Today I learned something that cracked open the cosmos a little wider: the phrase “Slutty Detective”—the name of my beloved character Kandy Fontaine, the lipstick-smeared, truth-sniffing, sex-positive sleuth—originates in the writing of Kathy Acker.
Yes, that Kathy Acker. The literary anarchist. The punk priestess of cut-up prose and radical identity. In Empire of the Senseless, she wrote:
“I was a slutty detective in a city of mirrors.” And just like that, the lineage snapped into place. I wasn’t just riffing—I was channeling.
This is more than coincidence. It’s a revelation. A reminder that queer art is a palimpsest of rebellion, a collage of voices screaming across time. My work, my characters, my obsessions—they’re part of a living archive of resistance.
I’ve been honored to share pages with Danielle Willis, Allen Ginsberg, Patrick Califia, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Poppy Z. Brite, Jan Steckel, Thomas S. Roche, Carol Queen, and Amelia G.—writers who didn’t just write queer stories, they rewrote reality. They made space for the freaks, the lovers, the gender outlaws, the sacred sluts. In the Foreword to my recent collection The Doom Hippies III: A Great Variety of Monsters, Weird Fiction legend Jeffrey Thomas compares me to the late, great Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. and William S. Burroughs himself.
And I’ve collaborated with Kari Lee Krome, the co-founder of The Runaways with Joan Jett, on songs and stories, some of which can be found in my recent collections. The songs were her and I-an absolutely surreal dream come true for someone who has admired Kari’s work for decades and spoke about it in class as a college comp instructor. The stories-Department of Youth, for example-are still being written; those were directly suggested by her when she would pop up on my Facebook message feed and call me “Mister.” If I’m lyin’ I’m dyin.
In my Queer Voices interview with Stephanie Magister, I spoke of the need for creative disruption. And now, in this age of Trump, where MAGA dreams of erasure and conformity, we must respond with radical queer anarchy. We must be slutty detectives in cities of mirrors, exposing hypocrisy, decoding oppression, and seducing truth out of hiding.
On The Smol Bear Show, I sat with cyberculture pioneer Ken Goffman (aka R.U. Sirius), a close associate of William S. Burroughs and Kathy Acker, and with Marc Olmsted, the post-Beat poet whose friendship with Allen Ginsberg spanned decades. We spoke of memory, myth, and the power of art to mutate minds.
This is our moment.
We must write like our bodies are on fire. We must create like the world depends on it—because it does. We must be unapologetically queer, defiantly erotic, and intellectually feral.
Let the slutty detective rise. Let her lipstick be warpaint. Let her trench coat be armor. Let her questions be knives.
We are the resistance. We are the remix. We are the revelation.
FACTORS FOR DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE
Shahrisabz State Pedagogical Institute
Lecturer: Rayimova Dilfuza Abdinabiyevna
Abstract This article discusses the theoretical foundations of developing students’ communication competence, the importance of mastering their native language and improving the level of speech communication skills, and highlights the system of professionally significant qualities. It also emphasizes the need to focus on methodological support for diagnosing professional mastery.
Keywords language education, ability to communicate, fostering the quality of enjoying communication, cultivating aesthetic education, developing independent thinking. The aim is to enhance student competence through such communication.
Main Part Taking into account that language develops as society progresses, the issue of enriching native language teaching with new developmental methods is becoming increasingly relevant. Students should be taught that learning and teaching the secrets of our native language through interactive and innovative methods, while ensuring deep and nationally rooted understanding, is necessary. In higher educational institutions, it is important to ensure the continuity of teaching the Uzbek language, strengthen students’ orthographic and stylistic literacy, and create mechanisms to raise language skills and communication competence to an advanced level.
The necessity of implementing reforms and modernizing the content of native language (Uzbek) education at all levels of schooling is essential. This enables students of higher education institutions to further develop their abilities of deep thinking, listening, and communicating in their mother tongue, while also applying innovative educational technologies in this process. Uzbek pedagogical scholars have underlined that developing students into well-rounded individuals requires systematic scientific-theoretical approaches.
In Uzbekistan, purposeful and systematic measures are being carried out to improve the content and thematic quality of Uzbek language education as the national and state language.
For example, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor U.I. Inoyatov emphasizes the theoretical and organizational-methodological foundations of monitoring and managing the quality of education, stressing that one of the important factors in professional and human thinking is language and speech competence. Methodologist M. Sobirova’s fundamental research explores theoretical and practical aspects of improving professional specialization. Researcher O.A. Abduquddusov addresses integrative approaches in training young and future specialists, focusing on solutions to the problems of thinking, language, and speech. D. Yuldasheva highlights the problem of preparing specialists with professional mastery and eloquent speech. Scholars such as Ibragimova G., Azimova I., Ziyodullayeva G., and Murodova A. explore issues such as developing interactive creativity, the psycholinguistic basis for improving linguistic skills in native language teaching, the role of rule systems in shaping communicative competence, and the importance of listening and comprehension in native language learning.
Teaching our national language requires clearly explaining and instilling the unique lifestyle, ethnography, and traditions of the Uzbek people that are preserved in the language. For this, it is essential to effectively use comparison, contrast, and generalization methods and technologies in teaching. It is the duty of a native language teacher to ensure that students understand the essence of concepts and terms, which are linguistic units. Therefore, a university teacher must themselves fully master Uzbek language and speech competence.
Based on the theoretical foundations of developing communication skills among university students, it can be said that language and speech etiquette are the essence of Uzbek national life. In any time, place, or society where good behavior and proper speech prevail among members of the community, that society prospers, its living conditions improve, and peace reigns.
When addressing the issue of improving students’ knowledge of their native language and communication skills, attention should first be directed toward identifying the system of professionally important qualities. This serves as both the basis and the methodological provision for diagnosing the dynamic individuality of a professionally skilled person.
Naturally, communication has several functions. The most frequently used is the conversation between interlocutors, beginning with greetings and extending to the highest levels of communication. National characteristics also dominate communication. Among Uzbeks, from a simple and sincere greeting to parting, such features are clearly visible.
Another important aspect of communication is that it encourages activity. Particularly in the educational process, communication creates activity. To meet the need for communication, a person must master the art of speech and etiquette. Communication is carried out through verbal expression.
In our wise nation, there are many proverbs and teachings about the rules of speaking, caution in the use of language, and the importance of thinking before uttering every word and sentence. One such saying states that a person’s honor and dignity are reflected in their cultured way of speaking. If one does not follow the etiquette of speech, their humanity will not be visible. If speech is expressed appropriately and meaningfully, it is better to listen in silence. Mastery of literary language requires not only spelling but also correct pronunciation, as these are two sides of the same coin. Deviating from literary pronunciation norms is equivalent to semi-literacy in writing.
The structural elements of speech communication include:
a) transmitting communicative information;
b) acting in interactive cooperation;
c) jointly perceiving in a perceptive way.
For example, in the communicative process, when a teacher explains a topic, they first set a communicative goal and then demand interactive actions (cooperation) from students. In practical and seminar classes, as well as lectures, the teacher addresses students with various questions and evaluates them accordingly. Most students show activity in this regard, though some find it very difficult to raise their hands and answer. A student forced to respond may show uncertainty in speech at the very communicative stage. Or, even if both sides act interactively, if they do not perceive the expressed idea together, the perceptive aspect of communication is disrupted, leading to poor comprehension of the lesson. Neglecting these aspects during communication results in misunderstanding.
Therefore, developing students’ speech communication culture should be determined in advance as parameters in the form of knowledge, skills, and abilities aligned with small-scale objectives. For example, the content of dialogue replicas forms separate units. Verbal communication is not limited to questions and answers; it also includes listening to the interlocutor, asking counter-questions, rejecting questions, encouraging action, making proposals, and so on. This requires the use of various lexical and grammatical tools and formulaic sentences. Hence, mastering speech communication (dialogue) requires a broad approach.
Our observations show that most sentences constructed and presented by students have logical connections, but the normative level of words and grammatical forms used to construct syntactic structures does not fully meet the requirements. Cases were observed where auxiliary words, word-forming, form-building, and syntactic relation-forming affixes were not used appropriately. To improve students’ native language knowledge and communication skills, teachers should encourage them to read more literary books, do more writing exercises, and develop the habit of working with dictionaries.
Therefore, developing students’ speech communication culture should be determined in advance as parameters in the form of knowledge, skills, and abilities aligned with small-scale objectives. For example, the content of dialogue replicas forms separate units. Verbal communication is not limited to questions and answers; it also includes listening to the interlocutor, asking counter-questions, rejecting questions, encouraging action, making proposals, and so on. This requires the use of various lexical and grammatical tools and formulaic sentences. Hence, mastering speech communication (dialogue) requires a broad approach.
Our observations show that most sentences constructed and presented by students have logical connections, but the normative level of words and grammatical forms used to construct syntactic structures does not fully meet the requirements. Cases were observed where auxiliary words, word-forming, form-building, and syntactic relation-forming affixes were not used appropriately. To improve students’ native language knowledge and communication skills, teachers should encourage them to read more literary books, do more writing exercises, and develop the habit of working with dictionaries.
In higher education institutions, developing the speech competence of future specialists is crucial for encouraging creativity, carrying out projects, and fostering literary reading and writing practices. Developing students’ communication culture should be set in advance as parameters in the form of knowledge, skills, and abilities aligned with small-scale objectives.
From modern requirements, we can identify the following main ways and requirements for developing language and speech competence of future specialists, based on the content of education:
1. A specialist with sectoral scientific-theoretical training and creativity must possess speech competence.
2. Engaging in scientific-research and experimental activities, they must be able to express the realities of their work in both written and oral forms appropriate to speech styles.
3. When introducing new technologies, they must be able to fully explain and demonstrate their specific features using professional terminology.
4. Through modern electronic media, they must be able to express virtual communication clearly, simply, concisely, and without vagueness, using national and professional styles. They must ensure the clarity and validity of information through the words they use.
Conclusion
The successful resolution of political, economic, and social tasks in society largely depends on how well each member of society knows their native language and can apply it in practice—that is, in speech situations, environments, and among people of different social groups—freely, clearly, simply, and fluently.
Cultivating in students the ability to communicate correctly, fluently, and meaningfully, while at the same time enhancing their aesthetic taste and developing their independent thinking capacity, is one of the key tasks in achieving communicative literacy and developing student competence.
References
1. www.namspi.uzuniversaljurnal.uz INNOVATIONS. Materials of the Republican Scientific-Practical Conference. Namangan, October 10–11, 2024. Presidential Decree No. 5850 on measures to fundamentally enhance the prestige and status of the state language.
2. Inoyatov U.I. Theoretical and Organizational-Methodological Bases of Monitoring the Quality of Education in Professional Colleges. Dissertation. Tashkent, 2003. p. 327.
3. Xalikova Sh. Problems of Improving Education and Science. Qarshi, 2022. pp. 558–560.
4. Sobirova M. Teaching Language Phenomena on the Basis of an Anthropocentric Approach. International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education (INT-JECSE), Vol. 14, Issue 07, 2022. DOI: 10.9756/INTJECSE/V14I7.91.
Self-discipline is one of the key factors that helps students succeed in their academic life. While intelligence and talent are important, they are not always enough to achieve good results. Students who can control their time always achieve their goals with self-discipline. This article discusses how self-discipline affects students’ academic performance. The article also explains that self-discipline can be developed through daily routines, goal setting, and good time management.
Introduction:
Many people think that success in education depends only on intelligence or talent. However, it is clear that self-discipline can also be the main factor in learning something new. Self-discipline means the ability to stay focused, work regularly, and continue studying even when it is hard. This paper asks: how does self-discipline help students achieve better academic results?
Literature Review:
Many researchers agree that self-discipline is a strong factor in education. For example, Brian Tracy, a well-known writer, explained that passion and perseverance are often more important than intelligence. According to his book named “No Excuses”, we are what we repeatedly do; excellence then is not an act but a habit. Other studies show that students with high self-discipline usually finish their tasks on time and get better grades. Self-discipline helps them build habits like daily studying, avoiding social media distractions, and preparing early for exams. These habits are key to success in education.
Methodologies to Learn Self-Discipline:
It is obvious that self-discipline is an ability that can be learned step by step. Actually, there are many effective ways to study with self-discipline. First of all, students should define their own goals and make a plan for their daily activities. Then, they must do them without any excuses. Of course, it will not be easy in the first week, but if they do not give up, self-discipline will become a simple and powerful habit.
The Result:
The results show that students with good self-discipline usually have higher grades. They spend less time on distractions and more time on useful activities like reading or preparing for exams. These students also reported that they felt more motivated and less stressed. On the other hand, students with low self-discipline often postponed their tasks, felt anxious, and achieved lower results.
Discussion:
The findings suggest that self-discipline is very important for academic success. While intelligence and talent help students, they are not enough without discipline. Self-discipline allows students to use their time wisely, stay organized, and keep going even when they face difficulties. However, many students struggle with self-discipline because of distractions, especially phones and social media. Teachers and parents can help students by encouraging time management, creating study schedules, and supporting their goals.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, self-discipline is a key factor in students’ success. It helps them control their time, build positive study habits, and achieve better results. The good news is that self-discipline is not something we are simply born with — it can be learned and improved. Therefore, schools and families should help students to develop this skill so that they can succeed not only in their academic life but also in their future life.
References
Tracy, B. (2010). No excuses: The power of self-discipline. Vanguard Press.
Duckworth, A. L., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents. Psychological Science.
Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a self-regulated learner: An overview. Theory Into Practice.
Baumeister, R. F., & Vohs, K. D. (2007). Self-regulation, ego depletion, and motivation. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 1(1)
Dilshoda Jurayeva
Future linguist | Article writer
Debate Speaker
Dilshoda Jurayeva, born on January 30,2008 in Jondor, Bukhara region of Uzbekistan , is a diligent language learner .
She began her academic journey at school No 25 and this year she graduated with good grades. During her school years she made it to Cefr from English and national certifications from Mother Tongue and History. Then, she was accepted to the faculty of philology and teaching languages of Bukhara State University with the maximum score – 189
Also, she is an active member of the Ibrat debate project right now. Besides that she participated various online/offline projects like SwapUp, Yk as a participant in her school years.
Grzegorz Wróblewski was born in 1962 in Gdańsk and grew up in Warsaw. Since 1985 he has been living in Copenhagen. English translations of his work are available in Our Flying Objects (trans. Joel Leonard Katz, Rod Mengham, Malcolm Sinclair, Adam Zdrodowski, Equipage, 2007), A Marzipan Factory (trans. Adam Zdrodowski, Otoliths, 2010), Kopenhaga (trans. Piotr Gwiazda, Zephyr Press, 2013), Let’s Go Back to the Mainland (trans. Agnieszka Pokojska, Červená Barva Press, 2014), Zero Visibility (trans. Piotr Gwiazda, Phoneme Media, 2017), Dear Beloved Humans (trans. Piotr Gwiazda, Lavender/Dialogos Books, 2023), I Really Like Lovers of Poetry (trans. Grzegorz Wróblewski & Marcus Silcock Slease, Červená Barva Press, 2024), Tatami in Kyoto (Literary Waves Publishing, 2024). Asemic writing book Shanty Town (Post-Asemic Press, 2022), asemic object Asemics (zimZalla, 2025).
