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Explore the relationship between fiction and metaphysics and/or ethics in D. H. Lawrence’s short story “The White Stocking”

D.H. Lawrence was well known, arguably notorious, for advocating the doctrine of romantic vitalism both in his life and in his writings. Originally a scientific term, the Oxford English Dictionary defines romantic vitalism as “The doctrine or theory that the origin and phenomena of life are due to or produced by a vital principle, as distinct from a purely chemical or physical force” (Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 1999, p1603). Lawrence’s championing of the philosophy persisted right up until his death in 1930: indeed, as Daniel Fuchs comments, “The voice of romantic vitalism speaks with intransigent integrity in Lawrence to the last” (Fuchs, 2011, p156). In the early twentieth century, romantic vitalism, as Lawrence conceived of it, championed the view that people’s intellectual development had taken precedence over their spiritual and emotional development.

This brief essay will examine how the metaphysical concept of romantic vitalism is explored through the treatment of human love and human weakness within the institution or marriage, and how individuals should behave towards one another within D.H.Lawrence’s early short story “The White Stocking”. “The White Stocking” is a narrative about desire and more specifically about repressed desire: as the very title of the story implies, it is about the idea of repression of sex and sexuality as being injurious to the spiritual and mental well being of the subject. It explores in tangential form a conflict between the physical nature of the body on the one hand, and the external pressures of social convention and an unexpressed, yet omniscient Christian morality which is supposed to govern people’s external conduct.

At surface level, the story is about the relationship between a married couple, in this instance the Whistons- Ted and Elsie- and about a husband and wife at the beginning of another working day, yet the narrative voice foregrounds a potent dichotomy or duality which associates warmth and sensuality with femininity, and more particularly the female body, and conversely coldness and reason with masculinity. Yet, one must acknowledge that ‘The White Stocking’ is a story in which the physical atmosphere and physical objects are invested with a powerful symbolism for characters that convey meanings and resonances that they themselves are not yet aware of, but the process of the story is to show how they gain deeper awareness of these resonances, and their implications for their identities and their relationships with each other.

Right from the very outset, it is heavily implied that Mrs Whiston as a character is (in the eyes of her husband, at least) imbued with a powerful sensuousness and an openness to nature and the natural world:

They had been married two years. But still, when she had gone out of the room, he felt as if all his light and warmth were taken away, he became aware of the raw, cold morning. So he rose himself, wondering casually what had roused her so early. Usually she lay in bed as late as she could. (Lawrence, 2006, p49)

Mrs Whiston has an innate warmth in spite of the coldness of their physical surroundings and of the cold English climate, and it is inferred, in spite of the repression of Christian civilisation that expresses itself through the conventional institution of marriage, as the authorial voice seems to imply. This sensuality and easiness with her body is portrayed as almost descending into a form of sluttish behaviour: in the eyes of her husband, the reader is told that “She looked like an untidy minx, but she was quick and handy enough.” (Lawrence, 2006, p50) The impression that is conveyed is not that of a respectable marriage and a respectable Christian household, but rather of a couple who have perhaps just engaged in frenetic sexual intercourse with each other.

Mrs Whiston/Elsie is presented as a character who is much more open to the possibilities of living within the moment and awareness of the sensuous and sexual possibilities that existence can offer one. The story speaks of how she is ‘interested only in her envelopes this morning’ (Lawrence, 2006, p50). Throughout the story she is repeatedly connected with physicality and with physical objects, as exemplified by the lengthy attention paid to her receipt of the Valentine’s gifts and more specifically, her lengthy interaction with the story’s title object: the eponymous white stocking itself.

Lace as a fabric is associated with physical feeling, with the body and with the skin. Indeed, the story mentions how Elsie/ Mrs Whiston was employed as ‘a warehouse girl in Adam’s lace factory before she was married’ (Lawrence, 2006, p56). Her role within a lace/hosiery factory defines her position and her identity in life prior to marriage: within the context of the story, the idea of fabrics, of lace and in particular, the idea of the white stocking seems to invoke the idea of freedom, independence and an elevated social status, as implied by Elsie’s strange yet eager embrace of the physical clothing and the pearl ear-rings that she presumes she has received as a Valentine’s present from her former suitor.

Examining the incident in closer detail, Elsie’s emotional reaction to each of the gifts that she receives is individually noteworthy: she basically rejects the cartoon Valentine that she receives, more or less, because it offends her romantic and possibly aspirational nature. She is then described as smiling ‘pleasantly’(Lawrence, 2006, p51) at the white silk handkerchief that she receives in the white cardboard box, which contains ‘her initial, worked in heliotrope, fully displayed’(Lawrence, 2006, p51). The third gift, the eponymous white stocking contains a very pleasant surprise in its toe. The authorial voice talks of how she lifts ‘a pair of pearl ear-rings from the small box’ (Lawrence, 2006, p51) and goes ‘to the mirror…looking at herself sideways in the glass. Curiously concentrated and intent she seemed as she fingered the lobes of her ears, her head bent on her side.’(Lawrence, 2006, p51) The message that accompanies the gift that ‘Pearls may be fair, but thou art fairer. Wear these for me, and I’ll love the wearer’ (Lawrence, 2006, p51) and the fact that Elsie has not received these items from her husband, suggests that either she has been and remains an object of romantic infatuation.

As we subsequently learn, Elsie suspects that the pearl ear-rings are a gift from the rich lace manufacturer, Sam Adams, who was previously her employer and, it seems, a suitor who vainly tried to woo her. Suddenly a whole back story opens up, in which a vivid physical portrait of Adams as a lonely bachelor with a ‘fondness for the girls’ (Lawrence, 2006, p56) emerges, and for whom Elsie is the main target of his amorous affections. He is described as wearing ‘a red carnation’ (Lawrence, 2006, p56) in his buttonhole in order ‘to impress her’. (Lawrence, 2006, p56)

Why the intense focus on the details of the Valentine’s gifts? For a start, they appear to symbolise Elsie’s apparent ascent in the world and the sense that the reader gets of a desire on her part to ensure an improvement in her social status and the sense of social identity as being somehow fluid, and no longer fixed. As we learn towards the end of the first story, Whiston has risen in the world, having left Sam Adams’ employ and struck out on his own as a commercial traveller. The irony is that Elsie has apparently rejected the higher social status and greater financial and material security that would have come through marriage to Sam Adams, her former employer, and has followed her heart and her romantic nature and married Ted Whiston instead. Whiston is described in the story as being more physically attractive and more restrained in manner than Adams: the latter is ‘too loud for [Elsie’s] good taste (Lawrence, 2006, p56) whereas the former is described as being ‘a shapely young fellow of twenty-eight, sleepy now and easy with well-being (Lawrence, 2006, p50) The story’s narrative structure shifts towards engagement with the romantic triangle between Elsie, Whiston and Adams. Within the triangle Elsie believes that her beauty and her attractiveness to Adams give her a power over her husband through his rage and jealousy at Adams’ unabated courtship.

The triangular relationship is expressed through the story of the Christmas party: Elsie dances with Adams and seems to revel in the physicality of dancing with him. Indeed, the experience is described as being ‘an intoxication to her’, (Lawrence, 2006, p60) and we see how much she shapes her own identity through her own enjoyment of physical and erotic contact with others. At the same time, her husband’s ontology and identity are defined in terms opposite to her own which ostensibly reject the erotic and which enforce boundaries of contact and affection. Ted Whiston instructs his wife to shun close contact with Adams, telling her that: “You don’t want to be too free with Sam Adams…You know what he is”,(Lawrence, 2006, p63) and yet a mixture of pride, anger and reticence prevent him from explaining to Elsie why she should reject Adams’ attentions.

At the heart of the story, the titular white stocking comes to represent the rift in the marriage between Ted and Elsie, and yet to symbolise how Elsie draws out the passion and an unexpected redemptive quality in Ted’s character. When they are walking back from the Christmas party after the incident in which Elsie mistakenly dropped the white stocking, it is Elsie’s apparent remorse and regret which leaves her tearful and vulnerable, and which evokes in Ted a need to forgive, and in a moment of sudden epiphany to realise that he cares for and loves her very deeply indeed:

And he held her very safe, and his heart was white-hot with love for her. His mind was amazed. He could only hold her against his chest that was white-hot with love and belief in her. So she was restored at last. (Lawrence, 2006, p66)

In essence, the Christmas party establishes a pattern of behaviour within the marital relationship whereby Elsie’s continued attraction to Adams both provokes her husband’s violent jealousy to the point where he almost lashes out at her in piques of violence. Yet, if one looks at the relationship and the subsequent marriage between Ted and Elsie, it becomes the way in which her social identity is subsequently defined, and in which she finds a peculiar sense of security:

Inside of marriage she found her liberty. She was rid of the responsibility of herself. Her husband must look after that. She was free to get what she could out of her time. (Lawrence, 2006, p66-7)

This leads us towards consideration of the treatment of marriage within the narrative. At its heart it explores issues of trust, forgiveness and fidelity within marriage, and how well the social institution of marriage can withstand possible betrayal and compromise. The third great epiphany of the story centres on Elsie’s admission to her husband that the pearl ear-rings are not the first present that she has received from Sam Adams. This time, Ted Whiston is unable to restrain himself and hits his wife with a savage force:

Then, quick as lightning, the back of his hand struck her with a crash across the mouth, and she was flung back blinded against the wall (Lawrence, 2006, p71)

One might assume that the modern twenty-first century reader would be shocked and horrified by this expression of violence, and by Whiston’s apparent brutality towards his wife, yet this moment of aggression and physical injury seems to have the paradoxical effect of bringing Ted and Elsie closer together in a sudden and surprising moment of tenderness and compassion. It is almost as if Lawrence is implying that tenderness, cruelty and violence cannot exist apart from one another in marriage, being almost in a form of mutual symbiosis.

In conclusion, this might be a very useful way of describing ‘The White Stocking’ because it is very much a story about relationships and human connections are mutually, helplessly dependent upon each other, and this is how the relationship progresses between Ted and Elsie.

Reference List

Concise Oxford English Dictionary (1999): Oxford UP, Oxford

Fuchs, D. The Limits of Ferocity: Sexual Aggression & Modern Literary Rebellion. (2011): Duke University Press, Durham NC

Lawrence, D.H. Selected Stories. (2007): Penguin, London

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The theme of masculinity suggests itself as an obvious area of focus with Hemingway’s collection In Our Time, as these short stories and vignettes are explicitly concerned with men, male activities, male professions and traditionally masculine areas of human experience such as war, hunting and fighting. The collection is notable for its focus on male characters, most notably figures such as Nick Adams, and for the relative absence of women (indeed, Hemingway titled another of his short story collections Men Without Women). Where women do feature, it is often in a secondary or passive role, with the male characters in the story wielding power in the text and also providing the perspective of Hemingway’s narration. This essay will argue that masculinity is a central theme in In Our Time, and moreover that much of the tension within the texts comes from the conflict between characters’ self-perceptions of their own masculinity and the reality of their masculine behaviour. Defining what masculinity means, both for themselves and in the context of other characters’ perceptions of them, is a central concern of Hemingway’s male protagonists in this collection, as in his oeuvre more generally (Fore, 2007).

In the early story ‘The Indian Camp’ and the vignette Chapter II, Hemingway presents women from the perspective of men: they are associated with children in general and with childbirth in particular. Notably, women are not given a voice in either of these stories; instead, they are seen from the perspective of men. As passive individuals whose primary role is to give birth, women in In Our Time are figured as secondary. Their lack of masculinity means a lack of driving force in the text, which instead comes from male characters, male actions, and male interactions. Hemingway championed, in his fiction as well as in his life, the notion of the competent, masculine male; his motto on this subject was the masculine notion of ‘grace under pressure’ (Durham, 1976). The ability to perform a task or job well is one that Hemingway values in his life and fiction, and in In Our Time we see this confident, competent male type embodied by Nick Adams’ father the doctor. In the story ‘The Indian Camp,’ his visit to the camp is predicated on the notion that he is an extremely competent doctor, able as he notes to perform a caesarian with a jack knife and stitch it up afterwards. In this same story, the doctor can be contrasted with the Indian father who kills himself, thereby dichotomising the able male and the unable male and introducing another of Hemingway’s key themes: namely, suicide. That suicide in the text is no less gendered than professional competence is made evident in the exchange between Nick and his father which follows their leaving the Indian Camp:

“Do many men kill themselves, Daddy?”
“Not very many, Nick.”
“Do many women?”
“Hardly ever.”
“Don’t they ever?”
“Oh, yes. They do sometimes.” (Hemingway, 1925, n.p.)

The differences in the behaviour of men and women take on an almost anthropological quality in the gendered presentation of character in In Our Time. Men are explicitly figured as active, aggressive and macho in contrast to women’s passivity. Whilst Hemingway of course nuances his presentation to include different types of men, and to suggest that there is more than one way of being masculine, there are recurrent themes which can be said to centre around the idea of violence. Men in the stories measure themselves and each other in terms of acts of violence. In the story ‘The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife,’ masculinity is presented as a form of awareness of one’s own capacity to commit acts of violence. Dick Boulton’s very felicity as a male seems to depend on the accuracy of his awareness of his own masculinity: ‘Dick Boulton looked at the doctor. Dick was a big man. He knew how big a man he was. He liked to get into fights. He was happy’ (Hemingway, 1925, n.p.). Violence, recognition of one’s capacity to commit violence, and comfort in one’s own power as a male, are here presented as key features of felicitous masculinity. By contrast, those male characters who are unhappy and who commit acts of violence against themselves (alcoholism, more literally suicide) are ones whose self-perceptions of their own masculinity do not accord with the reality, leading to what some critics have identified as the ‘crisis of masculinity’ in Hemingway’s fiction (Hatten, 1993). The very title of the story ‘The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife’ contrasts the male and the female characters as Hemingway sees them: the Doctor is impulsive, angered, and takes the more cynical interpretation of his adversary’s actions; by contrast, his wife is presented as pious, forgiving, and somewhat naive in her reading of human motives. However, she is able to calm the doctor down and he goes outside to see Nick. Tellingly, however, Nick decides to go off with his father at the end of the story rather than go inside to see his mother. He tells his father he knows where there are black squirrels, and they set off to take part in that most male of activities: hunting. Ultimately, female piety and compassion only temper the masculine urges and drives in the story; it is masculinity which pervades as a theme, and violence – or the potential for violence – which is restored by the story’s close.

Hemingway’s presentation of masculinity must therefore be contrasted with his notions of femininity, and it can be noted that both are presented in terms of types. In In Our Time, the greatest type division is between men and women; within these divisions, there are sub-categories. Thus the short story ‘Mr and Mrs Eliot’ presents the dichotomy of the male and female in its title, and then proceeds in the story itself to break down this division further into different types. At no point, however, is it questioned that there are certain characteristics which can be considered exclusively or predominantly feminine, and those that can be considered masculine. Femininity and masculinity are not abstract notions but rather the locus of concrete differences in the text. Thus Mrs Eliot is presented in terms of stereotypes concerning her gender and geographical origins: ‘Like all Southern women Mrs. Elliot disintegrated very quickly under sea sickness, travelling at night, and getting up too early in the morning’ (Hemingway, 1925, n.p.). This sentence is not a qualified presentation of an individual, but a stereotyping of all females from the South of the United States. This is typical of the way in which gender, masculinity and femininity, are presented in the texts: there are clear archetypes for human characteristics, and characters are presented as conforming to them or deviating from them. Implicit in the short story ‘Mr and Mrs Eliot’ is a critique of the ways in which Mr Eliot departs from the ideal of masculinity presented in the collection more generally: he is a poet, he drinks white wine, he has not been with many women and he tries, unsuccessfully, to have a baby with his wife. Ultimately, he is emasculated and usurped from the marital bed and his role as a masculine impregnator of women: ‘Mrs. Elliot and the girl friend now slept together in the big mediaeval bed. They had many a good cry together’ (Hemingway, 1925, n.p.). Instead, the bed becomes the site not of any female (lesbian) eroticism but instead of female communication and empathy: the women cry there together. This is presented as an antithesis to the idea of idealised masculinity, in which actions speak louder than words. In such a context, Mr Eliot’s being a poet, and dedicating his nights to writing verse and drinking white wine instead of more becoming masculine pursuits, can here be read in a critical light as a satire on the ‘modern’ man who departs from the traditional notion of masculinity as embodied in the collection by figures such as Nick Adams and his father.

The story which perhaps most clearly presents the idealised model of masculinity, and the key notion of the potential difference between men’s perceptions of themselves and the reality of their masculinity, is ‘Big Two-Hearted River.’ Here, Nick Adams is presented as happily in an elemental, masculine state. Men are happy in Hemingway when they are doing an activity well, and here Nick Adams is presented as engaged in fishing the river, a feeling which he enjoys and an experience which he knows well. Hemingway explicitly presents this activity in physical terms; masculine behaviour is notable in the collection for being physically impressive and physically demanding, and the impression is of behaviour which is rewarding for men to the extent that it is physically draining. Thus Nick is happy in proportion to the degree to which he exerts himself: ‘The road climbed steadily. It was hard work walking up-hill. His muscles ached and the day was hot, but Nick felt happy’ (Hemingway, 1925, n.p.). The pleasure of physical exertion is a defining theme of masculinity in this collection as well as in Hemingway’s writing more generally (Fore, 2007); it is seen in the context of a number of typically male activities, from fishing as in this story through to war, bullfighting and shooting (Vernon, 2002). The story also presents a key Hemingway theme in the context of masculinity: namely, male bonding and the ways in which men negotiate their own masculinity together. Much has been made of homoeroticism and suppressed homosexualities in Hemingway’s work as well as in his life (Blackmore, 1998; Cohen, 1995; Elliott, 1993; Fantina, 2004), but what is more obviously present here is the notion that masculinity is something which is negotiated between men, indirectly rather than directly. Thus Nick Adams measures his own masculinity alongside his old friend Hopkins, who is now presumably dead, drinking a tribute coffee to the man whom he bonded with and against whom he measured some elements of his own masculinity:

Not the first cup. It should be straight Hopkins all the way. Hop deserved that. He was a very serious coffee drinker. He was the most serious man Nick had ever known. Not heavy, serious. That was a long time ago. (Hemingway, 1925, n.p.)

Significantly, this male bonding is something which is negotiated indirectly, with intervening time and space coming between Nick and Hopkins. Even more significantly, Hemingway presents this masculine bonding indirectly, through the free indirect discourse of Nick’s thoughts and reminiscences. This device allows Hemingway to present masculinity indirectly, and to emphasise in the nostalgia and pathos of this longer story the loss and pain that the masculine world of war creates (Clifford, 1994). Nick is not presented as having any direct contact with Hopkins, there is no quoting or speech, but instead Nick and the reader are obliged to experience this process of masculine connection from a distance, at a remove.

To conclude, it is evident that masculinity is an extremely important theme in In Our Time. In particular, it allows for a dichotomy to be present in the texts between males as active, violent and powerful on the one hand, and women as passive, responsive and objectified on the other. Women are the subject of the male gaze, which is always seeking to define itself in terms of idealised masculinity. However, men also turn their gazes on themselves and each other, and it can be noted in conclusion that a central source of narrative tension in the text is the conflict between characters’ perceptions of their masculinity and the reality. This comes to the fore in relationship problems with women, but also in acts of violence and conflict between males, where the need to assert one’s masculinity comes at the expense of denying another man the opportunity to fully exert his. The pathos of this disconnect between idealised masculinity and the harsh reality of many of his male characters’ existences is what gives to Hemingway’s collection In Our Time its unmistakably elegiac tone.

References

Blackmore, D. (1998). ” In New York it’d mean I was a…”: Masculinity anxiety and period discourses of sexuality in The Sun Also Rises. The Hemingway Review, 18(1), 49.

Clifford, S. P. (1994). Hemingway’s Fragmentary Novel: Readers Writing the Hero in In Our Time. The Hemingway Review, 13, 12-23.

Cohen, P. F. (1995). ” I won’t kiss you… I’ll send your English girl”: homoerotic desire in’A Farewell to Arms.’. The Hemingway Review, 15(1), 42-54.

Durham, P. (1976). Ernest Hemingway’s Grace under Pressure: The Western Code. The Pacific Historical Review, 425-432.

Elliott, I. (1993). A farewell to arms and Hemingway’s crisis of masculine values. Lit: Literature Interpretation Theory, 4(4), 291-304.

Fantina, R. (2004). Hemingway’s Masochism, Sodomy, and the Dominant Woman. The Hemingway Review, 23(1), 84-105.

Fore, D. (2007). Life Unworthy of Life?: Masculinity, Disability, and Guilt in The Sun Also Rises. The Hemingway Review, 26(2), 74-88.

Hatten, C. (1993). The Crisis of Masculinity, Reified Desire, and Catherine Barkley in” A Farewell to Arms”. Journal of the History of Sexuality, 4(1), 76-98.

Hemingway, E. (1925) In Our Time. New York: Simon and Schuster. Available online at scribd.com [accessed 3rd March 2016] at: https://www.scribd.com/read/236832081/In-Our-Time.

Vernon, A. (2002). War, Gender, and Ernest Hemingway. The Hemingway Review, 22(1), 34-55.

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THE REPRESENTATION OF BLACK CULTURE IN BELOVED BY TONI MORRISON

African-American author Toni Morrison’s book, Beloved, describes a black culture born out of a dehumanising period of slavery just after the Civil War. Culture is a means of how a group collectively believe, act, and interact on a daily basis. Those who have studied her work refer to Morrison’s narrative tales as “literature…that addresses the sacred and as an allegorical representation of black experience” (Baker-Fletcher 1993: 2). Although African Americans had a difficult time establishing their own culture during the period of slavery when they were considered less than human, Morrison believes that black culture has been built on the horrors of the past and it is this history that has shaped contemporary black culture in a positive way. Through the use of linguistic devices, her representation of black women, imagery and symbolic features, and the theme of interracial relations, Morrison illustrates that black culture that is resilient, vibrant, independent, and determined.

Published in 1987, Beloved is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel that recounts how those who survived slavery healed themselves and reflects on the period of slavery in “a manner in which it can be digested, in a manner in which the memory is not destructive” (Morey 1988: 2). It is this rememory as Morrison calls it that helps those considered “others” become individuals. Set in Ohio, the book focuses on Sethe; Sethe’s surviving daughter, Denver; Sethe’s mother-in-law, Baby Suggs; and the ghost of Sethe’s dead daughter, Beloved. Throughout the book, “Morrison communicates an unforgettable sense of the strength, terror and devastation that is part of the black community, whilst skilfully portraying the unalterable connections between spiritual and physical life” (Morey 1988: 1093).

One linguistic device used throughout the novel is the use of songs. Slaves use songs as a way to pass down stories but also to help them maintain a sense of inner strength. Morrison “shows how song defines and affirms slave “personhood” in a world where slave humanity is constantly challenged and denied” (Capuano 2003: 1). Rather than thinking of song in a negative fashion, “it chronicles her characters’ endurance and ability to survive during and after these periods of physical brutality and psychological abuse” that they experienced during slavery (Capuano 2003: 2). This illustrates how black culture has resilience and an ability to overcome hardship. Singing is an essential aspect of the characters’ lives alongside food, sleep, and shelter. As the novel related, if Paul D could “walk, eat, sleep, [and] sing,” he could survive and “asked for no more” (Morrison 1987: 41). While others may not understand the jargon used in the songs, those singing it and other slaves hearing those songs know what it means, and this is a way to strike some independence and distinct culture for themselves during a period where it is uncommon to think of blacks as even human (Capuano 2003: 4). This community of song enables those within black culture to become stronger. It is “the collective sharing of that information heals the individual — and the collective” (Morey 1988: 1039). In revisiting Morrison’s overall theme of turning traumatic memories into a positive force, the songs are a cathartic process used to take this memory, which is “vital for revisioning communal and social transformation that is healing” (Baker-Fletch 1993: 4). It is the singing of the women that help exorcise the ghost of Beloved and enable Sethe to break free as if she has been baptized (Morrison 1987: 308). The novel describes Sethe as “running into the faces of the people out there, joining them and leaving Beloved behind” (Morrison 1987: 309).

In addition to songs as a linguistic device, Morrison constantly returns to the word, “rememory” and “disremember” rather than using words, such as “remember” or “forget.” Morrison uses rememory to show how Sethe constantly keeps the past in her present existence because she cannot forget what happened and lives with the ghost of her guilty conscience and moral dilemma for murdering her daughter and living through slavery. For example, Sethe explains how she struggles with the past:

It’s so hard for me to believe in [time]. Some things go. Pass on. Some things just stay. I used to think it was my rememory. . . . But it’s not. Places, places are still there. If a house burns down, it’s gone, but the place-the picture of it-stays, and not just in my rememory, but out there, in the world” (Morrison 1987: 36).

Morrison’s creation of her own terms related to how the black culture has to continually deal with its past as though it is a metal neck chain that they cannot unlock. Throughout the book, it seems as though this struggle with rememory is constant for Sethe rather than looking forward to a more opportunistic future: “But [Sethe’s] brain was not interested in the future. Loaded with the past and hungry for more, it left her no room to imagine, let alone plan for, the next day” (Morrison 1987: 70). The other characters in the novel attempt to help Sethe loosen the binds of the past. One of the women in town wants to help Sethe exorcise the ghost of Beloved because she “didn’t like the idea of past errors taking possession of the present” because “the past was something to leave behind” (Morrison 1987: 302).

As part of the black culture, black women represent the pillars of strength within that community as protectors and healers. They are the glue that holds everything together when the world is falling apart around them. Many of the characters have been torn from their families because of the slave traders splitting up families and selling them as slaves to various white masters. Together, they share a history of suffering and an urge to heal and become whole people again. In isolation, black women formed bonds to survive and empower each other to withstand the atrocities of slavery. There is also a sense of the sisterhood still found in African American culture today as the women in the community band together to exercise the ghost of Beloved from Sethe’s house. It is this camaraderie that helps Sethe heal as an individual and strengthens the black community. In contrast, Paul D and Beloved clash because Beloved sees this male presence as a threat as does her sister, Denver. Both Beloved and Denver want their mother to themselves, furthering the idea that black women stick together while black men are seen as untrustworthy. Paul D does not like Beloved either because he feels isolated from the bond that the women share. However, he lets Beloved seduce him, thereby proving to Sethe and Denver that men cannot be trusted.

In terms of imagery, the ghost of Beloved represents the idea that both Sethe and black culture are haunted by a horrible past but being able to live with that spectre in a positive way instead of dreading and fearing their slavery past. As one character states: “Anything dead coming back to life hurts” (Morrison 1987: 35). Beloved also is what is known in African American literatures as the “trickster.” According to one writer, “the trickster, whose fluidity and rule breaking define and maintain culture, embodies a central paradox in Morrison’s work: that of balancing the urge to maintain and foster cultural tradition and the equally powerful urge to rebel” (Smith 1997: 112). Beloved, as a trickster, is playing with Sethe by stirring up the past rather than continuing to repress it. In some ways, Sethe is still enslaved because she cannot remove the shackles of what happened in the past, including her decision to murder her daughter. Beloved works her magic by getting Sethe to re-examine how the past should be dealt with in the present.

Beloved’s presence is like a re-birth for Sethe to acknowledge the past while moving forward a stronger, wiser woman for what happened to her and the rest of the black community. The ghost of Beloved really becomes an outward representation of the inward retrospective Sethe is taking of her life so far. While other characters in the novel experience a situation of an alternative self that helps them recover from the past, it is only Sethe that goes through the process under the most extreme conditions.

In positioning the black culture as part of society as a whole, Morrison also explores interracial relations in the novel. During and after slavery, relations between black and white cultures are “harsh” (Angelo 1989: 1). The relationship between the two cultures is based on the idea of exclusion and lack of tolerance for others. All the black characters have suffered horrific experiences at the hands of white people. Sethe had been raped while Paul D was imprisoned and Stamp Paid lost his wife. Sethe kills her own daughter, Beloved, because she does not want her to have to be treated to the harshness of life that whites have brought on black people. Between the whites and blacks, it is a relationship of take until there was nothing left of the black person:

That anybody white could take your whole self for anything that came to mind. Not just work, kill or maim you, but dirty you. Dirty you so bad you couldn’t like yourself anymore. Dirty you so bad you forgot who you were and couldn’t think it up. . . . The best thing [Sethe] was, was her children. Whites might dirty her all right, but not her best thing (Morrison 1987: 251)

For Sethe, it is easier to lose her daughter to death than it is for her to see Beloved suffer in this world. It did not seem right to live in a world where they were nameless and faceless to white society. Morrison describes this state as being “dismembered and unaccounted for”(Morrison 1987: 323).

In writing about the black culture rising from the ashes of a horrific period in history, Morrison makes the point that individuality and community are what bind African Americans together. In an interview about her novel, she said: “The book was not about the institution — Slavery with a capital S. It was about these anonymous people called slaves. What they do to keep on, how they make a life, what they’re willing to risk, however long it lasts, in order to relate to one another” (Angelo 1989: 3). While Morrison shows that black people are the same as white people because they are all human beings, the black culture has struggled with an identity and a purpose after white people had taken that away during slavery. Beloved is about an awakening to the ability to be individuals again and feel empowered after shaking the ghost of a dehumanizing history. Each character – man and woman – within the black community of Beloved go through a process of denial and then self-awareness. A sense of community and sisterhood along with the tight bonds of family that cannot be broken even by physical distance are what help Sethe and the black culture overcome the trauma and sorrow of the past.

REFERENCES

Angelo, B. (22 May 1989). “The Pain of Being Black.” Time. Available at: http://www.time.com/time/community/pulitzerinterview.html.

Baker-Fletcher, K. (April 1993). “Tar Baby and Womanist Theology.” Theology Today. Available at: http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/apr1993/v50-1-article3.htm.

Capuano, P.J. (2003). “Truth in Timbre: Morrison’s Extension of Slave Narrative Songs in Beloved.” African American Review.

Morey, A.J. (16 November 1988). “Toni Morrison and the Color of Life.” Christian Century, 1039.

Morrison, T. (1987). Beloved. New York: Vintage Books.

Smith, Jeanne Rosier. (1997). “Chapter Four—Tar and Feathers: Community and the Outcast in Toni Morrison’s Trickster Novels.” Writing Tricksters: Mythic Gambols in American Ethnic Fiction. Berkeley: University of California Press.

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Discuss whether the use of English in non-ENL countries can be seen as a neutral, a harmful or a beneficial activity.

English, which is often referred to as ‘the language of the planet’ is spoken by more than 750 million people worldwide. This global phenomenon, if not spoken by millions as a mother tongue is spoken by many as a second language or taught in educational institutions as a foreign language.

The diversity of its speakers has sparked considerable amount of interest, along with the types of English used in many countries. Alongside an immense number of speakers of a single language come the various types of speaker: those who’s English is a mother tongue, those of whom whose English is a second language, and those for whom it is a foreign language. This analysis attempts to establish whether the use of English in non – native speaking countries have adverse or positive effects.

Only a few centuries ago did English exist as a form of dialects spoken by the lower middle classes in the province of Britain. Dominated by the prestige languages of Latin and French, the language of the pre-English period (-c AD 450) was Celtic, a language spoken by those living in Britain and surrounding areas. When the Romans first invaded Britain, a number of Celtic – speaking peoples inhabited Britain, even though Latin was the official language of the province.

According to the source Women in Roman Britain, ‘By the end of the first century AD the increasingly cosmopolitan flavour of the urban population will have resulted in many languages being heard in Britain with the consequence that a knowledge of Latin would have been essential for efficient communication between people who could have originated as far afield as Scotland, Africa or Turkey’ (Allason-Jones, 1989, p174). Residents who would have migrated from such countries inevitably needed a mutual form of communication in order to keep activities such as trade going.

During the pre-English period, the vast number of occurring mixed and interracial marriages would have resulted in the inevitable introduction of foreign languages into Britain. This thus establishes Britain as a multilingual community, having contact with other parts of the world. Since Latin, a language which had been a lingua franca in Britain had by this time, been challenged by the increasing number of inhabitants speaking English, it had to leave in order to find a new position, since people were still using it but were also using Celtic.

At this time, Latin, which wasn’t an official language of Britain had now been established as a language of communication by those residing in England and those migrating to England, and was now seen as a useful source of promoting and providing the existence of beneficial activities such as administration and trade. The use of Latin had by then been the dominant language of government and administration. How the use of such a universal and phenomenal language such as English had been established can only be discovered if its origins are traced.

The earliest piece of writing in English is said to be a carving found in Norwich dating from AD 400. This runic script is said to resemble the Latin or Greek alphabet, and was used in various Germanic languages, bought to England by those residing in mainland Europe. *The influence of Latin on the English Language is very high, even though Latin is a somewhat ‘archaic’ language, only now taught in prestige schools such as Eton College.

1066 was a year of deterioration not just in terms of radical political changes but in major linguistics. Often viewed as ‘a milestone on the road to civilization’, it also played a major part in the development of Modern English. During this precarious time when the entire Normandy dynasty had been gained by the King of France, regular contacts with the French court bought with it colossal changes in the main method of communication.

This conflict ‘brought about a period of close contact and often bitter rivalry’ between the English and the French which in some respects has lasted into the present century. Ideas about ‘Englishness’ often reflect whatever is considered to be ‘not French’ (p121). The consequence of this invasion has caused the English Language to contain many derivations of French, referred to as the language of ‘honour’, ‘chivalry’ and ‘justice’. During the period of the French invasion many English residents knew very little, if not, any of the English language.

Other linguistic changes which inevitably rose as a result of the Norman Conquest concerned the language of Law. This would have been written in Britain’s prestigious language, Latin, which was at the time highly associated with the aristocracy. This resulted in English being a minority written language. Put in simpler terms, the Norman Conquest occurred at the detriment of the English Language used in Britain, which was almost reduced to a minor language or even a mere dialect spoken within England.

Other effects of the Norman Conquest on the English Language included the vocabulary. Many French words were adopted into the English Language which explains the vast majority French lexicon in the English vocabulary we are used to today. Baldwin, who in his speech thinly veils his distaste for the French language adopted into English quoted (that the) ‘salvation’ for Britain (and indeed for the whole world) lay not in French-derived polysyllables such as proletariat but in monosyllables such as ‘faith’. ‘Hope’ ‘love’ and ‘work’ (Crowley, 1989 p255).

Here, he not only (possibly subconsciously) describes English as being a somewhat simple and basic language, but he compares it to French, a language which exhibits power and prestige. In line with the effects of French lexicon within the English language, century’s later English provinces, namely Canada now have both English and French as an official language. The French language, in Quebec especially remains under threat, even though it is used to teach in schools its significance is deteriorating and the constant debate whether to use it in schools or whether English taught in schools can have detrimental effects; if students who are taught both languages becomes proficient in only one of the official languages, the quality of their written or spoken English or French is likely to decline.

In France however, since English has no official status, it is exempt from the pressures Canada faces to exert the significance of learning both languages in schools. As French is taught as a foreign language in England, English is likewise taught as a foreign language in French schools, in order that no-one lacks the knowledge of a language vital for international communication, and therefore increase the number of people proficient in either official language.

An example of the use of English in countries where English is not a native language being a beneficial, almost crucial activity lies within the necessities of air traffic control. Granted, there are many standard English’s, each one being exclusive to its respective country, however if one peculiar, even creolized version remains misunderstood in such a situation, the results could be dire. In such circumstances, even though the existence of many standardized English’s could create confusion, a vast knowledge of a universal Standard English is crucial.

The development of English pidgins and creoles in effect also gives way to confusion as it clouds out the need for a ‘politically correct’ language. The slave trade had an inevitably immense effect on the development of English, as it paved the way for the use of vernaculars such as Black English and black pidgins and creoles. These dialects, in effect are not understood by many and if such a language is seeped into schools it could become deeply ingrained within a students’ vocabulary, thus hindering a students’ ability to speak, and even understand politically correct English.

It is thus necessary to question the term ‘politically correct’ language? Double negatives to the native speaker of English, is seen almost as a taboo in English writing. Its use not only portrays the writer or speaker as uneducated, but the use of such insolent English by a native speaker would regard such a person as illiterate. Other definitions of political correctness refer to the use of non – sexist or racist language, language used in such a way which is not seen to favour a certain age group, class distinction or creed.

According to the English born sociolinguist Anthea Fraser Gupta, political correctness as exemplified by ‘the deliberate use of non-sexist language’ is quite unusual. In fact, it is so rare that I and other colleagues have had the experience of having our non – sexist original changed into a sexist printed version by editors.’ (Gupta, 1994, p2). For example, if an adult male calls another adult male ‘boy’ because he is in a position of authority, this could be seen as highly demeaning, as this perfectly reflects the days of the slave trade when taskmasters referred to their slaves as ‘boy’, alongside other demeaning terms such as ‘dog’ and ‘nigger’.

When I asked a university student if being called ‘boy’ by one who came from a country where such terms were unheard of, his reaction was one of dismay, not to mention being highly insulted. Such deviations from social norms could prove to cause conflict, as this type of English usage in countries such as Angola, France and similar non ENL lands may prove to be a difficulty.

In countries such as China where English has no official status, there has been an increased amount of interest in the English Language. ‘In 1959, everyone was carrying a book of the thoughts of Chairman Mao; today, everyone is carrying a book of ‘elementary English’ (p31) This unprecedented growth in the interest of the English language in a country titled the undisputed home of technology, science and rapid invention makes it a harmful activity in terms of linguistics but a beneficial one in terms of world trade, production and communication.

An influx Chinese people wanting to learn English poses the question: How good is the quality of English used in such non ENL countries? In the Chinese product catalogue IBI Household, the descriptions used to describe its respective goods in small captions are written in English which is considered to be very poor to ENL speakers; for example, a product called Space Creator, an organizer used to store household goods is said to be ”The plastic organizer will help you to storage wisely”, instead of ‘This plastic organizer will help you to store your items wisely; Another example being a Car Air Ozonizer which ‘Remove smoke, eliminate air particulate from this compact air ozonizer.

These items are described in a childlike manner, not to mention that they hardly make sense. As a result, if such habits become ingrained in an English learner’s vocabulary, they may become incomprehensible to someone whose first language is English but more importantly, it may become very difficult to root these habits out. This is thus an example of how the use of the English in non ENL countries can be seen as a harmful activity its only reason for its use is likely to be that of English is seen as fashionable.

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Literature Review

The aim of this literature review is to assess current research on the impact of salinity of pore water on the engineering properties of the soil, including shear strength and classification of the soil, ideally using Atterburg limits. The review focuses on the study of different soils and the impact of salinity on the engineering properties of the soil, addressing the types of experiments, the procedures in setting up the samples and the tests conducted as this will provide background information for the tests conducted in this dissertation. The literature review also examines the results of these tests as this will be useful for comparison of data during the analysis stage of this dissertation.

Engineering Properties of Soil

According to Ajam et al. (2015, p.350) the engineering characteristics of fine-grained soils, particularly clayey soils are influenced by a range of factors including density, porosity, and structure, as well as the history of tension and granulation, type of clayey minerals and plastic property. The engineering characteristics are also influenced by the type of minerals and the volume of these minerals in the pore water. This suggests that any change in these characteristics will lead to a corresponding change in the physical and mechanical characteristics of the soil. Engineering properties such as density, shear strength and the plasticity of soil are important as these properties affect the structural performance of the soil particularly under foundations and in other civil engineering applications. In basic engineering theory on soil mechanics, it is commonly assumed that the pore water and solid particles are chemically inert, in other words there is no chemical interaction between the different phases. However, Ajam et al. (2015, p.350) point out that the surface of clayey mineral particles is negatively charged which means that electrochemical forces exist between the solid, liquid and dissolved phases which influences the mechanical behaviour of clayey soil. In addition, it is known that the quantity and nature of electro-chemical forces depends on the type of anion and cation in exchange phase and the impact of this interaction on the cation exchange capacity. Ajalloeian et al. (2013, p.1419) make the point that the properties of water used in construction activities such as mixing concrete is governed by regulations and international standards, however there are fewer standards, governing the properties of water used in works associated with soil for example in the construction of earthen dams. Yet there is evidence to suggest that some minerals such as salt can affect the mechanical properties of soil. Bouksila et al. (2008, p. 254) suggest that the impact of the saline on the soil is dependent on the solubility of the soil. Suganya and Sivapullaiah (2015, p.913) argue that the behaviour of the soil is dependent on the microstructure which in turn can be influenced by the water content and the chemical content of that water. Lolaev et al. (1997, p.215) suggests that the temperature of the soil and the chemical content of the salt can influence the bonds between particles within the micro-structure which in turn affects the engineering properties of the soil. Chaney and Demars (1985, p.219) point out that salt in pore can affect soil behaviour particularly in leaching which in a slope can lead to a landslide.

Salinity and Microstructure

The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the change in shear strength in the sample soil by considering the effect of values 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 100% of pore water salinity and it is therefore prudent to examine similar studies, to determine the types of tests conducted and the results of those tests as this can then be used in assessing the outcomes of the dissertation research. According to Santamarina (2003, p.25) soils are particulate materials which means that the behaviour of soils is determined by the forces particles experience, including forces due to boundary loads which are transmitted through the skeleton of the soil and particle-level forces such as gravitational and buoyant forces as well as hydrodynamic forces. Soil particles are also influenced by contact level forces such as capillary, electrical and cementation reactive forces. It is the balance between these forces that determine soil behaviour and very often laboratory testing can be used to understand and predict this behaviour. Sassa et al. (2007, p.143) makes the point, for example that the shear strength of mudstone is dependent on the chemistry of the mineral and their reaction with saline. It is clear therefore that there is a link between saline pore water and the engineering performance of soils, however it can be difficult to predict and simulate this behaviour.

Tiwari et al. (2005, p.1445) suggest that an inward diffusion of the salt into clay can lead to an increase in the mean aggregate radius, which changes the structural component of the soil into what can be described as “irregular aggregation”. In soils that have more than 10% clay content the use of a saline pore water fluid can affect the physicochemical structure of the soil, affecting changes strength and compressibility of the material. For example, Kenney (1967, 1977) cited by Tiwari et al. (2005, p.1445) showed that increasing the NaCl concentration in pore fluid could lead to an increase of up to 200% in residual shear strength. Gratchev and Sassa (2013)

One of the difficulties with understanding the impact of salt on soil behaviour is that according to Chaney and Demars (1985, p.219) it is difficult to match the salinity in the field with laboratory testing because of the interstitial nature of pore-water salinity.

Research on Saline Pore Fluid and Soil

According to a study conducted by Nagase et al. (2006, p.209) the concentration of salt (NaCl) in the pore fluid affects the mechanical properties of soil as evidenced by the fact that during a recent earthquake in Japan, the saline concentration of the soil decreased due to leaching and there was a corresponding decrease in the cyclic strength of soil. Messad and Moussai (2016, p.301) studied the impact of saline on sabkha soils which are typically low strength and high compressible materials in which it is difficult to design and construct foundations. In this study the effect of salts on water content and Atterberg limits of the sabkha soil was conducted with tests using distilled water and natural sabkha brine along with saline solutions with different salt concentrations. The results revealed that the liquid and plastic limits decrease with pore fluid salinity when using conventional water content. However, it was also noted that liquid limit and plastic limit increase when the fluid content method is used.

van Paassen and Gareau (2004, p.327) also studied the effect of pore water salinity on shear strength and compressibility of remoulded clay. The study sought to compare the results with marine clay from the Caspian Sea which has a known lower shear strength than anticipated as well as a higher moisture content. This clay also has lower pre-consolidation pressures than the calculated in-situ effective stress which indicated under-consolidation. The results of the study revealed that increasing pore water salinity, led to a decrease in the moisture content of normally consolidated clays and the remoulded shear strength corresponded to these moisture content changes. The compressive behaviour of the clay is explained using the modified effective stress concept which takes account of the pore pressure and effective pressure as well as the electrochemical repulsive and attractive forces between the clay particles. van Paassen and Gareau (2004, p.327) found that the laboratory tests on the remoulded clays revealed the opposite results to those obtained by taking the measurements in the natural soils, which is attributed to the effects of soil structure and preconsolidation pressure. In addition, the results showed that the measured pre-consolidation pressure depends largely on the salinity of the permeating fluid and it was concluded that it is possible to approximate pre-consolidation pressure close to the known geological stress in marine clays with high pore fluid salinity, using a brine solution that closely resembles the pore fluid chemistry.

Yan and Chang (2015, p.153) studied the effects of pore fluid salinity on the shear strength and earth pressure coefficient at rest (K0) of three fine-grained soils including kaolin, bentonite and a marine clay. The K0 coefficient and the critical state friction angle (I•’) were determined using triaxial stress path testing on remoulded normally consolidated samples. The Atterberg limit test and sedimentation test revealed that the inter-particle force and soil structure of bentonite were affected by the salinity, whereas the other materials were insensitive to the pore fluid salinity, as shown in Figures 1 to 3. In this study Yan and Chang (2015, p.154) estimated the value of K0 using empirical formulas such as Jaky’s formula and Atterberg limits. It was found that Jaky’s formula satisfactorily predicted K0 for kaolin in all conditions with consistent underestimates for marine clay. In contrast prediction using the Atterberg limits failed in all cases, especially for the particularly for bentonite at low salinity.

Figure 1 Triaxial stress path of testing bentonite with different salt contents (Yan and Chang 2015, p. 156, Figure 4)

Figure 2 Triaxial stress path of testing of kaolin with different salt contents (Yan and Chang 2015, p. 156, Figure 3)

Figure 3 Triaxial stress path of testing of marine clay with different salt contents (Yan and Chang 2015, p. 156, Figure 5)

The laboratory tests found that the pore fluid salinity has little impact on the value of K0 and I•’ in the kaolin samples and the marine clay. However, it was also found that an increase in pore fluid salinity has a corresponding significant increase in I•’ for the bentonite and a decrease in the K0. These findings were attributed to the microstructure of the minerals in the materials (Yan and Chang 2015, p.157).

Zhang et al. (2013, p. 69) conducted tests on undrained shear behaviour of loess that was saturated with different concentrations of sodium chloride solution. The aim of the tests was to investigate the effects of NaCl concentration in pore water and desalinisation on the shear behaviour of the samples in undrained conditions. The samples of loess were taken from the ground surface in China and were saturated by de-aired, distilled water with different concentrations of NaCl. Each sample was then subjected to shear in undrained conditions. The samples were then remoulded and re-set into a shear box and re-saturated by passing through de-aired, distilled water and essentially desalinised, and subjected to shear testing, again in undrained conditions. The results of both sets of tests were compared and it was found that variation of NaCl concentration in the pore water affects the shear behaviour of saturated loess, with increases in peak shear strength and steady-state strength corresponding to increases in NaCl concentration until a peak value after which shear decreases with increases in NaCl concentration. It was also noted that the effects were reversible as the peak shear strength and steady-state strength of the desalinised samples recovered to those found in the original sample.

Ajalloeian et al. (2013, p.1422) conducted a study to assess the impact of salt water on the behavioural parameters of fine-grained soil. The tests started by determining the basic characteristics of the soil and water samples, followed by laboratory tests including Atterberg limits, standard compaction and consolidation tests as well as direct shear testing and dispersion tests including the pinhole test and chemical method. The soil sample was graded in compliance with ASTM D 4318 on soil passing no. 100 sieve, consisting of 37% gravel and sand, 35% silt and 28% clay. An XRD analysis of the material revealed that the fine grains of soil consist mainly of quartz, calcite and dolomite with some gypsum and 5% of the clay mineral montmorillonite.

The samples of this fine soil were subjected to three different type of water with varying salt content, namely distilled water, half saline and fully saline water. Atterberg Limits. The tests were performed according to ASTM D 4318 on soil passing no. 100 sieve. For half saline and saline water, this test was performed at 0, 24 and 48 hours after soil and water exposure. The compaction test was used to impact of the type of water on optimum moisture content and maximum dry density. The test was carried out according to ASTM D698-70 on soil passing no. 5 sieve with the saline test carried out at 24 hours and 48 hours after soil and water exposure. consolidation test was performed according to ASTM D2435 on soil passing no. 60 sieve and the process involved compacting a sample at optimum moisture content in a 20mm thick consolidation ring with a 70 mm diameter. The mould was left under loading equipment and a load of 1 kPa was applied on it and the sample was immersed for 24 hours. Then the sample was loaded with the stresses of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2 and 2.5 kg/cm2. In the direct shear test, performed according to ASTM D3080 on soil passing no. 5 sieve the soil was compacted at optimum water content in 10 x 10mm mould apparatus at stresses of 0.5, 1 and 2 kg/cm2 and shearing velocity was 0.35 mm/min. “Before shearing at each stress, the sample was immersed and consolidated during 24 hours under the same stress” (Ajalloeian et al. 2013, p.1421).

According to Ajalloeian et al. (2013, p.1424), the results showed that plastic limits with distilled, half saline and saline water are 21.31, 20.43 and 20.12 respectively. Salinity has little effect on the plastic limit however this depends on the moisture content of the soil which could affect the interaction between soil and solute in water. But in liquid limit, in which soil moisture is higher, the effect of salinity will be more. The liquid limit has decreased 5 and 17 percent with half saline and saline water respectively. Mahasneh (2004) cited by Ajalloeian et al. (2013, p.1425) attributed the decrease in liquid limit and plastic index by using saline water of Dead Sea to substitution of water molecules by salts that led to the decrease of the double layer thickness and water content and subsequently it stiffened the soil. Ajalloeian et al. (2013, p.1424) also cites Mansour et al, (2008) who indicate that the presence of high valence exchangeable cations in Dead Sea brine decrease the repulsive forces in the soil microstructure thus influencing soil behaviour. This means that the Vander Waals attractive forces are dominant, which increases the capillary stress between particles boundaries. Ultimately this reduces the available surface for interaction with water as shown in the Atterberg limits. In the present study, the lower part of changes of Atterberg limits are attributed to decrease in the double layer thickness and most of the changes can be attributed to sediment salt in the soil pores, because the XRD analysis showed montmorillonit content in the soil was approximately 5%. On the other hand, salt crystals were seen in the soil after drying it. The plastic index also decreased along with the liquid limit because of the increase in salinity of the pore water fluid.

The results showed that the Atterberg limits, compression index and swelling index as well as the coefficient of volume compressibility (mv) and coefficient of compressibility (av) decreased as water salinity increased. In addition, it was clear that the coefficient of consolidation and shear strength parameters increased with increase water salinity. These impacts were attributed to the increasing attractive force between soil particles, which establishes a bond between them, forming salt crystals in pores soil and effectively acting as a cement. Despite the fact that the concentration of saline water is 50 times more than that of half saline water, the difference between soil properties is not noticeable and it appears that the variations on the soil properties decreases as water salinity increases. However, the study also found that excessive concentration of water tends to cause cations to combine with anions to form salts before they can influence the clay minerals. This means that an increase in concentration of water does not have significant impact on the behaviour of the soil. The consolidation tests showed that soil behaviour with all three types of water is similar at high pressure, attributed to the fact that inter-particles bonds are broken at high pressures.

In another study, Otoko (2014, pp.9-10) investigated the impact of saline water from the Atlantic shore on three type of soil including a clay, clayey sand and base course material. Prior to testing 10kg of each of these soil types were dried at 100oC, sieved to establish grading in accordance with ASTM D421 and ASTM D422, as shown in Figure 4 and stored at room temperature.

Figure 4 Particle Size Distribution of clay, clayey sand and base course samples (Otoko 2014, p.10, Figure 2)

An analysis of the physical properties of the above soils indicate that the clay sample has the highest specific gravity of 2.75, with the base course sample having the lowest value of 2.50. The moisture content was also measured and ranged from 15% to 29% for the clay soil, 13% to 15% for the clayey sand sample and 11% to 14% for base course (Otoko 2014, p. 14).

A series of six samples were prepared using 3kg of each of the materials; one mixed with tap water and the other with saline water from the Atlantic Ocean salty for each type of soil. Compaction tests were then carried out to establish optimum moisture content and dry unit weight in accordance with ASTM D698 – 78, ASTM and AASHTO T180 – 90, with results shown in Figures 5 to 7.

Figure 5 Compaction Curves for Clay soil using tap water and Atlantic Ocean saline water (Otoko 204, p. 11, Figure 3)

Figure 6 Compaction Curves for Clay sand using tap water and Atlantic Ocean saline water (Otoko 204, p. 11, Figure 4)

Figure 7 Compaction Curves for Base course sample using tap water and Atlantic Ocean saline water (Otoko 2014, p. 12, Figure 5)

These figures indicate that the maximum dry unit weights of the clay were 20.9, with the clayey sand and the base course material having dry unit weights of 22.5 and 19.5kN/m3 respectively when mixed with tap water. The maximum dry unit weight for the clay decreased from 20.9kN/m3 to 17.5kN/m3 when the material was mixed with saline water. However, it was noted that there was an increase in the maximum dry unit weight for both clayey sand and base course from 19.5kN/m3 to 20.5kN/m3 and from 22.5kN/m3 to 23.2kN/m3 respectively. This is attributed to changes in the intermolecular structure, where in the clay sample the saline induced repulsive force between the salt molecules and the clay intermolecular structure, which increased the intermolecular distances and void ratios in the sample whereas the increase in the dry unit weight of the base course is attributed to a chemical reaction between the salt molecules and soil particles, thus hardening the material and increasing the dry unit weight (Otoko 2014, p.14).

A further 100g of the materials were mixed with tap water and Atlantic Ocean saline water for the Atterberg’s Limits test. Six paste specimens were prepared to determine the Atterberg limit of the soils. The results of these tests showed that each of the soils tended to stiffen with decreased Atterberg limits for the samples with salt water as shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Effect of Saline water on Atterberg limits and compactions (Otoko 204, p. 13, Table 1)

The samples were also subjected to unconfined compression testing that had been compacted to optimum water content and placed in a cylindrical shaped mould measuring 112.5mm height and 50.0mm diameter as specified in ASTMD 2166 – 85. The results of these tests are shown in Figures 8 to 10 (Otoko 2014, p.11).

Figure 8 Stress strain relationship for Clay soil with tap water and Atlantic Ocean saline water (Otoko 2014, p.13, Figure 6)

Figure 9 Stress strain relationship for Clay sand sample with tap water and Atlantic Ocean saline water (Otoko 2014, p.13, Figure 7)

Figure 10 Stress strain relationship for Base course with tap water and Atlantic Ocean saline water (Otoko 2014, p.13, Figure 6)

In the above figures, the relationship between the unconfined shear strength and strain from three soil types using tap and salty water show that the clay soil sample and the clayey sand sample have higher unconfined compressive strength for the saline state. This is attributed to the fact that the clay soil has “multi layers of gibbsite and silica sheets with hydrogen bonding linking these sheets” which become closer under axial compression, which increases resistance to compression and leads to higher shear strength (Otoko 2014, p.14). In contrast, the structure of base course contains compacted calcium oxide molecule, which as shown in Figure 10, fails “more rapidly than clay”, with the saline water enhancing the shear strength of the base course, largely because of the conversion of the calcium oxides and hydroxide into calcium chloride, which can resist higher values of shear (Otoko 2014, p.15).

A study conducted by Gratchev et al. (2007, p.349), into the cyclic behaviour of bentonite-sand mixtures that were treated with salt, found that the “cyclic shear strength at lower concentrations of salt was greater than that obtained at higher salt concentrations”. Gratchev and Sassa (2013, p.1817) studied the cyclic behaviour of soil under different physico-chemical conditions by conducting a series of undrained cyclic stress-controlled ring-shear tests on a natural soil permeated with solutions of NaCl, sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) to examine the cyclic behaviour of soil with different pore fluids. The study concluded that an increase in NaCl concentration from 1 meq/L to 11 meq/L leads to a corresponding decrease in the shear resistance of soil to cyclic loading. In addition, it was found that the soil environment affects the behaviour of the soil, for example in acidic and alkaline environments, it was found that the cyclic shear strength of soil decreases compared to specimens with distilled water. The changes in the cyclic behaviour of soil with different pore fluids are attributed to changes in the diffuse double layer of clay, whereby large concentrations of NaCl, NaOH, and H2SO4 can decrease the thickness of the diffuse double layer, thus producing soil structures that are less resistant to cyclic loading (Gratchev & Sassa 2013, p.1820).

Summary of Literature Review

The engineering characteristics of fine-grained soils, particularly clayey soils are influenced by factors such as density and porosity, structure, type of minerals and plastic properties. Any change in these characteristics will ultimately change the physical and mechanical characteristics of the soil. The addition of salt to pore water can affect the behaviour of the soil by influencing the electrochemical forces exist between the solid, liquid and dissolved phases. It is acknowledged that it is possible to conduct laboratory tests to understand the impact of saline pore water fluid on soil behaviour although it is difficult to mirror actual site conditions. A number of different research experiments were investigated, which revealed that:

the concentration of salt (NaCl) in the pore fluid affects the mechanical properties of soil.
the impact depends on the type of soil; for example, the impact of saline pore water on low strength, highly compressible soils, such as sabkha, increases the liquid limit and plastic limit.
increasing pore water salinity in some soils can decrease in the moisture content of normally consolidated clays and the remoulded shear strength, whereas variations of salt content in materials such as loess increases the peak shear strength and steady-state strength.
in some soils, such as kaolin, the Atterberg limits and compression index, as well as the swelling index and the coefficient of volume compressibility decreased, as water salinity increased.
shear strength parameters increase with increased water salinity, attributed to the increasing attractive force between soil particles, which establishes a bond between them, forming salt crystals in pores soil and effectively acting as a cement.
in cyclic behaviour of soil under different physico-chemical conditions an increase in NaCl concentration leads to a corresponding decrease in the shear resistance of soil to cyclic loading.
the soil environment affects the behaviour of the soil, for example in acidic and alkaline environments, cyclic shear strength of soil decreases compared to specimens with distilled water.
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Critically analyse and evaluate the impact of aviation on society

Introduction

The aviation industryhas dramatically changed the world we live in and has had a huge impact on almost all societies around the world. Since the first flight of the ‘Kity Hawk’ in 1903, aviation has developed at a surprising rate and has become a major component of the developed countries and their respective economies. This essay will discuss the impact of aviation on the society, along with the evaluating its positive and negative influences on the mankind. Furthermore, this essay will discuss the environmental, social and economic impact of aviation in conjunction with its contribution on globalisation.

Transformation from a local industry to global economic beneficiary

Even well into the twentieth century, most people only ever travelled short distances; it was only the rich people who enjoyed the luxury of traveling great distances in short time. However, the advent of commercial aviation has opened the doors for the less privileged as well, and now a larger number of people can travel to greater distances in the shortest possible time (Airbus, 2008). With the expansion of the commercial aviation sector, it is increasinglybecoming a cheape rmeans of travelling. Inrecent decades, the phenomenon of budget airlines has enabled many morepeople to fly (Whitelegg, 2008). Furthermore, the aviation sector has also provided the grounds forthe global tourism industry to develop. The modern tourism industry is unthinkable without aviation. This is because, nowadays, it is a common practice amongst people to travel by air quite frequently for business or pleasure.Thus, increased tourismhelps in generating more and more job opportunities, which in turn improves the global economy.

One of the most prominent impacts of aviation is that it has revolutionised the way in which goods and people are moved around the world (Pew, 2009). Earlier, transportation was a hassle as it was time consuming. With aviation, people now have a securer and faster alternative to travel or transport their goods. The other major benefit of aviation is its profound impact on the economy (Pew, 2009). It has also facilitated the development of industries and businesses,resulting in a great boost in economic activities and trade (Pew, 2009).

The transport of freight by air has also increased greatlyin the recent decades. The goods that are being manufactured in one country are now easily transported in shorter periods of time to another country (FAA, 2005). For example a product made in Manchester can now be shipped anywhere in the world, in no time. The growth of air freight hasalsocreated many opportunities for businesses- it has allowed them to export to markets that were previously not preferred due to the long distances and the subsequent costsincurred (FAA, 2005). Air freight has led to a boost in trade all over the world andhas greatly improvedthe economy of underdeveloped countries. It has also contributed to the growing globalisationof economic activities. This is the reason behind the increasing interdependency of world economies.It has also led to an increase in the productivity of various industries (Gazzard, 2009) which again, helps in the generation of wealth, subsequently benefitting the members of the society (Whitelegg, 2008).

The following sections will present some of the specific major benefits of the aviation industry which derive from the improvements it has made to transport and industry noted above.
A Source of FDI

A highly prominent feature of the modern economy is that, large multinational companies are now investing around the world. This is known as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The importance of FDI is recognised by many governments and is one of the leading drivers of the world economy (PTI, 2012).The opportunity created by the aviation industry has greatly facilitated the rise of FDI (Globenet, 2007). Thus,multinational companies usually have a preference of locating their investments near international airports (Whitelegg, 2008).

Employment opportunities

‘Aviation is a fast growing sector of the economy’(Whitelegg, 2008). The aviation industry, despiteitstechnological advances, is still very labour-intensive. A number of international airlines have developed their offices in various cities, providing full-fledged services of transportation. Thus, it has a pivotal role in the growth of the local economies in that it provides job opportunities to a large number of people (Whitelegg, 2008).

Levies

Many governments invest heavily in airports in order to help the aviation industry (Whitelegg, 2008). Apart from benefitting the local people, this sector also pays taxes, which are in turn spent by the government in the provision of services ranging from education to health (Bridges, 2012). The aviation industry is also heavily subsidised by governments in the form of direct subsidies and tax breaks.The fuel that the various airlinesuse is also subsidised through tax breaks. Governments subsidise the aviation industry in the belief that it helps to generate economic growth (Holliday et. al, 2002). While this may be the case in a few situations,the money used by governments to subsidise the aviation industry could be better spent on other infrastructure projects as well. However, the investment needed to create jobs in the aviation industry is very high and this same investment couldbe successful in producing even more jobs if invested in other areas of the economy.

Globalisation

Perhaps the most important trend in the modern world is globalisation. It is the increasing inter-connectedness of the world on an economic, social, political and cultural level. It has made the world smaller, and now some haveevenspoken of a ‘Global Village’ (Hopkins, 2002). The aviation industry has played a crucial role in the process of globalisation. Aviation has helped societies come closer. With the development of aviation, peoplecan travel more freely. This has helped to promote migration and the exchange of ideas— two very important factors ofglobalisation which will be discussed in the following two sections (IATA, 2008).

Source of Non-Monetary & Intangible benefits

People from different parts of the world, with different views and ideas, now traverse across the world. It has for example, allowed people to study and work in places far away from their native places. It has allowed people from different regions to come together and attend conferences and meetings. This easy movement of people brings new ideas and thoughts into an existing environment and culture. The exchange of ideas is very important, as it facilitates the creation of a more liberal and open society, and it is no longer possible for a society to stop entering those ideas into the society. Rather, it is exposed to the beliefs, values and cultures of other societies as well(Hopkins, 2002, p. 13). Aviation has opened up the world and possibly made societies more tolerant of differences and minorities.

Migration opportunities

With aviation,travel has become cheaper and easier (Kirby, 2008). This has greatly increased migration throughout the world. The modern world has witnessed unprecedented levels of migration. Migration has always been asignificantfeature of human life. People have always travelled long distances in the search for security and resources (Hopkins, 2002). Mass migration is a controversial issue. Many believe that an influx of usually younger and skilled people into a society is of real economic benefit (Kirby, 2008). Their energy and knowledge allows an economy to be more productive and efficient. Many businesses seek highly qualified migrants and it is widely believed that the ageing societies of Western Europe need immigrants in order to maintain their living standards (Crouch, 2004).Migration greatly increases the wealth of a nation as it can bring knowledgeable people which adds to the talent base and human capital of a country. However, migration also brings with it problems such as shortage of housing, and mass migration may produce tensions between immigrants and natives (IATA, 2007). The modern aviation industry has just fuelled this practice even more. This has had huge consequences for society. Many western societies are now of a cosmopolitan nature. They are now home to very many nationalities and ethnic groups who have brought with them their culture and way of life.

Disadvantages of Aviation

Along with the great number of benefits,the aviation industry also brings some inconveniences, in the way that it creates a negative impact on the environment (Lehrer, 2001). The aviation industry generally has a local and a global impact upon the environment (Bridger, 2013). According to Panner (et. al, 2001), the rapid economic development of the globe in recent decades, has led to the degradation of the environment. It has led to worries over the rapid depletion of scarce natural resources, pollution and global warming (Penner et. al, 2001). These environmental challenges are perhaps the most important issues facing modern societies. The planes and airports have adversely impacted upon local environments and the quality of life of those who live in these environments (Lehrer, 2001). There is usually traffic congestion around airports.Aviation has madelife very difficult for some localities in society, especially those located near busy airports as there is the problem of noise pollution. The adverse effects of noise pollution upon individuals have been recognised by the World Health Organisation in recentyears (Whitelegg, 2008). The noise pollution caused by aircraft taking off and landing at airports has been proven to have a negative longterm health impact on people.

Furthermore, modern aircrafts generate greenhouse gases likecarbon. These greenhouse gases have been proven to have a highly degrading impact upon the environment (Weele, 1999). Green house gases stay in the atmosphere and lead to global warming. Global warming in turn leads to climate change and this in the long term could have cataclysmic consequences for humanity (Weele, 1999). It could lead to the seas rising, drought and an increase in the frequency of extreme weather. The aviation industry has been proven to be a major emitter of greenhouse gases, which could lead to the catastrophe of global warming (Bridger, 2013).

However, it must be noted that the impact of the aviation industry on the environment has been disputed. In recent years the aviation industry has tried to appear to be environmentally friendly (Bridger, 2013). It has issued reports and surveys which seek to prove that aviation is not as harmful to the environment, contrary to what many believe (EC, 2014). On balance, however, the evidence suggests that the aviation industry is a major polluter of greenhouse gases and therefore is a major contributor to climate change (Hepworth &Ducatel, 1992).

Conclusion

Aviation has helped transform many societies around the globe. It has had a huge impact upon every society. While many of the changes have been good, some have been negative. Aviation has, by and large, helped to drive the global economy by allowing the free movement of goods and people (Hopkins, 2002). It has also changed modern societies by facilitating mass migration. The modern world has been shaped by aviation. However, the environmental impact of aviation can not be ignored. The local environmental impact of aviation is certainly harmful to those who live near airports (Whitelegg, 2008). However, aviation’s potential to damage the global environment is of major concern. As a major greenhouse gas emitter, aviation is contributing to the process of global warming, which could have disastrous consequences for humanity.

While the aviation sector has,overall, been a real benefit for societies around the world, there needs to be somemajor changes- it must be genuinely environmentally friendly. There may also be a need to re-think the economic benefits of aviation to society, to take into account the environmental costs of the industry to society. The industry needs to be part of an overall plan for global sustainable development that includes development that does not harm the environment or lead toany sort of negative climate change. This sector should, without delay, look into its shortcomings and try and look for constructive solutions, before it becomes too late.

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Reading List/Bibliography

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Bridger, Rose (2013) The Plane Truth: Aviations real impact on people and the environment. Pluto Press: New York.

Bridges. (2012). Washington-Brussels Tension Grows Over Aviation Emissions Levy. Available: http://www.ictsd.org/bridges-news/bridges/news/washington-brussels-tension-grows-over-aviation-emissions-levy. Last accessed 10th Aug 2014.

Crouch, Tom (2004) Wings: a history of aviation from kites to the space age. W.W. Norton: London.

Capoccitti, S., Khare, A., & Mildenberger, U. (2010). Aviation Industry – Mitigating Climate Change Impacts through Technology and Policy. Aviation Industry – Mitigating Climate Change Impacts through Technology and Policy, 5(2). Retrieved August 10, 2014, from http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0718-27242010000200006&script=sci_arttext

European Commision. (2014). Reducing emissions from aviation.Available: http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/transport/aviation/index_en.htm. Last accessed 10th Aug 2014.

FAA. (2014). Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System (EDMS). Available: http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/apl/research/models/edms_model/. Last accessed 10th Aug 2014.

Gazzard, J. (2009). Bio-fuelled or Bio-fooled?Aviation and the Environment.Aviation Environment Federation.http://www.aef.org.uk/uploads/Bio_fuelled_or_bio_fooled_article__2_.pdf [Accessed August 10, 2014]

Greenair (2008). International Aviation Emissions Now Firmly On the Post-Kyoto Climate Talks Agenda (April 10). GreenAir Online.com News. http://www.greenaironline.com/news.php?viewStory=146 [Accessed August 10, 2014]

Greenshies (no date).Climate Change – Aviation Emissions an Ignored but Fast Growing Problem. http://www.aef.org.uk/downloads/Factsheetclimate.pdf [Accessed August 10, 2014]

Hepworth, M. and Ducatel, K. (1992) Transport and the Information Age. London: Bellhaven.

Hopkins, A.G. (ed.). (2002) Globalisation in World History.London:Pimlico House.

Holliday, J. C., Schmidheiny, S., & Watts, P. (2002).Walking the Talk – The Business Case or Sustainable Development. Sheffield, UK: Greenleaf Publishing Ltd.

IATA (2007). IATA calls for a Zero Emissions Future. IATA Press Release No. 21 (June 4). IATA Pressroom. Vancouver. http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/2007-06-04-02.htm [Accessed February 16, 2009]

Kirby, A. (2008). CCCC Kick The Habit a UN Guide to Climate Neutrality. UNEMG UNEP/GRID-Arendal. http://www.greeningtheblue.org/sites/default/files/KickTheHabit_en_lr.pdf [Accessed August 10, 2014]

Lehrer, J. (2001). Scientists seek to minimize CO2 impact. Online Focus (August 6).http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/july-dec01/co2_8-6.html [Accessed February 12, 2009]

Michiel van Weele. (1999). Measuring and modelling the effects of aviation on the atmosphere. Available: http://www.knmi.nl/research/climate_chemistry/information/aviation/. Last accessed 10th Aug 2014.

Penner, J. E., H.Lister, D., Griggs, D. J., Dokken, D. J., & McFarland, M. (2001).Aviation and the Global Atmosphere.IPCC GRID-Arendal. http://www.grida.no/publications/other/ipcc_sr/ [Accessed August 10, 2014]

PEW, G. (2009). Airline Alternative Fuel Trials, General Dynamic’s Green Jet Engine. AV Web – AVFlash News (January 31). http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/alternative_fuel_biofuel_jet_engine_199681-1.html [Accessed August 10, 2014]

Whitelegg, John (2008) Aviation the social, economic and environmental impact of flying. London: Ashden Trust.

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Energy Labelling of Buildings and The Implementation of The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).

1.0: Introduction

Energy Efficiency has become a critical element in the growth of the developed economies in the west. This is mainly because of the fact that the energy consumed by the developed countries is comparatively higher to those of their developing counterparts that are equally industrialised. Since the efficiency of the energy consumption is the critical element that attributes to the performance, the need for energy efficiency of civil structures especially buildings (public and industrial) is imperative. Mei ren et al (2003) argues that the energy performance has become a performance measure for the extent to which the developed nations are utilizing the energy efficiently. This makes it clear that a critical analysis on the energy performance of the civil structures (i.e.) buildings is essential in order to justify the validity of the energy performance bill that is expected be passed as legislation in2006. The research conducted through this dissertation is aimed to accomplish whether or not the energy labelling of buildings is viable and the extent to which it can support the implementation of the Energy performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).

The energy consumption in the UK is not only identified as the primary element for the implementation of the Energy performance of Buildings Directive but also to address the requirements of the KYOTO protocol. The treaty signed by the member nations of the United Nations has increased the need for the energy efficiency as well as reduce the emission of CHG or greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Since the treaty measures the reduction in emission as a percentage reduction to the original set emission level, it is necessary to implement a legislative act that can provide energy efficiency as well as meet the demands of the KYOTO protocol.

In this report a comprehensive analysis on the energy efficiency in buildings both domestic and non-domestics presented to the reader and the implications of enforcing the Energy performance of Buildings Directive in 2006. The dissertation also aims to provide a comprehensive analysis on the potential in achieving the energy efficiency within the buildings of the European Union member states and identify the course of addressing the KYOTO protocol.

2.0: Aim and Objectives

2.1: Aim

The aim of this report is to critically analyse whether the Energy Labelling of buildings in the UK is a viable option for measuring their energy performance in order to implement Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).

2.2: Objectives

The aim of this report is accomplished through embracing the research upon the following objectives

To conduct a literature review on the need for energy efficiency and role of developed nations in the implementation of Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.

To analyse the stand of European Union on the implementation of the EPBD.

To conduct secondary research through case study analysis on the energy efficiency of domestic and on-domestic buildings in the UK.

To critically analyse the suitability of the Energy performance of Buildings Directive implementation based upon the results derived from the case study analysis.

To comment upon the Energy performance of Buildings Directive actualisation as a legislative act based upon the results and discussions conducted in the research.

3:0 Justifications for the choice of research

Energy efficiency is increasingly demanded in order to meet the rising demand for energy resources. The fact that the energy resources are depleting rapidly makes it critical for the member states of the European Union to efficiently utilise the energy in order to gain sustainable growth in the economy.

It was identified that one of the major consumers of energy in the European Union member states are the buildings. This is mainly because of the increase in the globalization and the population explosion due to the immigration of foreign nationals to European countries. This has increased the number of buildings drastically in the European Union member states thus increasing the energy consumption as well. Hence it is essential to sketch out a method of accomplishing energy efficiency so as to reduce the energy consumption as well as the emission of CHG into the atmosphere causing greenhouse effect. This initiative of the European Union is the major reason for focusing on energy performance measurement in buildings rather than other sectors like the industries or the transportation.

The fact that the reduction of the pollutants emitted into the atmosphere by the buildings when controlled can meet the target for the KYOTO protocol as well as accomplish energy savings is another justification for the choice of the research topic.

Apart from the aforementioned, another interesting feature demonstrated by the buildings that the energy consumption is predominantly due to the improper temperature management has further created the room for investigation into the flaws of the construction design (or plan) which can be fixed to accomplish energy efficiency.

The fact that the energy savings and the energy efficiency in the domestic and non-domestic buildings will reduce the energy prices thus benefiting the consumers in the general public is one of the major elements for the choice of the research topic.

4: Research methodology

The research method adopted in this project is secondary research methodology where the research is based upon the information gathered from white papers and journals. The research is accomplished through the use market reports and journals on the construction industry and energy performance journals. Some of the popular resources of information for the research are listed below:

Chartered institute of building services Engineers

Key Note Ltd

Data monitor Inc

Journal of facilities management

Facilities journal

Building Services Engineering Research & Technology

Journals and white papers from various other resources are also utilised in the research process to accomplish qualitative research in the form of case study analysis.

The research comprises of two separate case study one focusing on each domestic buildings and non-domestic buildings. The case studies are presented separately in order to establish the subtle differences between the two categories of the buildings in the European Union that fall under the jurisdiction of Energy performance of Buildings Directive.

5: Justification for secondary research

Primary research in this topic involves fieldwork for a long period of time up to several months. This requires investment of both time and money for securing the accurate measurements of the emission, level of energy consumption and the air temperature management level. Since the project is conducted on an academic basis the research is performed using the secondary research information rather than conducting primary research.

Furthermore, the fact that the energy performance measurement for the emission and civil measurements of the buildings involve legal requirements to be satisfied prior to presenting in the report, the research is confined to the secondary information which can be referenced whilst conducting the research.

6: Scope of the research

The scope of this research is confined with the energy performance of the buildings in the Europe. The literature review presents the overview on the buildings across Europe whilst the research in the case study is confined only the UK buildings. This is mainly because of the lack of resources on buildings in other nations and the lack of time to analyse any information if gathered.

7: Summary

Energy labelling of the buildings was considered as a critical factor in the energy performance of the buildings and the overall nation among the developed countries since the late years of the twentieth century. The fact that the energy efficiency programs can reduce the energy consumption in the developed nations that are consuming more energy as stated before has made it imperative to accomplish the energy labelling procedure. G. J. Levermore (2002)has stated that the energy labelling of the buildings in developed nations will not only help reduce the energy consumption but also pave the path for achieving an energy efficient economy.

It is also interesting to note that the promotion of the energy labelling policies not only involves one country but also requires critical information on the energy consumption and the labelling methods adhered by other developed nations. In order to maintain a standard in the European Union the EPBD bill is put forth that lays a common standard to be adopted throughout the European Union.

The research in this report focuses upon the benefits of accomplishing the energy efficiency in order to meet the targets for the KYOTO protocol and the Energy performance of Buildings Directive. The report provides a comprehensive analysis on the energy efficiency of the domestic and non-domestic buildings thus accomplishing a totality in the research.

Furthermore, in this report a critical overview of the standards proposed and their implementation in the existing buildings is analysed qualitatively and constructive recommendations are provided to assist the decision makers. The discussion on the Energy performance of Buildings Directive and the recommendations are aimed to provide key issues identified in the research to the decision makers in order to effectively implement the Energy performance of Buildings Directive.

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Date authored: 23 ^rd August, 2014.

The invention of the transistor in mid twentieth century gave birth to modern day electronics. Rapid advancements in semiconductor and fabrication technologies allowed the exponential growth of electronic components especially in the last two decades. Electronics with new functionalities have started to emerge in all aspects of human life. Silicon and other material (organic and inorganic) technologies have enabled electronics to be realised on extremely smaller scales. Apart from smaller scales, these technologies also allow dense packing, durability, simpler integration, flexibility and low weight for electronics. These characteristics have rapidly pushed the trend of pervasive and ubiquitous electronics (Maliniak, 2002).

Pervasive Electronics is very much related to consumer electronics. The invention of and later improvement in silicon transistor technology reduced the size and cost of electronic devices such as televisions, video recorders, computers, mobile phones, etc. In the last fifty years, television sets and video recorders have become house-hold devices and more recently computers and mobile phones. These devices could only be realised with the help of improved and cheaper electronic fabrication processes. This resulted in the lower cost and smaller size of devices, making them affordable for the people. Rapid penetration of these electronics followed after that and this allowed these devices to become pervasive in nature. The major motivations behind all these improvements were necessity, entertainment, information access, health care, business development and better and easier life (Stern, 2012; Grant, 2011). Now the trend is towards introducing new and radical functionalities.

Pervasive electronic systems consist of active and passive electronics devices. Active devices mainly include different sensors. Theses sensors are mostly electronic devices which respond to changes in the ambient environment, user commands, human gestures, etc. These devices are more like input devices. The passive devices are usually actuators. These actuators are electronic devices that respond to the information or command send to them by the controller or user. A complete electronic system consists of both of these. The electronic system ends up being a complex integration of sensors and actuators, designed for particular or diverse functionalities or applications.

The functionalities and applications of modern pervasive electronics include smart and intelligent clothing, flexible displays, smart health monitoring and diagnostic systems, smart phones, wearable computing devices, energy storage and generation, smart bio-compatible devices, etc (Axisa, et al., 2005; Min & Cruz, 2012; Gallozzi, 2012).

One of the earlier pervasive electronic systems was the television set. The transistor allowed better, smaller and cheaper electrical switching systems. This helped the television set to become a household commodity in the 1950s and 1960s. Later, the advancements in display technologies and better circuitry made television sets much cheaper, lighter and compact. This resulted in an exponential growth in the number of television sets and display screens. Present day television sets are mostly LCD (Liquid crystal display) based. The old initial cathode ray tubes are almost history while other available display technologies including Plasma Displays, LED (Light Emitting Diode) displays, OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) displays, projection displays and rear projection displays are emerging rapidly as alternative electronic technologies. (Goldberg, n.d.; Fischetti, 2001)

One interesting technology is the flexible OLED. Flexible electronic displays have been developed recently and they can be used as electronic newspapers, portable TV screens, cloaking, etc. Extensive research is underway in this regard and numerous designs and modifications using different materials have been proposed. Organic materials are the more preferred choice of researchers as they allow more flexibility when compared to inorganic materials. Different substrates has been developed modifying existing printing and fabrication technologies. Inkjet printing has been extensively researched for printing electronic circuitry on these substrates (Berggren, et al., 2007). New materials such as Graphene have also been used in developing flexible electronic systems. Graphene is a two dimensional metal which provides ideal flexibility for such applications. Competing materials such as Indium Tin Oxide have emerged but constantly increasing cost along with complex methods for material synthesis have multiplied the demand for Graphene. On the other hand, conventional semiconductor materials do not have the required physical properties as Graphene and therefore, cannot be easily used as a material for flexible electronics. Although, some methods for modifying the physical properties of conventional semiconductor materials are reported in the research literature but still they are unable to match the success of materials like Graphene and Indium Tin Oxide in the domain of flexible electronics (Hamers, 2001; Y. Sun, 2007; Forrest, 2004; Nathan, et al., 2012).

Video recording and playing equipment is another example of a pervasive electronic system. It started with recording on tape. The initial devices were electromechanical devices. Later the tape took the form of a cassette. The recorders became smaller in size and the VCR (video cassette recorder) became the big thing in the 1980s and 1990s. The technology was later replaced by the DVD and DVR recorders. The tape was replaced by a digital disc and the mechanical parts in the systems were reduced to a few components. Blue Ray and Laser based recording technology emerged after the DVD technologies. These devices were compact and were easily able to interface with the existing display technologies which resulted in a massive impact on the popularity of these devices. They were cheap, compact and easily attached with the television sets or projectors, which led to the creation of personalised entertainment systems. The current trend is towards the 3D holographic and optical storage of videos (Gallozzi, 2012).

The discussion of pervasive electronics is incomplete without reference to personal computers. Computer started as a bulky machine almost equal in size to a small home, consuming enough power to run a small town and had very slow computation speeds. In the two to three decades, this machine has been transformed to the size of a wrist watch and even smaller. The contributions of people like Steve Jobs and companies like IBM, Apple, Intel, Samsung, HP, etc. cannot be ignored in making computers – a personal and pervasive electronic device. The prices have then decreased from millions of dollars to a few hundred dollars. It was estimated in year 2001 that more than 125 million personal computers were sold compared to approximately 48,000 computers in 1977 and that there will be more than 2.5 billion personal computer units by the end of 2014 (Kanellos, 2002; Lunden, 2014).

Audio technology has also improved with the advancement in electronics. Instead of huge and bulky audio systems like gramophones and phonographs, electrical and magnetic recording and sound playing systems emerged. These systems were much smaller, cheaper, compact and less energy consuming. In the last few decades the size of audio playing and recording systems has reduced drastically. The initial tape recorder and player systems, although not the size of gramophones or phonographs, were still lacking portability. First came portable electronic cassette players (e.g. Walkman by Sony) and today people are using electronic Pods and MP3 players (e.g. iPod by Apple) that are not bigger than a wrist watch (Beal, 2010; Boehret, 2012). Apart from the size, they have the ability to store thousands of songs and a battery life of almost a week. These Pods have been very popular for almost a decade now but the recent surveys and reports have shown a decline in the sales of these devices because of the emergence of smart phones, Pads and tablets (Hollister, 2014).

The success of wireless cellular phones, smart computing tablets and the emergence of internet technology is another significant chapter in the story of pervasive electronics.

Early telephones were wired and bulky electromechanical devices. Wires caused major portability issues for the phones. The first wireless mobile phone appeared in 1973 developed by Motorola and the flood gates for wireless handset technologies were opened after that. The improvement in radio frequency transmission technologies (GSM, CDMA, etc) and emergence of cellular networks led to the development of better and improved wireless handsets. This again happened because of the advancement in electronic technologies. These sets were initially simple wireless electronic devices which can be easily carried around and had calling and call receiving facilities but in the last decade only, the size reduced and the functionalities provided by the handsets increased drastically. The decrease in cost along with massive manufacturing allowed the people to have multiple handsets with them having different features. Companies like Samsung, Apple, Nokia, LG, and Motorola have a major contribution in the development and commercialisation of these handsets. Reports suggest that Samsung and Apple respectively shared about 31% and 15.6% of the world’s mobile phone sales in 2013 only (Egham, 2014).

The handsets and mobile phones of 1970s and 1980s have improved drastically with introduction of many different features and applications that now they are termed as “smart phones”. Apart from the voice calling facilities of their predecessors, these “smart phones” provide numerous other facilities to their users. These facilities include multimedia entertainment, embedded computing, internet connectivity, GPS tracking and navigation, messaging, audio/video recording and playback capabilities, etc. These functionalities are all embedded on a single electronic board inside the “smart phones” which only became possible because of improved integrated circuits and micro-fabrication techniques. This makes these devices inherently electronic in nature.

Computing Tablets or Smart Tablets are hand held computing devices. These are equipped with sensors, microphones, accelerometers, cameras, high resolution and touch enabled display screens, processors, memories and batteries in a single module. They have capability of a phone and a computer at the same time. The last decade has seen tremendous growth in the concept of such electronic devices. One of the first such devices was developed by AT&T in 1991. Many such tablets were later developed by different companies but the trend setting device was iPad developed by Apple Computers and released in 2010. In last four years, many companies have jumped into the tablet computer industry. Samsung, Asus, HP, Microsoft, Google and Lenovo are the major manufacturers of tablets. These tablets have introduced a revolutionised reading by providing the readers a new interaction experience. High resolution, capacitive and touch enabled screens enjoyed great success among book and newspaper readers. Amazon’s “Kindle Fire” and Barnes & Noble’s “NOOK” are great examples such electronic devices, with sales reaching more than 5 million units in 2010. These devices are highly portable, efficient, powerful, compact, multi-purpose and cheap. This is why they are having a huge amount of success among the people around the globe. They are now extensively employed in the third world countries for education and learning purposes. It is estimated that by the end of year 2015 the overall number of tablets sold throughout the world will be more than the number of personal computers which is currently estimated to be around 2.5 billion units as mentioned earlier. (Chen, 2012; Lunden, 2014)

The “smart phones” and “smart tablets” lose the “smart” word without the availability of the internet. The internet technology developed out of US defense research and later commercialised in 1990s. The age of internet exploded in 2000s and we are currently living in that age. Internet provides connectivity to billions of computer across the world where they are connected and can share and access information via “world wide web”. Internet also owes its success to the electronic components involved in it. Computers, communication networks, communication infrastructure, data storage centers, etc. all have electronics involved with them. These things cannot exist without electronics. It is primarily because of the constant improvement in electronics that internet is capable of withstanding connectivity of the 6 billion people across the world.

The latest trends and research for the pervasive electronics have been driven by the advancements in flexible electronics. Flexible electronic materials and substrates have renewed the interest in new bio-medical, health care devices and numerous other areas. Electronic devices with shapes conforming biological surfaces have been realised (Nathan, et al., 2012). Electronic systems replicating human senses have been demonstrated by the researchers. Electronic Tongue (taste sensors) and Nose (smell sensor) has been reported in the literature. (Buratti, et al., 2011) Similarly, bionic versions of human eye have been realised by researchers in many different manners exploiting the advancements in electronics. (Min & Cruz, 2012). The flexible electronics has started to revolutionise health care by providing non-invasive monitoring and diagnostics. It has also enabled the researchers and scientists to interact, control and integrate with living organs and organisms (Hamers, 2001).

One of the emerging trends in pervasive electronics is towards developing intelligent clothing, wearable computing and autonomous homes. Availability of many electronic technologies such as telecommunications, micro-fabrication, low power design, new textiles and sensors have made it possible to develop human friendly materials to enhance comfort and security. Researchers are developing clothes and textiles equipped with smart sensors and electronics for non-invasive monitoring of patients. Apart from the monitoring aspect, these clothing are also designed to be environment friendly, to provide health care facilities and illness protection. (Axisa, et al., 2005)

Electronic devices have penetrated in every aspect of modern day human life. Today these electronic devices are used everywhere from our homes, offices, medical centers, schools, government institutions and even for travelling around. Importance of these devices is realised when a device gets damaged. Electronics have now become a part of everyday human life bringing many advantages and disadvantages with it, but, as a whole it is impossible to realise modern world without these electronic devices.

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Introduction

This paper aims to critically explore the use of e-learning in the workplace, identifying both its benefits and its limitations as a viable alternative to more traditional forms of training and education at work. It begins by examining the growth in the use of e-learning systems and the rationale for this, and outlines its various forms. The paper then investigates the relative benefits e-learning has for organisations alongside some of the perceived challenges and criticisms of its use. The paper concludes by summarising the key learning points raised.

The growth of E-Learning

Globally, the e-learning market has been growing rapidly, and e-learning is beginning to emerge as the new model of training and education across a wide range of different sectors and industries (Su et al, 2008). This growth has resulted in part from extensive changes in the working environment, and from a shift from a product-based economy to a knowledge-based one, meaning that there is a more pressing need to train and educate workforces in new technologies and services (Ong, Lai and Wang, 2004). In addition, technological advancement and challenges in technology-oriented working life have paved the way for new forms of electronic learning (Cheng et al, 2014). Consequently, e-learning now accounts for a significant proportion of corporate investment in workforce training (Deeney, 2003).

Understanding the nature of E-Learning Systems

According to Govindasamy (2002), e-learning is a learning experience that is delivered by electronic technologies including for example, the use of the internet, intranets, interactive TV, virtual classrooms and so forth. However, there is no clear agreement on its definition and as a concept, it has been researched in various forms such as an ‘instructional medium’ (Salas et al, 2002), a ‘training method’ (Burgess and Russell, 2003), and a ‘learning environment’ (DeRouin, Fritzsche and Salas, 2005).

It has been reported that the lack of consensus over the typology of e-learning in an organisational setting, the vagueness of the terminology used, the vastness in the range of technology and pedagogy involved demonstrates the complexity of e-learning as an entity (Cheng et al, 2014).

For some, e-learning is considered only as a mechanism for delivering training and education via electronic medium (Engelbrecht, 2005), whereas for others, it is seen as a distinct form of learning which uses collaboration, internet-based communication and the transfer of knowledge to enhance and develop both the individual themselves and their organisation (Kelly and Bauer, 2004).

Whichever way it is viewed, the growth of the e-learning market has resulted in the development and innovation of a vast range of different e-learning technologies including media streaming, providing learners with a much more stimulating and interactive learning experience (Liu, Liao and Pratt, 2009).

The Benefits of E-Learning

Some of the most commonly cited benefits of using e-learning systems as a means of training and educating the workforce include: a reduction in costs due to decreasing the amount of time spent off-site at expensive courses, travel and venue costs, and allowing more effectual use of downtime at work (Jewson, Felsted and Green, 2015); overcoming the limitations of time and physical space to deliver training courses (Gordon, 2003); an increase in the level of compliance to mandatory training for large workforces (Harun, 2002); increased convenience for the participants themselves in terms of choosing when to undertake training and access the course materials (Capper, 2001); and not needing to depend on the time or availability of a trainer (Bouhnik and Marcus, 2006).

It has been claimed that with e-learning, employees are able to take part in self-faced and interactive learning that would otherwise not be possible, and that the learner-centered approach required by e-learning influences employees to alter their learning behaviours within their work environment as well as being an influential training tool (Bandura, 2002).

However, it has also been noted that learner control does not always deliver better outcomes; in that programmes and resources may be used superficially whereby learners skim read the e-learning materials without really absorbing the meaning of what is intended to be conveyed (Kraiger and Jerden, 2007).

It has been noted that e-learning can also be useful to organisations in terms of standardising their training and in delivering it simultaneously to large geographically dispersed employees (Brown and Charlier, 2013). Required training can also be delivered much more quickly to large numbers of staff than with more traditional approaches (Welsh et al, 2003). Furthermore, in comparison to more traditional classroom based training, studies have found that e-learning can be just as effective, and has advantages in terms of helping to overcome learning barriers associated with introversion and physical distance (McKenzie and Murray, 2010). However, it has also been recognised that undertaking e-learning may require better personal time management and study skills than those needed in a more directed taught environment (Helyer, 2010), and that e-learning may not be appropriate for all types of learning and content (Welsh et al, 2003).

Another, less frequently cited benefit of e-learning is that it has the potential to manage the growth in the amount of information that employees are required to learn. It is claimed that this growth has often led to information overload during training sessions, leading to ineffective training where learners cannot retain all that is being presented to them. By conducting the training via e-learning and only the most interactive part in a traditional classroom setting, the information can be delivered over a longer period of time, and therefore improve information retention (Welsh et al, 2003).

Finally, a further potential benefit of e-learning programmes is their capacity to track the activity of learners and their level of achievement in terms of online testing of learner activities (Welsh et al, 2003). Within e-learning, tracking and storage can be made automated. This is particularly beneficial when training is required to demonstrate compliance to mandatory training requirements for example (Welsh et al, 2003).

Limitations of E-Learning Systems

Whilst the benefits of e-learning systems are widely recognised, it has also been criticised as not being as effective or inclusive as more traditional approaches to training and education, and concerns have been expressed that e-learning sometimes fails to live up to its full potential demonstrated through high attrition and sometimes low usage rates (Wang, 2010).

Deltsidou et al (2010) found that some individuals who use e-learning systems experience higher levels of anxiety when doing so due to limited IT skills, which subsequently has a detrimental impact on their experience of learning. It has also been argued that for those who are more computer literate, some traditional types of e-learning programmes are found to be restrictive and do not facilitate effective self-directed learning (Pata, 2009). The lack of learner interaction that occurs in the more traditional classroom setting has also been identified as a potential drawback for e-learning programmes (Brown and Charlier, 2013). In particular, it is felt that senior management could become too preoccupied with the capability to push information onto employees and forget that in order for learning to become embedded it involves more than just information provision and instead also requires practice, feedback, and guidance (Welsh et al, 2003).

Other limitations of e-learning systems which have been identified stem from problems associated with the technology itself. In particular, unreliable IT systems can act as a key barrier to e-learning with insufficient access to technical support, freezing computer screens, intermittent internet connections, and excessively long download times for accessing course material (Creedy et al, 2007). Issues around security such as computer hacking and viruses can also be problematic for e-learning programmes and the organisations who use them (Ramim and Levy, 2006).

From a cost point of view, implementing e-learning systems often involves high levels of upfront investment to purchase not only the hardware that is required, but also in relation to the ongoing costs involved in maintaining and renewing licenses that are often associated with external e-learning packages (Childs et al, 2005).

Specific costs include development costs to design and build the actual courses as well as hardware and software costs to allow users to access the training (Welsh et al, 2003). Furthermore, conducting testing of learning can be challenging with e-learning in relation to assuring the authenticity of those taking the test or exam (Gunasekaran, McNeil and Shaul, 2002).

Acceptance of E-learning in the workplace

The acceptance of e-learning as an appropriate means of training and education by employees is critical to its successful implementation in the workplace, and the reasons why employees might accept or reject such technology must be considered by organisations (Joo Yoo, Han and Huang, 2012).

One of the main theories used to explain such acceptance and the relative success or failure of the implementation of new technology such as e-learning, is the technology acceptance model (TAM) (Liu, Liao and Pratt, 2009). The TAM was derived from the theory of reasoned action and proposes two speci¬?c perspectives on why new technology is accepted or not which relate to the usefulness of the technology and its ease of use (Vijayasarathy, 2004).

The greater the perceived usefulness and ease of use of a system, the stronger the willingness and intention is to use it (Davis, 1989). The perceived usefulness relates to the extent to which it is considered that the technology will improve performance, and the perceived ease of use is the degree to which it is believed that using the technology will be unproblematic (Davis et al, 1989). In relation to e-learning, Ong, Lai and Wang (2004) identified that computer self-efficacy significantly impacts on its perceived usefulness and ease of use, with those who have higher levels of computer self-efficacy being much more likely to have positive perceptions of usefulness and ease of use. Therefore, organisations need to take into consideration the level of computer efficacy amongst its workforce before implementing e-learning.

Associated with the TAM is the theory of flow. This theory is concerned with concentration and asserts that when individuals are in flow, they become engrossed in their activity, and according to Liu, Liao and Pratt (2009), this theory can help to explain the intended and actual use of e-learning programmes by individuals.

Media rich and interactive e-learning systems are more likely to engage individuals and result in ‘flow’ which then impacts on their learning outcomes and experience.

Critics of e-learning state that a high level of self-motivation is needed in order to effectively complete programmes, and Roca and Gagne (2008) propose that self-determination theory is useful for conceptualizing the influence of organisational factors in an individual’s motivation to use e-learning. From their study, they found that individuals were more likely to continue using e-learning when they feel autonomous, competent and enjoy using it. They conclude that consistent with self-directed theory, when individuals participate in learning because it is interesting and enjoyable, they are more likely to engage with it and benefit from it.

Conclusion

From the critical review above, it is evident that the use of e-learning, as a model of training and education in the workplace, is growing at a rapid pace in response to the demands from ever changing working environments, shifts towards knowledge based economies, and advancements in technology.

Numerous benefits of e-learning have been identified focusing mainly around cost savings, learner convenience, flexibility, consistency and particularly in its ability to provide training and education to large, dispersed workforces simultaneously.

However, a number of challenges for organisations have also been identified around, gaining the acceptance of the workforce in implementing such e-learning technologies, underpinned by different theories such as TAM, flow and self-determination theory. Other limitations of e-learning have also been cited in relation to high start-up costs and problems associated with equipment and internet problems. Further concerns that have been identified in the current literature are around the lack of interaction between learners with e-learning which exists with the more traditional classroom learning environment.

However, despite the identified limitations, it would appear that e-learning in the workplace is going to continue to grow alongside continuous advancements in associated technology, and sophistication of e-learning programme design.

In addition, computer usage and the use of digital technologies is expanding and becoming the norm and so acceptance of e-learning is becoming much more prevalent. It is therefore likely to continue to form a significant proportion of corporate investment in workforce training and development in the future.

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Introduction

“Play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social and emotional well-being of children and youth” (Ginsberg, 2007, p. 182). Play is so important to children’s development is that it has been recognised as being of vital importance by the United Nations (1989), as it makes a contribution to the holistic development of children, allowing them to discover the world through experimenting within the various environments to which they are exposed (Bruce, 1996). Ginsberg (2007) makes the observation that all those involved with children’s development, learning and education must consider every factor which has the potential to interfere with children realising their full potential, and to work towards ensuring that every child has access to circumstances which allow them opportunities to reap the benefits that are linked with play. The aim of this essay is to investigate the notion of play in the light of learning theories, in order to determine its importance in children’s development during their early years.

Definition of Play

It is important to recognise that it is difficult to give a single definition of play (Lillemyr, 2009) and that it is regarded as an all embracing term (Bruce, 1991) which describes a diverse range of behaviours which see children interacting with each other (Dunn, 1993) in order to make sense of, and to enhance their understanding of, the environments in which they find themselves (Bruce, 1996; Wood, 2004). Play can be regarded as the means through which children are able to discover things about the world in order to amend their vision of it (Oko, 1987, p. 44 in Bozena, 2007, p. 80), as well as an avenue through which children can experience joy and/or recreation (Buhler, 1993, p. 91 in Bozena, 2007, p. 80). Play is an opportunity for children to develop a sense of self as a result of solving problems within their environment, which allows them to enhance their cognitive skills in the context of specific cultural environment/environments (Dunn, 1993; Meadows, 1993; Bruce, 1996; Gallahue and Ozman, 1998; Wood, 2004; Robson, 2006). Froebel (cited in Bruce, 2004, p. 132) believes that it provides children with opportunities to utilise their newly accumulated knowledge in different situations which encourages them to adopt flexible attitudes and ways of thinking, as well as providing them with opportunities to practice and understand societal ‘norms’ and their role in specific environments (Rogoff, 2003). Play also affords children the opportunity to discover the difference between fantasy and reality, safety and risk, order and anarchy and to grasp the concept of potential in themselves for the future (Wood and Attfield, 2005). It is a vital component in children’s physical, social, emotional and intellectual development (Elkind, 2008) which allows children to utilise their imagination whilst enhancing their communication skills through engaging in a number of different roles, depending upon their environment and the environment in which any specific interaction is taking place (Eddington, 2004).

Value/Importance for Development

The value and importance of play is the motivation behind recent developments with regard to Early Years education in the form of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) documentation (Department for Education [DfE], 2014). The notion of child centred education is built upon the acknowledgement that every individual child is unique and is entitled to have their needs met through the careful design of activities which allow them to develop commensurate with their ability, as a result of encouraging positive relationships with all around them in order that learners become competent, self-confident and self-reliant people (DfE, 2014). The ability to communicate is critical to children’s development – the government stipulate that those responsible for providing children’s education must create opportunities for children to acquire language and communication skills through play, such that they are able to express themselves in a variety of different ways (language, gesture) and they are able to accumulate information as a result of reading and listening to others (DfE, 2014). This stipulation is a direct result of the Rose Report (2009), which highlighted the fact that curriculum provision should have explicit reference to the purposes of play and that the activities designed to promote it should be meticulously planned. Rose (2009) also stressed that children needed to engage not only in individual play but also in paired/group activities, so that language development and acquisition could be encouraged whilst simultaneously learning to cooperate with each other (endorsed by Coates & Thomson, 2009) and developing an understanding of the value of good behaviour. It is vital for practitioners to recognise that play is not some form of break from the curriculum; it is an opportunity for children to develop their physical and cognitive abilities for the 21st century (Moyles, 2010) and is an authentic means of implementing the school curriculum (Action Alliance for Children, 2007; Moyles, 2010).

The notion that play enables children to enhance the skills is put forward by Hughes (2006), who contends that there are a large number (up to 16) of different types of play, including movement and discovery which involves the exploration of the environment and the use of language (endorsed by Ginsberg, 2007; Singer et al., 2006; Bateson, 2005). Other scholars such as Manning-Morton and Thorp (2003) and Burghardt (2005) emphasise the multipurpose nature of play in that children are able to use play as a means for learning through practising skills for the future, tackling and solving problems, as well as a means through which they develop their methods of communicating with those around them. A critical factor in any child’s development is feeling safe within the boundaries of any environment to which they are exposed; a number of writers (Moore and Russ, 2006; Russ, 2004; Sayeed and Guerin, 2000) allude to the fact that children must feel safe and relaxed in order to play with freedom and that play in itself allows children to relax, which has a beneficial effect on their emotional outlook (Russ, 2004). This ‘safety’ element can be achieved through practitioners building upon children’s experiences within the home environment, which can then lead on to opportunities for progression and extension through challenge (Department for Children, Schools and Families [DCSF], 2009). Critical to the learning process is the careful design of activities which take advantage of children’s innate ability to enjoy play and the fact that playing “… engages children’s bodies, minds and emotions” (DCSF, 2009, p. 10). Furthermore, through this process children are able to learn the skills associated with successful interaction with others in order to be part of a community, to experience and to manage their feelings/emotions and to develop confidence in themselves and their abilities (DCSF, 2009). Play provides opportunities for children to develop positive attitudes towards learning, in that they are able to develop their interests, be creative and experimental, to be critically thoughtful (Trevlas et al, 2003; Hurvitz, 2003) as well as developing resilience and the ability to work alongside others as a part of the educative process (DCSF, 2009).

Play and Learning Theory

The most important point about play is that it is active in nature. This active pursuit of knowledge was stressed by Piaget, who emphasised children’s ability to construct their own knowledge as individuals (Moore, 2000) through exploring their environment (Phillips and Soltis, 1998) in order to make sense of it (Wyse, 2004). Having scientifically studied children (May, 2013), Piaget put forward the notion that children develop in distinctive stages – sensorimotor (birth to 2 years), preoperational (2 to 6 years), concrete operational (7 to adolescence) and formal operational (adolescence to adulthood) – and that play becomes more complex as learners mature (for example, sensorimotor/practice play, preoperational/symbolic, pretend and fantasy play [Krause et al., 2003]). He also stated that as children came upon new experiences and knowledge, they added them to their existing knowledge base (assimilation) prior to being able to employ this new knowledge (accommodation), thus enhancing their cognitive abilities (Curtis and O’Hagen, 2003). Piaget (1973) believed that children were only able to gain a true understanding of knowledge as a result of this process of discovery, which enables them to be innovative and flexible as opposed to learning in a mechanistic way.

These constructivist principles were shared by Vygotsky, although his emphasis was on social and collective learning as opposed to learning as an individual. It was his belief that interaction with others was a key element in enabling children to learn (Buchan, 2013, Daly et al., 2004), and that learning was a social process. Vygotsky contended that the development of children’s communication and language skills relied upon their being allowed to experience the world around them in the company of others in a social context, which lead learners to an understanding of how to behave and how to control themselves in specific contexts (John-Steiner et al., 2010). This social aspect of learning is borne out by observations of children who imitate the actions of others without understanding, until such time as they are able to initiate actions for themselves [which is indicative of their level of comprehension] (Vygotsky, 1978). Vygotsky took this notion of learning from others a stage further when he stated that there was a difference between what children are able to do alone and what they can achieve with the help of more experienced others, labelling this difference the ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ [ZPD] (Pound, 2005). He firmly believed that every interactive process in which learners engage, irrespective of the environment in which it takes place, provides them with opportunities to develop their language and thinking skills (Whitehead, 2010). Furthermore, Vygotsky (1978) commented that play was the best and most effective means of preschool development as it enabled children to develop their skills through interaction.

Play and Current Early Years Practice

As highlighted above, the current provision as laid out within the EYFS (DfE, 2014) documentation places the child at the centre of the learning process with a specific emphasis on play, which encourages the development of communication, language and literacy skills. There are three prime areas of learning (communication and language, physical development, personal, social and emotional development) and four specific areas which supplement the prime areas (literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts and design). It is the responsibility of individual practitioners, and indeed settings in general, to consider the individual needs and stage of development for each individual in their care. Activities within classrooms must be planned to ensure equality of access for all, irrespective of their background or ability and they should be designed to engage learners in purposeful play which is both child initiated and adult led. The balance between these two types of play is of extreme importance. Children can learn by leading their own play and allowing their needs and interests to guide their activities. However, whilst responding to individual children in a positive and warm manner, it is critical that there is a gradual movement towards activities which are more adult led, in order to prepare them for more formal learning as they enter Year 1 (DfE, 2014). Play should provide children with opportunities to explore and express their feelings, to develop relationships with others, to make decisions, choices and errors whilst being respected and valued as individuals; they need to be encouraged to develop self-discipline whilst retaining their ability to be imaginative and creative in solving problems (Bruce, 1987 cited in Early Years Interboard Panel, n.d., p. 7)

Conclusion

Play is central to the development of children in their early years. It provides a platform through which children are able to learn about themselves and the world around them through interacting with it. It allows children to have fun while they are learning, and to engage with those around them as a part of the process of learning, which not only deepens their knowledge base but also provides them with life skills such as the ability to communicate and work effectively with others. Play has been recognised as a central element within the education system which allows children to blossom through interacting with and learning from those around them. It is “… essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, to think about problems, and to relate to others” (DfE, 2014, p. 9).

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