latter group. The T value that signifies these differences is 3.27. Similarly, there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the males in the Beginning and Advanced groups in favor of the latter group at the level of 0.01. The T value that signifies these differences is 5.40. Moreover, there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the males in the Intermediate and Advanced groups at 0.01 in favor of the latter group. The T value that signifies these differences is 2.85, which is statistically significant.

Table (19)


Standard

T Significant

SD1 SD2Beginning

Females26.13 4.90 2.49 0.05


BeginningFemales


Females29.53 5.49 1.11 Insign.

Advanced 31.20 5.94

The above table shows that there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the females in the Beginning and Intermediate groups at 0.05 in favor of the latter group. The T value that signifies these differences is 2.49. Similarly, there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the females in the Bea-inning and Advanced groups at 0.01 in favor of the latter group. The T value that signifies these differences is 3.55. However, there are not significant statistical differences between the scores of the females in the Intermediate and Advanced groups. The T value is 1.11 which is not statistically significant.

Table (20)

304



T Signifi.SD1 SD2

Beginning (males + females)(1) 25.18 5.104.04 0.01

Intermediate (males + females)(2) 29.00 5.16Beginning (males + females)(1) 25.18 5.10 6.37 0.01Advanced (males + females)(2) 32.08 6.58Intermediate (males + females)(1) 29.00 5.16

2.83 0.01Advanced (males + females)(2) 32.08 6.58


The above table provides us with a conclusive summary of the performance of the subjects (Males and Females) in the three groups in the (RC) subtest. There are significant statistical differences between the scores of the subjects in the Beginning and Intermediate groups in favor of the latter group, at the level of 0.01. The T value that signifies these differences is 4.04. Relatedly, there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the Beginning and Advanced groups in favor of the latter group, at the level of 0.01. The T value that signifies these differences is 6.37. Moreover, there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the Intermediate and Advanced groups in favor of the latter group at the level of 0.01. The T value that signifies these differences is 2.83.

Table (21)Analysis of variance (2x3) in the subjects’ scores in the (RC) subtest:Gender x Language Level

Source of Variance Squares Degrees of Freedom Variance F Signif.Total 7189.24 179 Between Groups 1551.71 5 Within Groups 5637.53 174 32.40 Gender 7.20 1 7.20 0.22 Insign.Language Level 1433.68 2 716.84 22.13 0.01Interaction 110.83 2 55.42 1.71 Insign.

The above table shows that the subjects' gender (being male or female) had no significant statistical effect on their, performance hi the (RC) subtest. On the contrary, being Beginners, Intermediate, or Advanced learners (language level) had significant effect on their performance; an observation which sheds light on the nature of L2 learners' interlangua. The F value that signifies this effect is 22.13, which is statistically significant at the level 0.01.

The above table also shows that there is no significant statistical interaction between the subjects' gender and language education level. The F value for the interaction between them is 1.71, which is not statistically significant. The following figure may illustrate this case.

Figure (3)

Having presented a statistical analysis of the performance of the subjects in the three subtests separately, I would like, next, to present a statistical analysis of the subjects' performance in the three subtests combined.

Table (22)Descriptive statics of all subjects’ performance in the

305


Reading Comprehension (RC) subset

Males Females Total

BeginnersN 30 30 60X 1864 2030 3894X2 119192 140360 259552


AdvancedN 30 30 60X 2627 2502 5129X2 240979 213972 454901

TotalN 90 90 180X 6713 6897 136100X2 528143 546147 1074290

Table (23)Group N X X2 SDBeginners 60 3894 259552 64.90 10.67Intermediate 60 4587 359787 76.45 12.32Advanced 60 5129 454951 85.48 16.09

The above tables show that the Beginning subjects scored a total of 3894 in the three subtests used in the study, with a mean of 64.90 and standard deviation of 10.67, whereas the, Intermediate subjects scored a total of 4587, with a mean of 76.45 and standard deviation of 12.32. The Advanced subjects scored a total of 5129 with a mean of 85.48 and standard deviation of 16.09.

To get a more accurate and explanatory picture of all subjects performance in the three subtests, we need to check the performance of both males and females in the three groups with a view to determining whether there is a variation within and among groups in the three subjects, or not.

Table (24)

N X X2 SD

Beginners Males 30 1864 119192 62.13 10.61Females 30 2030 140360 67.67 9.99

Intermediate Males 30 2222 167972 74.07 10.64Females 30 2365 191815 78.83 13.38

Advanced Males 30 2627 240979 78.54 19.10Females 30 2502 213972 23.40 13.30

The above table shows that there is a clear variation in the performance of the subjects in the three subtests. The females in both the beginning and Intermediate groups scored better than the meals in both groups. This is not the case, however, in the advanced group. That is, the males in the advanced group scored better than the females. Moreover, comparing the performance of all males in the three groups shows that there is a systematic progress in learners' performance, that is, Advanced males performed better than the Intermediate males. The same can be said in reference to the females in the three groups.

Table (25)



Beginning(1) 62.13 10.61 4.28 0.01

306


MalesIntermediate(2) 74.07 10.64

Beginning(1)

Males62.13 10.61 6.27 0.01

Advanced(2) 87.57 19.10Intermediate(1)

Males74.07 10.64 3.33 0.01

Advanced(2) 87.57 19.10


The above table shows that there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the males in the beginning and Intermediate groups at 0.01 in favor of the Intermediate males. The T value that signifies this difference is 4.28. Similarly, there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the males in the beginning and advanced groups at 0.01 in favor of the advanced group. The T values that signifies these difference is 6.27. Moreover, there are significant statistical difference between the scores of the males in the Intermediate and advanced groups at 0.01 in favor of the advanced group. The T value that signifies this difference is 3.33, which is statistically significant.

Table (26)


Standard

T Significant

SD1 SD2Beginning(1)

Females67.67 9.99 3.60 0.01

Intermediate(2) 78.83 13.38Beginning(1)

Females67.67 9.99 5.09 0.01


Females78.83 13.38 1.31 Insign.

Advanced(2) 83.40 13.30

The above table shows that above between the scores of the females in the beginning and Intermediate groups in the three subjects at 0.01 in favor of the Intermediate females. The T values that signifies these difference is 3.60 Also, there are significant statistical difference between scores of the females in the beginning and advanced groups at 0.01 in favor of the advanced females. The T value that signifies this difference is 5.09. In addition, there are not significant statistical difference between the scores of the females in the Intermediate and advanced groups in the subtests. The T value is 1.31, which is not statistically significant.

Table (27)


Standard

T Signifi.

SD1 SD2Beginning (males + females)(1) 64.90 10.67 5.44 0.01

307


Intermediate (males + females)(2) 76.45 12.32Beginning (males + females)(1) 64.90 10.67

8.01 0.01Advanced (males + females)(2) 85.48 15.59Intermediate (males + females)(1) 76.45 12.32

3.36 0.01Advanced (males + females)(2) 85.48 16.59


The above table provides us with a conclusive summary of the performance of the subjects (Males and Females) in the three tests in the three groups. There is significant statistical difference between the scores of the subjects in the beginning and Intermediate groups in favor of the Intermediate group, at the level of 0.01. The T values that signifies these difference is 5.44. Relatedly, there are significant statistical difference between the scores of the subjects in the beginning and Advanced groups at 0.01 in favor of the advanced group. The T value that signifies these differences are 8.01 Moreover, there are significant statistical differences between the scores of the subjects in the Intermediate and advanced at 0.01 favor of the advanced group. The T value that signifies these differences is 3.36.

Table (28)Analysis of variance (2x3) in the subjects’ scores in the subtest:Gender x Language Level

Source of Variance Squares Degrees of Freedom Variance F Signif.Total 45222.78 179 Between Groups 13834.04 5 Within Groups 31388.74 174 180.40 Gender 188.09 1 188.09 1.04 Insign.Language Level 12773.54 2 6386.77 35.40 0.01Interaction 872.41 2 436.21 2.42 Insign.

The above table shows that the subjects gender (being male or Female) had no significant statistical effects on their overall performance in the three subtests. On the contrary, being Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced learners (language level) had significant effects on their performance. The F value that signifies this effect is 35.40, which is statistically significant at the level of 0.01. The above table also shows that there is no significant statistical interaction between the subjects gender and language education level. The F value for the interaction between them is 2.42, which is not statistically significant. The following figure may illustrate this case.

Figure (4)

6. Conclusion

The present study was mainly undertaken to examine the phenomenon of variation and / or systematicity in L 2 learners' performance in three language tasks. A special emphasis was given to the gender of those learners; and whether or not this variation can be observed among males and females and in what language skill it can be mostly observed. The results of this study can be summarized as follows:

1. There is a clear variation in the performance of the subjects in the Listening Comprehension (LC) task within and among groups. The Beginning subjects scored a total of 1084 marks, with a mean of 18.07 and standard deviation of 5.24. The Intermediate subjects scored a total of 1263, with a mean of 21.05 and standard deviation of 5.90; whereas the advanced subjects scored a total of 1364 with a mean of 22.73 and standard deviation of 7.68. In addition, the females in the Beginning and Intermediate groups

308


scored better than the males in both groups. However, the males in the advanced group scored better than the females.

2. Comparing the performance of all males in the three groups shows that there is a systematic progress in learners' performance in the LC subtest according to their language level in their university. That is, Advanced males performed better than the Intermediate males who, in turn, performed better than the Beginning males. What is worth mentioning here is that the females in the advanced group didn't achieve the highest score, as the males did. The females in the Intermediate group did better than those in the Beginning and advanced groups.

3. There is a clear variation in the performance of the subjects in the structure and written expression (SWE) subtest within and among groups. The Beginning subjects scored a total of 1299, with a mean of 21.65 and standard deviation of 4.59. The Intermediate subjects scored a total of 1584, with a mean of 26.40 and standard deviation of 5.76. The Advanced subjects scored a total of 1840, with a mean of 30.67 and standard deviation of 4.81. In addition, the females in the Beginning and Intermediate groups scored better than the meals in both groups. This is not the case, however, in the advanced group; that is, the males scored better than the females; a case similar to the one mentioned in (1) before.

4. Comparing the performance of all males in the three groups shows that there is a systematic progress in learners' performance. That is, advanced males performed better than the Intermediate males who, in turn, performed better than the Beginning males. The same can be applied to the females. This was not the case in the (LC) subtest. Such observation sustains the view that L2 learners' performance is not systematic or unitary.

5. Moreover, there is a clear variation in the performance of the subjects in the reading comprehension (RC) subtest within and among groups. The Beginning subjects scored a total of 1511, with a mean of 25.18 and standard deviation of 5.10. The Intermediate subjects scored a total of 1740, with a mean of 29.00 and standard deviation of 5.16. The Advanced subjects scored a total of 1925, with a mean of 32.8 and standard deviation of 6.58. In addition, the females in both the Beginning and Intermediate groups scored better than the males in both groups. This is not the case, however, in Advanced group; that is, the males scored better than females. This was the situation in the (LC) and (SWE).

6. Comparing the performance of all males in the three groups shows that there is a systematic progress in learners' performance; that is, Advanced males who, in turn, performed better than the Beginning males. The same can be applied to the females in the three groups. This was the case in the (SWE), but not in the (LC) subtest.

7. Examining the subjects' performance in the three tasks combined shows that there is a clear variation in their performance. The Beginning subjects scored a total of 3894 in the three subtests used in the study, with a mean of 64.90 and standard deviation of 10.67, whereas the Intermediate subjects scored a total of 4587, with a mean of 76.45 and standard deviation of 12.32. The Advanced subjects scored a total of 5129 with a mean of 85.48 and standard deviation of 16.09. In addition, the females in both the Beginning and Intermediate groups scored better than the meals in both groups. This is not the case, however, in the Advanced group. That is, the males in the Advanced group scored better than the females.

8. Comparing the performance of all males in the three groups shows that there is a systematic progress in learners' performance; that is, Advanced males performed better than the Intermediate males who, in turn, performed better than the Beginning males. The same can be said in reference to the females in the three groups.

The above findings support, the variability position (Mclaughlin, 1978). Stated simply, it maintains that L2 learners' performance varies according to the kind of language use that they engage in and the kind of knowledge that they acquire. Keeping this in mind, the observed variability in the subjects' performance indicates that L2 learners' proficiency is not an absolute construct; rather, it relies on what kind of language task the learner is performing and the kind of knowledge required by such a task. Accordingly, we will be mistaken to expect from the learner who performs highly in one task to, necessarily, perform at the same high level in another task. Instead, we need to keep in mind that students' performance is not unitary, and we should accept the variability in our students' performance as a natural phenomenon. And, instead of blaming our students for not being positively systematic in their performance, it would be better if we try to know the reasons for their varied performance. In this regard, I can suggest two

309


major reasons: (1) the nature of the task itself, and (2) the deficiency of students' knowledge (See Sheen, 2005; Han, 2005; Lee, 2005; Poole, 2003, 2005).

First, it can be argued that each of the three tasks used in the present study is a multidimensional activity which requires L2 learners to do more than one thing simultaneously. This argument is compatible with the principles of the attention theory (James, 1890). Two important features within the phenomenon of attention have been identified: (1) an individual can attend to only one thing at a time or think only one thought at a time; (2) attention appears to be serial, and we find it very difficult to mix certain activities. That is, the focus of attention is only on one place at one time. Relatedly, Broadbent (1991) pointed out that our ability to attend to several sources of information. Simultaneously is severely restricted. Consequently, a human who must process information that exceeds his channel capacity will inevitably make errors. In the listening comprehension (LC) subtest, for example, the demands on short-tern memory exceed human beings' cognitive capacity. As Fodor, Bever, and Garrett (1974) suggest, native language words are held in short-term memory only long enough for the listener to organize them into clauses and to extract the meaning that they convey. As soon as the listener has interpreted the clause, the elements that made it up are purged from memory in order to make room for incoming sounds. Foreign language input seems to be processed in the same way, as Call (1985) argued. In this regard, Miller (1956) and Klatzky (1995) claimed that the capacity of short-term memory is limited to about seven units, plus or minus two (See Reynolds, 2010; Rosenberg, 2009; Schmidt, 2001; Sharwood-Smith, 2004; Spada & Lightbown, 2008).

Second, L2 learners may appear to have the necessary knowledge to make correct responses; however, they are unable to display this knowledge while listening, reading and solving grammatical problems. Gelman and Meck (1986: 30) rightly points out that “knowledge of the correct principles does not guarantee correct performance. Principles specify characteristics that a correct performance must possess, but they do not provide recipes for generating a plan for correct performance. Nor do they guarantee correct execution of plan” (See Weijen et al., 2009).

In addition, it has been found that deficiency in students' conceptual knowledge results in incorrect procedures and, in turn, poor performance and incorrect rationalizations. And, the differences in the quantity and quality of conceptual knowledge result in adopting different procedures, regardless of being correct or incorrect (El-daly,1993). Consequently, in thinking about L2 learners' performance as on object of study, the essence of the underlying knowledge that accounts for their performance must be examined deeply. It must be kept in mind that when we talk about knowledge, we don't only talk about the presence versus absence of knowledge, but also the depth, completeness, and accuracy of such knowledge.

REFERENCES

Anne Brooks-Lewis, K., 2009. Adult learners' perceptions of the incorporation of their L1 in foreign language teaching and learning. Language Learning, vol. 62.

Aslan, O. 2009. The role of gender and language learning strategies in learning English. Unpublished Mater’s Thesis.Basturkmen, H., Loewen, S. and Ellis, R. 2004. Teachers' stated beliefs about incidental focus on form and their

classroom practices. Applied Linguistics 25: 243-272. Beare, S. and Bourdages, J. 2007. Skilled writers' generating strategies in L1 and L2: An exploratory study. In G.

Rijlaarsdam, M. Torrance, and L. Van Waes (eds.), Studies in -Writing, vol. 20, Amsterdam.Brantmeier, C. 2003. Does gender make a difference? Passage content and comprehension in second language reading.

Reading in a Foreign Language 15 (1): 39-78.Brantmeier, C. 2004. Gender, violence-oriented passage content and second language reading comprehension. The

Reading Matrix 4 (2): 22-51.Broadbent, D. 1971. Decision and Stress. London: Academic Press.Brown, A. 2009. Students' and teachers' perceptions of effective foreign language teaching: A comparison of ideals. The

Modem Language Journal 93: 46-60.Brown, G. 1996. Language Learning, Competence and Performance. In Brown, G., Malmkjar, K. and Williams, J. (eds.),

Performance and Competence in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge University Press.Cameron D. 1995. Verbal Hygiene. New York: Routledge.

310

hp, 03/07/13,

Adopt the “APA, 6TH REVISED EDITION


Cohen, A. 2008. Strategy instruction for learners of Japanese: How do you do it and what's in it for them? In Japanese as a foreign language education: Multiple perspectives' (PP. 45-60). Tokyo: Kurosio Shuppan.

Conley, M. 2008. Cognitive strategy instruction for adolescents: What we know about the promise, what we don't about the potential. Harvard Education Review, 78 (1), 84-106.

De Bot, K.: Lowie, W. and Verspoor, M. 2007. A dynamic systems theory approach to second language acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 1011: 721.

DeKeyser, R. 2003. Implicit and explicit learning. In C.J. Doughty and M.H. Long (eds.). The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition (pp. 313-348). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Echevarria, J., Vogt, M. and Short, DJ. 2004. Making Content Comprehensible for English -Learners: The SIOP Model. Boston: Pearson.

Ehrlich, S. 1997. Gender as social practice: Implications for second language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 19: 421-446.

Ehrman, M.E. and Oxford, R.L. 1995. Cognition plus: Correlates of language learning success. The Modern Language Journal 79: 67-89.

Eisenstein, M. 1982. A study of social variation in adult second language acquisition. Language Learning 32: 367-91.El-Daly, H. 1993. Linguistic And Cognitive Analysis of foreign student's performance strategies in solving language

problems: Emphasis on conceptual and procedural knowledge. Philology XXI: 145-241.Ellis, N.C. 2005. At the interface: Dynamic interactions of explicit and implicit language knowledge. Studies in Second

Language Acquisition 27: 305-352. Ellis, N.C., 2002. Reflections on frequency effects in language processing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 24:

297-339.Ellis, R 1990. A Response to Gregg. Applied Linguistics 11(4): 389-392. Ellis, R. 1994. The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Ellis, R. 2006. Current issues m the teaching of grammar: An SLA perspective. TESOL Quarterly 40: 83-107.Eskildsen, S. 2008. Constructing another language - usage-based linguistics in second language acquisition. Applied

Linguistics, Oxford University Press, 1-23.Eslamim, Z. and Fatahi, A. 2008. Teachers' sense of self efficacy, English proficiency, and instructional strategies. A

study of nonnative EFL teachers in Iran. TESL-EJ, 11 (4).Farhady, H. 1982. Measures of Language Proficiency From the Learner's Perspective. TESOL Quarterly 16: 43-59.Fodor, J., T. Bever, and M. Garrett. 1974. The Psychology of Language. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.Freeman, D. and Long, M. 1991. An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition Research. Longman, London and

New York.Gascoigne, C. 2002. The role of gender in L2 interaction. Socialization via L2 materials. Encuentro Revista de

Investigacion e Innovacion en la Class de idi, 13/14: 81-89.Gass, S. and Varonis, E. 1986. Sex Differences in NNS/NNS Interactions. In Day, R. (ed.), Talking to Learn:

Conversation in Second Language Acquisition. Newbury House, Rowley, Mass.Gelman, R. and Meek, E. 1986. The notion of principle: the case of counting. In Hiebert, J. (ed.), Conceptual and

Procedural Knowledge: The Case of Mathematics. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Han, Z.-H., 2005. Input enhancement: Untangling the tangles. Keynote presentation at the 27 th Winter Applied

Linguistics Conference, New York State Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, New York.

Hoey, M. 2007. Grammatical creativity: A corpus perspective. In Hoey, M., Mahlberg, M., Stubbs, M. and Teubert, W. (eds.). Text, Discourse and Corpora. London, Continuum.

Holmes, J. 1995. Women, Men and Politeness. New York: Longman.James, W. 1890. The Principles of Psychology. New York : Holt.Jiang, N. 2007. Selective integration of linguistic knowledge in adult second language learning. Language Learning 57

(1): 1-33.Kaushanskaya, M., Marian, V., Yoo, J. 2011. Gender differences in adult word learning. Acta Psychologica 137: 24-35.Kimberly, A. 2009. Adult learners' perceptions of the incorporation of their L l in foreign language teaching and learning.

Oxford University Press.Kissau, s. 2007. Gender differences in second language motivation: An investigation of micro- and macro-level

influences. The Reading Matrix 7 (1): 31-58.Klatzky, R. 1995. Human Memory: structures and processes. San Francisco: W. Freeman and Company.Knutson, E., 2006. Thinking in English, writing in French. The French Review 80 (1): 88- 109.Lakoff, R. 1973. Language and woman's place. Language in Society 2: 45-79.

311


Larsen Freeman, D. and Cameron, L. 2007. Complex Systems and Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Lee, 2005. Five types of input and the various relationships between form and meaning. In J.F. Lee & A. Valdman (ads.),

Form and Meaning: Multiple Perspectives (pp. 25-42). Boston: Heinle & Heinle.Lightbown, P.M. and Spada, N. 2006. How Languages are Learned (3 rd edition). Oxford. Mangubhai, F. 2006: What do we know about learning and teaching second languages: Implications for teaching. Asian

EEL Journal 8(3): 1-20.McLaughlin, B. 1978. Theories of Second Language Learning. London: Edward Arnold.Miller, G. 1956. The magical number seven Plus or Minus two, and some limits on our capacity for processing

information.. Psychological Review 63: 81-96.Nunan, D. 1996. Issues in second language research: examining substance and procedure. In Ritchie, W. and Bhatia, T.

(eds.), Handbook of Second Language Acquisition: Academic Press.Piasecka, L. 2010. Gender differences in L1 and L2 reading. In J. Arabski and A. Wojtaszek, Neurolinguistic and

Psycholinguistic Perspectives on SLA (pp. 145-158). Toronto: Multilingual Matters.Poole, A. 2003. The kinds of forms learners attend to during focus on form instruction: A description of an advanced ESL

writing class. The Reading Matrix (2).Poole, A. 2005. Focus on form instruction: foundations, applications, and criticisms. The Reading Matrix 5 (1).Reynolds, D. 2010. Assessing Writing, Assessing Learning. Ann Arbor., MI: University of Michigan Press.Ritchie, W. and Bhatia, T. 1996. Handbook of Second Language Acquisition. Academic Press.Rosenberg, R. 2009. Tools for activating materials and tasks in the English language classrooms. English Teaching

Forum 47 (4): 2-11.Schmidt, R.W. 2001. Attention. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and Second Language

Instruction (pp. 3-32). New York: Cambridge University Press.Shakouri, N. and Saligheh, M. 2012. Revisiting age and gender influence in second language acquisition. Advances in

English Linguistics (AEL) 1 (1): 1-6.Sharwood-Smith, M. 2004. In two minds about grammar: On the interaction of linguistic and metalinguistic knowledge in

performance. Transactions of the Philogical Society 102: 255-280.Sheen, R., 2005. Focus on forms as a means of improving accurate oral production. In A. Housen & M. Pierrard (eds.),

Investigations in Language Acquisition (pp. 271-310). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Spada, N. and Lightbown, P. 2008. Form-focused instruction: Isolated or integrated. TESOL Quarterly 42 (2): 181-207.Tarone, E. 1985. Variability in Interlanguage study of Style-shifting in Morphology and Syntax. Language Learning 35:

373-404.Trenkic, D. 2007. Variability in second language article production: Beyond the representational deficit vs. processing

constraints debate. Second Language Research 23 (3): 289-327.Weijen, D., Berg, H. and Rijlaarsdam, G., Sanders, T. 2009. L1 use during L2 writing: An empirical study of a complex

phenomenon. Journal of Second Language Writing 18: 235-250.Zimmerman, D. and West, C. 1975. Sex roles, Interruptions, and Silence in Conversation. In Thorne, B. and Henley, W.

(eds.), Language and Sex: Difference and Dominance. Newbury House, Rowley, Mass.

About the Author

Hosni Mostafa El-dali, Ph.D.Associate Professor of LinguisticsUnited Arab Emirates UniversityP.O.Box: 15551, Al-Ain, U.A.E.E-mail: [email protected]

312


313


314


Author(s)

Mohammad Ismail Hossain Ph. D candidate, Department of Agricultural Economics, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Thessaloniki, Greece Email: [email protected]. Esmat Ara Begum Ph. D candidate, Department of Agricultural Economics, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece Dr. Eleni Papadopoulou Assistant Professor, Department of Spatial Planning and Development, School of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GreeceDr. Anastasios Semos , Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics,

School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Rural Development in Bangladesh since Independence: A Study on Progress and Performance

Abstract

Rural development has been the core focus of the Bangladesh economic policies since her independence. The rural sector is pivotal to the country’s economic, social and political development. This paper examines the Bangladesh rural development policies, strategies and programs since Independence in 1971. Secondary data were used and collected from various sources especially from BBS and HIES. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical tools such as mean and percentage to reach the objectives. Results of this study show that the share of agricultural sector in the country ’s GDP has declined which is an indicator of a country’s progress from an agriculture-based to an export-oriented economy. The success of the agricultural and rural programs in Bangladesh is reflected in the reduction in the poverty incidence in the rural sector from almost 54 percent in the 1983-84 to about 35 percent in 2009-10. D evelopment efforts of Bangladesh are governed by the twin objectives of achieving growth with equity and reducing poverty. The government policy has to some extent achieved the intended results but poverty and inequality are still significant and apparent. Hence, rural development continues to be an important agenda to the country’s development effort.

Keywords: Rural development, progress, performance, poverty reduction, Bangladesh JEL code: E24, E61, I32, O11

Introduction

One of the major thrusts of the economic development of Bangladesh since her Independence in 1971 has been and continues to be the rural development programs and policies. The rural sector plays a pivotal role in the country’s economic growth, social and political development.

The economy of Bangladesh largely depended on the rural sector performance in the early development stage for agricultural input and

output hence the country’s export earnings and growth in the 1970s and 1980s. The rural sector before the 2000s was almost synonymous with agriculture as more than 70% of her population was engaged in agricultural activities including livestock and fishing. Taking agriculture as a proxy for the rural sector, its importance as the engine for growth was 30.89 percent in 1980-81 and it went down to about 18.59 percent in 2009-2010 (BBS, 2010). Like any other developing economies, the growing economic importance of the manufacturing sector (as the contribution of this sector increased from 13.37

452



to 17.89 percent of the respective years) implies that the role of rural sector is as the supplier of labour, land and capital required for industrial development. Despite the declining trend of agricultural share in the GDP, it will remain an important sector to the country in terms of export earning, employment and food security.

One of the major social problems of the rural sector of the country is rural poverty. Although poverty is a universal problem and its higher occurrence and incidence in the rural sector makes it predominantly rural phenomenon (Hossain and Sen, 1992). The incidence of poverty in the country was very high in the 1990s, that is, more than half of the populations (56.70 percent in 1991-92) lived in poverty, with the rural sector suffered the highest which was 58.80 percent compared to the urban (42.80 percent) (HIES, 2010). The problem is further aggravated with the predominance of the north and ethnic groups in the rural areas and hence creating an economic imbalance of the country. This inequity was perceived as a potential seedbed for social unrest and political stability which might hinder the country’s progress and development.

With the above premise, the Bangladesh government since her Independence has focused on various social and economic programs and strategies targeting to develop the rural people mainly through the agricultural policies. The success has been remarkable as reflected by the reduction of poverty incidence to 31.5 percent in 2010. Nevertheless, the benefits of the development strategies have not been equitable between the rural and urban sector as the former recorded 35.2 percent incidence of poverty compared to the latter which was about 21.3 percent in 2010 (HIES, 2010). Hence, the struggle to improve the rural sector is still an important agenda to the government in the next century.

This paper attempts to examine the evolution of the rural development policies in Bangladesh since her Independence that was responsible in improving somewhat the quality of life in the rural sector. The review would provide some understanding of the philosophies, rationales as

wells as the lessons that can be learned from the Bangladesh rural development experience.

This paper is organized as follows. The following section provides an overview of the progress made so far in agricultural, rural development and poverty reduction. This is followed by discusses of the role of agriculture in poverty reduction in the Bangladesh context. A chronological review of the development planning and policy since 1971 is reviewed in the consequent paragraphs. The paper ends with conclusion and policy implication.

Progress and performance in agriculture, rural development and poverty reduction

Agriculture and rural development Agriculture performed relatively well in the 2000s. The growth of agricultural incomes is estimated at 3.9 percent per year during 2000-01 to 2010-11 compared to 3.5 percent during 1989-90 to 2000-01. The acceleration of agricultural growth has contributed substantially to improved performance of the overall economy. The national income grew at 5.9 percent in the 2000s compared to 5.3 percent during the previous decade (Table 1).

The acceleration in the growth of agricultural incomes was on account of crop and non-crop agricultural sectors particularly from livestock and fisheries. Livestock and fisheries sub-sectors experienced substantial increase in physical output, as well as favorable prices compared to the crop sector in 1990s. The fisheries income grew by 7.8 percent per year in the 1990s and reached pick, substantial declined was observed in consequent year and was 3.1 percent during the 2000s. The income from livestock activities picked up in the 1980s and continued to grow at a robust rate of 7.3 percent in the 1990s and then fall in 2000s. Only the forestry sub-sector grew at a moderate rate of 4.0 percent per year. Thus, agriculture has become much more diversified than it was at the time of independence (Mandal, 2000; Ahmed and Chowdhury, 2000). The share of livestock, fisheries and forestry in agricultural incomes was only 20 percent during 1973-74; by 2009-10 they contributed more than 67 percent to agricultural incomes.

453


Table 1: Long-term growth (percent) of agriculture and economy, 1973-74 to 2010-11

Sector 1973-74 to 1989-90

1989-90 to 2000-01

2000-01 to 2010-11

1973-74 to 2010-11

Agriculture 2.6 3.5 3.9 3.3Crop 1.7 2.5 3.7 2.6Forestry 3.8 3.8 4.3 4.0Livestock 5.2 7.3 5.1 5.9Fisheries 2.3 7.8 3.1 4.4

Non-agriculture 6.0 6.2 7.6 6.6Gross Domestic Product 4.1 5.3 5.9 5.1

Source: GOB (2011)

However, the crop sector is still dominated by the production of rice. Although the area under rice increased marginally from 9.28 to 11.27 million ha, rice production increased from 9.77 million tons in 1971-72 to 32.36 million tons in 2009-10 (Table 2). It implies a rate of growth 2.78% per year, much faster than the growth of population. Development and diffusion of high-yielding rice varieties supported by the

development of minor irrigation through shallow tubewells and power pumps was the main driving force behind this growth (Hossain, 1988; Hossain et al. 1994). More than 62 percent of the land is now irrigated, and over 91 percent of the rice area has been brought under the cultivation of the high yielding modern rice varieties.

Table 2: Technological progress and its effect on the growth in rice productionIndicator 1971-72 1981-82 1991-92 2001-02 2009-10Rice harvested area (million ha) 9.28 10.46 10.24 10.66 11.27Coverage of modern varieties (%) 6.73 22.22 47.41 64.57 79.77Rice yield (ton/ha) 1.92 1.71 1.70 1.98 2.45Rice production (million tons) 9.77 13.63 18.26 24.30 32.36Population (million persons) 62.8 87.12 111.46 124.36 142.32Rice production per capita (kg of milled rice) 155.57 156.45 163.83 195.40 227.37

Source: BBS (2010), HAS (2007)

The long-term trend in rice production however shows a cyclical pattern with a few years of rapid growth followed by a few years of stagnation. This pattern is partly due to depression in prices in seasons following consecutive good harvests that provides disincentives to farmers to further increase production, and partly due to occasional natural disasters – floods, droughts and cyclone.

Bangladesh has also experienced respectable growth in the production of wheat which turned it from a minor to a major crop during 1976-84. Wheat production increased from 0.14 million tons in 1976 to 1.4 million tons in 1984, but remained stagnant at that level during the next decade. The growth resumed again in the late

1990s in response to favorable prices, reaching a production level of nearly 2.0 million tons but in 2000s falls again and reaching 0.9 million tons.

The rapid expansion of wheat in 1990s and the dry season Boro rice was however achieved partly through reduction in the area under jute, sugarcane, pulses, oilseeds and other minor crops. As a result Bangladesh has to spend scarce foreign exchange for import of non-cereal food products in increasing amounts. The reduction in the availability of pulses, which are important sources of protein and micronutrients, has adversely affected balanced nutrition, particularly for the poor (Jahan and Hossain, 1998).

454


Among other food crops, the growth was respectable only for potatoes and vegetables. Bangladesh has comparative advantage in the production of these crops (Shahabuddin, 2000), and production can increase substantially if foreign markets can be tapped. Because of limitations of market, the prices of these high value crops collapse at harvest time, which is main constraint to the expansion of production. The growth of agricultural productivity has however promoted a healthy development in the rural non-farm sector by triggering what economists call “backward and forward linkages”. Agricultural growth has generated opportunities for employment and income in the rural non-farm sector through its effects on a) the demand for irrigation equipment and chemical fertilizers produced and transacted in the non-farm sectors, b) the demand for services for processing, storage and marketing of additional agricultural produce, and c) the demand for trade, transport, construction, education and health care services, as farm households spend a larger proportion of additional incomes for purchasing non-farm goods and services. Poverty reductionAn accurate assessment of the trend in reduction of income poverty is difficult, in spite of a large number of studies conducted for Bangladesh on the subject (Muqtada 1986; Hossain and Sen 1992; Ravallion and Sen 1996; Sen 2003). The household income expenditure surveys (HIES) conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of statistics that report the incidence of poverty and income inequality through periodic generation of household level data changed over time the method of data collection and the measurement of poverty line. Thus, while making a judgment about poverty trend one needs to be cautious about the interpretation of the information.

According to the World Bank estimate based on the HIES data, nearly 40 percent of the rural population in Bangladesh lived below the

poverty line in 1995-96. A study by Ahmad and Hossain (1983) estimated that the number of poor households in rural Bangladesh remained almost stagnant at 75 percent during 1963-64 to 1973-74, but increased to 84 percent in 1976-77, after the famine in 1974-75. According to the Bureau of Statistics the poverty ratio for rural areas declined from 74 percent in 1981-82 to 48 percent in 1988-89. The dramatic improvement in the poverty situation in the 1980s, as shown by the official figures, was however highly debated in the literature and was partly attributed to the change in the data collection method in the 1983-84. During 1983-84 to 1989-90 there was a decline in poverty ratio from 54% to 50% for rural areas and from 40 to 36% for urban areas. And during 1991-92 to 2010-11, the nation level poverty was declined from 56.7 to 31.5 percent but rural poverty is much dipper than urban poverty. It is now widely recognized that the poverty ratio has been declining by one percent per year which is very slow considering that over 35.2 percent of the rural population are still poor. The slow progress in poverty reduction in spite of the acceleration of economic growth in the 1990s and 2000s are attributed to growing inequality in the distribution of income for both rural and urban areas (Sen, 2003).

There are indications that Bangladesh has made moderate progress in other dimensions of poverty. The primary school enrolment ratio has improved from 43 to 89 percent, and the infant mortality rate declined from 99 to 38 per thousand live births during the 1990-2010. The access of the population to safe drinking water has increased from 78 to 98.1 percent, and to improved sanitation from 26 to 53 percent. The most impressive progress has been made in population control. The number of births per woman has declined from 6.1 to 2.2. The preliminary findings from the 2011 population Census show a decline in population growth from 2.2 percent in the 1980s to 1.3 percent in the 2000s (Table 3).

Table 3: Progress in non-economic indicators of well-beingIndicator 1990 2010Infant mortality rate (per 1000) 99 38Under five mortality rate (per 1000) 143 48Maternal mortality rate (per 1000) 4.78 2.6

455


Adult literacy rate (%) 37 56Children enrolled in primary school (%) 43 89Primary school enrolment rate (%) 60 108.8Fertility rate 6.1 2.2Population growth rate 2.2 1.3Access to an improved water sources (% of population) 78 98.1Life expectancy at birth (years) 59.15 69Population using improved sanitation facilities (%) 26 53

Source: BBS (2010)

The extent of vulnerability to external shocks has also been reduced. People have become more resilience to natural disasters because of the change in the seasonal composition of food production. The area under pre-monsoon Aus rice which was highly susceptible to droughts has been reduced from 3.0 to 0.98 million ha from 1971-72 to 2009-10; the land has been diverted to growing dry season high-yielding and relatively safe Boro rice or the highly profitable vegetables and fruits. The risk of the loss of Aman rice from droughts has also been reduced due to large scale expansion of the shallow tubewells that could be used for supplementary irrigation. The percentage area under deep water broadcast Aman of total rice area has been reduced from 19 to 4 percent, substantially reducing the loss in rice output

from abnormal floods. In the deeply flooded area farmers now keep the land fallow during the monsoon season and grow Boro rice with irrigation during the dry season (Table 4). The Boro area has expanded from 0.9 to 4.71 million ha over the last four decades, which together with wheat brings nearly 55 percent of the cereal harvest during the May- June period. So the losses in the rice output from floods or droughts could be recovered within a few months. Earlier, farmers had to wait for the next Aman harvest to recover the loss. With the year round production of rice, the seasonality in employment and income for the landless workers is now much less pronounced than it was earlier. Needless to point out, the insecurity and vulnerability due to violence, lawlessness and lack of justice have substantially increased.

Table 4: The changes in rice cropping pattern in Bangladesh, 1971-72 to 2009-10Type of rice cultivation

1971-72 2009-10Area (Million ha)

% of rice area

Area (million ha) % of rice area

Aus 3.0 32.22 0.98 8.67Deepwater Aman 1.77 19.01 0.47 4.19Transplanted Aman 3.64 39.10 5.19 45.69Boro 0.9 9.67 4.71 41.46Total 9.31 100.00 11.35 100.00

Source: BBS (2010), HAS (2007)

In Bangladesh poverty is concentrated mostly in households who do not have assets. Manual labor is the only resource available to poor households. A self-assessment of poverty estimated by participatory rural appraisal method by the BIDS-IRRI survey revealed that 43 percent of the rural households considered themselves as poor. Almost the same as estimated by the World Bank for 1995-96 (Hossain, 2004). This result also supported through the Bangladesh land distribution data. According to the Agricultural Census of 2008,

the most recent national level statistics on landlessness (Table 5), more than 10 percent of the rural households own no land whatsoever, neither homestead nor arable. About one-third only owns homesteads but no arable land. According to a commonly used definition by Rahman (1996), holding upto 0.2 ha is considered as functionally landless. If this definition is approved, the total landlessness in rural areas of the country stands at 39 percent. The incidence of poverty was 81 percent among

456


household with no cultivated land, 33 percent among those holding upto 0.5 ha (Table 6). Table 5: Farm holdings and ownership of land (percent) and average farm size (acre) 1996 and 2005

Size of farm (ha) % of farms % of land occupied Average farm size (ha)

1996 2005 1996 2005 1996 2005Marginal (0.02-0.2) 28.45 38.62 4.48 11.20 0.11 0.17Small (0.21-1.0) 51.42 49.88 36.69 48.48 0.49 0.580.21-0.40 20.66 23.55 8.51 15.49 0.28 0.390.41-0.60 14.89 13.99 10.31 14.22 0.47 0.610.61-1.0 15.87 12.31 17.88 18.79 0.77 0.91Medium (1.01-3.0) 17.61 10.34 41.50 30.20 1.62 1.75Large (3.01 & above) 2.52 1.17 17.32 10.10 4.70 5.16

Source: BBS (2010)

Table 6: Percentage of population below poverty line

Land ownership (ha) 2010 2005Rural Urban National Rural Urban National

No cultivated land 47.5 26.9 35.4 66.6 40.1 46.3<0.02 53.1 29.9 45.1 65.7 39.7 56.4Marginal (0.02-0.2) 38.8 17.4 33.3 50.7 25.7 44.9Small (0.21-1.0) 43.4 18.7 39.7 62.7 26.2 57.20.2-0.60 27.7 12.1 25.3 37.1 17.4 34.30.61-1.0 15.7 6.6 14.4 25.6 8.8 22.9Medium (1.01-3.0) 11.6 5.5 10.8 17.4 4.2 15.4Large (3.01 & above) 7.1 14.6 8.0 3.6 0.0 3.1All size 35.2 21.3 31.5 43.8 28.4 40.0

Source: HIES (2010)

Role of agriculture in poverty reduction

Agriculture is an economic activity based on land. Agricultural development aims to increase the productivity of land resources. In Bangladesh more than one-third of the households do not own any cultivable land (Table 5). So how can agriculture improve the livelihood of the people of these households who do not own any land and constitute the vast majority of the poor.

One can argue that agriculture generates wage employment for the landless households, as medium and large farmers hire labor for conducting farm operations. But since the proportion of medium and large farmers is very small, the agricultural labor market can generate employment for only a small number of the vast landless and marginal land owning households in the country. When the modern high yielding rice varieties were introduced the

demand for hired labor increased substantially. But overtime the labor use in rice cultivation has declined with the spread of agricultural mechanization in land preparation, irrigation and post harvest processing. Even full employment in agricultural labor market cannot provide a poverty escaping income at the prevailing agricultural wage of about one and half dollar per day. It is the expansion of the non-farm sector that has been contributing to the increase in incomes of the households who are poorly endowed with assets. Many landless households have migrated to rural towns and cities and found jobs as transport operators or construction laborers. The impressive development in the rural road network in the 1990s coupled with the increase in marketed surplus rice and vegetables and fruits have created employment opportunities in transport operation and petty trading. This is the main reason why the supply of agricultural labor has declined in recent years and farmers

457


have been complaining regarding the scarcity of agricultural labor. The increase in the number of shallow tube wells, pumps, power tillers and rickshaw and rickshaw vans has created jobs as in the operation and repair and maintenance. Last but not the least, many marginal landowning households with some skills for utilizing capital have been able to generate self-employment in livestock and poultry raising, petty trading, and various kinds of personal services with the vast increase in micro-credit supplied by the NGOs.

Agricultural development has contributed to poverty reduction in an indirect way. Agriculture produces food for the people. The increase in the supply of food faster than demand has helped keep food prices within affordable limits of the low-income people, and thereby has contributed to achieving food security. The amount of food the poor can access from the market with their limited income depends on the price of food. An analysis of the 2010 Household Income and Expenditure Surveys (HIES) conducted by the BBS reveals that rural landless and the urban laboring class spend 59 percent of their income on food and 35 percent on rice alone, compared to 44 percent and 10 percent respectively for the

top 10 percent in the income scale. So a reduction in the price of food grains relative to the industrial products benefits the poor relatively more than the non-poor households. In Bangladesh the poverty situation deteriorated in the early 1970s due mainly to the decline in the per capita availability of rice. The soaring price of rice caused tremendous hardship to the landless, marginal farmers and artisans in the rural areas, and industrial laborers and transport and construction workers in urban areas.

Since the mid-1980s the food grain prices have increased at a much slower rate than the general price index, due to favorable growth in agriculture in general and the rice production in particular. The large farmers have been hurt by the decline in the real rice price, but the landless have gained. An agricultural wage-laborer could buy 2.4 kg of rice with their daily wage in 1980-81. The rice-equivalent wage was 5.4 kg in 2009-10, an increase of 4.16 percent per year during 1980-81-2009-10 (Table 7). So, agriculture’s main role in poverty reduction lies in maintaining the supply of food at least at a rate at which the demand has been growing, thereby keeping the food prices stable and within affordable limits of low-income households.

Table 7: Changes in the real wage for agricultural workers, 1980-80 and 2009-10Indicators 1980-81 2009-10 Change (%/yr)Wage rate (Tk/day) 13.97 179.83 40.94Rice price (Tk/kg) 5.74 33.48 16.66Real wage (Kg of rice) 2.43 5.37 4.16Consumer Price Index (general 1995-96 = 100) 32.62 221.53 19.97Real wage adjusted by cost of living 42.83 81.18 3.09

Source: BBS (2010)

Review of Development Plans of Bangladesh

At the time of independence, the economic conditions in the war-ravaged country were deplorable. After a devastating war, the newly born country was preoccupied with a series of national problems that needed to be solved immediately, such as care and rehabilitation for the war victims, particularly the wounded and disabled, the windows and orphans, and restoration of law and order, including establishment of civil government in the country.

During the independence period, there was no national rural development (RD) program in Bangladesh. The Village Agricultural and Industrial Development Program and Rural Works Program lunched the late 1960s fallen into disrepute as viable models of RD after independence of the country. Both programs failed due to stringent central control and absence of people's participation in developmental activities at the grass roots (Khan, 1985).

458


In 1972, the Comilla model of RD was accepted by the new government as the basis of an integrated approach to RD on a nationwide scale. A project-oriented organization-styled Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP) was established to implement the policies of the government. In addition to the two-tier cooperatives, a comprehensive multidimensional Program was launched to develop over 1,500 thanas (the lowest administrative unit at that time) in four districts. The other important segment of IRDP was a Program for the underprivileged and the disadvantaged.

IRDP was extended in 1974 to include an intensive area-based Program funded by the World Bank. Rural works, small-scale irrigation, rural credit, strengthened cooperatives, increased agricultural inputs, improvement of extension services and livestock and fisheries development were incorporated into RD Project I coordinated and monitored by IRDP from the capital. However, as with most government-sponsored Programs elsewhere, IRDP failed to bring about significant changes in the pattern of rural life insofar as per capita income, employment and productivity were concerned. This was largely due to the investment and industry oriented strategy pursued in a “distorted market” economy that depended on foreign aid without mobilizing domestic resources and where many industries were heavily subsidized by the state.

The First Five Year Plan (FFYP, 1973-78) was formulated in 1973 within a socialistic economic framework according to the principles of the state policies (Hasnath, 1987). The plan was aimed at economic rehabilitation of the war damaged economy and accelerated economic growth public sector investment programs. The First FYP, was designed, among other things, to build a “sound institutional base” in the development process, the target being the rural population, that is, small farmers and the landless. This was to involve the restructuring of existing rural institutions, effective organization of the people, utilization of available resources and improvement of the local level planning process. Local institutions were to be utilized as the mechanism for effective plan formulation and implementation,

coordination of the multitude of activities, and popular participation. The role of the existing two-tier cooperatives was to be broadened to serve the “interests” of the rural poor. Land reform along with the Rural Works Program (RWP) was to be a major way to improve the conditions of the rural poor (GOB, 1973).

As a country of mixed economy with high dependence on foreign aid, most of the capital investment was made in the public sector, and the activity of the private sector was limited to agriculture, small and medium industrial enterprises and services only. Due to political upset and changeover of the government through the military coup in 1975, the First FYP was not implemented as originally planned. The number of projects was too many to finance. Only 50 percent of the necessary funds were realised (Table 8) and they were not completed. Nevertheless, the achieved annual growth of GDP was 4.0 percent.

However, an upshot of this strategy of “development from the top” was a realization among some people that it was futile to remain dependent on the government in the struggle towards alleviating poverty and in improving the conditions of the rural population. A new movement based on the idea of swanirvar or self-reliance and active and voluntary participation of the people in RD efforts gained momentum. Its goal was optimum utilization of local resources through Programs initiated, designed and implemented by the spontaneous participation of the local people with the cooperation of political representatives and agents of the central government (Khan, 1985). As early as 1973, swanirvar projects came to be organized in many parts of the country without significant governmental support. These isolated projects soon proved worthwhile and gradually self-reinforcing to the extent that they were within a couple of years integrated into regional development Programs.

In 1978, a Two Year plan (TYP, 1978-80) was formulated to complete the unfinished projects of the First FYP. The main objective of this plan was to attain higher economic growth of the country’s GDP (5.6 percent), by increasing agricultural productivity, reducing population.

459


Due to unfavourable weather condition and rise of oil prices in the international market, the TYP resulted in considerable shortfall in realization of its set target (Ahmed, 1986).

The nineteen-point Program of the government, inter alia, proposed to build the country into a “self-reliant” nation by strengthening the rural economy by giving top priority to agriculture. This Program provided the basis of a Two Year Plan, 1978-80 (TYP) of the government and had as its target attainment of a higher rate of economic growth and development of the rural economy. Increasing productivity and creating employment opportunities were considered important ways to attack poverty, to distribute income equitably and promote social justice (GOB, 1978). The effective utilization of local resources and mass mobilization through institutional arrangements and revitalization of local government bodies with “wider power and responsibilities” were considered important strategies in RD.

The objectives of the TYP could not be fulfilled given the time constraints. However, by 1980 the idea of “self-reliance” had become a symbol of the time. The swanirvar movement had, by then, made inroads into almost every union in the country where functional groups found representation in local administration with villagers playing a vital role in formulating and implementing developmental plans and programs for their own areas. The administrative arrangements of this movement were provided by a micro-governmental institution - gram sarker (village government). Its declared intent was to mobilize development initiatives effectively at the grass roots through optimum utilization of existing resources (Khan and Zafarullah, 1986).

Keeping this in the mind the Second Five Year Plan (SFYP, 1980-85) was formulated with the major objectives of providing basic needs for the people, such as food, shelter, clothing and education, reducing population growth and expanding employment opportunities in rural areas (GOB, 1980). The targets of SFYP were not achieved due to natural calamities and resource constraints. The development impact of the public sector investment was diluted as

the limited resources were spread over large number of development projects (Ahmed, 1986). A growth of 3.8 percent against the estimated target of 5.4 percent was achieved at the end of this plan (Table 8).

However, the Second FYP, recognized gram sarkers as a viable institutional arrangement to promote RD. Several far-reaching policy decisions were taken to integrate horizontal and vertical linkages between the centre and the periphery through local institutions and people's participation in planning and implementing development Programs (GOB, 1980). An important measure was to enhance the skills and expertise of both elected representatives and public servants through a re-oriented structure of developmental training within the existing format of the Training and Development Centre at the thanas.

The idea sent into oblivion when the abolished gram sarkers which had already gone into operation in many parts of the country. Although the time was not ripe to make a rational evaluation of its success or failure, indicators were already conspicuous about domination of rural elites in their affairs to serve their own interests as well as undue utilization of this institution to further the interests of the ruling political party.

The Third Five Year Plan (TFYP, 1985-90) was launched with the emphasis on reduction of population growth, expansion of productive employment, development of infrastructure, particularly in the rural sector, and inducement of private investment in both agriculture and industry (GOB, 1985). Alleviation of rural poverty being its principal target, the TFYP strived to: (1) prevent further deepen the poverty of people and to bring at least another 10 percent of the rural poor above the poverty line by means of increasing gainful employment and income opportunities on a sustained basis through expansion of the productive sectors; (2) ensure better access for the rural poor to means of production, farm and non-farm, through their organization for productive activities; (3) enable the rural poor to share local resources through their participation in the development process; and (4) improve the quality of the life

460


of the rural people in respect of basic physical infrastructures and social service needs (GOB, 1985 ). Despite a considerable progress in decentralisation of administration achieved during this plan period, mobilization of domestic resources greatly suffered due to natural calamities like the devastating flood in 1988 and socio-political unrests during the late years of the TFYP period.

The Fourth Five Year Plan (FFYP, 1990-95) was formulated within the framework of perspective plan (1995-2010). The main objectives of the plan were accelerating economic growth, poverty alleviation and employment generation through human

resource development and increased self-reliance.

The average annual growth rate during the fourth FYP period was 4.15 percent against the planned target of 5 percent (Table 8). The low growth was due to almost stagnant agricultural production. The growth of the agriculture sector was only 0.98 percent compared with the plan’s target of 3.42 percent. Agricultural growth suffered due to problem with distribution/marketing of fertilizer, HYV seeds and lack of adequate price support for produced food grain at the local market. The manufacturing sector showed a modest growth of 7.05 percent against the planned target of 9.02 percent (BBS, 2001).

Table 8: Summary of GDP growth during the past plans (At respective base year prices)

Plan Plan execution

Plan size (million Taka)

Fund realised (million Taka)

Plan growth rate %

Actual growth rate

First FYP 1973-78 44,550 20,740 5.50 4.00Two Year Plan 1978-80 38,600 33,590 5.60 3.50

Second FYP 1980-85 172,000 152,970 5.40 3.80

Third FYP 1985-90 386,000 270,110 5.40 3.80Fourth FYP 1990-95 620,000 598,480 5.00 4.15

Fifth FYP 1997-2002 1959,521 1720,321 7.00 5.50Sixth FYP 2010-15 1,3469,000 - 8.00 6.4*

Source: GOB (2011), * Two years average, ‘-‘ data not found

After the expiry of the Fourth FYP (1990-95), no medium term development plan was formulated during 1995-97. In June 1997, the Fifth Five Year Plan (FFYP, 1997-2002) was launched. The targeted aims of Fifth FYP was to alleviate rural poverty through accelerated economic growth, employment generation, improvement in the quality of life of the rural population through mobilization of the rural masses and resources, transformation of the rural socio-economic structure into a more equitable, just and productive one and empowerment of the rural poor through ensuring their increased access to resources and putting in place effective local government institutions, at the union, thana and zilla levels, and vesting on them the power and responsibilities for design, formulation and implementation of local level development

programs and projects, with active participation of people belonging to all strata of the rural society as well as through effective co-operation between the local government institutions and non-government organizations (GOB, 1998).

The plan was also designed in view the changing structure of the global economy, and prepared within a flexible framework. In the context of increasing globalisation of the economy, the Plan placed markets at the centre but, at the same time, attaches due importance to the appropriate role of the government and the public sector, for raising the standards of living of all citizens of the country. In recognition of inevitable imperfections in information, competition and play of market

461


forces in a developing country like Bangladesh, the Plan envisaged appropriate and effective interventions in the market to remedy well-identified problems emanating from these imperfections.

The Fifth FYP was another added dimension by recognizing departs from the concept of central planning. In tune with the government's thrust on strengthening local government institutions at all tiers and their developmental role, a major focus of the Fifth FYP was local level participatory planning and integration of the local level development programs/projects with those at the national level. Further, it envisaged an active coalition of the government and the NGOs on the development front so that the full potential of the NGOs in complementing the

development efforts of the government can be tapped in a cost effective manner.

The Fifth FYP was unable to reached its targeted as achieved growth rate was 5.50 percent against 7 percent mainly due to shortfall of agricultural contribution. But a noticeable change in the structure of the Bangladesh economy occurred during the Third, Fourth and Fifth Plan period (Table 9). The share of all the major sectors increased except that of agriculture. The share of the industry went up more than in any other sector of the economy, from 9.86 percent in 1984-85 to 15.76 percent in 2001-02. Trade and services rose from 19.82 percent to 25.16 percent respectively. Only the share of agriculture went from 41.77 percent in 1984-85 to 23.98 percent in 2001-02.

Table 9: Structural change in Bangladesh economy (1984-2002)

Sector Contribution to GDP in present (at 1984-85 prices)1984-85 1989-90 1994-95 2001-2002

Agriculture 41.44 38.27 32.77 23.98Construction 5.53 5.98 6.33 8.41Energy 0.56 1.12 1.86 1.51Housing 7.97 7.64 7.45 8.63Industry 9.86 9.91 11.36 15.76Public services 3.25 4.09 5.08 6.93Trade and services 19.82 21.13 22.98 25.16Transport and communication 11.22 11.86 12.17 9.62Total 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Source: BBS (2003)

462

After the Fifth FYP, there was no plan during the period of 2005-2007 and worked as plan holiday. During this period, poverty was the main target by diversifying agriculture and increasing people participation in the local government institutions. The interior period of 2007-2009, the caretaker government did not formulate long term and medium term plan and worked as short term one year plan.

The Sixth Five Year Plan was launched, (SFYP, 2010-2015) by targeting economic growth, employment, poverty reduction, human resources development, gender balance and environmental protection. If the targets are achieved, the socio- economic environment of the country will transform it from a low-income economy to the first stages of middle- income country.Along with higher per capita income, a development scenario that is mentioned in the draft of the plan, where citizens will have a higher standard of living, better education, having social justice with more equitable socio-economic environment and the sustainability of development will be ensured through better protection from climate change and natural disasters. It aims to promote diversification in agriculture by emphasising incentives, research and extension, rural infrastructure and rural finance and to focus on promoting rural and urban manufacturing production based on domestic and export markets.

The formulation of development plans and implementation of projects in Bangladesh are traditionally a ‘top-down’ process. Participation of the local institutions and/or communities in project planning and management had not been practised or felt necessary by development planners and policy makers in the past. For the first time of development planning history of the country, the Fifth FYP took development of the community and social groups as a development strategy. Participation of the local community, particularly in rural areas of the country has been felt necessary for the protection and preservation of the environment. The Fifth FYP for the first time recognised the need for a regulatory system with effective institutional infrastructure for regeneration, recycling and optimum exploitation of natural resources in consistence with the concept of sustainable development.

Conclusion

Rural development has been the core focus of the government policy, strategy and programs after Independence of Bangladesh. The rural sector was strategic to the country’s economic growth, social and political development. The sector was crucial in providing the agricultural labour and output to the country; while the high incidence of poverty that characterised the sector posed a major threat to the social and political stability of the nation. The multifaceted significance of this sector provides the underlying rationales for all the development of Bangladesh and economic policies since 1971.

All the past agricultural and rural development programs failed to uplifted the condition of rural poor although contribution of agricultural sector to the economic development and wellbeing of the nation is highly satisfactory. In fact it can be said that the sector not only provide the engine for economic growth of the country and but also laid the foundation for the country’s drive towards industrialisation in the 1990s and 2000s. The share of agricultural sector in the country’s GDP has declined from its peak at 30 percent in 1980-81 to about 19 percent in 2009-10. The reduction of agricultural sector contribution to the economy is seen as an indicator of a country’s progress from an agriculture-based to an export-oriented economy. Although the contribution of agriculture to the country’s economy is declining but its absolute value is expected to increase and its economic and socio-political significance in terms of export earning, employment and food security will remain strong.

The success of the agricultural and rural programs in Bangladesh is reflected in the reduction in the poverty incidence in the rural sector from almost 54 percent in the 1983-84 to about 35 percent in 2009-10. However, despite various policies and programs to improve the life in the rural sector, poverty and income inequality still remain grave concerns when the economic being of this sector is compared to the non-agricultural or non-rural sectors. It cannot be denied that some progress have been achieved in poverty reduction along with improvements in socio-economic indicators such as population growth, life expectancy, infant mortality rates, literacy rate, proportion of population supplied with safe drinking water and improved sanitation facilities. But the fact remains that there exists a disparity of income between the

sectors and poverty incidence is still high in the rural sector. Hence, rural development is still an important agenda to the country’s future development plan.

References

Ahmad, Q. K. and M. Hossain (1983) “Alleviation of rural poverty in Bangladesh: an overview of strategies and policies”, A report prepared for FAO. Dhaka: Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.Ahmed R. and T.E. Chowdhury (ed.) (2000) “Out of shadow of famine: Evolving food markets and food policy in Bangladesh”, Baltimore USA: Johns Hopkins University Press.Ahmed, S. (1986) “Implementation of second five year plan and an outline of third plan of Bangladesh”, Ministry of Planning, Government of Bangladesh, Dhaka.Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) (2001) “Statistical Yearbook of Bangladesh”, Statistics Division, Dhaka: Ministry of Planning.Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) (2003) “Statistical Yearbook of Bangladesh”, Statistics Division, Dhaka: Ministry of Planning.Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) (2010) “Statistical Yearbook of Bangladesh”, Statistics Division, Dhaka: Ministry of Planning.Government of the Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh (GOB) (1973) “First Five Year Plan, 1973-78”, p. 226, Ministry of Planning, Dhaka.Government of the Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh (GOB) (1978) “Two Year Plan, 1978-80”, p. 29, Ministry of Planning, Dhaka.Government of the Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh (GOB) (1980) “Second Five Year Plan, 1980-85”, Chapter VII, p. 6, Ministry of Planning, Dhaka.Government of the Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh (GOB) (1985) “Third Five Year Plan l 985-90”, Page, 216, Ministry of Planning, Dhaka. Government of the Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh (GOB) (1998) “The Fifth Five Year Plan, 1997- 02”, Ministry of Planning, Dhaka.Government of the Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh (GOB) (2011) “The Sixth Five Year Plan, 2011- 15”, Part-3, Ministry of Planning, Dhaka.Handbook of Agriculture Statistics (2007) Ministry of Agriculture http://www.moa.gov.bd/statistics/statistics.htmHasnath, S. A. (1987) “The practice and effect of development planning in Bangladesh”, Public Administration and Development , Vol. 7(1), pp. 59-75. Hossain, M. (1988) “Nature and impact of green revolution in Bangladesh”, Research report No. 67. Washington DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.Hossain, M. (2004) “Poverty alleviation through agriculture and rural development in Bangladesh”, Research report no. 39, Centre for policy Dialogue, Dhaka.Hossain, M. and B. Sen (1992) “Rural poverty in Bangladesh: Trends and determinants”, Vol. Asian Development Review , Vol. 10(1), pp. 1-34. Hossain, M., M. A. Quasem, M. A. Jabbar and M. M. Akash (1994) “Production environments, modern variety adoption and income distribution in Bangladesh”, In. C.C. David and K. Otsuka (eds.) Modern Rice Technology and Income Distribution in Asia. Boulder and London: Lynne Rienner Publishers.Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) (2010) Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Statistics Division, Dhaka: Ministry of Planning.Jahan, K. and M. Hossain (1998) “Nature and extent of malnutrition in Bangladesh: Bangladesh National Nutrition Survey 1995-96”, Institute of Food and Nutrition Science, University of Dhaka.Khan, M. M. (1985) “Rural development programs in Bangladesh” in J.C. Garcia-Zamor, ed., Public Participation in Development Planning and Management , Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, pp.188-89. Khan, M. M. and H. M. Zafarullah (1986) “The 1978 presidential election”, A review in S.R. Chakravarty and V. Narain, eds., Bangladesh: Domestic Politics. p. l09, South Asia, New Delhi.Mandal M. A. S. (ed.) (2000) “Changing Rural Economy of Bangladesh”, Dhaka: Bangladesh Economic Association.Muqtada, M. (1986) “Poverty and inequality: trends and causes”, In. R. Islam (ed.) Bangladesh selected issues in employment and development. New Delhi: International Labor Organization.Rahman, S. (1996) “Energy demand forecast in Bangladesh”, Grassroots , pp. 5-16., Vol. April-June 1996.

http://www.moa.gov.bd/statistics/statistics.htm

Ravallion M. and B. Sen (1996) “When methods matter: Monitoring poverty in Bangladesh”, Economic Development and Cultural Change , Vol. 44, pp. 761-792. Sen, B. (2003) “Drivers of Escape and Descent: Changing household fortunes in rural Bangladesh”, World Development , Vol. 31(3), pp. 513-534. Shahabuddin, Q. (2000) “Assessment of comparative advantage in Bangladesh agriculture in Bangladesh”, The Bangladesh Development Studies , Vol. 26(1), pp. 39-75.

EFFECT OF SELECTED INSECTICIDE ON …centreofexcellence.net/J/JSS/Vol4/No3/JSSarticle2,4(3)pp... ·...

Documents

Transcript of EFFECT OF SELECTED INSECTICIDE ON …centreofexcellence.net/J/JSS/Vol4/No3/JSSarticle2,4(3)pp... ·...