Situation Analysis

 ENGLISH EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT

TEACHING AND EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES FACULTY

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

Situational Analysis is an analysis of factors in the context of a planned or present curriculum project that is made in order to assess their potential impact on the project. These factors may be political, social, economic, or institutional. Situational Analysis complements the information gathered during needs analysis. It is sometimes considered as a dimension of needs analysis, and can also be regarded as an aspect of evaluation.

Procedures used in situation analysis are similar to those involved in needs analysis, namely, (a) consultation with representatives of as many relevant groups as possible, such as parents, students, teachers, administrators, and government officials; (b) study analysis of relevant documents, such as course appraisal documents, government reports, ministry of education guidelines, and policy papers, teaching materials, curriculum development; (c) observation of teachers and students in relevant learning settings; (d) surveys of opinions of relevant parties; (e) review of available literature related to the issue.

SOCIETAL FACTORS

The position of foreign languages in the school curriculum is neither strong nor secure. More promotion of foreign language teaching is consequently needed, and there is a greater interest in novel teaching methods. In examining the impact of societal factors on language teaching, therefore, the aim is to determine the impact of groups in the community or society at large on the program. These groups include:

· Policy makers in government

· Educational and other government officials

· Employers

· The business community

· Politicians

· Tertiary education specialists

· Educational organizations

· Parents

· Citizens

· Students

PROJECT FACTORS

Curriculum projects are typically produce by a team of people. Members of the team may be specialist who are hired specifically for the purpose, they may be classroom teachers who are seconded to the project for a fixed period of time, or the project may be carried out by teachers and other staff of teaching institution as apart of their reguler duties. Project are completed under different constraints of time, resources, and personnel, and each of these variables can have a significant impact on a project.

Some project factors need to be considered :

- Who consitutes the project group and how are they selected ?

- What are the management and other responsibilities of the term ?

- How are goals and procedures determined ?

- Who reviews the progress of the project and the performance of its members ?

- What experience do members of the team have ?

- How do members of the team regard each other ?

- What resources do they have available and what budget to acquire needed resources?

- What is the time frame of the project ? is it realistic, or is more or less time needed?

The following examples illustrate how these kinds of factors can affect curriculum planing :

Example : A private institute decides to develop a set of course materials for some of its major courses. A group o teachers is assigned to the task and given release time to work on the project as materials writers. One of the senior teachers is put in charge. However, the team members cannot agree on the goals of the project or the best approach to take in writing the materials. There is constant tension within the team and a rapid turnover of writers. Consequently, the project takes much longer to accomplish than planed.

Comment : A person who is a good teacher may not make a good materials developer or project leader. Better direction of the project was needed through recruitment of simeone with appropriate qualifications and experience in addition, better communisation was needed so that different preception of the project could be aired and differences resolved before they became problems. Clearer spesification of roles might also have led to fewer problems.

INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS

A language teaching program is typically delivered in an institution such as a university, school, or language institute. Different types of institutions create their own “culture”, that is, settings where people interact and where patterns emerge for communication, decision, making, role relations, and conduct.

A teaching institution is a collection of teachers, groups, and departments, sometimes functioning in unison, sometimes with different components functioning independently, or sometimes with components in a confrontational relationship. Within an institution there may be a strong and positive climate to support innovation, one where there is effective and positive leadership and where change is received positively.

Institutions also have their own ways of doing things. In some institutions, textbooks are the core of the curriculum and all teachers must use the prescribed texts. In other situations, teachers work from course guidelines and supplement them as they see fit. Institutions also differ greatly in their level professionalism. In some institutions, there is a strong sense of professional commitment and a culture of quality that influences every aspect of the institution’s operations.

Example: a new director is appointed to a private language institute. The owners of the institute are concerned at falling student enrollments and fell that the institute’s programs need to be reviewed to make them more competitive and attractive to potential clients. The director prepares an excellent rationale for revamping existing courses, for replacing the textbooks currently in use with more up-to-date texts, and develops a plan for marketing new courses. However, she meets a wall of resistance from teachers who feel that they are undervalued, underpaid, and that proposed changes will not bring any benefits to them.

Comment: Perhaps the teachers could have been involved in rethinking the institute’s program from the start and ways found to build in some incentives for the teachers themselves. This might involve negotiating with the school’s owners for better service conditions for teachers as part of the overall curriculum renewal plan. In addition, some of the teachers may have to be replaced with teachers who are more open to the kinds of changes the director is proposing.

TEACHER FACTORS

Teachers are a key factor in the successful implementation of curriculum changes. But inadequately trained teachers may not be able to make effective use of teaching materials no matter how well they are designed. In any institution, teachers may vary according to the following dimensions:

· Language proficiency

· Teaching experience

· Skill and motivation

· Morale and motivation

· Teaching style

· Beliefs and principles

Some teachers have mentoring or leadership roles within their schools and assist in orienting new teachers to the school or leading groups of teachers in materials development and other activities. Other teachers have time for little more than teaching. They may have very heavy teaching loads or teach in several different institutions in order to make ends meet. Some teachers may welcome the chance to try out a new syllabus or materials. Others may resent it because they see it as disrupting their routine and not offering them any financial or other kind of advantage.

The following example illustrates the potential impact of some of these issues.

Example: a program director in a private institute believes that teachers in his school should not use commercial textbook but should prepare their own teaching materials. Most teachers are untrained and on short-term contracts so they feel that they cannot contest his ruling and pay lip service to the policy. However, most teachers ignore the policy. They teach from photocopied sections taken from commercial materials or type out sections from textbooks and pass these off as teacher-made materials.

Comment: the program director’s policy serves no obvious purpose. If the director wants teachers to prepare their own materials, he will need to consider hiring better-qualified teachers or provide materials writing workshops for teachers. In addition, a set of goals related to materials writing needs to be agreed on to give some purpose to the requirement.

LEARNER FACTORS

Learners are the key participants in curriculum development projects and it is essential to collect as much information as possible about them before the project begins. Here the focus is on other potentially relevant factors such as the learners’ backgrounds, expectations, beliefs, and preferred learning styles. The project designers may be operating from a set of assumptions about education, schools, teachers, and students that is culturally bound and at odds with the beliefs and assumptions of the learners.

Learners may affect the outcomes of a project in unexpected ways. For example, a textbook or set of materials may be engaging, at a suitable level, and provide a lot of useful practice but not be appreciated by students because they fail to see any links between the book and an examination they are working toward.

Example: A private institute in an EFL country offers an intermediate level conversation course. Teachers in the course make extensive use of fluency activities, including pair and group activities, role plays, songs and games, and discussion activities. These activities are thought to reflect current views on second language acquisition. However, the first cohort of learners through the program are very critical of it because they cannot see the point of many of the classroom activities they were asked to take part in. They request more teacher-directed activities and more error correction. “We don’t want to come to class to clap and sing” is typical student comment.

Comment: learners have their own views on how conversation skills can be developed and their own preferences for classroom activities. If the goals of fluency activities are not clearly explained and if students are not convinced of their value, they may not understand what their intent is and judge them to be ineffective. A questionnaire could have been administered prior to the course to determine students’ views of different kinds of classroom activities. In addition, a better orientation to the goals and methodology of the program should have been provided.

ADOPTION FACTORS

Consider the relative ease or difficulty of introducing change into the system

1) affect teachers’ pedagogical value and beliefs

2) understanding of the nature of the language

3) second language learning

4) classroom practice

5) teaching materials

Ø Practicality is also a significant issue:

Communicative Language Teaching Natural Approach

(materials and textbooks) (only a set of guidelines)

Ø Teachers also need to adopt new roles in the classroom

Communicative Approach V.S Traditional Grammar Approach

Ø Implementation of a new syllabus needs to involve the cooperation of many agencies. Rodger (1984, 41)

PROFILING THE FACTORS IDENTIFIED IN THE SITUATION ANALYSIS

The goal of situation analysis is to identify key factors that might positively or negatively affect the implementation of a curriculum plan. This is sometimes know as SWOT analysis because it involves an examination of ‘a language programs intern strengths and weakness in addition to external opportunities and threats to the existence or successful operation of the language program’ (Klinghammer 1997, 65)

Needs Analysis

SUMMARY CHAPTER REPORT

NEEDS ANALYSIS

The Purpose of Needs Analysis

Needs analysis in language teaching may be used for a number of different purposes, for example:

Ä To find out what language skills a learner needs in order to perform a particular role, such as sales manager, tour guide, or university student.

Ä To help determine if an exciting course adequately addresses the needs of potential students.

Ä To determine which students from a group are most in need of training in particular language skills.

Ä To identify a change of direction that people in a reference group feel is important.

Ä etc.

The Users of Needs Analysis

A need analysis may be conducted for a variety of different users. For example, in conducting a need analysis to help revise the secondary school English curriculum in a country, the end users include:

· Curriculum officers in the ministry of education, who may wish to use the information to evaluate the adequacy of existing syllabus, curriculum, and materials.

· Teachers who will teach from the new curriculum.

· Learners, who will be taught from the curriculum.

· Writers, who are preparing new textbooks.

· Testing personnel, who are involved in developing end-of-school assessments.

· Staff of tertiary institutions, who are interested in knowing what the expected level will be of students exiting the schools and what problems they face.

Procedures for Conducting Needs Analysis

A variety of procedures can be used in conducting needs analysis and the kind of information obtained is often dependent on the type of procedure selected.

Procedures for collecting information during a needs analysis can be selected from among the following:

Questionnaires

Self-ratings

Interviews

Meetings

Observation

Collecting learner language samples

Task analysis

Case Studies

Analysis of available information

Designing The Needs Analysis

Designing a needs analysis involves choosing from among the various options discussed above and selecting those that are likely to give a comprehensive view of learners’ need and that represent the interests of the different stakeholders involved. Decisions have to be made on the practical procedures involved in collecting, organizing, analyzing, and reporting the information collected. It is important to make sure that needs analysis does not produce an information overload.

Curriculum Material and Development

Curriculum Material and Development

A syllabus is a specification of the content of a course of instruction and lists what will be taught and tested.

Syllabus design is the process of developing a syllabus.

Curriculum development is a more comprehensive process than syllabus design. It includes the processes that are used to determine the needs of a group of learners, to develop aims or objectives for a program to address those needs, to determine an appropriate syllabus, course structure, teaching methods, and materials, and to carry out an evaluation of the language program that results from these processes.

Language curriculum development deals with the following questions:

1. What procedures can be used to determine the content of a language program?
2. What are learners’ needs?
3. How can learners’ needs be determined?
4. What contextual factors need to be considered in planning a language program?
5. What is the nature of aims and objectives in teaching and how can these be developed?
6. What factors are involved in planning the syllabus and the units of organization in a course?
7. How can good teaching be provided in a program?
8. What issues are involved in selecting, adapting, and designing instructional materials?
9. How can one measure the effectiveness of a language program?

Synthetic syllabuses

In synthetic syllabuses, the content of instruction is organized in terms of the target language's grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, etc. This content is pre-selected and taught incrementally until the whole language is covered. The learners' task is to "re-synthesize the language that has been broken down into a large number of small pieces with the aim of making this learning task easier"

The structural syllabus

The structural syllabus is the best known example of a synthetic syllabus. The content to be taught is analyzed in linguistic terms - that is, teaching units focus on a particular point of grammar or pronunciation plus associated vocabulary.

The notional-functional syllabus

notions and functions are still linguistic units of analysis. And using pre-selected linguistic units and linguistic criteria to select, grade and sequence pedagogical content leads us back to synthetic syllabus design solutions.

Analytic Syllabuses

• In analytic syllabuses, learning is organized in terms of the social purposes that learners have for learning the target language. This suggests that learners must interact with and analyze samples of language that are relevant to their needs.
• analytic syllabuses are those that present the target language whole chunks at a time

Analytic syllabuses

Analytic syllabuses rely on "learners' presumed ability to perceive regularities in the input"

Krashen and the Monitor Theory

• One of the central tenets of this theory is known as the "comprehensible input" hypothesis.

• This hypothesis states that learners acquire grammar and vocabulary by getting and understanding language that is slightly beyond their current level of competence.

 

Comprehensible input

Two central questions must be answered about comprehensible input.

• First, how do learners get the right kind of input?

• Second, does providing comprehensible input guarantee that learners will learn the language they are exposed to?

What are tasks?

• a piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others, freely or for some reward. Thus, examples of tasks include painting a fence, dressing a child, filling out a form, buying a pair of shoes, making an airline reservation, borrowing a library book. In other words, by "task" is meant the hundred and one things people do in everyday life, at work, at play, and in between.a piece of work or an activity, usually with a specified objective, undertaken as part of an educational course, or at work (Crookes, 1986:1).

• an activity which require[s] learners to arrive at an outcome from given information through some process of thought, and which allow[s] teachers to control and regulate that process (Prabhu, 1987:24).

• a piece of work or an activity, usually with a specified objective, undertaken as part of an educational course, or at work (Crookes, 1986:1).

• an activity which require[s] learners to arrive at an outcome from given information through some process of thought, and which allow[s] teachers to control and regulate that process (Prabhu, 1987:24).

• any classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form. The task should also have a sense of completeness, being able to stand alone as a communicative act in its own right (Nunan, 1993:59).

• any structural language learning endeavor which has a particular objective, appropriate content, a specified working procedure, and a range of outcomes for those who undertake the task. "Task" is therefore assumed to refer to a range of workplans which have the overall purpose of facilitating language learning - from the simple and brief exercise type, to more complex and lengthy activities such as group problem-solving or simulations and decision-making (Breen, 1987:23).

• one of a set of differentiated, sequenceable, problem-solving activities involving learners and teachers in some joint selection from a range of varied cognitive and communicative procedures applied to existing and new knowledge in the collective exploration and pursuance of foreseen or emergent goals within a social milieu. (Candlin, 1987:10).

Kinds of Cognitive Tasks according to Prabhu

• opinion-gap,

• information-transfer, and

• reasoning-gap tasks

What is TBLT?

an analytic approach to syllabus design and methodology in which chains of information-gathering, problem-solving and evaluative tasks are used to organize language teaching and learning; these interdependent pedagogical tasks, which combine insights from sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic research, are designed to methodologically simulate the communicative events which learners encounter in specific second language-using environments (Markee, 1994a).

The process syllabus

• It does not pre-select the linguistic content of instruction. Instead, it typically depends on the use of problem-solving tasks to organize instruction.

• The process syllabus is situated within a curricular approach to organizing language instruction.

• In its strong form at least, not only the content but the materials, methodology and types of assessment used in a course are not pre-determined.

Different types of tasks

• Information gap tasks

• jigsaw tasks

• Information transfer tasks

• Opinion gap tasks

• Reasoning tasks

Kurikulum Pendidikan di Indonesia

Kurikulum Pendidikan di Indonesia

Kurikulum adalah perangkat mata pelajaran yang diberikan oleh suatu lembaga penyelenggara pendidikan yang berisi rancangan pelajaran yang akan diberikan kepada peserta pelajaran dalam satu periode jenjang pendidikan. Penyusunan perangkat mata pelajaran ini disesuaikan dengan keadaan dan kemampuan setiap jenjang pendidikan dalam penyelenggaraan pendidikan tersebut.

Lama waktu dalam satu kurikulum biasanya disesuaikan dengan maksud dan tujuan dari sistem pendidikan yang dilaksanakan. Kurikulum ini dimaksudkan untuk dapat mengarahkan pendidikan menuju arah dan tujuan yang dimaksudkan dalam kegiatan pembelajaran secara menyeluruh.

Berbagai kurikulum yang mewarnai dunia pendidikan di Indonesia :

RENCANA PELAJARAN 1947

Kurikulum pertama yang lahir pada masa kemerdekaan memakai istilah leer plan ( dalam bahasa Belanda ) artinya rencana pelajaran, lebih popular ketimbang curriculum (bahasa Inggris). Asas pendidikan ditetapkan Pancasila.
Rencana Pelajaran 1947 baru dilaksanakan sekolah-sekolah pada 1950.

RENCANA PELAJARAN TERURAI 1952

Kurikulum ini lebih merinci setiap mata pelajaran yang disebut Rencana Pelajaran Terurai 1952.


KURIKULUM 1968

Kelahiran Kurikulum 1968 bersifat politis: mengganti Rencana Pendidikan 1964 yang dicitrakan sebagai produk Orde Lama. Tujuannya pada pembentukan manusia Pancasila sejati. Kurikulum 1968 menekankan pendekatan organisasi materi pelajaran: kelompok pembinaan Pancasila, pengetahuan dasar, dan kecakapan khusus. Jumlah pelajarannya 9.

KURIKULUM 1975

Kurikulum 1975 menekankan pada tujuan, agar pendidikan lebih efisien dan efektif. “Yang melatarbelakangi adalah pengaruh konsep di bidang manejemen, yaitu MBO (management by objective) yang terkenal saat itu,” kata Drs. Mudjito, Ak, MSi, Direktur Pembinaan TK dan SD Depdiknas.

KURIKULUM 1984

Kurikulum 1984 mengusung process skill approach. Meski mengutamakan pendekatan proses, tapi faktor tujuan tetap penting. Kurikulum ini juga sering disebut “Kurikulum 1975 yang disempurnakan”. Posisi siswa ditempatkan sebagai subjek belajar. Dari mengamati sesuatu, mengelompokkan, mendiskusikan, hingga melaporkan. Model ini disebut Cara Belajar Siswa Aktif (CBSA) atau Student Active Leaming (SAL).


KURIKULUM 1994 dan SUPLEMEN KURIKULUM 1999

Kurikulum 1994 bergulir lebih pada upaya memadukan kurikulum-kurikulum sebelumnya. “Jiwanya ingin mengkombinasikan antara Kurikulum 1975 dan Kurikulum 1984, antara pendekatan proses,” kata Mudjito menjelaskan.


KURIKULUM 2004


Kurikulum Berbasis Kompetensi (KBK) atau Kurikulum 2004, adalah kurikulum dalam dunia pendidikan di Indonesia yang mulai diterapkan sejak tahun 2004 walau sudah ada sekolah yang mulai menggunakan kurikulum ini sejak sebelum diterapkannya. Secara materi, sebenarnya kurikulum ini tak berbeda dari Kurikulum 1994, perbedaannya hanya pada cara para murid belajar di kelas. Dalam kurikulum terdahulu, para murid dikondisikan dengan sistem caturwulan. Sedangkan dalam kurikulum baru ini, para siswa dikondisikan dalam sistem semester. Dahulu pun, para murid hanya belajar pada isi materi pelajaran belaka, yakni menerima materi dari guru saja. Dalam kurikulum 2004 ini, para murid dituntut aktif mengembangkan keterampilan untuk menerapkan IPTek tanpa meninggalkan kerja sama dan solidaritas, meski sesungguhnya antar siswa saling berkompetisi. Jadi di sini, guru hanya bertindak sebagai fasilitator, namun meski begitu pendidikan yang ada ialah pendidikan untuk semua. Dalam kegiatan di kelas, para siswa bukan lagi objek, namun subjek. Dan setiap kegiatan siswa ada nilainya.


KTSP 2006

Awal 2006 ujicoba KBK dihentikan. Muncullah Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan. Pelajaran KTSP masih tersendat. Tinjauan dari segi isi dan proses pencapaian target kompetensi pelajaran oleh siswa hingga teknis evaluasi tidaklah banyak perbedaan dengan Kurikulum 2004. Perbedaan yang paling menonjol adalah guru lebih diberikan kebebasan untuk merencanakan pembelajaran sesuai dengan lingkungan dan kondisi siswa serta kondisi sekolah berada. Hal ini disebabkan karangka dasar (KD), standar kompetensi lulusan (SKL), standar kompetensi dan kompetensi dasar (SKKD) setiap mata pelajaran untuk setiap satuan pendidikan telah ditetapkan oleh Departemen Pendidikan Nasional.

Pengertian Ideologi Menurut Para Ahli

PENGERTIAN IDEOLOGI

Ideology berasal dari bahasa Yunani dan merupakan gabungan dari dua kata yaitu edios yang artinya gagasan atau konsep dan logos yang berarti ilmu. Pengertian ideology secara umum adalah sekumpulan ide, gagasan, keyakinan dan kepercayaan yang menyeluruh dan sistematis. Dalam arti luas, ideology adalah pedoman normative yang dipakai oleh seluruh kelompok sebagai dasar cita-cita, nila dasar dan keyakinan yang dijunjung tinggi.
Ada beberapa istilah ideology menurut beberapa para ahli yaitu:
a.    Destut De Traacy :istilah ideology pertama kali dikemukakan oleh destut de Tracy tahun 1796 yang berarti suatu program yang diharapkan dapat membawa suatu perubahan institusional dalam masyarakat Perancis.
b.    Ramlan Surbakti membagi dalam dua pengertian yakni :
1.    Ideologi secara fungsional : seperangkat gagasan tentang kebaikan bersama atau tentang masyarakat dan Negara yag dianggap paling baik.
2.    Ideologi secara structural : suatu system pembenaran seperti gagasan dan formula politik atas setiap kebijakan dan tindakan yang diambil oleh penguasa.

• Wikipedia Indonesia:

Ideologi adalah kumpulan ide atau gagasan atau aqidah 'aqliyyah (akidah yang sampai melalui proses berpikir) yang melahirkan aturan-aturan dalam kehidupan.

• Destertt de Tracy (2 april 2004)

Ideologi adalah studi terhadap ide – ide/pemikiran tertentu.

• Descartes (5 mei 2004)

Ideologi adalah inti dari semua pemikiran manusia.

• Machiavelli (1 agustus 2006)

Ideologi adalah sistem perlindungan kekuasaan yang dimiliki oleh penguasa.

• Thomas H (23 oktober 2004)

Ideologi adalah suatu cara untuk melindungi kekuasaan pemerintah agar dapat bertahan dan mengatur rakyatnya.

1. Francis Bacon (5 januari 2007)

Ideologi adalah sintesa pemikiran mendasar dari suatu konsep hidup.

• Karl Marx (1 mei 2005)

Ideologi merupakan alat untuk mencapai kesetaraan dan kesejahteraan bersama dalam masyarakat.

• Napoleon (22 desember 2003)

Ideologi keseluruhan pemikiran politik dari rival–rivalnya.

• Muhammad Muhammad Ismail (24 april 2007)

Ideologi (Mabda’) adalah Al-Fikru al-asasi al-ladzi hubna Qablahu Fikrun Akhar, pemikiran mendasar yang sama sekali tidak dibangun (disandarkan) di atas pemikiran pemikiran yang lain. Pemikiran mendasar ini merupakan akumulasi jawaban atas pertanyaan dari mana, untuk apa dan mau kemana alam, manusia dan kehidupan ini yang dihubungkan dengan asal muasal penciptaannya dan kehidupan setelahnya?

• Dr. Hafidh Shaleh (12 november 2008)

Ideologi adalah sebuah pemikiran yang mempunyai ide berupa konsepsi rasional (aqidah aqliyah), yang meliputi akidah dan solusi atas seluruh problem kehidupan manusia. Pemikiran tersebut harus mempunyai metode, yang meliputi metode untuk mengaktualisasikan ide dan solusi tersebut, metode mempertahankannya, serta metode menyebarkannya ke seluruh dunia.

• Taqiyuddin An-Nabhani (17 juli 2005)

Mabda’ adalah suatu aqidah aqliyah yang melahirkan peraturan. Yang dimaksud aqidah adalah pemikiran yang menyeluruh tentang alam semesta, manusia, dan hidup, serta tentang apa yang ada sebelum dan setelah kehidupan, di samping hubungannya dengan Zat yang ada sebelum dan sesudah alam kehidupan di dunia ini. Atau Mabda’ adalah suatu ide dasar yang menyeluruh mengenai alam semesta, manusia, dan hidup. Mencakup dua bagian yaitu, fikrah dan thariqah.

• Gunawan Setiardjo:

Mengemukakan bahwa ideologi adalah seperangkat ide asasi tentang manusia dan seluruh realitas yang dijadikan pedoman dan cita-cita hidup.

• Ramlan Surbakti:

Mengemukakan ada dua pengertian Ideologi yaitu Ideologi secara fungsional dan Ideologi secara struktural. Ideologi secara fungsional diartikan seperangkat gagasan tentang kebaikan bersama atau tentang masyarakat dan negara yang dianggap paling baik. Ideologi secara fungsional ini digolongkan menjadi dua tipe, yaitu Ideologi yang doktriner dan Ideologi yang pragmatis. Ideologi yang doktriner bilamana ajaran-ajaran yang terkandung di dalam Ideologi itu dirumuskan secara sistematis, dan pelaksanaannya diawasi secara ketat oleh aparat partai atau aparat pemerintah. Sebagai contohnya adalah komunisme. Sedangkan Ideologi yang pragmatis, apabila ajaran-ajaran yang terkandung di dalam Ideologi tersebut tidak dirumuskan secara sistematis dan terinci, namun dirumuskan secara umum hanya prinsip-prinsipnya, dan Ideologi itu disosialisasikan secara fungsional melalui kehidupan keluarga, sistem pendidikan, system ekonomi, kehidupan agama dan sistem politik.

• Notonegoro:

Mengemukakan, bahwa Ideologi negara dalam arti cita-cita negara atau cita-cita yang menjadi dasar bagi suatu sistem kenegaraan untuk seluruh rakyat dan bangsa yang bersangkutan pada hakikatnya merupakan asas kerokhanian yang antara lain memiliki ciri: 1) Mempunyai derajat yang tertinggi sebagai nilai hidup kebangsaan dan kenegaraan; 2) Mewujudkan suatu asas kerokhanian, pandangan dunia, pedoman hidup, pegangan hidup yang dipelihara, dikembangkan, diamalkan, dilestarikan kepada generasi berikutnya, diperjuangkan dan dipertahankan dengan kesediaan berkorban.
Ideologi adalah kumpulan ide atau gagasan. Kata ideologi sendiri diciptakan oleh Destutt de Tracy pada akhir abad ke-18 untuk mendefinisikan “sains tentang ide“. Ideologi dapat dianggap sebagai visi yang komprehensif, sebagai  caramemandang segala sesuatu (bandingkan Weltanschauung), secara umum (lihat Ideologi dalam kehidupan sehari hari) dan beberapa arah filosofis (lihat Ideologi politis), atau sekelompok ide yang diajukan oleh kelas yang dominan pada seluruh anggota masyarakat. Tujuan untama dibalik ideologi adalah untuk menawarkan perubahan melalui proses pemikiran normatif.
Ideologi adalah sistem pemikiran abstrak (tidak hanya sekadar pembentukan ide) yang diterapkan pada masalah publik sehingga membuat konsep ini menjadi inti politik. Secara implisit setiap pemikiran politik mengikuti sebuah ideologi walaupun tidak diletakkan sebagai sistem berpikir yang eksplisit.(definisi ideologi Marxisme). Pada intinya  Ideologi merupakan cerminan cara berfikir orang atau masyarakat yang sekaligus membentuk orang atau masyarakat itu menuju cita-citanya. Ideologi merupakan sesuatu yang dihayati menjadi suatu keyakinan. Ideologi merupakan suatu pilihan yang jelas membawa komitmen (keterikatan) untuk mewujudkannya. Semakin mendalam kesadaran ideologis seseorang, maka akan semakin tinggi pula komitmennya untuk melaksanakannya.

Pengertian Ideologi Menurut Para Ahli

PENGERTIAN IDEOLOGI

Ideology berasal dari bahasa Yunani dan merupakan gabungan dari dua kata yaitu edios yang artinya gagasan atau konsep dan logos yang berarti ilmu. Pengertian ideology secara umum adalah sekumpulan ide, gagasan, keyakinan dan kepercayaan yang menyeluruh dan sistematis. Dalam arti luas, ideology adalah pedoman normative yang dipakai oleh seluruh kelompok sebagai dasar cita-cita, nila dasar dan keyakinan yang dijunjung tinggi.
Ada beberapa istilah ideology menurut beberapa para ahli yaitu:

a.       Destut De Traacy :istilah ideology pertama kali dikemukakan oleh destut de Tracy tahun 1796 yang berarti suatu program yang diharapkan dapat membawa suatu perubahan institusional dalam masyarakat Perancis.

b.      Ramlan Surbakti membagi dalam dua pengertian yakni :

1.      Ideologi secara fungsional : seperangkat gagasan tentang kebaikan bersama atau tentang masyarakat dan Negara yag dianggap paling baik.

2.      Ideologi secara structural : suatu system pembenaran seperti gagasan dan formula politik atas setiap kebijakan dan tindakan yang diambil oleh penguasa.

 Wikipedia Indonesia:

Ideologi adalah kumpulan ide atau gagasan atau aqidah 'aqliyyah (akidah yang sampai melalui proses berpikir) yang melahirkan aturan-aturan dalam kehidupan.

Destertt de Tracy (2 april 2004)

Ideologi adalah studi terhadap ide – ide/pemikiran tertentu.

Descartes (5 mei 2004)

Ideologi adalah inti dari semua pemikiran manusia.

Machiavelli (1 agustus 2006)

Ideologi adalah sistem perlindungan kekuasaan yang dimiliki oleh penguasa.

Thomas H (23 oktober 2004)

Ideologi adalah suatu cara untuk melindungi kekuasaan pemerintah agar dapat bertahan dan mengatur rakyatnya.

Francis Bacon (5 januari 2007)

Ideologi adalah sintesa pemikiran mendasar dari suatu konsep hidup.

Karl Marx (1 mei 2005)

Ideologi merupakan alat untuk mencapai kesetaraan dan kesejahteraan bersama dalam masyarakat.

Napoleon (22 desember 2003)

Ideologi keseluruhan pemikiran politik dari rival–rivalnya.

Muhammad Muhammad Ismail (24 april 2007)

Ideologi (Mabda’) adalah Al-Fikru al-asasi al-ladzi hubna Qablahu Fikrun Akhar, pemikiran mendasar yang sama sekali tidak dibangun (disandarkan) di atas pemikiran pemikiran yang lain. Pemikiran mendasar ini merupakan akumulasi jawaban atas pertanyaan dari mana, untuk apa dan mau kemana alam, manusia dan kehidupan ini yang dihubungkan dengan asal muasal penciptaannya dan kehidupan setelahnya?

Dr. Hafidh Shaleh (12 november 2008)

Ideologi adalah sebuah pemikiran yang mempunyai ide berupa konsepsi rasional (aqidah aqliyah), yang meliputi akidah dan solusi atas seluruh problem kehidupan manusia. Pemikiran tersebut harus mempunyai metode, yang meliputi metode untuk mengaktualisasikan ide dan solusi tersebut, metode mempertahankannya, serta metode menyebarkannya ke seluruh dunia.

Taqiyuddin An-Nabhani (17 juli 2005)

Mabda’ adalah suatu aqidah aqliyah yang melahirkan peraturan. Yang dimaksud aqidah adalah pemikiran yang menyeluruh tentang alam semesta, manusia, dan hidup, serta tentang apa yang ada sebelum dan setelah kehidupan, di samping hubungannya dengan Zat yang ada sebelum dan sesudah alam kehidupan di dunia ini. Atau Mabda’ adalah suatu ide dasar yang menyeluruh mengenai alam semesta, manusia, dan hidup. Mencakup dua bagian yaitu, fikrah dan thariqah.

Gunawan Setiardjo:

Mengemukakan bahwa ideologi adalah seperangkat ide asasi tentang manusia dan seluruh realitas yang dijadikan pedoman dan cita-cita hidup.

Ramlan Surbakti:

Mengemukakan ada dua pengertian Ideologi yaitu Ideologi secara fungsional dan Ideologi secara struktural. Ideologi secara fungsional diartikan seperangkat gagasan tentang kebaikan bersama atau tentang masyarakat dan negara yang dianggap paling baik. Ideologi secara fungsional ini digolongkan menjadi dua tipe, yaitu Ideologi yang doktriner dan Ideologi yang pragmatis. Ideologi yang doktriner bilamana ajaran-ajaran yang terkandung di dalam Ideologi itu dirumuskan secara sistematis, dan pelaksanaannya diawasi secara ketat oleh aparat partai atau aparat pemerintah. Sebagai contohnya adalah komunisme. Sedangkan Ideologi yang pragmatis, apabila ajaran-ajaran yang terkandung di dalam Ideologi tersebut tidak dirumuskan secara sistematis dan terinci, namun dirumuskan secara umum hanya prinsip-prinsipnya, dan Ideologi itu disosialisasikan secara fungsional melalui kehidupan keluarga, sistem pendidikan, system ekonomi, kehidupan agama dan sistem politik.

Notonegoro:

Mengemukakan, bahwa Ideologi negara dalam arti cita-cita negara atau cita-cita yang menjadi dasar bagi suatu sistem kenegaraan untuk seluruh rakyat dan bangsa yang bersangkutan pada hakikatnya merupakan asas kerokhanian yang antara lain memiliki ciri: 1) Mempunyai derajat yang tertinggi sebagai nilai hidup kebangsaan dan kenegaraan; 2) Mewujudkan suatu asas kerokhanian, pandangan dunia, pedoman hidup, pegangan hidup yang dipelihara, dikembangkan, diamalkan, dilestarikan kepada generasi berikutnya, diperjuangkan dan dipertahankan dengan kesediaan berkorban.

Ideologi adalah kumpulan ide atau gagasan. Kata ideologi sendiri diciptakan oleh Destutt de Tracy pada akhir abad ke-18 untuk mendefinisikan “sains tentang ide“. Ideologi dapat dianggap sebagai visi yang komprehensif, sebagai  caramemandang segala sesuatu (bandingkan Weltanschauung), secara umum (lihat Ideologi dalam kehidupan sehari hari) dan beberapa arah filosofis (lihat Ideologi politis), atau sekelompok ide yang diajukan oleh kelas yang dominan pada seluruh anggota masyarakat. Tujuan untama dibalik ideologi adalah untuk menawarkan perubahan melalui proses pemikiran normatif.

Ideologi adalah sistem pemikiran abstrak (tidak hanya sekadar pembentukan ide) yang diterapkan pada masalah publik sehingga membuat konsep ini menjadi inti politik. Secara implisit setiap pemikiran politik mengikuti sebuah ideologi walaupun tidak diletakkan sebagai sistem berpikir yang eksplisit.(definisi ideologi Marxisme). Pada intinya  Ideologi merupakan cerminan cara berfikir orang atau masyarakat yang sekaligus membentuk orang atau masyarakat itu menuju cita-citanya. Ideologi merupakan sesuatu yang dihayati menjadi suatu keyakinan. Ideologi merupakan suatu pilihan yang jelas membawa komitmen (keterikatan) untuk mewujudkannya. Semakin mendalam kesadaran ideologis seseorang, maka akan semakin tinggi pula komitmennya untuk melaksanakannya.

Function of Punctuation

Punctuation

We speak English with sound level variations, tone of voice changes, rate changes, and various facial expressions. Body posture and hand activity may contribute to comprehension of the spoken word (or detract).

Punctuation is, in part, an attempt to capture in writing the emphasis we are able to deliver orally.

Additionally, punctuation is a tool we use to organize word arrangements to facilitate readability.
comma

appositive
Mr. Radcliffe, the high school principal, will attend the regional school management conference.
The high school principal, Mr. Radcliffe, will attend the regional school management conference.
Master Sergeant Ramos, Delta Company First Sergeant, will be decorated for heroism, Monday.
Your TV program, the Moon Monkeys, is on.

The appositive further explains and is equivalent to the noun or noun phrase in apposition. The appositive is enclosed between commas. Note that the sentence can exist, satisfactorily, without the appositive. The appositive element is nonessential and is called a nonrestrictive element.
contrast
The citizen, no coward, challenged the councilman to account for the expenditures.
Dogs, unlike cats, form hunting bonds with humans.
Sunshine, never clouds, welcomes me each morning.

Note that the phrase that contrasts with the subject in each of these sentences is nonessential. The sentence would be grammatically correct if the contrast phrase were omitted. Nonessential sentence elements are often set off by commas.
parenthetical expressions

A parenthetical expression is a qualifying or explanatory remark. Parenthetical expressions are nonessential elements of information that can be enclosed in parentheses or set off with dashes or set off with commas.
I believe in democracy, always have, and I advocate participation in the political process.
Driving in Atlanta, a nightmare, is something I must do to make a living.
The Angel Fish, which sank during the hurricane, was built at this boat yard.

introductory word/phrase/clause

Gentlemen, start your engines.
Mr. Arthur, your plane has arrived.
Confidentially, I doubt the validity of that accusation.
If the responsibility were mine, I would stay until the crisis ended.
When you travel to Europe next summer, don't miss the opportunity to view the Parthenon.
To end the dispute, both parties made substantial concessions.
Flying erratically, the pilot triggered the national air defense response system.
Beneath the old red oak tree, you will find the buried treasure.
series

We tried reason, persuasion, and intimidation, but nothing worked.
Hudson, Nash, Packard, and DeSoto were once respected names in the automotive industry.
The Army, the Air Force, the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard are branches of the armed forces of the United States.
The US flag is red, white, and blue.
Fading light, rising mist, and ominous sounds chilled us to the bone.
"There was her father, her mother, her sister, her brother: Oh, I never see Maggie alone."

The final line is a lament from an old and nearly forgotten song.
compound/complex sentence

Cape Hatteras, NC, is frequently the destination of Atlantic hurricanes, and it is known as a ship's graveyard.
Although shipping is a possible terrorist entrée, commerce would grind to a halt if we searched every vessel.
Some 750 million people in 60 countries speak English, and it is the primary language in Australia, Canada (less Quebec), England, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, and the United States of America.

Observe that separation of the independent clauses in a compound sentence requires a comma and a conjunction. The first and third sentences are compound; each has two independent clauses. The second sentence starts with a subordiante clause which is separated from the independent clause by a comma.
broken quotation

"Precision guided, stand-off weapons do not distinguish between belligerent
and nonbelligerent," said Jones, "but the propaganda coming out of Washington

would have us believe otherwise."

In the sentence above a person named Jones has been quoted. The person quoting Jones put an explanatory note into the middle of the quotation. That remark tells the reader who is being quoted. Note carefully that the comma that marks the end of the first independent clause is contained within the quotation marks for that clause.

semicolon

The basic use of the semicolon is to separate two independent clauses.
conjunctive adverb

In the sentences below a semicolon is used to separate two independent clauses, but note that a conjunctive adverb is part of the connecting mechanism.
"I think; therefore, I am."

This task must be accomplished by the 9th of January; furthermore, it must be done professionally.

Dr. Ravi is a brilliant engineer who comes to us with a limited knowledge of English; thus, I am assigning him to work with Dr. Robertson who speaks Dr. Ravi's language.

We know that crime rates are high on Thursday nights when there is a full moon; consequently, this being a full moon Thursday, every available officer will be on duty tonight.

The first example sentence above is from philosopher, René Descartes (1569-1650), and is an answer to the question: How do you know you exist?
compound

A semicolon may be used to separate two independent clauses.
"Genetic science holds great potential for humanity; it should be funded generously."

In each of the two sentences below an explanatory attribute has been inserted into the sentence splitting the quotation into two parts. Note carefully the location of the semicolon in each sentence.
"Genetic science holds great potential for humanity;" said Dr. Jones, "it should be funded generously."

"Genetic science holds great potential for humanity"; said Dr. Jones, "it should be funded generously."

The semicolon in the first example is within the quotation marks. In the second example the semicolon is outside of the quotation marks. Contemporary grammars indicate that a semicolon or a colon should be placed outside of the quotation marks if this type of construction is utilized. However, there is no grammatical reason to place the semicolon or colon outside the quotation marks, and some older grammar books recommend placing those punctuation symbols inside the quotation marks. Why does this controversy exist? One theory is that typesetters once had difficulty fitting the semicolon or colon before the quotation mark.

The author of this English grammar makes two recommendations.

1. If you are associated with an organization that has a style manual, adhere to the guidance in the style manual—or the policies of the organization.

2. The best solution is to avoid splitting a quotation. Write an extra sentence attributing the quotation to the author or speaker.

colon

list

The colon is used in a sentence to separate an independent clause from a list. There are some additional uses for the colon as shown below.
The following people are to report to the school library at 10 am: Rebecca, Samuel, Hector, and George.

Send the following items immediately: tents, cots, water purification equipment, mosquito netting, and charcoal.

The colon is often used as shown in the example below.
Seminar Schedule

Monday:The Status of Public Health in the United States

Tuesday:The Role of the US Government in Public Health

Wednesday:The Race to Avert Catastrophe


salutation

The colon is used to separate a salutation from the remainder of a letter as shown below.
Dear Dr. Parker:

The annual diabetes conference will be held November 15th at the. . . .

time

The colon is used to separate hours from minutes in a time of day statement.
The time is 10:59 am.

The time is 2:30 pm.

parentheses

date

Parentheses are used to enclose dates or numbers and can be used to set off explanatory material.
The term parse is currently (circa 2003) enjoying popularity among computer programmers.

If a speaker utters the above sentence, the listener understands the date represented by the word currently. Print text requires insertion of the date, because someone may read the text at an unknown future time.
". . . from philosopher, René Descartes (1569-1650), and. . . ."

Parentheses are used in the excerpt above to enclose the dates representing the life span of René Descartes.
numbers

A parenthesis (singular) may be used to set off a number.
Select one of the following classes and enter your choice: 1) History of Modern Europe, 2) History of England, or 3) History of Medieval Europe.

Parentheses may be used to enclose numbers.
Summer Travel Choices

(1) Athens
(2) Cairo
(3) Bombay

brackets

Brackets can be used to indicate that an error is attributable to the original author.
"The ice core samples from the Edwards arktic [sic] expedition will be very useful."

The squared brackets containing sic indicate that the misspelling of arctic is attributable to the original author. The example shown below informs the reader that the words in brackets are not attributable to the author who is quoted. The words in brackets constitute an explanatory note.
"Bill Gregory was the best baseman we had that year [1929]."

Parentheses, brackets, and braces{ } are used to group terms in mathematics. Braces are used to hold statements in some computer program languages.


ellipses

Ellipses are periods. A series of three spaced periods in a sentence indicates an omission from a quoted sentence. The following example indicates that there is an omission at the beginning of the sentence and another omission at the end of the sentence.
". . . but during the second semester
we expect substantial improvement in test scores. . . ."

Note that there are four periods at the end of the sentence. The fourth period represents the normal punctuation mark. The final period at the end of the sentence should be replaced with a question mark or exclamation mark if the original author used a question mark or exclamation mark.

slash

The slash mark is used as a separator. One common use of the slash is shown below.
You may enroll in Botany 102 and/or Biology 108.

The slash mark in the sentence above provides a shortened method of saying: You may enroll in Botany 102 and Biology 108, or you may enroll in Biology 108. Another example appears in the sentence below.
The Sycamore Apartment Community amenities include washer/dryer connections.

exclamation mark

The exclamation mark at the end of a sentence signals surprise or astonishment. It is also used after a single word or expression called an interjection.
My taxes are lower than last year!

WOW! Great shot!

question mark

A question mark indicates that the sentence is a question.
Do you know where the public library is located?

Who wrote Origin of the Species?

If you were to spend a thousand dollars a day, every day, how long would it take to spend a billion dollars?

apostrophe

The apostrophe is used to indicate possession. The apostrophe is also used to indicate that a word is a contraction. A letter or letters have been omitted from a contracted word.
possession

This is Veronica's bracelet.

This is not James' handwriting.

In the first sentence above the ('s) is added to the name Veronica to indicate possession. In the second sentence the name James ends with the letter (s). Therefore, an (') is added after the (s) to indicate that possession is being addressed.
Fowler and Franklin's brief impressed the court.

The sentence above has a compound subject, the names of two people. Possession is indicated; the brief belongs to Fowler and Franklin. Note that only the proper noun nearer or nearest the verb acquires the (').
Richard's and Spike's automobiles were stolen last night.

The sentence above could be rewritten as follows. Richard's automobile was stolen last night, and Spike's automobile was stolen last night. In the sentence above Fowler and Franklin jointly own the brief that impressed the court. In the sentence about Richard and Spike separate ownership is indicated. Consequently, an apostrophe is used with each name.
The Attorney General's report is devastating.

The Attorneys' General report is devastating.

Attorney General is the title of an office holder. Each state has an attorney general. In the first example one attorney general has written a report. In the second example several attorneys general have collaborated to write a report.
contraction

can't (cannot)
you're (you are)
it's (it is)

Some American English speakers often drop the final (g) on words ending with ing. A written replication of the failure to enunciate the final (g) is accomplished with an apostrophe.
Just a Singin' in the Rain (1950s musical)
I'm goin' swimmin'.
I've been drivin' all night.

other

The correct spelling of some names incorporates an apostrophe.
O'Malley (person's name)
O'Brien (person's name)
O'Connor (person's name)

period

The period is used to mark the end of a sentence. It has also traditionally been used after abbreviations.
"Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

The automobile industry generated unparalleled economic activity in the United States.

NOTE. The first sentence above is attributable to former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt who made the statement during his first inaugural address on March 4, 1933. America was in the "Great Depression," and American citizens desperately needed hope and reassurance.
Mrs. Rodriguez (courtesy title for married woman)
Mr. Feldman (courtesy title for a man)
Ms. Pruitt (courtesy title for a woman regardless of martital status)

Miss Jaynes (courtesy title for an unmarried woman)

Mrs., Mr., and Ms. are abbreviations. The full spellings are rarely used, and the plural versions are rarely used. Consult your dictionary if you need either.

Abbreviations are a problem in the English language. Approximately 400,000 abbreviations have been identified. There are no widely observed spelling rules for abbreviations. Abbreviations are frequently used in specific fields of endeavor, but outsiders find it very difficult to interpret the meaning of those abbreviations. It is good practice to use only abbreviations your readers will recognize or explain each abbreviation where it first appears in your text.

US citizens will, of course, easily recognize these US Government agency abbreviations: FBI, CIA, DEA, DIA, ATF, USPS, NOAA, USA, USN, USCG, USAF, USMC, HHS, CDC, INS, FEMA, FMA, SSA, VA, FAA, IRS, OMB, FTC, NASA.

The trend is to use abbreviations without the customary period after each component.

We could write F.B.I., but in the computer era the trend is to write FBI.

underline

The underline or underscore is used to identify books and to draw attention to particular words.
If you want to identify a bird that is native to the Eastern United States, Stokes Field Guide To Birds: Eastern Region is a good choice.

During the typewriter era underlining was the customary way to identify a book. Computers offer the opportunity to italicize the title of the book. Either method is acceptable.
If you want to identify a bird that is native to the Eastern United States, Stokes Field Guide To Birds: Eastern Region is a good choice.

hyphen

Some English words or terms are customarily hyphenated. Some examples are given below. If you are uncertain whether a term should be hyphenated, consult your dictionary.
son-in-law      twenty-one      one-third      anti-American      president-elect

The numbers twenty-one through ninety-nine are hyphenated.

quotation marks

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

The quotation above is the opening sentence of President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863.

A quotation is an exact rendering of someone else's words, a verbatim quotation. The quotation marks (" ") are a signal that the words are rendered exactly as the original author wrote or spoke the words. A quotation usually requires attribution, i.e., identification of the author or the source. The Lincoln quotation above was obtained from a website: http://www.usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/25.htm. The website author indicated that he/she obtained the quotation from The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, vol. 7 (1953-55), 22, Roy P. Basler, ed.

Attribution is an important part of quotation. Failure to recognize the source is called plagiarism, a form of stealing.
"We have met the enemy, and he is us." (Pogo cartoon by Walt Kelly)

If verbatim quotation is not possible or desirable, the words of another person may be paraphrased. Paraphrasing is stating the intent of the original writer or speaker in your own words. Quotation marks are not used, but it is necessary to attribute the source, and it is necssary to tell your readers or listeners that you are paraphrasing.

A long quotation may be deeply indented. Quotation marks may be omitted, but attribution is required.
The Demise of Courtesy

At a time long ago when travel was very dangerous, it became the custom for a friend or business associate to say to a departing traveler, I shall pray that God will keep you safe on your journey. That expression of genuine concern evolved over the centuries to: May God bless you, or May God go with you, and eventually, to Godspeed. During recent times as religious emphasis declined, the expression changed to May you have a good day or something similar. Whatever the expression, it was always the case that the speaker was extending effort, prayers, or genuine good wishes for the traveler or departing guest.

Now comes commercialization. The expression of civility and concern for the other person has been replaced by a rote command: Have a nice day. Corporate policies require service employees to use the now meaningless statement. It has been uttered, mechanically, so many times that it has become painful for both clerks and customers. It is a failed corporate substitute for employee training and leadership; it is no longer an expression of good will. In fact, some of us who traveled through Chicago's O'Hare air terminal a few years ago may remember the expression: "Have a nice day,  S-I-R-R-R",  uttered as a derogatory slur if we failed to donate money to a religious sect which used that high traffic location to badger people for donations.

After a particularly grueling 18 hour day, I dashed into a convenience store at 11:45 pm for a packet of aspirin. As I was departing, the clerk instructed me to: "Have a nice day".

I have a wish. It is my wish that every out-of-touch, overpaid, ivory tower executive would find the page in his company's employee training policy folder which demands that service employees continuously drool, Have a nice day, and rip it out. That would "make my day"!

The author of this on-line English grammar is also the author of the complaint that appears above in deeply indented format.

Quotation marks may be used to identify the title of an article that appears in a journal. The following representation is fictional.
Have you read "Ice Sculpting for Amateurs" in the July issue of Ice Age?

asterisk

An asterisk is used to draw attention to an explanatory footnote. The asterisk should identify only one footnote on a page. If a page needs more than one explanatory footnote, use numerical superscripts to identify each explanatory footnote.
The village of Knawbone*, IN once had a US post office.


------------------------------

*The former village of Knawbone was located in the scenic hills of Brown County, IN, an area that currently enjoys a brisk tourist business. A century ago starvation was not impossible, and the name, Knawbone, is indicative of the difficulty of survival in an earlier era.

changing the way we do things

Electronic systems and computerization are influencing our English usage practices. When automated address reading devices became available to the US Post Office, that organization ask patrons to omit punctuation because the punctuation induced reading errors. Letters addressed for transmission through the US Post Office are written without commas or periods as shown in the following example.
Dr Mary Maybank
2021 Mt Pleasant Blvd
Charleston SC 29000

You may encounter a similar situation if you use your computer to place an on-line order and are expected to give your phone number. A phone number has traditionally been written: (000) 000-0000. However, unless the computer programmer specifically programmed the system to accept the parentheses, the hyphen, and the white space, the computer program may reject the phone number. The problem is solved by writing the phone number as ten consecutive digits, e.g., 0000000000. Ten consecutive digits could easily cause a human to err when reading the number. Computers sense the digits correctly.

We have developed a million or more words using the 26 letters of the English alphabet. Computer programmers have adapted the existing symbols on the keyboard to new uses. The tilde ~, the underscore _, and the vertical line | are frequently used as separation symbols.