“There have always been concerns and advanced research on the approach people use in acquiring new language” (Benson, 2013). Over the years, the concentration on linguistics studies and even psychology have increased the scope of research that seeks to analyze language acquisition issues. The scope of studies in linguistics has recently covered areas such as bilingualism, multilingualism and the general understanding of language acquisition. The need to fully understand the concept of diversity in language has led to the development of several language acquisition theories. All the theoretical concepts seem to demystify the fact that human being only have to be tied to one of even two language sets. There has also been recent development in the different methods which are currently used in teaching language. The process of teaching and acquiring knowledge on new dialect is increasingly taking shape.” Globally, there are many institutions that are coming up and whose main mandate is to establish a proper curriculum and platform for learning” (Benson, 2013). This study seeks to provide a comprehensive analysis on the past literature that relates to the key issues and challenges in second language acquisition. The research will critically analyze ten different literature consisting of journal articles and books.
Background Information
The objection of 1989 from the spring to winter was a student-led demonstration in the capital city of China, Beijing. The study uses the image as an object to depict the struggle for freedom. The campaigns also assume the name 1989 Democracy. In the US, the revolution rejuvenated the memories of Tiananmen Square Massacre since Chinese troops attacked it with automatic rifles and tanks that ended up killing more than hundreds of demonstrators. “According to ancient research, most of the leaders then were angered by the occurrences.”[1] It was set under the backdrop of the rapid financial and social changes in the society in the post-Mao China, with many of the demonstrators worried about the future of the country.
When a nation restrains freedom of speech in an economic or political crisis period, students become the first to act. After the reforms experienced in the country during the 1980’s transformation, there was a nascent market economy that profited only a section of people but had severe adverse impacts on others. People never expected issues such as inflation, restrictions on political participation, and for the college students, the limited readiness of graduates for the new economy has resulted from the reforms. It is against this backdrop that students called for more critical accountability in public institutions, freedom of the press, democracy, and freedom of speech although they had enormous loopholes in their demonstration such as loose organization and different goals. The government capitalized on these weaknesses to create party leadership divisions further weakening the protests and enabling the military to intervene through thick and thin. “By May in the year of demonstration, students had led a hunger strike galvanized support to facilitate the protest and had spread to over 400 cities within the nation”[2]. From that widespread impact of the protests, the then China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping with other Communist leaders perceived the objection as a political threat hence had to deliberate on how to shut it.
Past research show that students from different institutions are always drawn into political fights and social reforms. After the gun reforms experienced in the country during the 1980’s transformation, there was a nascent market development which had severe adverse impacts on others. The population were never ready for inflation or restrictions on political participation; for the college goers, the calls for change has been even louder. It is against this backdrop that students called for more critical accountability in public institutions, change of the press, democracy, and need for speech. The government capitalized on these challenges to create party leadership divisions further changing the protests and enabling the military to intervene. “By May in the year of demonstration, students had participated in a hunger strike that had went to over 400 cities within the nation.”[3] From that widespread impact of the chants, Deng Xiaoping with other Communist perceived the move as a political threat and hence had to deliberate on how to shut it[4].
The act of using force and the killing of the people led to Condemnation of Chinese leadership by the US government. “Apart from the constitution that could help it boost its economy and improve the leaders through ensuring human rights, the state was the first to reject it through using force against demonstrators.”[5]
In a counter-mission, the state condemned all the activities of rants and counter-revolutionary riots citing the threats imposed by the occurences and undermined other nations for promoting bad governance, which could lead to instability in China. The actions made a public arrest of demonstrators and their followers countrywide, sent away foreign journalists, and controlled the coverage of happenings by the domestic press. Was such censorship essential for the growth of the state or did it deteriorate the support for human rights such as freedom of speech in the country? In a counter-mission, the state condemned all the activities of rants and counter-revolutionary riots citing the threats imposed by the occurences and undermined other nations for promoting bad governance, which could lead to instability in China. The actions made a public arrest of demonstrators and their followers countrywide, sent away foreign journalists, and controlled the coverage of happenings by the domestic press. Was such censorship essential for the growth of the state or did it deteriorate the support for human rights such as freedom of speech in the country?
Why and How ‘Tank Man’ Is an Iconic Photo
From the introduction and the background information above, it is evident that the function of 1989 were important historical occurrences for China as a nation. “One of the essential and recurrent photographs that changed history is the Iconic Tank Man.”[6]
The image, which portrays a man and unarmed person standing without fear before the battalion-armored tank, has a representation of the courage the demonstrators had as they fought for freedom of speech. Many people of varied background, therefore, easily recognize the image. As noted by Harriman and Lucaites (2007) in their piece, “the tank man would live beyond the countable tense moments of the rants he encountered and after that be a permanent and universal symbol.”[7]
The application of the iconic Tank Man picture has been to point out the lack of a liberal political platform and democracy in China. However, since Tank Man’s first appearance in New York Times magazine and Times Magazine in the 20th
century, the outlook has over time been delivered both for public and private application. However, the enhancement and repurposing of the iconic photo come with visual changes in bringing out changing connotations. The structure is often modified to bring out the desired meaning either to undertake a given issue in the nation or to point out the state of things in that community. The figure has been reevaluated and applied in various mainstream newspapers, Internet sites, and magazines to show a point that the researcher wants to bring out.[8]
For instance, the tank man portrait has been depicted by Dave “Brown as a cartoon of former President Barrack Obama’s visit to China, a connotation of how US might diminishes in front of Chinese.”[9]
With thematic similarities of the other versions of the statue, artists have shown the model about the contemporary social, economic, and even political incidences in various places to fit specific contexts. “For example, the leader Deng Xiaoping had a slogan that ‘to get rich is glorious.”[10]
The wordings had a bad reception in a communist country since it had attributes of capitalism and was against China’s traditions. The expectation of people from the new change bounced and brought a negative view of the government.
The cultural revolution of 1986 was never positively received and was viewed negatively over different media fronts. The story reflects on the historical events caused and propagated by the government and their changing nature to the society. “The author explores the contrast of the people before and after the change where the main character Fugui transforms from a selfish fool before the shifts to a persecuted peasant.”[11] “The professor’s recorded speech became widespread and attained appeal among students leading to Deng Xiaoping’s response, which accused the later of worshiping Western lifestyle.”[12] The answer did not prevent the leader’s influence, and other people-power movements started around the world. “In December the same year, students from different colleges began their small protests as they accused the government of slow reform.”[13]
“The ‘Tank Man’ provides a more or less idealized sense of who they are and what they ought to be.”[14] In public places, which involve government facilities, the image carries divers message concerning fighting for freedom, the journey that is a representative to many nations and the heroism achieved. “Images are presumed evidentiary forms of data that convey changing forms of unfinished detail, allow the consumer to use, and create changing understandable data.”[15] As one of a kind, the Tank Man rapidly came out as the dominant representation of the happenings of Tiananmen in 1989. Varying newspapers had created captions for the statue with the Time Magazine explaining it as ‘the brief encounter between the man and the tank that captured an epochal event.”[16]
The interpretation, therefore, made it a picture that had multiple uses and could carry different forms of meaning. The picture exists as not only an iconic embodiment of the students’ protests but also for the Chinese nation at large.
Moreover, the Tank Man is sacred for a pure society. Most of the community is built on the principle of freedom of expression, which was the core cause of chants in Tiananmen Square. The 1989 demonstrations had a vast background issues that threatened the reforms made in the early 1980s. “In 1988, a scholar Julia Kwong showed a series of protests by learners in various colleges, which she questions on whether China was shifting towards a democratic organization.[17]” “In the book, there is information that in December, 1986, learners at the University of Science and Technology Hefei had a union, which deliberated on rants as they were deprived their choice of selecting the People’s Congress.”[18]
“Four days later, as the students hold the anniversary of the protests, the same persons picketed for three hours.”[19]
However, the picketings in this year started in the mid months. In his university visits, the professor could give lecturers on human rights, liberty and the significant separation of powers. He was part of the lengthy undercurrent of the few elite intellectual communities that thought of China’s poverty as resulting from inadequate government systems.
One of the underlying statutes of the 1989 student protest was lack of a free will to express opinions. Citizens who opposed China refer to the problems as an imperial predecessor as offer direction the ‘Feudal’ laws. The masses question on the Communist Manifesto and its relevance towards building the economy after the Cultural Revolution. “Running on the past, traditional China has never achieved much.” [20]. Though the tank man is unknown, the tank man standing in the form of incoming armored tanks preventing them from moving further took the image the following day. The model receives worldwide recognition as “one of the “100 photos that changed the world.” Since then the image has had a significant role in representing the events of Tiananmen, 1989 (115). The perception shapes how people view the world while teaching many the actions of a communist China against its people.
The overall understanding of the tank man image is that it is a representation of a political event with historical significance to the nation as a nation. Though the image is unknown, it is standing in the form of incoming armored tanks preventing them from moving further. The approach receives globally recognition as “one of the “100 photos that changed the universe.”[21]
“Since then, the image has had a significant role in representing the events of Tiananmen, 1989 (115).”[22]
The perception shapes how people view the world and also shows the actions of a communist China against its people.[23]
Although there is a view from scholars such as Bhagwat that the states purporting to be communist do not have the entire approach depicted by Karl Max, Middle East countries are at the forefront pursuing communism and fostering an autocratic form of leadership. “Bhagwat (2015) argues that in authoritarian nations have a real effect due to the impact of censorship.”[24]
However, the belief that many people have is whether such approaches receive the right implementation and ensure that people utilize the free will without abuse. The confusion thereof contributes to ambiguity in free speech as depicted in autocracies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the tank man fits in the five points criteria that make an image to be iconic. The statue attracts worldwide recognition around the globe since both ordinary people together with professionals captured the moment and spread it around. Both public and private entities use the concept to pass on a message relating to the context, be it political, social, or economic conditions of a nation. Through an analysis of the tank man’s actions in Tiananmen, 1989, people have a personal affiliation of the event while creating a sense of who they are and what people ought to do as citizens. Additionally, the image carries political significance in the history of China. Freedom remains a controversial aspect which threatens government stability. State depicts interferes with people rights and censoring freedom even in collages due to the influence it has to convince a multitude of economic and development issues. Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in China is a case example of how the state felt threatened and revealed using force to stop protestors, hence killing hundreds of people. One of the marks of freewill is the achievement freedom as ensured in the constitution of many countries across the world. From the emergence of liberal theory in Finland to social responsibility theory in the USA, politics have meddled with the provision of free speech due to its significance in national development and the negative impacts it has when misused by different entities to cause harm or infringe people such as when using in discriminatory intentions
Bibliography
Bhagwat, Ashutosh. "Free Speech without Democracy." UCDL Rev. 49 (2015): 59.
Bok, Derek. "Protecting Freedom of Expression on the Campus." Current Issues and Enduring Questions. Ed. Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau 6 (2002): 51-52.
Dunleavy, Brian. "Who Was The Tank Man Of Tiananmen Square?". HISTORY, Last modified 2018. https://www.history.com/news/who-was-the-tank-man-of-tiananmen-square
Ibrahim, Yasmin. "Tank Man, media memory and Yellow Duck patrol: Remembering Tiananmen on social media." Digital Journalism 4, no. 5 (2016): 582-596.
Harriman, Robert, and John Louis Lucaites. No caption needed: Iconic photographs, public culture, and liberal democracy — University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Hillenbrand, Margaret. "Remaking Tank Man, in China." Journal of Visual Culture 16, no. 2 (2017): 127-166.
Hubbert, Jennifer. "Appropriating iconicity: why Tank Man still matters." Visual Anthropology Review 30, no. 2 (2014): 114-126.
Kwong, Julia. "The 1986 student demonstrations in China: a democratic movement?." Asian Survey 28, no. 9 (1988): 970-985.
Last modified 2018. https://www.quora.com/Why-did-the-Tank-Man-stand-infront-of-the-tanks.
PATRICK MARMION. 2013. “Thrilling Tale of the Tiananmen Tank Man.” Daily Mail, August 30. https://libsecure.camosun.bc.ca:2443/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bwh&AN=90004596&site=eds-live
"Tiananmen Square 25 Years On: 'Every Person In The Crowd Was A Victim Of The Massacre'". The Guardian, Last modified 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/01/tiananmen-square-25-years-every-person-victim-massacre.
Pickert, Kate. 2014. “Tank Man at 25: Behind the Iconic Tiananmen Square Photo.” Time.Com, June, 1. https://libsecure.camosun.bc.ca:2443/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rch&AN=96414471&site=eds-live
University, Indiana. "Tiananmen Square, 1989 | University Library". Ulib.Iupui.Edu, Last modified 2018. http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/collections/TS.
[1] Ibrahim, Yasmin. "Tank Man, media memory and Yellow Duck patrol: Remembering Tiananmen on social media." Digital Journalism 4, no. 5 (2016): 582-596.
[2]
Hillenbrand, Margaret. "Remaking Tank Man, in China." Journal of Visual Culture 16, no. 2
[3] Hillenbrand, Margaret. "Remaking Tank Man, in China." Journal of Visual Culture 16, no. 2
[4]
Ibid., 587
[5] Bok, Derek. "Protecting Freedom of Expression on the Campus." Current Issues and Enduring Questions. Ed. Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau 6 (2002): 51-52.
[6]
University, Indiana. "Tiananmen Square, 1989 | University Library". Ulib.Iupui.Edu, Last modified 2018. http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/collections/TS.
[7]
Hariman, Robert, and John Louis Lucaites. No caption needed: Iconic photographs, public culture, and liberal democracy. University of Chicago Press, 2007.
[8] Patrick Marmion. 2013. “Thrilling Tale of the Tiananmen Tank Man.” Daily Mail, August 30.
[9] Dunleavy, Brian. "Who Was The Tank Man Of Tiananmen Square?". HISTORY, Last modified 2018. https://www.history.com/news/who-was-the-tank-man-of-tiananmen-square
[10]
Ibid., 26
[11]
Ibid., 48
[12]
Ibid., 49
[13]
Ibid., 47
[14] Last modified 2018. https://www.quora.com/Why-did-the-Tank-Man-stand-infront-of-the-tanks
https://libsecure.camosun.bc.ca:2443/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bwh&AN=90004596&site=eds-live
[15] Hubbert, Jennifer. "Appropriating iconicity: why Tank Man still matters." Visual Anthropology Review 30, no. 2 (2014): 114-126.
[16]
Ibid., 26
[17]
Last modified 2018. https://www.quora.com/Why-did-the-Tank-Man-stand-infront-of-the-tanks.
PATRICK MARMION. 2013. “Thrilling Tale of the Tiananmen Tank Man.” Daily Mail, August 30. https://libsecure.camosun.bc.ca:2443/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bwh&AN=90004596&site=eds-live
[18] "Tiananmen Square 25 Years On: 'Every Person In The Crowd Was A Victim Of The Massacre'". The Guardian, Last modified 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/01/tiananmen-square-25-years-every-person-victim-massacre.
[19] Kwong, Julia. "The 1986 student demonstrations in China: a democratic movement?." Asian Survey 28, no. 9 (1988): 970-985.
[20]
The Guardian, Last modified 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/01/tiananmen-square-25-years-every-person-victim-massacre.
[21]
Hubbert, Jennifer. "Appropriating iconicity: why Tank Man still matters." Visual Anthropology Review 30, no. 2 (2014): 114-126.
[22]
University, Indiana. "Tiananmen Square, 1989 | University Library". Ulib.Iupui.Edu, Last modified 2018. http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/collections/TS.
[23]
Pickert, Kate. 2014. “Tank Man at 25: Behind the Iconic Tiananmen Square Photo.” Time.Com, June, 1. https://libsecure.camosun.bc.ca:2443/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rch&AN=96414471&site=eds-live
[24] Bhagwat, Ashutosh. "Free Speech Without Democracy." UCDL Rev. 49 (2015): 59.
