Kiprah BKKBN dan Duta Mahasiswa dalam Mensosialisasikan Program KB

Kiprah BKKBN dan Duta Mahasiswa dalam Mensosialisasikan Program KB

Oleh: Nanang Mutasim Billah (Duta Mahasiswa 2010 Wakil Malang)

KB atau Keluarga Berencana artinya mengatur jumlah anak sesuai kehendak, dan menentukan sendiri kapan seorang pasangan untuk memutuskan, menginginkan atau tidak segera memiliki Anak sesudah menikah. Masyarakat bisa sangat mudah ber-KB karena layanan KB dapat diperoleh diseluruh Indonesia. Ada beberapa metode pencegahan kehamilan, atau penjarangan kehamilan, atau kontrasepsi yang bisa dipilih oleh masyarakat. Banyak sekali manfaat yang diperoleh masyarakat yang mengikuti program KB.

Istilah KB sudah sangat lama di kenal oleh masyarakat, program keluarga berencana telah ada sejak tahun 1970, jadi sudah 30 tahun masyarakat Indonesia mengetahui program yang dikelola oleh Pemerintah melalui BKKBN (Badan Koordinasi Keluarga Berencana Nasional).

Salah satu alasan program KB dibuat adalah untuk mengurangi tingkat kematian Ibu dan Anak saat melahirkan. menurut data pada tahun 2008, sedikitnya ada 500.000 perempuan meninggal akibat berbagai masalah yang melingkupi kehamilan, persalinan, dan pengguguran kandungan (aborsi) yang tidak aman. KB bisa mencegah sebagian besar kematian tersebut, selain itu, KB juga dapat mencegah bahaya-bahaya akibat kehamilan terlalu dini dimana perempuan yang sudah hamil ketika umurnya belum mencapai 17 tahun sangat terancam oleh kematian sewaktu persalinan karena tubuhnya belum sepenuhnya tumbuh; belum cukup matang dan siap untuk dilewati oelh abyi. selain itu, bayinya pun dihadang oleh resiko kematian sebelum usianya mencapai 1 tahun. Selain bisa mencegah bahaya akibat kehamilan perempuan yang terlalu dini, KB juga bisa mencegah kehamilan di usia tua (hamil tua). Perempuan yang usianya terlalu tua untuk mengandung dan melahirkan terancam banyak bahaya, khususnya bila ia memiliki problema – problema kesehatan lain, atau sudah terlalu sering hamil dan melahirkan. kehamilan-kehamilan terlalu berdesakan jaraknya juga akan beresiko untuk perempuan karena persalinan atau kehamilan menuntut banyak energy dan kekuatan tubuh perempuan. Kalau ia belum pulih dari satu persalinan tapi sudah hamil lagi, tubuhnya tak sempat memulihkan kebugaran, dan berbagai masalh bahkan kematian.

       I.            Peran BKKBN dalam Menangani permasalan Program KB

Kiprah BKKBN selaku pelaksana program-program Keluarga Berencana telah berhasil mensosialisasikan pentingnya setiap keluarga untuk melaksanakan program ini. Hal ini terbukti dan di bahas dalam artikel berjudul BKKBN dan Maslah kependudukan oleh Hartoyo Suyono yang menunjukan bahwa penduduk Indonesia tahun 2000 yang semula di perkirakan akan mencapai sekitar 275 juta jiwa, ternyata dengan kerja keras BKKBN dan bantuan jajaran pembangunan lainnya berhasil membantu keluarga Indonesia menghasilkan penduduk yang jumlahnya hanya sekitar 206 juta jiwa saja. Keberhasilan itu adalah tingkat fertilitas atau tingkat kelahiran yang biasnya setiap keluarga melahirkan sekitar 6 anak, telah berhasil diturunkan menjadi 50% dengan melahirkan kurang dari 3 orang anak setiap tahunnya. Dalam waktu bersamaan tingkat kematian bayi dan anak-anak juga turun drastis. Dengan jumlah anak yang jauh lebih sedikit dan lebih sehat para orang tua dapat memberi perhatian yang lebih tinggi dan lebih mampu untuk menyekolahkan anak-anak itu kesekolah pilihannya. Dalam hal ini, peran BKKBN juga sangat penting dalam memajukan perkembangan masyarakat dalam bidang ekonomi, sosial dan pendidikan.

Namun, realita tersebut sangat bertolak belakang dengan data sensus terakhir yang dilakukan oleh BKKBN, pada tahun 2010 yang menunjukkan bahwa terjadi peningkatan jumlah penduduk Indonesia sebanyak 3,6 Juta jiwa. Pada tahun 2010, pemerintah memperkirakan maksimal jumlah penduduk sekitar 234 Jiwa penduduk. Namun kenyataannya, jumlah penduduk mencapai 237,6 Juta Jiwa. Peningkatan penduduk yang mencapai 1.45 % ini merupakan peringatan bagi semua pihak khususnya pemerintah untuk mengatasi permasalahan kependudukan selain harus mengatasi permasalahan ekonomi Indonesia. Hal ini di karenakan meskipun terjadi peningkatan ekonomi jika tidak diimbangi dengan pengendalian penduduk maka akan kewalahan, yang akan menimbulkan semakin banyaknya prosentase kemiskinan, pengangguran dan segala masalah sosial lainnya yang menyebabkan meningkatnya tingkat kejahatan.

Terkait hasil sensus penduduk 2010 yang melebihi asumsi sebelumnya. beberapa pakar menyatakan seperti Bupati Murung Raya (Mura), Kalimantan Tengah (Kalteng) yang juga diperkuat oleh pernyataan dari Kepala BKKBN Pusat; Sugiri Syarief, menyatakan bahwa Pelaksanaan program KB dalam kurun waktu 2000-2010 kurang maksimal. Dalam satu dekade terakhir ini sangat berbeda dengan beberapa dekade lalu. Karakterisitik pelaksanaan KB diakhir dekade ini disinyalir mengalami penurunan. Kalau dilihat ke belakang, sejak era reformasi digulirkan program KB seolah-olah diabaikan. baik oleh masyarakat maupun pemerintah, karena BKKBN tidak lagi memiliki wewenang seluas dahulu. BKKBN tidak lagi punya wewenang dan kekuasaan yang luas secara nasional dalam menetapkan kebijakannya. Ini ditandai dengan tidak adanya payung hukum mengenai pelaksanaan KB. Bahkan menurut Sugiri payung hukum pelaksanaan KB baru diterbitkan pada tahun 2007.

Program KB pun tidak lagi menjadi prioritas nasional sehingga dukungan dananya pun tidak sebesar tahun-tahun sebelumnya. Kebutuhan anggaran program kesehatan dan KB seharusnya sebesar 15 persen dari Anggaran Pendapatan dan Belanja daerah (APBD). Namun kenyataannya masih ada Pemda yang mengalokasikan dana hanya 0,8 persen untuk pelayanan kesehatan termasuk KB. Selain itu pelayanan KB secara swadaya di masyarakat kita lihat tidak sesemarak tahun-tahun sebelumnya. Tentu saja hal itu menunjukkan masyarakat tidak memiliki waktu senggang untuk keperluan pengabdian masyarakat, karena kesibukan mereka untuk memenuhi kebutuhan hidup sehari-hari.

Selain itu, hampir semua ahli juga mengakui permasalahan ini disebabkan karena adanya perubahan organisasi / kelembagaan, sebagai akibat konsekuensi adanya otonomi daerah dan peraturan daerah baru, serta peraturan pemerintah lainnya. Semula peserta KB di Tanah Air yang dikelola oleh BKKBN Pusat, maupun yang ada di provinsi, kabupaten / kota, secara vertikal langsung berhubungan sampai ke tingkat desa / kelurahan. Setelah reformasi, satu tuntunannya adalah pembagian kewenangan. Setelah adanya otonomi daerah, kelembagaan BKKBN di kabupaten / kota mengalami perubahan menjadi berbagai nama, sesuai dengan nama yang dikehendaki dari masing-masing daerah.

Perubahan nama KB, antara lain jadi Badan Koordinasi Keluarga Berencana Daerah (BKKBD), Dinas Kependudukan Catatan Sipil dan Keluarga Berencana (Dukcapil dan KB), Badan Koordinasi Keluarga Berencana dan Keluarga Sejahtera (BKKBKS), dan Badan Pemberdayaan Perempuan dan KB (BPPKB).

Selain itu, hingga saat ini, belum seluruh pemerintah daerah (kabupaten / kota) menetapkan KB sebagai program investasi yang strategis dalam mendukung peningkatan kualitas sumber daya manusia dan pembangunan ekonomi derah. Bahkan kelembagaan KB yang dibentuk pemerintah daerah memiliki nomenklatur yang sangat beragam. Ada yang berupa badan, ada yang masuk dalam sebuah instansi tertentu, dan ada yang berbentuk kantor. Selain itu, banyak petugas lapangan yang dialihtugaskan sehingga mekanisme operasional lini menjadi terhambat. Akibatnya banyak program keluarga berencana yang sejak awal berjalan, membutuhkan penataan ulang. Beruntung desentralisasi sebatas di tingkat kabupaten dan kota sehingga koordinasi di tingkat provinsi masih berlangsung secara baik.

Rudy Resnawan; Walikota Banjarbaru, Provinsi Kalimantan Selatan, dalam sebuah kesempatan menyampaikan bahwa pemerintah berwenang harus menyadari bahwa sudah ada kesepakatan global untuk menekan angka kelahiran, pengentasan kemiskinan, peningkatan kualitas sumberdaya manusia, yang merupakan hak bagi masyarakat untuk meningkatkan kesejahteraannya. Selain itu Pemerintah berwenang perlu mengkhawatirkan akan terjadinya ledakan penduduk jika angka kelahiran tidak terkendali. Karena, berdasarkan proyeksi, penduduk Indonesia lima tahun lagi diperkirakan mencapai 250 juta, tahun 2025 akan bertambah menjadi 273 juta dan tahun 2050 akan menjadi 308 juta. Angka tersebut bisa terjadi, jika intensitas pengelolaan program KB menurun pada tahun-tahun mendatang

Akibat pengelolaan program KB yang terpecah belah, terjadilah pengurangan pejabat struktural. Begitu juga halnya dengan terhadap tenaga fungsional PLKB (Penyuluh Lapangan Keluarga Berencana) yang dimutasi ke berbagai instansi lain, menyangkut sarana dan prasarana penunjang pelayanan KB juga menjadi berkurang. Namun, meskipun ada permasalahan intern yang terjadi di instansi-instansi yang ada, dengan usaha dan kinerja pemerintah berwenang, pelayanan KB masih tetap berjalan melalui melalui praktik yang dilakukan para dokter, bidan, paramedis, Puskesmas, Polindes, Pos KB, dan Posyandu.

Menurut Kepala Lembaga Demografi (KLD) Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Indonesia, Sonny Harry (yang diterbitkan oleh bativia.co.id), mengatakan bahwa program KB bisa berjalan maksimal jika ada komitmen politik tiap pimpinan wilayah kabupaten/kota. Dukungan tersebut tidak saja untuk penggunaan alat kontrasepsi tetapi juga akan berdampak meningkatkan derajat kesehatan dan kesejahteraan keluarga. Salah satu faktor yang mempengaruhi jumlah kelahiran di Indonesia masih tinggi adalah belum semua pelayanan kesehatan primer dapat melayani KB dan kesehatan reproduksi (KR). Namun keharusan berkomitmen dari pemerintah daerah tersebut masih terbendung oleh permasalahan otonomi daerah, dimana kepala daerah dipilih langsung oleh masyarakat di daerah tersebut. Setelah terpilih, kepala daerah umumnya melakukan pembangunan yang bisa dilihat rakyatnya. Jika kepala daerah melaksanakan program KB, tidak begitu terlihat hasilnya. Lima tahun berikutnya, jumlah penduduk menurun. Karena itu, kepala daerah lebih memilih pembangunan di sektor lain dibanding program KB, langkah terbaik yang perlu ditempuh pemerintah adalah mengembalikan pengaturan KB ke pemerintah pusat. meskipun tidak bisa, BKKBN seyogyanya menggandeng Badan Koordinasi Keluarga Berencana Daerah (BKKBD) mengurus masalah KB tapi pemegang kendali tetap pada BKKBN yang lebih berpengalaman menangani KB. selain bekerjasama dengan BKKBD, Pemerintah berwenang juga harus bekerjasama dengan Media, karena peran media dibutuhkan untuk mensosialisasikannya. Sosialisasi terus-menerus, program ini bisa berjalan maksimal. Jika tidak dilaksanakan, jumlah penduduk Indonesia pada tahun 2060 mencapai 500 juta jiwa.

Persoalan penduduk merupakan persoalan yang sangat penting dan erat kaitannya dengan pembangunan secara keseluruhan. Dengan kondisi dan situasi sosial ekonomi yang kurang menguntungkan, bervariasinya suku bangsa, etnis dan agama, maka diperlukan langkah tepat untuk menanganinya. Penduduk hendaknya ditempatkan sebagai sasaran dan pelaku dalam pembangunan. Dengan demikian, salah satu prioritas pembangunan nasional yang perlu segera diwujudkan adalah melaksanakan pembangunan yang berwawasan kependudukan, yaitu pembangunan yang menjadikan penduduk sebagai sasaran dan pelaku dalam pembangunan nasional.

Selain itu dengan adanya UU no 52/2009 dan UU No 52 tahun 2010 tentang perkembangan kependudukan dan pembangunan keluarga, BKKBN yang dulu hanya menanangani program KB nasional berubah fungsi dengan juga menangani masalah penyerasian kebijakan kependudukan. mengenai perubahan badan BKKBN menjadi badan kependudukan, diharapkan masalah kependudukan akan menjadi perhatian semua pihak, termasuk pemerintah daerah dan pelaksanaan program KB akan mengalami kemajuan yang signifikan.

    II.            Peran Duta Mahasiswa dalam mensosialisasikan Program KB

Sosialisasi yang dilakukan oleh BKKBN tentang program KB selama ini dirasakan masih belum sampai pada tataran masyarakat secara umum, BKKBN atau pemerintah setempat masih fokus pada sosialisasi kepada Masyarakat yang sudah memiliki keluarga dalam hal ini adalah orang tua dan belum terlihat adanya sosialisasi di kalangan generasi muda yang merupakan aset terpenting dalam sukses atau tidaknya program KB di beberapa tahun mendatang. Meskipun sosialisasi fokus kepada orang tua, belum terlaksana secara maksimal. Generasi Muda diharapkankan memiliki dasar dan pengetahuan tentang pentingnya KB dan memberikan informasi mengenai KB setelah mereka mendapatkan penyuluhan tentang pentingnya program KB dan pengaruhnya.

Sementara itu, Duta Mahasiswa selaku Duta KB harus bekerja sama dengan pemerintah dalam beberapa tahun kedepan untuk mensosialisasikan program KB kepada masyarakat disekitarnya terlebih di lingkungan tempat mereka belajar, yang dalam hal ini adalah mahasiswa. Target utama yang harus di tempuh oleh Duta Mahasiswa adalah mensosialisasikan Sadar KB Sejak Dini (SKBSD) dengan memperkenalkan KB kepada mahasiswa. Tujuan program SKBSD ini diharapkan bisa menanamkan pengetahuan generasi muda Indonesia seperti memberikan penyuluhan tentang KB dan bahaya-bahaya pergaulan bebas yang mengarah pada seks bebas yang bisa menyebabkan kehamilan di luar nikah dan kehamilan dini yang bisa membahayakan perempuan.

Selain itu, peran Duta Mahasiswa adalah mensosialisasikan program KB pria yang seolah masih belum berjalan karena kurangnya sosialisasi ke masyarakat. Sosialisasi KB pria masih menjadi barang langka, jarang dan sulit ditemui di masyarakat, sehingga metode KB pria seperti vasektomi dan kondom masih belum sepopuler metode kontrasepsi wanita seperti pil, suntik, atau IUD. Sosialisasi KB pria ini membutuhkan banyak dukungan mulai dari para pemegang kebijakan, para petugas KB di lapangan (PLKB dan kader) hingga provider pelayanan KB. Kegagalan dan keberhasilan merekrut kaum pria dalam mengikuti program KB sangat dipengaruhi oleh sikap provider dan petugas KB di lapangan karena dengan sikap proaktif dalam mempromosikan dan responsif bila menemui kaum pria yang membutuhkan pelayanan KB, maka program KB pria akan berjalan optimal. Hal lain yang sangat mendukung sosialisasi program KB pria adalah promosi dan motivasi dari kaum pria yang telah menjadi akseptor KB pria. Apalagi bila para akseptor tersebut telah bergabung dalam suatu kelompok KB. Dengan terbentuknya kelompok KB pria tersebut maka proses sosialisasi KB pria ke masyarakat akan lebih mudah dan terarah.

Pentingnya pria terlibat dalam KB dan kesehatan reproduksi didasarkan bahwa pria adalah mitra reproduksi dan seksual, sehingga sangat beralasan apabila pria dan wanita berbagi tanggung jawab dan peran secara seimbang untuk mencapai kepuasan kehidupan seksual dan berbagi beban untuk mencegah penyakit serta komplikasi kesehatan reproduksi. Pria bertanggungjawab secara sosial dan ekonomi termasuk untuk anak-anaknya sehingga keterlibatan pria dalam keputusan reproduksi akan membentuk ikatan yang lebih kuat di antara mereka dan keturunannya. Pria secara nyata terlibat dalam fertilitas dan mereka mempunyai peranan yang penting dalam memutuskan kontrasepsi yang akan digunakan istrinya serta dukungan kepada pasangannya terhadap kehidupan reproduksinya seprti saat melahirkan dan setelah melahirkan serta selama menyusui. Walaupun keterlibatan pria dalam KB dan Kesehatan Reproduksi sangat penting, tetapi masih banyak pria yang enggan melakukannya terutama dalam praktek KB

Pada Tahun 2008, pencapaian KB pria baru mencapai 1,36 persen dari sasaran RPJMN sebesar 4,5 persen. Untuk itu perlu upaya yang memadai dari seluruh jajaran BKKBN untuk menggerakan seluruh kemampuan dan mendorong mitra kerja dan peran serta masyarakat agar pria secara aktif bergerak dalam program KB.

Pada Intinya, apapun upaya yang dilakukan intinya adalah penantian panjang peran semua kalangan terutama pria dalam ber-KB harus diminimalisir. Pada 2008, yang di akses melalui samarinda.com; Australia sudah mengenalkan Vasektomi (KB Pria) yang bisa dilakukan dengan hanya menyematkan semacam alat seperti kabel digital super kecil di daerah saluran sperma yang selanjutnya dapat di kontrol dengan memakai Remote Control, berbeda jauh dari Indonesia yang masih berhenti ditempat. Sudah saatnya mitra KB yang potensial seperti pria digalakkan dengan usaha maksimal dengan melibatkan seluruh masyarakat dan semua pihak baik tingkat pusat dan daerah.

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How to Be a Professional Announcer!!

Suara adalah modal utama yang harus dimiliki oleh seorang penyiar. Dengan modal suara, penyiar dapat menyampaikan pesan pada pengdengranya, pesan berupa tuturan ini harus terdengar jelas dan dapat dimengerti oleh pendengarnya. Oleh karena itu, seorang penyiar tidak hanya sekedar memiliki suara yang sudah terolah dengan baik (berkualitas) tapi seorang penyiar atau calon penyiar harus menguasai teknik memaksimalkan kemampuannya dalam mengolah vocal. Sehingga diharapkan dengan seringnya melatih vocal, akan memunculkan kepribadian udara yang menarik (Pleasant air personality). Kepribadian udara yang menarik dapat terwujud antara lain dalam bentuk olah vocal yang baik, tidak memiliki aksen daerah, lancer dalam menyampaikan sesuatu kepada penyiar dan tidak memiliki cacat vocal serta memiliki kondisi prima.

Setelah memiliki kepribadian udara yang menarik, seorang penyiar harus berwawasan luas, karena kelancaran bicara seorang penyiar tergantung pada wawasan penyiar. Bagi penyiar yang tidak memiliki wawasan atau pengetahuan yang banyak dan atau luas, biasanya kata-kata yang disampaikan seorang penyiar akan monoton, garing, cuma “say hello” atau sering mengulang kata yang sama dalam menyampaikan sesuatu, atau hanya kirim-krim salam lalu memutar request dari pendengar. Hal ini harus dihindari oleh Announcers. Lalu, untuk memiliki wawasan yang luas, penyiar harus rajin membaca media cetak seperti koran harian, majalah, artikel, buku, serta melihat segala jenis berita di televisi dan atau mendengarkan radio dan acara lainnya. Lebih baik lagi jika penyiar sering ikut hadir dalam acara diskusi, seminar, dan semacamnya.

Selain memiliki kepribadian udara yang baik dan berwawasan luas, seorang penyiar haruslah cerdas yakni mampu berfikir taktis, luwes dan strategis. Ini sangat di perlukan oleh seorang penyiar karena seorang penyiar akan berinteraksi dengan pendengar. Seorang penyiar kadang menghadapi pendengar yang terkesan memaksa untuk request lagu, atau pendengar yang tidak mau berhenti berbicara dan lain-lain. Hal seperti ini kemungkinan bisa terjadi, dan untuk menghadapinya diperlukan langkah-langkah taktis, strategis dan luwes dengan menjadi orang cerdas. Yang terakhir adalah seorang penyiar harus memiliki rasa seni dan rasa humor yang tinggi, karena siaran adalah seni yang sesungguhnya merupakan sebuah proses berkesenian, siaran menggabungkan seni bicara, seni memilih kata, seni memilih dan merangkai lagu, seni mempengaruhi orang lain dan seni-seni lainnya. Rasa humor juga sangat berperan penting untuk menjaga agar siaran tidak garing atau flat dan terkesan membosankan. Namun yang perlu diperhatikan adalah tidak boleh mengungkapkan humor yang jorok, vulgar dan slapstick, mempermainkan cacat fisik, menyinggung SARA dll. Hal itu akan berakibat buruk dan merendahkan kredibilitas penyiar yang bersangkutan, seta radio tempat dia siaran.

Nah, sekarang kita sudah mengetahui segala bekal tentang menjadi seorang penyiar, yang dibutuhkan selanjutnya adalah konsisten untuk berlatih, berlatih dan berlatih untuk menjadi the best professional Announcer.  

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Syntax; The Stucture of Prediction and Modification

a. STRUCTURES OF PREDICATION
The two immediate constituents of structure of predication are a subject (Maya/Person, soldier, week) and a predicate (speaks, have been eaten, kept speakiing), usually, but not always coming in that order. Each of these may be a single word, a word with accompanying a phrase, function word(s), or one of the three other kinds of syntactic structure-modification, coordination or complementation.
e.g.: a week has seven days
P

b. STRUCTURES OF MODIFICATION
Structures of modification have two component parts, those are head (town, people, superior) and a modifier (home, hungry, easily). Both the head and the modifier which are the immediate constituents of a structure of modification may themselves be structures of more and less complexity. The head includes verb, adverb, noun,and function word.

Ø Function word as Head: Function word is considered as the combinations of qualifiers in which the last qualifier in the group is the head.
e.g.: very much more easily
M M H

Ø Verb as Head: At the outset of our discussion of structures of modification with verb as head, we must make a distinction of considerable importance, though it is usually overlooked in traditional grammar.
e.g.: I usually tell the good Story
M/Adv. H/वेर्ब

Ø Noun as Head: Nouns appear very frequently as heads of structure of modification. The modifiers in such structures may belong to any of the four parts of speech.
e.g.: The Dirty Class
M/Det M/Adj. Head

Ø Adverb as Head: When adverbs appear as heads of structure of modification, they may be modified by qualifiers, other adverbs, nouns, or prepositional phrases.
e.g.: Adverbs (unusually eagerly), Nouns (a foot away), Qualifier (very easily), and Prepositional Phrases (away for a week).

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ECB: The Culture of UK Influenced US

The Culture of UK Influenced US

United Kingdom is much influenced the condition and situation of United States; it causes the UK ever took over United States, and after taking over, UK and US were walking together to increase the country. UK has influenced some cultures that still exist at now.

The culture of the United Kingdom refers to the patterns of human activity and symbolism associated with the United Kingdom and the British people. It is informed by the UK's history as a developed island country, being a major power, and, its composition of four countries—England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales—each of which have preserved and distinct customs, cultures and symbolism.

As a direct result of the British Empire, British cultural influence (such as the English language) can be observed in the language and culture of a geographically wide assortment of countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, the United States, and the British overseas territories. These states are sometimes collectively known as the Anglosphere. As well as the British influence on its empire, the empire also influenced British culture, particularly British cuisine. Innovations and movements within the wider-culture of Europe have also changed the United Kingdom; Humanism, Protestantism, and representative democracy are borrowed from broader Western culture.

The Industrial Revolution, with its origins in the UK, brought about major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, and transportation, and had a profound effect on the socio-economic and cultural conditions of the world. The social structure of Britain during this period has also played a central cultural role. More recently, popular culture of the United Kingdom in the form of the British invasion, Britpop and British television broadcasting, and British cinema, British literature and British poetry is respected across the world.

As a result of the history of the formation of the United Kingdom, the cultures of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are diverse and have varying degrees of overlap and distinctiveness.

In the example, the culture of UK that still exists in United States is Halloween; mostly associated with the idea of obtaining good fortune and foretelling the future. Samhain was a time when it was customary for the pagans to use the occult practice of divination to determine the weather for the coming year, the crop expectations, and even who in the community would marry whom and in what order.

Traditional Halloween symbols (witches, black cats, pumpkins, candles, masks, parties and pranks) appeared in the U.S. during the late 1800's. In 1848, millions of Irish emigrants poured into America as a result of the potato famine. With this sudden influx of people, the holiday of Druidism found its new home on alien shores. "Proudly Celtic, they called Halloween Oidche Shamhna (`Night of Samhain'), as their ancestors had, and kept the traditional observances".

The idea behind ducking, dooking or bobbing for apples seems to have been that snatching a bite from the apple enables the person to grasp good fortune. Unmarried people would attempt to take a bite out of an apple bobbing in a pail of water, or suspended on a string. The first person to do so was believed to be the next to marry.

Samhain is a time for getting rid of weakness, as pagans once slaughtered weak animals which were unlikely to survive the winter. A common ritual calls for writing down weaknesses on a piece of paper or parchment, and tossing it into the fire.

In short, United Kingdom has been a part of United Stated that the cultures of UK still used by the society of US.

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Artikel

Language is vested in culture and the origin of spoken language is as old as humanity itself. In other definition, a language is considered to be a system of communicating with other people using sounds, symbols and words in expressing a meaning, idea or thought. This language can be used in many forms, primarily through oral and written communications as well as using expressions through body language.We could well imagine people from the distant past living in families with a particular spoken tongue clustering together to form a clan. Geographically together in security and subsistence they would harmonize as a culture, protecting it with all their power to survive in a world as it was known to them and not very much different from the same principles philosophized today.
Today we are aware of spoken languages that have become extinct mainly because the people of that culture were incorporated or annihilated by others. We also know that all modern languages have its origin in similar older versions of somewhat different vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation e.g. Old English, Old German, Orthodox Greek, etc. and Latin, who now is not used as a spoken language, any more but has richly contributed to so many languages and for that matter cultures. What then would be the definition of language? Language is a way to communicate ideas comprehensibly from one person to another in such a way that the other will be able to act exactly accordingly. The transportation of such ideas could be acquired by either verbal expression, signing in alphabet (written word) and perhaps if we can imagine two parties with different tongue, signing with gestures and images.
In the study of language, description, or descriptive linguistics, is the work of objectively analyzing and describing how language is spoken (or how it was spoken in the past) by a group of people in a speech community. There are tens of thousands of linguistic descriptions of thousands of languages that were prepared by people without adequate linguistic training. A linguistic description is considered descriptively adequate if it achieves one or more of the following goals of descriptive linguistics:
1. A description of the phonology of the language in question.
2. A description of the morphology of words belonging to that language.
3. A description of the syntax of well-formed sentences of that language.
4. A description of lexical derivations.
5. A documentation of the vocabulary, including at least one thousand entries.
6. A reproduction of a few genuine texts. (Wikipedia.com)
In short, by knowing the definition of language, we also can be able to know the definition of descriptive linguistics, because they have correlation each other.

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Applied Linguistic

CHAPTER 4
English Language Teaching

In English language teaching, we find many kinds of teaching method such as TEFL and others. In this chapter we discuss the following material which is also important.

1. Grammar-translation language teaching
Grammar-translation language teaching focuses only in the grammar function. In the mean-time, grammar rules were explained to the students in their own language, vocabulary lists were learned with translation equivalents, and the sentences especially constructed to contain only the grammar and vocabulary, which had already been covered, were laboriously translated in writing, into and out of the student’s first language. Grammar-translation language teaching describes grammar and vocabulary, which are crammed without regard to meaning. There is no emphasis on development fluent speech, it is better to get things right slowly than say them fast and effectively, but incorrectly.

2. The direct method
In the language schools that catered for different types, the student did not necessarily share the same first language. The new type of student needed spoken as well as written language, they needed it fast. The advocated direct methods in which the students’ own language were banished and everything was to be done through the language under instruction. Translation and first language were banned and the new method enforced, sometimes quite ruthlessly. The direct method established a concept of language learning very different from the implicit in grammar-translation.

3. Natural language learning
This new method previously promulgated under exactly the same name in the nineteenth century that an adult learner could repeat the route to proficiency of the native speaking child. The idea was that learning would take place without explanation or grading without correction of errors but simply exposure to meaningful input. In many ways, the natural approach is an object lesson in what applied linguistic should not be. It imposes upon teachers, without consultation and consideration for their existing practices and beliefs, ideas based upon academic research and theorizing. The natural approach was superficially seductive and there is no doubt that it attracted the followers in its day. Now, it continues to exert a considerable influence.

4. The communicative approach
Communicative approach or communicative language teaching rapidly became and still remains the dominant orthodoxy in progressive language teaching. The focus of CLT was primarily and necessarily social, concern as it was with the goal of successful communication. Consequently, communicative pedagogy shifted its attention from the teaching and practice of grammar and pronunciation rules, and the learning of vocabulary lists, to communicative activities. The richer strands of CLT movement were not therefore advocating the abandonment, but rather two changes of emphasis. Firstly, in addition to mastery of form, learners need other kinds of ability and knowledge if they are to communicate successfully. Secondly, the forms should be approached in the context of the usefulness rather than as an end in themselves. The CLT students used to consider first what they needed to do with language and then learned the forms, which would fulfill those needs. Moreover, there are some developments of communicative approach, which differ markedly from the various kinds of teaching which preceded them.
In short, from the explanation above, we can know the conclusion of those materials:
· Grammar-translation language teaching focuses only in grammar function and vocabulary.
· The direct method established a concept of language learning very different from the implicit in grammar-translation. Everything was to be done through the language under instruction.
· The idea in natural language learning took place without explanation or grading without correction of errors but simply exposure to meaningful input and it based upon academic research and theorizing.
· The focus of communicative approach or CLT was primarily and necessarily social, concern as it was with the goal of successful communication. Communicative pedagogy was taken from the teaching and practice of grammar and pronunciation rules, and the learning of vocabulary lists, to communicative activities.

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SEMANTIC

ISTILAH-ISTILAH DALAM SEMANTIC

Untuk Mahasiswa Sastra Inggris yang menggambil Mata Kuliah Semantics
Ø Semantic is the major branch of linguistics studying about the meanings in a language.
Ø Meanings are ideas or concepts that can be transferred from the mind of the speaker to the mind of the listeners or readers in the form of one language.
Ø The important of semantic is being a crucial subject at least if it is seen from two aspects; language teaching and communication. Why? Because semantics as the study of meaning is central to the study of communication, and as communication becomes more and more a crucial factor in social organization, the need to understand it becomes more and more pressing.
Ø Lexical meaning discusses denotation, connotation, ambiguity, synonymy, hyponymy, polysemy, homophony, and homonymy.
Ø Lexeme is smallest unit that has meaning.
Ø Figurative meanings/stylistics usually discusses the beauty to catch the meaning of beautiful language.
Ø Three aspects of figurative meaning; simile, metaphor, personification
Ø Simile is indirect comparison by using word such as “like” or “as”.
Ø Metaphor is direct comparison e.g. “blazing lamp”
Ø Personification
Ø Denotation, the meaning of a word is primarily what it refers to the real world; this meaning is given in a dictionary.
Ø Connotation is words become related with certain characteristics of item to which they refer, which may or may not be indicated in a dictionary.
Ø Ambiguity is a word or a sentence that can be understood or interpreted in more than one way.
Ø Homonym is different words having the same form or spelling, e.g. bank: (financial institution and side of river).
Ø Homophone is different words which have the same pronunciation, e.g. “to” and “too”.
Ø Vagueness is lack of specification.
Ø Kinds of vagueness: referential vagueness, indeterminacy of meaning, lack of specification in the meaning of an item, disjunction in the specification of the meaning of an item.
o Referential vagueness the meaning of lexical item is in principal clear enough.
o Indeterminacy of meaning is the meaning of an item seems indeterminate.
o Lack of specification in the meaning of an item is clear but is only generally specified.
o Disjunction in the specification of the meaning of an item is the meaning involved an either or statement of different interpretation possibilities.
Ø Polisemy is a word that has multiple meaning, e.g. neck; part of the body + part of the bottle + part of shirt.
Ø Synonymy is two words having same sense or same meaning.
Ø Antonym is words which are in the same sense opposite in meaning.
Ø Hyponymy is a word that the meaning contains the entire meaning or called “super ordinate”, e.g. swan and duck are hyponymy of super ordinate bird.
Ø Pragmatic is language whish is applied in verbal communication or usually called formal semantic.
Ø Sentence meaning is usually used in written language.
Ø Theories for discussing sentence meaning; predicate calculus, deep structure, and truth condition theory.
Ø Predicate calculus is infinite number of predicate, which can be developed into many different ways.
Ø Deep structure is the output of the base component and the input of both the transformational and semantic component result a meaning.
Ø Truth condition theory is discussing sentence meaning and the complete discussion of sentence meaning sentence meaning according to truth condition theory.
Ø Formal semantic is the study of use rather than meaning, the study of that part of meaning which is not purely truth conditional; the study of performance rather than competence.
Ø Analytic sentence is sentences, which are true by definition.
Ø Synthetic sentence is sentences which are not true or false because of the words comprise them.
Ø Entailment is one sentence entail another if the meaning of the first sentence include the meaning of the second sentence.
Ø Surface sentence is the output of the transformational and the input of the phonological component result a pronunciation.
Ø Presupposition is a word that is used to make implicit meaning.
Ø Implicit meaning is the meaning does not exist in written language.

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Writing III : Sylogism

ENVIRONMENT DAMAGE OF RICH COUNTRIES ON POOR
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
Published: 10:00PM GMT 21 Jan 2008

The environmental damage caused by rich nations disproportionately impacts poor nations and costs them almost £920 billion, on par with or exceeding their combined foreign debt, according to a first-ever global accounting of the dollar costs of countries' ecological footprints. Meanwhile, the effect of poor on rich nations, such as Britain, is less than a third of the impact that the rich have on the poor.
Because the global environment does not respect political borders, the impact of ecological damage wrought by one country can be felt across the world. To illustrate that point, an American team has attempted to determine which nations are driving ecological damage and which are paying the price.
The study, led by former University of California, Berkeley, research fellow Thara Srinivasan, assessed the impacts of agricultural intensification and expansion, deforestation, overfishing, loss of mangrove swamps and forests, ozone depletion and climate change from 1961 to 2000.
In the case of climate change and ozone depletion, the researchers also estimated the impacts that may be felt through the end of this century.
"Low-income countries will bear significant burdens from climate change and ozone depletion. But these environmental problems have been overwhelmingly driven by emission of greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting chemicals by the rest of the world," Srinivasan says.
Climate change is expected to increase the severity of storms and extreme weather, including prolonged droughts and flooding, with an increase in infectious diseases. Ozone depletion mostly impacts health, with increases expected in cancer rates, cataracts and blindness. All of these will affect vulnerable low-income countries disproportionately.
In addition to climate change and ozone depletion, overfishing and conversion of mangrove swamps to shrimp farming are areas in which rich nations burden poor countries.
When all these impacts are added up, the portion of the footprint of high-income nations that is falling on the low-income countries is comparable to or greater than the financial debt recognised for low income countries, which has a net present value of 1.8 trillion in 2005 international dollars (International dollars are US dollars adjusted to account for the different purchasing power of different currencies.) "The ecological debt could more than offset the financial debt of low-income nations," she says.
"We think the measured impact is conservative. And given that it's conservative, the numbers are very striking," adds Srinivasan. "To our knowledge, our study is the first to really examine where nations' ecological footprints are falling, and it is an interesting contrast to the wealth of nations."
"To some extent, the rich nations have developed at the expense of the poor and, in effect, there is a debt to the poor," says coauthor Prof Richard Norgaard, also of UC Berkeley, coauthor of the paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "You don't see it until you do the kind of accounting that we do here."
The calculation of the ecological footprints of the world's low-, middle- and high-income nations drew upon more than a decade of assessments by environmental economists who have tried to attach monetary figures to environmental damage, plus data from the recent United Nations Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and World Bank reports.
Norgaard admits that "there will be a lot of controversy about whether you can even do this kind of study and whether we did it right. A lot of that will just be trying to blindside the study, to not think about it. What we really want to do is challenge people to think about it. And if anything, if you don't believe it, do it yourself and do it better."

SYLOGISM
· Major promise : Expectation to increase the severity of storms and extreme weather is important to develop the country to prevent the environment damage.
· Minor Promise : Climate Change is the one of the causes of environment damage.
· Conclusion : Climate change is expected to increase the severity of storms and extreme weather.

OUTLINE
1. Introduction
a. Problem : The environmental damage caused by rich nations disproportionately impacts poor nations and costs them almost £920 billion, on par with or exceeding their combined foreign debt, according to a first-ever global accounting of the dollar costs of countries' ecological footprints.
b. Topic Sentence : The rich Countries must be kept from the environment damage in the future by making a good solution.
c. Thesis Statement : Environment change will happen as long as our life, but we should keep our environment in order to prevented environment damage in rich countries.

2. Reasons / Supporting Sentences
a. There are many changing’s of environment in the globalization era.
b. The rich countries will develop their countries in all aspects without thinking their environment.
c. In addition to climate change and ozone depletion, overfishing and conversion of mangrove swamps to shrimp farming are areas in which rich nations burden poor countries.

3. Refutation
a. Not all developed countries damage their environment.
b. Although we are in the developed countries, we should keep our environment well.

4. Conceding opponent valid point
a. The environmental damage caused by rich nations disproportionately impacts poor nations.
b. The calculation of the ecological footprints of the world's low-, middle- and high-income nations drew upon more than a decade of assessments by environmental economists who have tried to attach monetary figures to environmental damage, plus data from the recent United Nations Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and World Bank reports

5. Conclusion
a. Environment damage of rich countries on poor can solve by making a good solution in all aspects when developing our country

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Psycolinguistics: Apraxia - Oleh Miftahul huda dan Nanang Mutasim Billah

CHAPTER I

SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DISORDERS

A. Background of Study

Speech and language disorders are a grouping of disorders that involve problems in communication. Speech disorders refer to difficulties producing speech sounds or problems with voice quality. Language disorders refer to impairment in the ability to understand and/or use words in context, either verbally, nonverbally, or both. These disorders range in severity from sound substitutions to the inability to comprehend or use language.

B. Some Causes of Speech and Language Disorders

There are many causes of speech and language disorders; however, many times the cause of the speech and language disorder is unknown. Some of the known causes include:

• Hearing loss,

• Neurological disorders,

• Brain injury such as head trauma or stroke,

• Mental retardation,

• Drug abuse,

• Physical impairments such as cleft palate,

• Vocal abuse or misuse,

• Autism.

C. Some Types of Speech and Language Disorders

Some types of speech and language disorders include:

1. Apraxia of Speech—Difficulty sequencing and executing speech movements.

2. Nonverbal Learning Disorder—this is a neurological condition thought to result from damage to the right hemisphere of the brain. There are three categories of this disorder: motor, visual-spatial-organizational, and social. The social category pertains to speech and language disorders as one symptom of this type is difficulty comprehending nonverbal communication.

3. Hyperlexia—this condition includes the ability to read far above the normal reading level for a person’s age, significant difficulty understanding and using verbal language, and difficulty in reciprocal interactions.

4. Auditory Processing Disorder—this is a disorder that affects how sound is processed and interpreted.

5. Stuttering— This is a disorder that may cause a person to repeat syllables when saying a word. This can be accompanied by eye rolling, blinking, and head jerks. Stuttering is influenced by psychological factors but is not an emotional or nervous disorder.

6. Speech and Language Delay—a child is considered to have a speech and/or a language delay when he or she is following the normal path of speech and/or language development but at a slower rate. While it can be related to cognitive development, this is not always the case.

7. Perceptive-Expressive Language Disorder—this is an impairment in both receptive and expressive language development.

8. Pervasive Developmental Disorders—these disorders, such as autism, Rett’s Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, and Asperger’s Syndrome can be the cause of speech and language disorders.

9. Pragmatic Language Disorder—Individuals with this disorder have difficulty using language to effectively communicate with others.

10. Phonological Disorder—Difficulty using expected speech sounds appropriate to one’s age and dialect is characteristic of this disorder.

CHAPTER II

DISCUSSION OF APRAXIA

A. Introduction

Apraxia is a disorder caused by damage to specific areas of the cerebrum, characterized by loss of the ability to execute or carry out learned purposeful movements, despite having the desire and the physical ability to perform the movements. It is a “disorder of motor planning” which may be acquired or developmental, but may not be caused by incoordination, sensory loss, or failure to comprehend simple commands (which can be tested by asking the person to recognize the correct movement from a series). Apraxia is one of the most important and least understood major behavioral neurology syndromes. It is one of the best localizing signs of the mental status examination and also predicts disability in patients with stroke or dementia (unlike aphasia). Patients with Apraxia cannot use tools; therefore, they are unlikely to perform activities of daily living well. Patients with aphasia, without coexisting Apraxia, can live independently, take the bus or subway, and lead a relatively normal life; a patient with significant limb Apraxia is likely to remain dependent.

B. General Types of Apraxia

There are several types of Apraxia including:

No	Types of Apraxia	Definition
1	Buccofacial apraxia	Impairment in performing mouth or face actions on verbal command or imitation (see also or ofacial apraxia).
2	Conceptual apraxia	Form of apraxia in which the concept of the action is lost; characterized by impaired ability to use tools and to understand meaningful gestures
3	Constructional apraxia	Inability to assemble component parts into a coherent whole
4	Ideational apraxia	Impairment in the sequential use of multiple objects. Traditionally, also used to refer to impairment in the concept of an action. The term conceptual apraxia (see above) was coined to distinguish between these two dissociable impairments.
5	Ideomotor apraxia	Impairment in the performance of skilled movements on verbal command or in imitation; most commonly characterized by spatial or temporal errors in movement execution.
6	Limb apraxia	Usually used to refer to ideomotor apraxia of the limbs; frequently includes impaired performance of actions that also depend on the hands and fingers.
7	Limb-kinetic apraxia	Slowness and stiffness of movements with a loss of fine and precise movements
8	Optical apraxia	Impairment in performing saccadic eye movements on command
9	Orofacial apraxia	Impairment in performing mouth or face actions on verbal command or imitation (see also buccofacial apraxia).
10	Speech apraxia	Selective impairment in ability to produce speech sounds
11	Tactile apraxia	Impairment of hand movements for the use of and interaction with an object, in the presence of preserved intransitive movements.
12	Unimodal apraxia	Any form of apraxia that is specific to actions demonstrated in a single modality, e.g. visual, but not auditory.

C. Apraxia and Developmental Apraxia of Speech

1. The main types and causes

There are two main types of speech Apraxia: acquired Apraxia of speech and developmental Apraxia of speech. Acquired Apraxia of speech can affect a person at any age, although it most typically occurs in adults. It is caused by damage to the parts of the brain that are involved in speaking, and involves the loss or impairment of existing speech abilities. The disorder may result from a stroke, head injury, tumor, or other illness affecting the brain. Acquired Apraxia of speech may occur together with muscle weakness affecting speech production (Dysarthria) or language difficulties caused by damage to the nervous system (aphasia).

Developmental Apraxia of speech (DAS) occurs in children and is present from birth. It appears to affect more boys than girls. This speech disorder goes by several other names, including developmental verbal Apraxia, developmental verbal dyspraxia, articulatory Apraxia, and childhood Apraxia of speech. DAS is different from what is known as a developmental delay of speech, in which a child follows the "typical" path of speech development but does so more slowly than normal.

The cause or causes of DAS are not yet known. Some scientists believe that DAS is a disorder related to a child's overall language development. Others believe it is a neurological disorder that affects the brain's ability to send the proper signals to move the muscles involved in speech. However, brain imaging and other studies have not found evidence of specific brain lesions or differences in brain structure in children with DAS. Children with DAS often have family members who have a history of communication disorders or learning disabilities. This observation and recent research findings suggest that genetic factors may play a role in the disorder.

2. The symptoms of Apraxia

People with either form of Apraxia of speech may have a number of different speech characteristics, or symptoms. One of the most notable symptoms is difficulty putting sounds and syllables together in the correct order to form words. Longer or more complex words are usually harder to say than shorter or simpler words. People with Apraxia of speech also tend to make inconsistent mistakes when speaking. For example, they may say a difficult word correctly but then have trouble repeating it, or they may be able to say a particular sound one day and have trouble with the same sound the next day. People with Apraxia of speech often appear to be groping for the right sound or word, and may try saying a word several times before they say it correctly. Another common characteristic of Apraxia of speech is the incorrect use of "prosody" -- that is, the varying rhythms, stresses, and inflections of speech that are used to help express meaning.

Children with developmental Apraxia of speech generally can understand language much better than they are able to use language to express themselves. Some children with the disorder may also have other problems. These can include other speech problems, such as Dysarthria; language problems such as poor vocabulary, incorrect grammar, and difficulty in clearly organizing spoken information; problems with reading, writing, spelling, or math; coordination or "motor-skill" problems; and chewing and swallowing difficulties.

The severity of both acquired and developmental Apraxia of speech varies from person to person. Apraxia can be so mild that a person has trouble with very few speech sounds or only has occasional problems pronouncing words with many syllables. In the most severe cases, a person may not be able to communicate effectively with speech, and may need the help of alternative or additional communication methods.

3. Apraxia Diagnosis

Professionals known as speech-language pathologists play a key role in diagnosing and treating Apraxia of speech. There is no single factor or test that can be used to diagnose Apraxia. In addition, speech-language experts do not agree about which specific symptoms are part of developmental Apraxia. The person making the diagnosis generally looks for the presence of some, or many, of a group of symptoms, including those described above. Ruling out other contributing factors, such as muscle weakness or language-comprehension problems, can also help with the diagnosis.

To diagnose developmental Apraxia of speech, parents and professionals may need to observe a child's speech over a period of time. In formal testing for both acquired and developmental Apraxia, the speech-language pathologist may ask the person to perform speech tasks such as repeating a particular word several times or repeating a list of words of increasing length (for example, love, loving, lovingly). For acquired Apraxia of speech, a speech-language pathologist may also examine a person's ability to converse, read, write, and perform non-speech movements. Brain-imaging tests such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may also be used to help distinguish acquired Apraxia of speech from other communication disorders in people who have experienced brain damage.

4. The Apraxia Treatments

In some cases, people with acquired Apraxia of speech recover some or all of their speech abilities on their own. This is called spontaneous recovery. Children with developmental Apraxia of speech will not outgrow the problem on their own. Speech-language therapy is often helpful for these children and for people with acquired Apraxia who do not spontaneously recover all of their speech abilities.

Speech-language pathologists use different approaches to treat Apraxia of speech, and no single approach has been proven to be the most effective. Therapy is tailored to the individual and is designed to treat other speech or language problems that may occur together with Apraxia. Each person responds differently to therapy, and some people will make more progress than others. People with apraxia of speech usually need frequent and intensive one-on-one therapy. Support and encouragement from family members and friends are also important.

In severe cases, people with acquired or developmental apraxia of speech may need to use other ways to express themselves. These might include formal or informal sign language, a language notebook with pictures or written words that the person can show to other people, or an electronic communication device such as a portable computer that writes and produces speech.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH FINDING

1. Deconstructing apraxia: understanding disorders of intentional movement after stroke by Lisa Koskia, Marco Iacobonia, and John C. Mazziotta

Impairments in praxic functioning are common after stroke, most frequently when the left hemisphere is affected. Several recent studies of apraxia after stroke have made advances in understanding the right hemisphere contribution to praxis, particularly for the performance of novel actions.

In this research, the researchers found the case of apraxia on the patient after stroke, which affected on the ability to perform an action in response to verbal command or in imitation. The researchers also specify their research on specific type of apraxia those are Limb apraxia and ideomotor apraxia. They identified stroke patient that impaired in left or right hemisphere.

Those are some features deserve further scrutiny. First, the model was developed from the study of ideomotor apraxia of the limb and, thus, emphasizes praxis of meaningful actions. Second, the separation of the input and output lexicons may prove untenable in light of the recent discovery of a so-called mirror system in the ventral premotor cortex and the posterior premotor cortex of the monkey brain.

2. Research Focus

1.b Ideomotor apraxia

Nowadays, the term ideomotor apraxia has been commonly used. In its strictest sense, ideomotor apraxia refers to the impaired reproduction of meaningful or learned actions, although the ability to perform or imitate meaningless actions is also decient in some cases. The use of the term ideational apraxia is less common now than when it was first conceived due to difficulties in establishing it as a valid and coherent entity distinct from the symptoms ascribed to ideomotor apraxia or deficits in executive functioning. Researchers soon saw a need to discriminate between sequencing errors, referred to in the traditional way as ideational apraxia, and impairments in action recognition, termed `conceptual apraxia'. Recent work comparing impairments in single-object and multiple-object use provides another illustration of the dificulties with the traditional concept of ideational apraxia. Tests of multiple-object use (e.g. lighting a candle) were originally designed to elicit sequencing, omission and perseverative errors viewed as characteristic of ideational apraxia, whereas single-object tests (e.g. using a key) were intended to elicit the spatiotemporal errors in tool use that characterized ideomotor apraxia.The Correlations and factor analyses of these two tasks within the same group of patients, however, indicate that both appear to involve similar underlying processes.

A wealth of case reports have demonstrated dissociations in the ability of individual patients to recognize versus use tools, imitate meaningful versus meaningless actions, perform transitive versus intransitive actions, and perform limb versus orofacial actions.observations are interpreted as reflecting modularity in the praxis system and a number of fairly complex models of apraxia have now been developed. Separate semantic and non-semantic pathways allow for dissociations in the ability to represent meaningful versus meaningless actions; separate input and output lexicons account for differences in the ability to conceptualize actions and the ability to perform them; and separate input pathways for verbal and visual stimuli explain the dissociation between the ability to perform an action on command versus in imitation.

2.b Lesion correlates of apraxia: Interhemispheric

Based on the research, it is found that roughly 30% of patients in the acute phase of stroke show evidence of apraxia, but the incidence is higher after damage to the left hemisphere (50%) than to the right hemisphere (510%). Several recent studies have focused on whether different patterns of apraxic impairment are associated with left hemisphere damage or right hemisphere damage. In a study of facial apraxia after stroke, patients with left hemisphere damage made more errors than patients with right hemisphere damage when imitating lower face actions, whereas both groups performed similarly for upper face actions. In a study of limb apraxia, patients with left hemisphere strokes were more likely than patients with right hemisphere strokes to be impaired at pantomiming the use of a tool in response to verbal command, whereas an equal proportion of left hemisphere and right hemisphere patients were impaired when imitating a pantomime demonstrated by experimenter. Although half of the patients with left hemisphere stroke also had aphasia, the correlation with apraxia was similar for the pantomime and imitation conditions. Patients with left hemisphere strokes were impaired at imitating all meaningless actions and at perceptual matching of meaningless hand-to-head actions. In contrast, patients with right hemisphere lesions were impaired at imitating meaningless postures of the fingers of the hand and at perceptual matching of all meaningless actions.

From this work, it may be concluded that the left hemisphere is important for representing actions in terms of knowledge about the structure of the human body, whereas the right hemisphere participates in the visuospatial analysis of gestures. This suggests that apraxia after right hemisphere strokes results from disruption of a pathway for translating visual input to motor output, which preferentially impairs the representation of novel actions.

3.b Lesion correlates of apraxia: Intrahemispheric

Patients with parietal lesions show the most severe impairments in the recognition and imitation of pantomimed actions and the deficit is particularly severe for left parietal lesions and actions directed toward their own bodies (e.g.brushing hair). In other words, if the lesion happened in the parietal, the patient can not do directed their body such as cutting their own knail. In contrast, patients with premotor or precentral lesions were not impaired on the recognition or performance of unimanual pantomimes, but those with damage to medial premotor regions were severely impaired at pantomiming bimanual actions that required different movements from each hand. The patient have different interpretation or different understanding about someone else action. Therefore, they difficult to imitate the action.

C. Other cases on Apraxia

1. A case study of Speech Apraxia from INSIDE Edition (a video on Youtube)

It happens in children with verbal Apraxia or (neurogical disorder) in which it makes them cannot speak because their mouths are getting out of the information from their brains.

Brandon 8th years old is unable to “speak intelligible complete sentences” The followings are the example of sentences produced by Brandon a Child Apraxic.

Ex; Stomach  tomach

I proud you diligent  I’m very listen

Till they fly  to the thing...

One nation  one needle

Underground  undergurl..

In the visible  in ivivisible

According to an expert of Children with speech disorders, that children who are with verbally Apraxic have been missed diagnosed mentally retarded or autistics. Why it happens because the path way from the motors central of the brain does not have a clear path to the muscle of the mouth.

REFERENCES

1. http://www.apraxia-kids.org/

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apraxia

3. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1136037-overview

4. http://www.apraxia.net/

5. http://tayloredmktg.com/dyspraxia/das.shtml

6. http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/ApraxiaAdults.htm

7. http://www.apraxiall-kids.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=chKMI0PIIsE&b=788447&ct=464187

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