Learning Difficulties Encountered By Efl Students English Language Essay

Learning Difficulties Encountered By Efl Students English Language Essay Recently, listening has gained more and more attention in foreign language learning. In learning a foreign language, it is suggested that the most important step should begin with an effort to listen. (Rubin Thompson, 1994) Listening provides input for learners to make learning occur and listening exercises draw learners attention to new forms in language, such as new vocabulary items. (Rost, 1994) Listening can be regarded as a necessary skill in the diagnosing and preparation of foreign language students and can even be served as a good predictor of language achievement. In consequence, listening comprehension acts as a pivotal role in foreign language learning. (Oxford, 1993) In this essay, three issues are discussed. Issue 1 states listening difficulties in second language acquisition. Underwood (1994), Chiang and Dunkel (1992) and Rubin and Thompson (1994)s viewpoint are discussed. Issue 2 proposes taxonomies of the factors affecting listening difficulties. Boyle (1984), Yagang (1993) and Rubin (1994) s point of view of the factors affecting listening comprehension are referred to. Issue 3 mentions studies in listening difficulties of L2 listeners in foreign countries. Tauroza and Allisons (Rubin, 1994) study is about speech rate. Boyle (1984)s study is factors most frequently mentioned in listening comprehension. Lynch (1997)s study is a case study of a intermediate-level learners progress in listening comprehension. Goh (2000)s study discusses listening comprehension problems. BODY Chapter 1 Listening difficulties in second language acquisition Underwoods (1994) point of view ¼Ã… ¸ Underwood (1994) identified seven potential difficulties in listening comprehension as: (1) lack of control over the speed at which speakers speak, (2) not being able to get things repeated, (3) the listeners limited vocabulary, (4) failure to recognize the signals, (5) problems of interpretation, (6) inability to concentrate, (7) established learning habits. Many language learners believe that the greatest difficulty with listening comprehension is that the listener cannot control how quickly a speaker speaks. (p7) They feel that the utterances disappear before they can sort them out. http://nccuir.lib.nccu.edu.tw/bitstream/140.119/33414/7/95100307.pdf They are so busy working out the meaning of one part of what they hear that they miss the next part. Another difficulty is that listener is not always in a position to get the speaker to repeat an utterance. This is particularly likely to be the case when students are on the edge of conversation outside the classroom. For people listening to a foreign language, an unknown word can be like a suddenly dropped barrier causing them to stop and think about the meaning of the word and thus making them miss the next part of the speech (p 17). And students need to learn to listen for the signals in order to be able to connect the various utterances in the way the speaker intended them to be connected. (p18) Students who are unfamiliar with the context may have considerable difficulty in interpreting the words they hear even if they can understand their surface meaning. (p19). Inability to concentrate can be caused by a number of things, but in listening work it is a major problem, because ev en the shortest break in attention can seriously impair comprehension. (p19) Outside factors may well make concentration difficult, too. An inferior machine or poor recording can make it very hard for the students. As for establishing leaning habits, when the learner can more readily accept the frustrations involved, he will be more prepared to strive for a partial and incomplete understanding of what is being said. (pp16-19) Rubin and Thompsons (1994) point of view Rubin and Thompson list three common problems in learning to listen to a foreign language. The first problem is that the speaker talks too fast. If the listener can not follow the speaker, the listener can let the speaker know that he is not following. He can ask for repetition and slowing down the speed, seeks clarification, rephrase, and repeat. The listener can pay attention to intonation and tone of voice, focus on question words such as who, what and when and assume that the here and now are relevant. That is, the sentence is directly related to the subject they have just been discussing. Assume that what a person says is directly related to something he or she is experiencing at that very minute. The second problem is that the listener is not getting anything out of foreign language TV and movies. If the listener could not understand the foreign language TV and movies, they should try to take control of his listening by predicting what he was likely to hear. For example, use vi sual clues and use his background knowledge. Anticipate information in a segment by relying on your knowledge of what such a segment is likely to contain. Listeners could also use information from the segment itself and determine the genre of the segment. Knowing the genre of a segment will help you determine how best to approach it. For instance, if it is an interview, then concentrate on the questions. If it is a news report, a who, when, where strategy will work best. If it is a drama, look for the story line. Listeners could listen to familiar elements, listen to familiar-sounding words, listen to and jot down repeated words, learn to recognize numbers and learn to recognize proper names. The third problem is that the listener tends to stop listening when he hears an unfamiliar word or phrase. Many learners, particularly in the early stages of language learning, panic and lose their concentration when they hear an unfamiliar segment. As a result, they miss portions of the passag e that might have helped clarify the unfamiliar word or segment. The listener should concentrate on familiar elements and keep listening. Understanding something is better than getting nothing at all. If you continue listening, chances are that you will comprehend at least some parts of the massage. It is possible that the portions you missed were not very important after all. Chiang and Dunkels (1992) point of view Chiang and Dunkel (1992) pointed out that listeners comprehension in English may be thwarted by a number of cognitive and linguistic factors as well as academic and cultural issues, including: (a) inability or lack of opportunity to engage in communicative interaction with the second/foreign language teacher or lecture; (b) inability to detect the main points of the lecture or to grasp the usual goals of particular genres of discourse situation of which the discourse is a part; (c) unfamiliarity with the structure and type of the discourse ; (d) inability to apprehend discourse markers and logical relationships in the English lecture; (e) inability to comprehend lecture speech delivered at faster rates of speed; (f) limited short-term memory for English input; (g) failure to use appropriate cognitive or learning strategies; (h) poor inference abilities in English; (i) limited proficiency in English; (j) lack of prior knowledge about the content of the spoken or written text; and (k) inability to process L2 input devoid of speech modification such as elaborations or redundancies. Of these difficulties confronting L2 learners, Chiang and Dunkel explored the effect of three of them. The first situation was when the listeners had limited listening proficiency in English, the second situation was when they lacked prior knowledge about the topic of the L2 lecture, and the third situation was when they were not supplied with modified speech. The results revealed a significant interaction between prior knowledge and text type. Chapter 2 Taxonomy of the factors affecting L2 listening difficulties Boyles (1984) three categories of factors Boyle (1984) began with a survey of the factors most frequently mentioned in the literature on listening comprehension, including three categories of factors. The first category referred to the listener factors, including experience in listening to the target language, general background knowledge of the world, educational background and type of school, knowledge of the target language in its various aspects, memory, powers of analysis and selection and motivation and attitude of the listener to the speaker and to the message. The second categories, the speaker factors, contain language ability of the speaker: native speaker-beginning level non-native speaker. Speakers production: pronunciation, accent, variation, voice affect, too. Speed of delivery and prestige and personality of the speaker count. The third category, factors in the material and medium, comprise difficulty of content and concept, especially if the material is abstract, abstruse, highly specialized or technical, len gthy or poorly organized. Acoustic environment such as noise and interference and amount of support provided by gestures, visuals also have influence on listening comprehension. Yagangs (1993) four aspects of factors http://eca.state.gov/forum/vols/vol31/no1/p16.htm Instead of three categories, Yagang (1993) proposed that the sources of listening difficulties came mainly from the four aspects: the message, the speaker, the listener, and the physical setting. The message factors comprised content and linguistic features. In content which is not well organized, listeners cannot predict what speakers are going to say. And if listening materials are made up of everyday conversation, they may contain a lot of colloquial expressions, such as guy for man. Students who have been exposed mainly to formal or bookish English may not be familiar with these expressions. The speaker factors consists of redundant utterances, such as repetitions, false starts, re-phrasings, self-corrections, elaborations, tautologies, apparently meaningless addition such as I mean or you know and speakers personal factors such as their accents. Learners tend to be used to their teaching accent or to the standard variety of British or American English. They find it hard to und erstand speakers with other accents. The listener factors played a more important role in EFL students listening. For example, foreign language students might be not familiar enough with clichà © and collocations in English to predict a missing word or phrase. For example, they can not be expected to know that rosy often collocates with cheeks. EFL students might be lack of sociocultural, factual, and contextual knowledge of the target language.   (Anderson and Lynch 1988).It can present an obstacle to comprehension because language is used to express its culture. Factors in physical setting included noise, both background noises on the recording and environmental noises, could carry the listeners mind of the content of the listening passage. Listening material on tape or radio lacks visual and aural environmental clues. Not seeing the speakers body language and facial expressions makes it more difficult for the listener to understand the speakers meaning. Unclear sounds resultin g from poor quality equipment can interfere with the listeners comprehension. Rubins (1994) five categories of factors Rubin (1994) classified these listening factors into five categories: text, interlocutor, task, listener and process characteristics. Text characteristics referred to acoustic-temporal variables, acoustic-other variables and morphological and syntactic modifications (including restatements). Acoustic-temporal variables are speech rate, pause phenomena, and hesitation. Acoustic-other variables are level of perception, stress and rhythmic patterning perception and L1 and L2 differences. Variables of morphological and syntactic modifications are redundancy, morphological complexity, word order and discourse markers. Text characteristics referred to text type. Visual support for texts is also an important variable. Interlocutor characteristics referred to variations in the speakers personal characteristics, such as gender, pronunciation, accent, expertness and so on. Listener characteristics are listeners language proficiency level, memory, attention, affect, age, gender, learning disabi lities in L1, and background knowledge as well as aptitude, processing skills, background biases, motivation, and confidence level. Process characteristics referred to how listeners interpret input in terms of what they know or identify what they dont know. Top-down, bottom-up and parallel processing is being examined in L2 contexts. Current views of listening comprehension propose that listeners actively process language input. Two types of processing have been discerned: cognitive strategies and metacognitive strategies. Research on listening strategies includes: work on several languages; work contrasting strategy use at several proficiency levels; work with interactive or transactional listening; work with cognitive and metacognitive strategies; work considering the relation of strategy use to text, task, and setting. Chapter 3 Studies in listening difficulties of L2 listeners in foreign countries Tauroza and Allisons ( )studyspeech rate Griffiths suggests that different language have different normal rates and the rates defined in studies using English can not be applied exactly to studies of other languages. Most research quotes a normal speech rate of 165 to 180 words per minutes for native speakers of English. On the other hand, while Foulke reports a threshold (the rate at which comprehension begins to decrease rapidly) level between 250-275 w.p.m., others states that comprehension decreases as a function of mental aptitude and difficulty level. Tauroza and Allison compare normal speed of British speakers for four types of speech. They found that while the mean for radio and interview speech events lies within the range of 160 to 190 w.p.m., the means for conversation and lecture categories are outside this range. The mean rate for conversation in words per minute was 210, while for lectures, 140. They note further that thirty-three percent of their lecture data was slower than 130 w.p.m. and twenty-three percen t of the conversation data was faster than 220 w.p.m. The issue of normal speech rate is one that still needs a great deal more research that takes into account all of the variables mentioned above. (Rubin, 1994) Boyles (1984) study-factors most frequently mentioned in listening In Boyles (1984) study, 30 teachers and 60 students in Hong Kong were asked to list the six factors which they considered the most important in aiding or hampering the effectiveness of listening comprehension. It was interesting to know that the students gave much more importance to vocabulary than teachers did. It was surprising that the students mentioned two factors, memory and concentration, barely mentioned by the teachers. In addition, the students considered that there was a possible relationship between their reading habits and their listening comprehension, which was not mentioned by the teachers. On the other hand, the teacher seemed to specify the linguistic factors more sophisticatedly. The teacher would specify the factors as ability to pick up clues, complex syntactical structures, stress and intonation and interference from Chinese. On the contrary, the students just indicated that the lack of general language ability or the difficulties in English listening comprehens ion. Lynchs (1997) study-a case study of an intermediate-level learners progress Lynch (1997) conducted an ethnographic study of a Japanese student who attended English language courses at the Institute for Applied Language Studies, the only one taking an undergraduate course in economics at the University of Edinburgh. His scores on the listening tests were relatively low in comparison with his reading and grammar scores with the other students in class. A number of possible reasons were found to explain his difficulties in listening comprehension. First, he was the youngest member in his class so that he was unwilling to engage in negotiation with his seniors. Second, he was the only undergraduate student with an economic background in his English class so that he viewed himself as insufficient in some general background knowledge. Third, he joined Course 3 in the EAP program, skipping the basic class, Course 1 and 2. Therefore, he thought he needed more time to get used to negotiate with others in English. Fourth, his lowest listening score disappointed him gr eatly. The perceptions of the subject had made a substantial influence on his English learning. Gohs (2000) study-listening comprehension problems Goh (2000) investigated the comprehension problems of second language listeners in a cognitive perspective. She identified real-time listening difficulties faced by 40 Chinese undergraduates and examined their difficulties within the three-phase model of language comprehension proposed by Anderson. (1995). The data were collected from learners self-reports in their diaries, semi-structure interviews and immediate retrospective verbalizations. The data revealed 10 problems that occurred during the cognitive process phases of perception, parsing, and utilization. She also, made a comprehension between two groups, high ability listeners and low ability listeners. Each group consisted of eight students selected according to their grades in a post-instruction standardized proficiency test, the SLEP test of Educational Testing Service 1991. She found that listeners with highly ability and low ability both had a perception problem with recognizing words they knew. Another problem they both shared was parsing problem that they quickly forgot what they thought they had understood. In addition to these two problems, high ability listeners reported a utilization problem that they were often unable to extract the meaning out of the message even if they had understood all the words. On the other hand, low ability listeners reported another perception problem that they often did not hear the next part of a text because they spent too much time thinking about what they had just heard.

The Cultural Identity Within Asian Writing Systems Essay -- Cultural Id

The Cultural Identity Within Asian Writing Systems The style of Asian writing seems to be completely different from that of the western writing systems. For starters, many western languages are phonetic: words are spelled out with symbols that represent sounds. The way that a word looks has nothing to do with the meaning of the word. On the other hand, the most recognized form of Asian writing, Chinese characters, are completely pictographic. A single character is correlated to one sound or meaning. To convey more complicated meanings, pictographs are either combined into new pictographs, or multiple characters are simply used in succession. The meaning of words is depicted through pictographs, but for the most part, there is no information about their pronunciations. Asian and western languages appear so different because they had evolved in isolation from each other for hundreds of years. However, the evolution of each group of languages is similar. Whether Asian or western, languages borrow from each other and evolve toge ther when they are in close quarters. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean are perfect examples of languages that have evolved together because they are spoken in countries that are so close together. Their cultures are also arguably similar when compared to western cultures. All three have used Chinese characters exclusively as their writing system for a period of time and parts of the Korean and Japanese vocabularies are actually derived from Chinese. Up until a few hundred years ago, the three written languages have developed quite closely. But in the present day, the three systems appear to have taken very different evolutionary paths. The Korean language has developed a phonetic alphabet syste... ...se Writing System. 20 July 2001. Kanji Dictionary Publishing Society. 20 Apr. 2004 <http://www.kanji.org/kanji/japanese/writing/outline.htm>. Katsiavriades, Kryss. KryssTal:Language Page. Amazon, Britannica. 20 Apr. 2004 <http://www.krysstal.com/language.html>. Laugk. "Chinese hostages to their writing system: A case for simplification and reform." China Daily 7 Feb. 2004. 20 Apr. 2004 <http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-02/07/content_304083.htm>. Noll, Paul. History of the Chinese Language. 25 Mar. 2004. 20 Apr. 2004 <http://www.paulnoll.com/China/Culture/language-history.html>. Ohak-Yonku. "Formation of Korean Alphabet." Language-Research Sept. 1987: 527-537. "Types of Writing Systems." AncientScripts.com. 20 Apr. 2004 <http://www.ancientscripts.com/ws_types.html>. Usaburo, Shimizu. "Hiragana." Meiroku Zasshi 1800s.

Personality Theory Analysis Essay

In human nature, personality is explained in various ways depending on the environment an individual lives in. Personality is the traits and characteristics of an individual unique ways of expressing his or her feelings towards any situation in his or her social circle. The learning theory is explained as the process in which humans learn and how they adapt to permanent behavioral change in the environment. Humanistic and existential theories are the holistic approach to psychological health and human behavior toward meaning, values, personal experience, and self-actualization. The knowledge of both humanistic and existential and learning theories gives a board insight into human nature and personal reaction and growth in the external environment of one’s personality (University of Phoenix, 2013). The learning theory is examine how an individual’s reacts to his or her personal environment and the behavior conditions which one displays in his or her environment. B. F. Skinner theory of behaviorism explains how a person is held accountable for his or her actions with the illusion of self-control. Skinner argues the choice of free will or genetics shape the environmental factors of reinforced behaviors. He believed that people are a product of his or her environment. Skinner believed that positive reinforcements strengths an individual’s behaviors by providing a sense of consequences and rewards for the reinforcement (University of Phoenix, 2013). Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory redefines the assumption human functioning is a combination of genetics and influences from the environment. Bandura proposes humans are capable of self-efficacy from using his or her external and internal instincts. Bandura believed through personal strengths influences the way a person reacts to different situation that can affect a person’s behavior. Observation learning is proposed in Bandura’s theory. He believed that people learn from his or her environment when placed in various situations  (University of Phoenix, 2013). Learning happens in a cause and effect relationship in the environment. The cause would be the reaction to a behavior in the environment and the effect would be the consequences an individual faces from the reaction to the situation in the environment. Individuals are placed in similar experiences to determine what the outcome will be in the situation. The individual becomes passive and simply react to the experience he or she is going through. Cognitive learning explains how a person’s rational thinking and behavior determines a person’s complex responds to a behavior from individual thought process (University of Phoenix, 2013). The humanistic approach is implemented when an individual has reached self-fulfillment or potential growth. The way a person reacts in situational behavior depends on the level of potential behavior one is capable to re sponding too. Maslow suggests the driving force in a person motivation and personality needs is called holistic dynamic theory. A person’s motivation is created from another need to another need in personal growth and self -actualization. Maslow believed a person needs are being met when he or she satisfy a lower need (University of Phoenix, 2013). Carl Rogers believed that humans evolved from a conscious mind through formal tendencies. Rogers agreed with Maslow that individuals motivated toward self-actualization of a person’s personal growth in his or her environment. Rogers’s person-centered theory focused on a person’s constructive and personal directions in his or her life. With self-awareness, a person is free to make choices and participate in his or her own personalities. He suggested that people focused on his or her current subjective understanding rather than the unconscious motive interpretation of the current situation. Rogers’s relationships encourage psychological growth within individuals (University of Phoenix, 2013). The existential theory explains that individuals are responsible for his or her own choices that he or she makes in a formal or informal decision. Rollo May believed that anxiety and informal decisions are the factors in human motivation. The anxieties come from an individual’s mental state of mind and are prone to avoid anxiety. May’s believed that individuals show move to his or her own destiny (University of Phoenix, 2013). The learning theory is an accumulation of learned behavior that will increased through a person’s life span. Individuals stem from situational behaviors to gain possible reinforcement  and reward from the decisions he or she makes. Skinner believed the environment shaped a person’s personality from the environment he or she resides in. The environment influences a person’s character and traits to make decisions to gain personal rewards. The humanistic and existential theory moves toward fulfillment and the realization of an individual growth for his or her needs (University of Phoenix, 2013). Rollo May believed a person have to maintain a healthy relationship with others, but in the end will be alone. Abraham Maslow insists through self-actualization a person will gain the feelings of others, but will not rely on others for self-esteem or personal gain. Rogers believed through a caregiver responds to promote psychological growth in a child. Humanism emphasized on the interpersonal relationship that is essential to personal development in a person’s personality. In interpersonal relationship, a personal will have confidence in social gatherings he or she holds close to them. Bandura proposed an individual learning comes from observation learning from a person’s observation in making a critical or informal decision (University of Phoenix, 2013). From the learning perspective side, people associate with others to receive reinforcement or rewards from social interactions. People continue to form associations with others to reinforce a particular behavior from ot hers around them. People make inform judgments in protecting his or her environment from natural forces or people trying to inflict personal harm towards them. When reinforcement is not applied, people will maintain a healthy relationship through personal association to gain reinforcement. People learn from his or her environment and if is placed into a different environment, then the individual will have to adjustment in a new situation. By taking a person what of his or her comfort zone, the individual will able to adapt of different environment needs and make decision accordingly. The theory relates more to nature verses nurture when an individual needs are being met for personal growth and development in his or her new surrounding environment (University of Phoenix, 2013). The existential theory concentrated on the free will of an individual to make any decision he or she chooses. The theory drives on the sense of well-being and to be in the world to maintain a healthy psychological growth. If a p erson decides to on making bad choices, he or she will have to answer to them. The choices a person makes show his or her character and personality traits of how to make  an inform decision. He or she wants let any other person cloud his or her decision-making and will rely on his or her own judgment. The results can be either constructive or deconstructive role in the decision making process (University of Phoenix, 2013). Social constructivism is defined as behavior or knowledge constructed from person’s behavior based on new ideas a person gain from past and present knowledge or experiences. Bandura believed a person learns from experience and through observation personal growth and development was shorten. The beliefs are essential component of personal development that depends on the social environment others within another’s environment. The genetic factors contributed to the social influences by others in constructing his or her own personality in significant individuals. The action did not encourage the behavior, but changed the events of the behavior. The social relationship changes the perspective of one’s view within another’s environment and emotional state of mind. The personal development will be what the individual gain from his or her learning experiences (University of Phoenix, 2013). Maslow laid the foundation in understanding the characteristics of a healthy and normal person. His theory of self-actualization gave the perception of reality, straightforwardness, and genuine characteristics of an individual’s personality traits. Many individuals have the need for solitude and independence to appreciate the ordinary things in life. People need to indulge in social interests, seek social experiences, maintain a few interpersonal relationships, and have an idealistic sense of humor to properly functions in today society (University of Phoenix, 2013). Learning theories is the human learning that is results from behavior and personality in an individual’s environment with internal considerations. Humanistic and existential theory is the tendency for internal drive of self- predetermination. The behavior viewed as a movement toward actualization and situational behavior as reinforce or reward. The aspect of interpersonal growth with each theory discussed. The perspectives affect by situational behavior in distant characterizations of human nature. The personal development of an individual when placed in a social setting and the decision- making he or she encounter in his or her environment. The diversity of reasoning related to thought and understanding of human nature from a psychological point of view. References Colman, A. M. (Ed.). (2010). Humanistic psychology. In Oxford Reference Online. Retrieved March 7, 2015, from http://www.oxfordreference.com/pub/views/home.html McLeod, S. (2007). Carl Rogers. Simply Pychology. Retrieved March 7, 2015 from http://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-rogers.html University of Phoenix. (2013). Theories of Personality. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, PSY405 website.

Analysis Of The Poem Phenomenal Woman By Maya Angelou

Title Question #2 Analyze Society creates the thought of what makes an ideal woman; however, Maya Angelou shows us what truly makes a true Woman in her poem, â€Å"Phenomenal Woman.† The word, â€Å"Phenomenal† is defined as something that is magnificent, remarkable, breathtaking, as well as extraordinary. This poem shows one the confidence and beauty from within, instead of the conventional views that society tend to have, which is to only focus on the appearance. She takes us to acknowledge womanhood. One is able to appreciate the poem even further, by analyzing many of the poetry elements that Maya Angelou illustrates, such as imagery, tone, and diction. Tone helps sets the attitude of a poem that a poet is trying to portray on a specific subject (Kriszner et al. 245). The tone of this poem is celebratory, proud and confident. Just by looking at the title, this gives one a hint what poem may bring and what kind of tone might be expected. When one hears the word phenomenal one instantly think of something eye catching and unique. This word is a positive word, rather than a negative word like horrid. On stanza three, â€Å"the grace of my style,† the attitude of the speaker is competent. The speaker is confident by the way she dresses, walks, and talks. She is confident on the way she responds and does her way of things, and sees it as a form of elegance and beauty. The self-assurance and boldness attitude is greatly shown, â€Å"I’m a woman/Phenomenally/ Phenomenal woman/That’s me†Show MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Poem Phenomenal Woman By Maya Angelou2030 Words   |  9 PagesSummary of Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou Stanza 1: â€Å"Phenomenal Woman† begins with a attack on stereotypes. She proudly declares that she neither has a hourglass figure, nor a cute face. Her success without essential feminine traits surprises pretty women and they often want to know the secret of her success. 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Both of these poets are very important in the literary field even though their ways of writing contrast each other. Angelou is a revolutionist who is known around the world for her astounding stories of racism, family, and overcoming adversityRead MoreAnalysis Of Maya Angelou s Caged Bird 1835 Words   |  8 Pagesthe famous African American people. Growing up with my grandparents, I always heard a lot about the loving Dr. Maya Angelou. She was a tremendous figure in their lives and a phenomenal woman. One day my family was sitting outside, and my mom was reading a book with a lot of famous poems. The one she read aloud was Maya Angelou’s poem â€Å"Caged Bird.† She was so emotional reading this poem. During that time, I did not understand her emotions. At my high school, we would always celebrate black historyRead MoreMaya Angelo - Phenomenal Woman766 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿ â€Å"Phenomenal Women† By Maya Angelo – Analysis In the poem â€Å"Phenomenal Woman† by Maya Angelo expresses many viewpoints on the topic of women. She describes the many attributes of women throughout the poem. Many think that a slim and trim body or pretty faces are the many features of a true woman. But Angelo explains the small insignificant features of a woman that people or society never mention. She believes and convinces the reader that these are the marks of a woman. The poems central idea