Michigan Urban Farming Initiative Is an Urban Agrihood the Answer to Food Insecurity - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 2946 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2019/02/15 Category Health Essay Level High school Topics: Food Insecurity Essay Did you like this example? While urban farming has a long history, both in the US and globally, there appears to have been a resurgence, as urban populations become more interested in local food production. Not limited to quaint community farms or small backyard projects, it often comes with lofty dreams of a self-reliant, fully sustainable city. Urban farms have environmental, health, and social benefits, but perhaps the most encouraging of these is the promise of increasing access to healthy food. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Michigan Urban Farming Initiative: Is an Urban Agrihood the Answer to Food Insecurity" essay for you Create order Detroit is one city in which urban agriculture has a long history. Community gardens have been operating there for a long time, even though they were legalized only recently in 2013 (21). An estimation by Keep Growing Detroit states the city is home to approximately 1,500 gardens and farms of varying scales (4). These farms often work in tandem with each other to provide their neighborhoods with access to local, healthy produce. The Michigan Urban Farming Initiative (MUFI) is one of the largest nonprofit farms in the city, promising to fix both food scarcity and blighted or vacant land. MUFI differs from other farms in the area, due to the fact that their central focus is development and neighborhood development, centered around their 3-acre farm. MUFI was founded in 2011 and is run primarily by Tyson Gersh in order to provide the neighborhood with low-cost produce, and to reduce blight by increasing green space (16). They hope, in doing this, they will be able to decrease vacant land and food insecurity (8). Gersh worked in tandem with community leader Dolores Bennett, the founder of the North End Youth Improvement Council, until her death in early 2017 (10, 20). It is readily apparent why such a project is needed in the city, as Wayne County is â€Å"the most food insecure county in Michigan† and is considered by many to be a food desert (4). Urban food deserts are defined by the American Nutrition Association as an area where â€Å"at least 33% of the census tract’s population reside[s] more than one mile from a supermarket (7).† The Detroit Food Policy Council recently found that 30,000 people in the Detroit area don’t have access to healthy food, and 48% of households are food insecure. There are â€Å"74 full-line grocery stores operating within the city limits† but there are still gaps in accessibility (5). A large part of this is probably due to the fact that approximately 25% of Detroit households are car-less, making them largely transit-dependent. This is significantly higher than the national average of 8.7% (6). In addition, urban decay is a continual problem in the city of Detroit. One report from the Detroit Blight Removal Task Force states that approximately 40,000 land parcels (of the 380,000 surveyed) meet the definition of blight, with an additional 38,429 labeled as â€Å"at risk† of becoming blighted. 98% of these properties are located in residential districts (22). The community as a whole might benefit from a large urban farm, especially a volunteer-run nonprofit that prioritizes low prices. It also has great appeal to new, young homebuyers who, along with being attracted to low housing prices, close proximity to transit, and in-town location of the North Side, are increasingly invested in locally sourced, organic food. Other community gardens in the area, howeve r, might find it difficult to keep up with the competition, especially given that MUFI is largely volunteer-driven and gives away free produce to over 2,000 households (13). It becomes clear that urban farming is a movement that has a far-reaching impact, and that MUFI does not exist in a vacuum. MUFI’s main purpose is redevelopment centered around agriculture. They address food insecurity by prioritizing a â€Å"pay-what-you-can† model, while also providing to local markets, churches, restaurants, and food pantries. Over 50,00 pounds of produce have been produced since its founding in 2011. It is almost entirely volunteer-run, and a large amount of those volunteers are from outside of the community. In addition to production farming taking up 1/3 of the campus, the 3-acre land includes a high-density fruit orchard, a children’s interactive garden, rainwater collection/irrigation system, and a public composting toilet. The rainwater retention pond, in particular, is promising, especially as farming has a heavy water requirement. A vacant building on the lot is being converted into a community resource center, for administrative purposes, production/packaging, and a marketplace space open to the public Perhaps their most ambitious project is shipping conta iner homes. Currently, only one is under construction, which is intended for an on-site, full-time intern, but Gersh aims to scale up the project, providing affordable housing ownership to low-income households within the community (8). While it is worth noting that many people within the community express enthusiastic support for the organization and its mission, there are still numerous criticisms from people within the North Side community, as well as from other farmers in the city of Detroit. Gersh’s free produce model is frequently criticized, partly because it is enabled by donations from companies like BASF and MiracleGro, which some say is counterproductive to sustainable, organic agriculture. Another source of criticism is that MUFI is able to sustain their free produce model because it is largely driven by corporate volunteers outside of the community, in lieu of creating steady jobs for those in North End. In this way, it can be argued that giving away free produce is merely a band-aid for the problem of food insecurity, while neglecting to address the root causes and support the long-term resiliency of the community. In the words of Shane Bernardo, a long-time resident, social justice activist, an d former farmer in Detroit, â€Å"food security and poverty have less to do with access and more do with structural and historical disparities around power.† Another frequent criticism is that MUFI focuses on development rather than food scarcity. North End has become one of Detroit’s â€Å"up and coming† neighborhoods, with property values rising and younger, whiter homeowners moving in. By definition, an â€Å"agrihood† is only sustainable for the immediate surrounding housing developments. An in-town neighborhood close to transit is already conducive to gentrification, and some long-time residents argue that Gersh, who arrived in North End only 7 years ago, is accelerating it. Gersh is transparent about targeting young, comparatively wealthy homebuyers from out of town in order to further develop the neighborhood, and he has reportedly tried to get long-time homeowners to sell their properties (10,13). Another controversy surrounding Gersh is his staunch disapproval of the Vanguard CDC (10), which is constructing a swath of multi-family, mixed-income housing in the North End (37). He has done so without proposing an alternative solution for affordable housing, and this has earned him further disfavor among residents who are proponents of the Vanguard project. A more practical problem is the fact that MUFI only owns about 1.5 acres from private sales or foreclosure auctions. The other 2.5 acres are government-owned, making Gersh a prime example of the homesteading that is rather common in urban farms. This could cause problems in the future, as the city desires denser construction or projects that provide more jobs to the community. If Gersh can no longer find vacant properties to steward, it might be difficult to continue the acreage-intensive project that is farming (10). In order to find solutions, it might be helpful to see how other urban farms address these problems, and Detroit has no shortage of alternative urban farming models. One of the most prominent voices in the field is Malik Yakini of D-Town. The 7-acre farm was founded in 2006 by the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN), of which Yakini is a chairman. Perhaps the most notable thing about Yakini and his projects is the focus on social justice. He seeks to â€Å"identify and alleviate the impact of racism and white privilege on the food system,† and has drafted food security policy to do just that (17, 23). Another project, Oakland Avenue Urban Farm, headed by Jerry Hebron is a community-based farm is a project of the Northend Christian Community Development Corporation (CDC). Along with its food production and hoop houses, it consists of a farm-fresh convenience store and arts venue, as well as a community dining hall/hostel being converted from a vacant building (9). Oakland Avenue is just one branch of the community-focused entity that is Northend Christian CDC, which also oversees afterschool programs and skill development for youth in the area (29). Other farms put collaboration at the center, with the City Commons Community Supported Agriculture being the prime example in Detroit. The City Commons consists of seven participating farms throughout the city of Detroit. Members of the community support the farm by purchasing â€Å"shares,† giving them access to a weekly box of fresh produce throughout the growing season. They also accept EBT, a viable alternative to MUFI’s free produce model (27). Some urban agricultural models veer even further from the traditional idea, however. For instance, Hantz Woodlands, a for-profit organization, is taking a different approach to greenspace by focusing on beautification rather than food production. Their mission is to reduce blight by planting forestry which they will eventually be able to harvest for timber. CEO John Hantz has invested over $1 million to demolish abandoned buildings, as well as provide entrepreneurship and vocational training (26). The significant thing about Hantz’ beautification plan is that it is centered around improving property values for existing residents, rather than those looking to move into the area, and thus has garnered significant community approval. It is worth noting, however, that the land grab that allowed Hantz to purchase approximately 140 acres of land is looked at rather unfavorably by black farmers in the area who have historically had a difficult time gaining ownership of the land they farm. Hantz and Gersh are sometimes put into the same category, as out-of-touch outsiders who don’t reflect the needs and desires of the city as a whole. A more high-tech approach to food production is found in Green Collar Foods (GCF). GCF operates indoor vertical farms in places such as Detroit, Florida, and Northern England (28). It might also be helpful to look at the effect other â€Å"agrihoods† have had on their respective cities. Most developments are located in rural areas, making comparison difficult, but there are a few located in cities, though certainly none are as large or as ambitious as MUFI. Gateway Heights is one such development located in the southern side of Macon, Georgia. The project’s aim is primarily to remove blighted parcels and increase greenspace, as well as provide fresh produce to locals (34). While Macon might not be the hotspot for gentrification that larger cities are, it is still apparent from walking the streets of its in-town neighborhoods that it has become one of Georgia’s trendy cities. Agritopia is an example of a more fully developed agrihood, located in Gilbert, Arizona, in the southeastern side of the Phoenix metro area. Gilbert was once primarily an agricultural town, and their agrihoods appears to hearken back to these roots. Agritopia is transpa rently marketed as an upscale living community, with fresh, local produce as the biggest drawing factor. Homes sell for upwards of $300,000, and the website boasts a â€Å"connected† community, conjuring up images of Mayberry, a small town feel amongst luxury condominiums (32). The town of Gilbert has a median income nearly double that of Phoenix (31), so it is unlikely that the food produced in the agrihood is going to address real problems of food insecurity. It seems this model of community living might be here to stay, with Forbes even suggesting that agrihoods might be the millennial equivalent of golf course communities (36). Taking these examples into account makes it easier to see what MUFI can do to better assist its community. Perhaps the first thing that needs addressing is the way Gersh presents himself to the public. Certainly, the words, â€Å"I want to be Elon Musk when I grow up† don’t exactly inspire confidence in a city with a 34.5% poverty rate, 22.2% higher than the national average (10, 30, 31). Being located in Detroit means having an in-depth knowledge of the social and racial dynamics is essential to responding to the needs of the community and being a white outsider from Ann Arbor means treading carefully. A quick Google search of farming in Detroit shows MUFI being covered as at the forefront of the city’s agricultural scene, but a look at the history of â€Å"guerilla gardening† shows a vastly different picture. Local residents have been farming on vacant city properties since before it was legal, says Jerry Hebron of the Oakland Avenue Farm (10). Even now, local black farmers have a significantly more difficult time owning land and keeping their farms afloat than newcomers like Gersh. A prime example is Marc Peeples, a local gardener who tends to vegetables such as kale and radishes in the near-abandoned Hunt Playground in Detroit. Peeples was arrested after numerous police calls were made from white neighbors, accusing him of crimes ranging from vandalism to sexual assault. While it was eventually tossed out by the judge, his case stands testament to the racial inequity that remains in urban agriculture (33). While part of the reason that MUFI has been covered as particularly groundbreaking falls on the press coverage it has received, Gersh tends to not acknowledge the great work being done by long-time residents to address the existing community’s needs. Additionally, asking residents to sell their properties gave him a less-than-favorable reputation in the North End. Citizens there might be looking for a change, but blatant displacement likely isn’t the change they’re looking for. It is also clear that simply giving away produce is not enou gh to fix the problem of food insecurity that is largely a product of intentional disinvestment in the city of Detroit. Selling their food would be a small step but might enable MUFI to hire a small group of employees. Urban agriculture is rarely a large job creator, but it is surely better to do something on a small scale than to do nothing. Even without job creation, revenue from produce could enable them to provide resources to the community such as vocational training or after school programs. Their shipping container home is promising, but without the revenue to back it up, it seems their plan for development and revitalization lacks an affordable housing solution. A public timeline might be helpful in inspiring confidence within the community. Collaboration is another area in which it would benefit MUFI to improve. Many local farms, including the Oakland Avenue Farm, are working together to achieve a final goal of growing â€Å"two percent of the produce that’s consumed in the city (10).† MUFI has a massive production farming campus with the potential to do a significant amount of good if they turned their efforts to the city as a whole, rather than to the immediate surrounding housing development. The logistical issues of not owning the land, however, might not be as easily fixed as a bad reputation. Informal homesteading has played a large role in the history of urban farming, as local gardeners have been tending to plots of vacant land since before the l egality of it became clear. However, the possibility always exists that the city of Detroit might want to use that land for different kinds of development, and this could leave the future of MUFI uncertain. As the home values in the North End rise, it is possible that the city might prefer the higher revenues and greater number of jobs brought by retail establishments. This scenario has played out with other local farms before, and the result nearly always favors the larger, more profitable development. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this project, however, comes to light when we compare it to other agrihoods, such as Gilbert’s Agritopia. The very model itself, of building a community around agriculture, seems like a breeding ground for gentrification. Where other farms and community gardens seek to provide food to the existing population, MUFI appears to be attracting out-of-towners to a trendy, up-and-coming neighborhood where they can get locally grown, organic produce. Such development might work for wealthier towns and suburbs, but it is unlikely to do much for the North End other than displacement. The success of the redevelopment model is dependent on its ability to bring in new people. Other areas which have seen agriculture-centered development differ greatly from North End. Often, they are more rural, or at least suburban, than North End. They also tend not to have the same existing history of community farms, nor the same racial dynamics as Detroit. Whether t he area will become one of upscale houses and condominiums is yet to be seen, but property values continue to rise. It would be unfair to blame it entirely on Gersh’s enterprise, as the natural cycle of a neighborhood often includes some level of gentrification. It is possible for MUFI to remain a net positive force in the community, in my opinion, if they can revise their mission to put existing residents at the center of their redevelopment, and if they cease being active opposition to Vanguard and other organizations who seek to secure affordable or mixed income housing in the area. To sum up, focusing on neighborhood â€Å"revitalization† is unlikely to solve the problem of food insecurity. While attracting young homebuyers to the area might bring a Whole Foods or trendy fresh-produce eateries to the area, it is unlikely to bring affordably priced fresh foods into the city on a large scale. Fresh, healthy food is a great need in the North End, and the nonprofit has great potential to do good. However, as it stands now, the food produced might not continue to benefit existing residents. In order to do this, MUFI will have to shift its focus to collaboration with established, locally-owned farms, rather than property development wrapped in a shiny agricultural package.

Literary Analysis - 1773 Words

A Literary Analysis on Flanner O Connor s â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† Written by ShaLynn M. Andrews Flannery O Connor s short story, â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† is about a Georgia family on their way to Florida for a vacation and the day ending in disaster and murder. The story opens with the grandmother, also being the main character, trying to convince her son, Bailey, not to go to Florida; she had just read an article about a recently escaped convict, the Misfit, who was supposedly heading to Florida. The next morning, the family, including the grandmother, her son, her son s wife, their baby and two kids, along with the grandmother’s cat, leave for the vacation. Shortly into the story, the family stops for something to eat at†¦show more content†¦The grandmother, through her moment of religious grace, has seen the humanity of the Misfit and calls him â€Å"one of her babies†. According to an article by Jessica Hooten, the grandmother exemplifies â€Å"self-focus and self-righteousness [attitude]; she initiates every problem in the story from the first sentence: The grandmother didn t want to go to Florida (O Connor, 264).† Disregarding the desires of her family, the grandmother prioritizes her desire to stay home. Many literary critics see the grandmother as being a hypocritical, judgmental, manipulative, prideful instigator. In the novel, the grandmother â€Å"knew that Bailey [her son] would not be willing to lose any time looking at an old house, but the more she talked about it, the more she wanted to see it once again and find out if the little twin arbors were still standing.†There was a secret panel in this house,† she said craftily, not telling the truth but wishing that she were..† (O Connor, 268). Using this lie to excite and coax the children, she knew it would annoy Bailey enough to finally give in and the grandmother would get what she wants. In a recent article, Stanley Renner wrote that the view of the grandmother s moment of ascension â€Å"seems to demand more sympathy than the story grants her. The author has characterized the grandmother so that is is virtually impossible to say anything unquestionably good about her. One cannot even fall back on the excuse that she means well, since most of what sheShow MoreRelatedEssay on Literary Analysis on Revelation794 Words   |  4 Pages Literary Analysis â€Å"Revelation† Flannery O’Connor short story entitled â€Å"Revelation† was swayed by her personal upbringing in the South. She lived in the time where people from the South were very intolerant and narrow-minded towards people who had a different lifestyle and who were of a different race. Because Southerners believed people who did not live up to their wealth or status were inferior, it offered O’Connor the exact descriptions she wanted for the characters in this story. 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Influence of Listening Comprehension over Speaking Skills (Literature Review) free essay sample

On average, we can expect to listen twice as much as we speak, four times more than we read, and five times more than we write (Rivers, 1981; Weaver, 1972). The importance of listening and speaking cannot be underestimated; it is imperative that they not be treated lightly in second and foreign language curricula. However, listening and speaking are well recognized as critical dimensions in language learning, they remain the least understood processes. As a focus of instruction, listening continues to be underrated in many programs, and some of the recommended methods and techniques, as well as some of the published materials, continue to be based on outdated models of language learning and teaching. Students exposed to comprehensible input have better listening comprehension Since listening comprehension is the ability to understand quickly what an individual hears. Listening was originally seen as passive process, in which our ears receive information to digest the message. Now we recognize listening as an active process in which the learner has to comprehend what heard, so that listeners are as active when listening as speakers are when speaking. â€Å"The principal objective of the listening comprehension is to make learners able to understand, and respond appropriately to the language when they are exposed† Teacher’s handbook: contextualized language instruction (Judith L. Shrum, 2000:13, 14, 15) the author infers in the fact that the goal for listening comprehension is the learner to understand the language forms. Humans acquire language in only one way by understanding messages or by receiving â€Å"comprehensible input†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. The theory of Stephen Krashen supports greatly our research questions. The theory described that learners have to be exposed to language form they can understand and/or they are familiar to; otherwise, if learners do not comprehend what hear it will not help to improve their ability to decode the mess age. The theory infers on the fact that language has to be adapted to the level of the learners to give them a opportunity to respond and start interacting with the language. That is, input has to be neither difficult to understand nor too easy. Krashen explained that a learner has to be exposed to the immediate next level. Krashen stated â€Å"comprehensible input relies on the actual language forms being incomprehensible, not the total message†. This is called â€Å"incomprehensible input† which refers to the fact that a learner tries to guess the meaning of a whole phrase by relating al words in a sentence. Krashen claims that language acquisition occurs through understanding messages or, in other words, by receiving comprehensible input. In other words, according to Krashen’s view skills as listening or reading play the major role in the learning process, and, in contrast, the development of productive skills depends on the amount and type or input received. Listening is an important activity. Second language learners acquire a new language by hearing it in context where the meaning of sentences is made by guessing. Speaking is the result of the acquisition process through listening improvement. There are two specific approaches for listening acquisition. The first is called â€Å"intensive listening† considered as the material used in classrooms for the learners to hear some language forms, this is more practical for practicing a specific language form or structure. In contrast, the second approach, â€Å"extensive listening†, exposes the students to a real language directly; this gives the opportunity to hear so many different voices, so many different styles. It also helps to get used to the natural speed of the spoken language. There are two distinct kind of processes are involved in listening comprehension, which are referred to as ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’ processing† English Language Skills, (Mary Finocchiaro, 1966: 50-65). The author of this book states that there are two forms to acquire listening comprehension. The first, Bottom-up refers to the fact of receiving information about the meaning of a message, so comprehension begins when the message is received, in other words, thi s is an inductive approach by figuring out what the message is. An example of this process is found when analyzing a group of words said together and split them word by word as â€Å"abookofmine†, so the learner has to listen carefully and then comprehend each word said. On the contrary, Top-down processing refers to the use of background knowledge in understanding the meaning of a message. Background is the basis for this approach, and it may take different forms as previous knowledge, situational or contextual knowledge, or knowledge store in long term memory. For example, if an adult is seated in a classroom and children around him, an observer can assume that the adult is reading a story for the children. If this gets closer to listen what is happening this will confirm what he thought according to his previous knowledge. Listening comprehension takes place at the beginning stage when learning a new language. And, it can have different purposes, but the main one is to communicate efficiently in the second language. Learners speaking skills are the result of listening comprehension Speaking skills and the art of communications is a productive skill. Good speaking skills are the act of generating words that can be understood by listeners. A good speaker is clear and informative. To understand the nature of listening processes, it is important to consider the characteristics of speaking skills and problems learners may encounter. In comparison with writing skills, speaking skills have very different from writing, what you write can be erased and corrected, but what you speak although it can be immediately corrected the mistake was done anyways. â€Å"Speaking skill needs a strong input, and some ideas. Moreover, it requires psychological order of expression as well. All these things are necessary to give the speaker a confidence to express what he is going to communicate†. Teaching Oral English (Donn Byrne, 1976: 19, 20, 21). The most relevant purpose of communication is to convince the listeners of the point of view of the speaker. So the speaker should himself very much clear about his views point. No ambiguity of any kind and on any point should be there in his mind. He should be well-versed with the magnetic impact of the wording and its meaning. He should select appropriate words keeping in view the ability of the listeners. Furthermore, he can make his speech more effective with suitable illustration, proverbs and quotations. Truthfulness should be the axel of his speech. For the solid and for reaching impact he should avoid emotionalism as far as he can. Realities on ground have their own emotional aspect. He should keep his speech restricted to the ground realities. In 1985 Merril Swain developed the comprehensible output theory; â€Å"the word ‘output’ was used to indicate the outcome, or product, of the language acquisition process. Output was synonymous with ‘what the learner has learned’†. Speaking (Martin Bygale, 1987: 145-146). The output theory claims that the act of producing language (speaking) constitutes, under certain circumstances, part of the process of second language learning. This theory states that learners acquire language when they attempt to transmit a message but fail and have to try again. Moreover, this theory is divided in three steps; the first is when the learner faces to what this wants to say and what he is able to say, so here he notices what do not know or only knows a part of the language, then, the second steps lays in the fact when learner says something wrong and someone else corrects it, or give some feedback to the proper use of the language. And, finally, the third steps talks about that the learner use the language in his output, and this enables him to control and internalize some linguistic knowledge. An authentic oral communication in based in an authentic context The purpose of all language is to communicate people exchanging thoughts from one person to another. To communicate there must be one person to put something â€Å"out†, and another person must take something â€Å"in†. a language consists of four main skills, two for output and two for input. In other words, there are two skills for spoken communication and two for written communication. People learn their mother tongue, first learning to speak it and then writing it. Speaking is considered as real language and writing is just a representation. Moreover, within speaking skill we may find accuracy and fluency as the skills to develop while learning a language. â€Å"Primary focus is on the exchange of information (the transactional function of conversation), and those in which the primary purpose is to establish social relations† English Language Skills (Mary Finocchiaro, 1966: 67-68). The author infers about the importance of communication when exchanging information. Oral communication is well defined as a two way process between listener and speaker, involving the productive skill of speaking, and the receptive skill of understanding, comprehension. To understand better the process for good spoken language, we may say that it starts in the receptive skill of listening comprehension, then it becomes in productive skill when speaking. In deep, the ability to understand needs to be considerably more extensive than the ability to speak. So, every learning process should not be oriented to accelerate speaking, but first the focus must be listening comprehension because speaking will depend greatly on what the learner understands. â€Å"They (learners) have actually to learn to listen, just as they have to speak† Mary Finocchiaro Since oral communication has been defined as two-way process involving speakers and listeners, its explanation about how listening helps speaking is explained this way by Paulette Dale in his book Speech Communication (2006: 78, 79, 80). â€Å"A language is learned by listening someone else speaks. And the learner tries to repeat, although could not make it right at first time; but if the learner keeps trying, this will be able to speak fluently at the end of the process†. As explained above, the author agrees with others experts about giving more emphasis to listening skills when learning a new language for learners may develop speaking skills. Listening comprehension becomes in a priority when learning to speak a new language. A learner can use his vocabulary and express some ideas, but when listening to reply this may not be able to do it. That is why learners must be prepared to comprehend words which are a part of the speaker vocabulary. In order to handle a conversation, a learner must be competent in listening comprehension than speaking, specifically when talking to native person of that language. Attempting to speak before listening comprehension is acquired may cause problems in speaking, the most outstanding issue lays on the fact that the learner will not develop the speaking properly and will have troubles either with accuracy, or fluency, even both. Beside, learner may get frustrated if his speaking is not good or feels that have some obstacles, and this will not improve the skill, instead this may be a detractor in his learning process. Comprehensible input is very important in the language acquisition process. it builds a listening comprehension through listening materials that have to be selected after a research to adequate it to learners level, an immediate level for them to start developing new vocabulary and language forms. Listening comprehension of a foreign language has to be developed as a single skill, and that development of linguistic competence is facilitated when training in oral production is not attempted until considerably fluency in listening comprehension has been developed. The language acquisition process can be made less extensive and more productive by working first in enhancing listening comprehension rather than speaking skills. UNIVERSITY OF EL SALVADOR DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE SEMINAR I LITERATURE REVIEW