Reflection Task 3

ENGLISH IN ACADEMIC LIFE

            From this week’s reflection articles which I have read, "Could the dominance of English harm global scholarship?" is the most interesting article in accordance with the usage of academic English in our lives. Currently the usage of academic English is relatively common all around the world. In the article, the writer criticizes this situation negatively. S/he mentions that the scientists or doctors have to publish their researches in English due to all the researches around the world written in academic English. S/he states that the German linguist Ranier Enrique Hamel researched the usage of English in academic life and found in 1880 there were 36% of published works in English. When we have looked at these days, many researches or works are published in academic English. However, I do not think that this is a harmful situation for any languages. Publishing in English is about sharing scientific information with much more people because most of the people are associated with English. I support publishing in English due to sharing the scientific developments and reaching more and more people all over the world.

          First of all, sharing the information we want is very important in today’s world. Many people get lots of information online thanks to their knowledge of the foreign language “English”. The articles are available on the internet mostly in English. This is because publishing in English is getting more obligations for the publishers because they get the chance to reach more readers. For instance, when we look for the theories such as social constructivism or individual constructivism in usage of education field, we are able to reach more scientific articles, developments, and videos online. When we research these topics in our language, the articles or videos that we will be able to find are very limited. Therefore, academic English is essential for sharing the information.

            Secondly, English is the language which is used all over the world, but many people may not know Arabic language, Turkish and so on. Thus, the scientists, doctors and researchers prefer to write their articles in English. When they publish these works, many people have the opportunity to benefit from these works to broaden their horizons or to improve their knowledge store. To illustrate, the students who have an education especially have to research their objects and make a presentation about them. Therefore, they are able to get much more information about their objects. Also, they should follow the developments related to their objects all over the world. If the students know English which is academic language accepted everywhere, they can find out new developments or knowledge about their topic. That is to say, they can take an advantage of these different developments.

            To sum up, our world is going through changes day by day. We have to adapt to this new world in any field, so English is required to share new information and to reach them all around the world. Therefore, English articles and works are obtainable. 

EXPLOSION IN TURKEY

            It  was happened to bomb attack in Turkey’s capital city, Ankara, on March 13,2016. The explosion was very powerful and many people in Ankara heard explosion’s sound. This attack took place to Kızılay square in center of the capital. The innocent people passed away, and wounded. The news in BBC was about the place where bomb attack happened and who was responsible for that. The writer did not comment on the explosion. S/he showed the photographs and statements of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, PM Ahmet Davutoğlu and Deputy PM Numan Kurtulmuş. The attack affected on many people who lives in Ankara especially in different ways. Some of them are insecurity and fear of death.

         

            First of all, it is third bomb attack in Ankara. People are shocked to happen again and again. Nobody  wants to go outside because of feeling insecured. In Kızılay, there are a lot of police all the times but they cannot prevent the bomb attack. For example, Tunalı Hilmi Street is very famous and crowded place. However, we can see that this street is empty today.  People just g oto their job because they have to do that. At the same time, students do not go to their school or campus. Feeling insecured affects us very deeply because we focus on attack. It is an obstacle on our lives. Another example, there is a memorial ceremony for  two METU students who passed away the bomb attack. Some of the students living in campus or out of campus cannot come to this ceremony because of insecurity.

            Secondly, fear of death is part of our lives. In recent times, we think about death more oftenly. This is because 38 innocent people passed away in Kızılay when they were waiting the bus, walking around or driving a taxi. It is very painful situation. When we are living in Ankara, we have to go to Kızılay. For instance, I should visit my consultant for  visa application. I cannot go to Kızılay because I am very afraid of attacking again. Also, many students think like me.

            To conclude, the bomb attacks affect our lives negatively. We feel insecured and fear of death which is ours and our family or friends. However, we must go on our lives. If we have a fear all the times, the purpose of that attack is happened. We have to move on our lectures or works. In this way, we can prevent that events.

  

Ozancan Akkuş(left) and Ali Deniz Uzatmaz (right) 

Ozancan and Deniz were childhood friends. When the bomb attack happened Ulus in Ankara, Ozancan wrote the tweet "He will live on in our hearts,"  because his friend, Deniz, passed away. Now, Ozancan passed away this attack. 

smokers in Turkey

Reflection 1

SMOKERS IN TURKEY

            “ Smokers in Turkey to Not receive free cancer medicine” is the news written by Meltem Özgenç in Hurriyet newspaper. The news is that people who were smoking or right now are smoking do not have the right of free cancer treatment. In the article, some people criticize this situation. Some of them are Ankara Bar Association’s head Hakan Canduran and Turkish Employer Pharmacists Union’s (TEİS) head Nurten Saydan. Firstly, Hakan Canduran states that this regulation is not sensible because people have the right to receive treatment without any discrimination. Secondly, Nurten Saydan says “For example, for someone who is diagnosed with lung cancer on Feb. 3, his/her treatment will be funded only if s/he has not smoked before. This is unacceptable,” . On the other hand, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says that people cannot have such a freedom like smoking, drinking alcohol or using drugs and considers that people must keep away from these habits. The writer does not comment on a statement about topic and she just writes the event and some people’s comments. Therefore, a more clear review can be done in this case.

            People can criticise and make up their decisions on their own and see the right or wrong side. Smoking is a very unhealthy habit but smokers are already aware of the risks. For example, some people say that smoking is very dangerous and a bad habit; however, they get used to smoking. The government cannot simply deter people from smoking by regulating such a law as “smokers do not receive free cancer medicine”. It is possible that people who smoke cigarettes can be given a professional assistance for quitting. In addition, everybody has the right to get free medicine or proper treatment. When anybody is sick, he/she gets a treatment without being judged by his/her choices.

            To conclude, this regulation in Turkey is unreasonable because people do not stop smoking cigarettes because of not receiving free medicine. The government can perform more suitable regulations to protect the citizens. Lastly, I think that people can quit cigarettes if there is a more convincing and a sensible way of doing so.