Effectiveness: Communication and Team Members Essay

Aims / details: The primary purpose of the report is for you to work with three other people and undertake a study of an organization – the steps for establishing team performance plans, the development and facilitation of team cohesion, the facilitation of teamwork and, liaising with stakeholders. Reviewing the effectiveness of teams within an organization is imperative so that opportunities for improvements may be identified and investigated. The study necessitates an evaluation of an organization’s policies, procedures, processes and resources – whether they are sufficient, or whether additional arrangements need to be looked into. The study may reveal a need for: more documentation, infrastructural changes and/or employee requirements. During your study of the organisation you must consider the following: how are team members consulted about their roles, responsibilities and accountabilities; how do team members develop performance plans; how are team members supported in achieving performance outcomes; what are the strategies, policies and procedures to ensure team member participation; how is feedback about team member efforts provided; what are the processes for raising and addressing concerns; how are team members encouraged to take responsibility for team activities; how does the contributions of team members serve as a role model; how are communication processes established and maintained; what are the arrangements for communicating information; what are the arrangements for communicating issues and problems; how is corrective action evaluated and taken to resolve those issues and problems. From the information that is gathered, you will also be required to make recommendations for improving the problem areas that you may have identified. It will be crucial for you to liaise and interview the appropriate key personnel for this report. These may be: employees, the chief executive officer, direct superiors, other management representatives, board members,  business or government contacts, funding bodies, union/employee groups and representatives and work teams. Elements / performance criteria: This workplace related report would assess all the topics of the module Ensure Team Effectiveness. The assessment is done holistically. Remarks: This assignment must be presented in a report form and Presented professionally – bound or presented in a file. Include an assignment cover sheet, table of contents, introduction, body, recommendation/conclusion, and in the bibliography use the Chicago style referencing (refer to Summers, J and Smith, B 2004, Communication Skills Handbook. How to succeed in written and oral communication, Wiley, Queensland, Australia, Chapter 2). As a guide, the report should be approximately 10 to 12 pages-this excludes the bibliography / any other attachments. Typed/font size 12 (Times New Roman) or 10 (Arial) Margins to be 2.5 cm all round. Line Spacing – 1  ½ BRIEF REASONS must be given to support the points raised in your report. The project (report) will be marked according to the headings / guidelines as provided in the DAS – the outline of what are to be included. Note that each report may contain different details –as each organization may have different systems, procedures, processes and programs etc. You are expected to be able to aptly apply the concepts to a real life situation. Granted that there will always be a degree of difficulty in assessing all the details of any company, a fair amount of secondary data and ‘common sense’ will be needed in working through this project. The company that you are choosing to ‘study’ must be willing to be interviewed / provide information where necessary. Actual information on the organisation and relevant information of organizations in a similar industry must also be available / able to be obtained. The following headings could be used in your report. You could also choose to have your own ‘headings’ and /or add additional headings / sub- headings as you deem appropriate. The notes following the headings provide some guidance of the kinds of information and analysis that would need to be considered. Group Report Provide an appropriate title (as it relates to the organisation under study) Suggested headings For report – EnSURE TEAM EFFECTIVENESS (name of organisation) 1. Introduction Provide an overview of what this report entails – include aspects of the purpose of your report and what the report entails. You should also briefly include a brief overview of the organisation (for example, its name, type of business etc) 2. Sources of information Outline the various sources of information that you used to gather your information. Such sources could include gathering information from primary sources (e.g. the relevant personnel in the company- personally and via questionnaires) and secondary sources (e.g. company reports, documents). Include copies of your interviews as an appendix in the report. 3. Develop Headings and Sub-headings Clearly describe what is included/considered (keeping in mind the Module Topics, required knowledge and required skills). a) Establish Team Performance Plan Explain the mechanisms that the organization has in place for consulting with team members to establish a common understanding of team purpose, roles, responsibilities and accountabilities in accordance with organizational goals, plans and objectives Briefly outline the steps and procedures that the organization has to develop performance plans to establish expected outcomes, outputs, key performance indicators and goals for work team Describe the steps/procedures that the organization has to support team members in meeting expected performance outcomes b) Develop and Facilitate Team Cohesion Briefly outline / summarize the strategies the organisation has in place to ensure team members have input into planning, decision making and operational aspects of work team Explain the steps that the organisation has in place to develop policies and procedures to ensure team members take responsibility for own work and assist others to undertake required roles and responsibilities Describe the arrangements that the organization has to provide feedback to team members to encourage, value and reward individual and team efforts and contributions Summarize the steps/procedures that the organization has to develop processes to ensure that issues, concerns and problems identified by team members are recognized and addressed Include copies of the organization’s policies, procedures and codes of practice in the appendix of the report. If these are not available, you should note these and make suitable recommendations on how these deficiencies should be addressed. c) Facilitate Teamwork Explain the steps that the organisation has in place to encourage team members and individuals to participate in and to take responsibility for team activities, including communication processes Describe the procedures  that the organization has to support the team in identifying and resolving work performance problems Briefly describe the arrangements that the organisation has to ensure own contribution to work team serves as a role model for others and enhances the organization’s image for all stakeholders d) Liaise with Stakeholders Explain the processes that the organisation has in place to establish and maintain open communication with all stakeholders Describe the steps that the organization has in place to communicate information from line manager/management to the team Outline/summarize the arrangements that the organization has in place to communicate unresolved issues, concerns and problems raised by team members and follow-up with line manager/management and other relevant stakeholders Briefly explain the provisions of the organisation to evaluate and take necessary corrective action regarding unresolved issues, concerns and problems raised by internal or external stakeholders 4. Recommendations & Conclusion Briefly summarize your findings Outline the problem areas that have been identified.  Explain whether the current procedures, processes, activities and resources in the organization are sufficient, or whether additional arrangements might need to be looked into. Indicate what those arrangements are (i.e. more documentation, infrastructural changes and/or employee requirements)

Text Analysis of the Epic of Gilgamesh

Jill Seymour HST 197 Dr. Smith September 17, 2012 Text Analysis of The Epic of Gilgamesh The question I thought about while reading this text was what the role is for women, and how their actions and descriptions reveal Mesopotamian attitudes concerning gender. The female gender was not highly looked upon during these times. The only time you see a respected female figure is when the mother of a son is being talked about. Any other time females are being talked about, they are portrayed with vulgar characteristics and seen as simply being there to serve the man.I will go through both ways the women are being portrayed, and relate them back to how they reveal Mesopotamian culture. The main woman character in this story is Ishtar. Ishtar is the goddess of love, fertility, and war; the Queen of Heaven. Normally when you think of the word goddess, a majestic and noble type of being comes to mind. Ishtar is portrayed as the complete opposite in The Epic of Gilgamesh. The first time she co mes into play she uses the characteristics of a prostitute to lure in the man that she wants, which at the time is Enkidu. Ishtar is told â€Å"make your breasts bare, have no shame.Let him see you naked, let him possess your body† (Sandars, 3). It then goes on to say that â€Å"she was not ashamed to take him, she made herself naked and welcomed his eagerness† (Sandars, 4). Before she is told to lay with Enkidu, the story explains that this is not the first man she has done this to. Ishtar is being used for this, because she is known to have her way with the men and they don’t know how to tell her no because of her beauty. The way Ishtar is seen relates back to Mesopotamian culture in showing that women were not very important in society.They were mainly there to serve the man and to reproduce. They were looked at in two ways; the daughter of her father, or the wife of her husband. At an early age girls were trained to do the roles of a good wife and mother. It was not frowned upon in their culture for women to be at the mercy of the men. Women were able to own property and have jobs outside of the home, but that decreased when more distinct social classes arose in the second millennium. â€Å"Husbands gained authority in the household and benefited from the marriage and divorce laws† (Bulliet, 18).Even the law was against women and helped out the male gender in almost every situation. The next time she comes into play, we are seeing similar characteristics of her trying to lure in the man she wants when she is trying to get Gilgamesh to marry her. â€Å"Come to me Gilgamesh,† she says, â€Å"make me your bridegroom; grant me seed of your body† (Sandars, 25). She tells him she will give him anything he can possibly imagine if he would only marry her. When Gilgamesh refuses the offer we see a different side of Ishtar.She starts being portrayed as evil and self-centered. Ishtar goes to her father in tears saying to kill Gilgamesh for refusing her proposal or she will let all of hell break free, literally. Even marriage in the Mesopotamian culture benefitted the man more than the woman. â€Å"A man normally took just one wife, but he could obtain a second if the first gave him no children† (Bulliet, 18). The woman was to be a servant, of sorts, to the husband, and was expected to give him children. Later they became a way to keep wealth in the family by arranged marriages. Kings and rich men had several wives. Marriage alliances arranged between families made women instruments for preserving and enhancing family wealth† (Bulliet, 18). Even here they are referred to as â€Å"instruments†, and not given the respect of a human being. If the woman didn’t bare children, she was easily replaceable. If the woman came from a wealthy family, or her family wanted to become wealthy, they would arrange a marriage for her to gain or keep wealth in the family. On the other hand, women weren’t always looked at in this manner.Gilgamesh respected his mother very much so, and would go to her for advice. His mother, Ninsun, is said to be a minor goddess, but she is noted in a couple different places for her wisdom. â€Å"Now Gilgamesh got up to tell his dream to his mother, Ninsun, one of the wise gods† (Sandars, 5). In Mesopotamian culture, even the women gods were respected by the people. They thought them all to be wise and would seek their guidance in certain situations. Their religious beliefs brought this respect, and in some ways fear, to honor the gods so they would be gracious in return. Religious beliefs instilled fear of the gods, who could alter the landscape, and desire to appease them† (Belliet, 19). The Mesopotamians believed that the gods were human like in form, but that if they were to be unhappy by something the people did, they could alter anything in their lives, and in some cases even kill them. Overall, women were not looked at then the same ways they are looked at today. The cultural norm for women was to serve the men with their bodies and in their actions. If they did not give the man the children he wanted, she could be replaced.At an early age they were being trained to have the skills of a good wife and mother. It was not frowned upon for a man to have more than one wife. This did not happen often until around the second mullinium, but was quite oftenly seen with the kings and rich men. The another way the women were used in this society was to keep or gain wealth for her family. The families would arrange the marriages for her daughter, and she would have to make sure to keep her husband happy so she was not replaced. The gods and goddesses were feared and respected on the other hand.They were able to manipulate what would happen in the people’s lives, so they made sure to keep them happy; even the women were kept happy in this sense. Mesopotamian culture wasn’t too far off from how some things are looked at in today’s society, but women were not very important in their society. They were only there for few reasons, and if they didn’t meet those expectations they were replaceable. Today we would say that is unjust and against our rights, but that is a privilege we now have in our country that those women were not able to achieve. Aren’t we glad to live in today’s society where men and women have equal rights?

Evangelium Vitae or the Gospel of Life Essay

Imagine yourself, man or woman, feeling as though you’re in love with somebody. You feel not only a great obligation, pressured by society, but an urge to be sexually active with this individual. You go along with this urge, and the next thing you know, you’re expected to have a child as a result of your actions. You’re young, naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve, scared, poor; whatever the situation may be. You don’t know what to do. You’ve never thought that you would ever put yourself in this situation and you’re extremely frightened. You have heard about some people that have had abortions before, and they turned out to be fine. You have also heard that you can get an abortion in secret and on top of that for free, while also being completely legal. On the other hand, you have been raised to be pro-life and to never even think about having an abortion. You have to make a choice. Do you have the ethics, morals, and in essence, the faith to make the right choi ce; the right choice of course being the realization that abortion, in actuality, is murder, and to go against that sin and to have the child. I reflected upon these questions and asked myself if I had the faith myself to make the right choice. I wondered if I would really, truly be able to make the right decision. I thought that I could decide on the right thing, but I still didn’t fully understand everything about why the church teaches this. After doing research about this topic I got much better insight about understanding fully why we believe this. I don’t believe this now. Just because I’m supposed to, but I now believe this because I understand the wisdom and knowledge put forth to this subject over thousands of years. I know now that, besides not even getting into the situation itself, but that I would be able to make the right choice if I, or somebody I knew, was ever involved in a situation like that. I would be able to make the right choice and back up my conscience with knowledge. â€Å"I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly† (Jn 10:10). These words are the epitome of the revealed truth of God. It reflects all that we believe about life, death, and the power of the sanctifying Spirit. This eternal life, the life in which we are all called to live and protect, is the good news of Jesus Christ. It is at the dawn of our salvation, calling us to live righteously. In the first Chapter of Evangelium Vitae, or the Gospel of Life, written by Pope John Paul II in 1995, we see the good news of Jesus Christ itself. It reflects upon the present day threats to human life. Along with it, there is a parallel with the story of Cain and Abel, which is the root of violence against life. In today’s society, there are extremely numerous amounts of threats to human life, which the Gospel of Life spells out. It is impossible to catalogue the vast array of threats to human life because there are so many different forms. These forms are, much of the time, hidden. The most obvious is the legal right itself to perform certain procedures that are immoral and against our beliefs. Violence against life does not just include abortion. Violence against life can be a number of differing subjects. Euthanasia, murder of any type, slaughter, war, genocide, etc. are major types of violence against life as well as abortion. Furthermore, there are threats in today’s society, such as children forced into poverty, malnutrition, and hunger because of unjust distributing of resources between social classes. This goes along with violence of wars, which much of the time is bloody. There is also the spreading of death caused by reckless tempering with the world’s ecological balance, by the criminal spreading of drugs, or by the promotion of certain kinds of sexual activity, which is socially unacceptable, but also the many diseases that go along with this is dangerous and a threat to one’s life. The problem with our society today is that the immoral and life-threatening acts which are acted out are no longer considered unjust â€Å"crimes† anymore. They are, in today’s society, considered â€Å"rights†. This example can be shown through the acts of being pro-life or pro-choice. A pro-choice individual may feel that they have a right to choose what is good for them. The truth is veiled and hidden from them. It is not necessarily their fault that they do not know what they’re doing is wrong and sinful, but it can be a problem that lay within our culture. Our culture hides the sin and makes the woman believe that it is her right to choose what she wants. She doesn’t realize that it is really a crime that she is committing. She doesn’t understand that it is not her right to choose what she desires; it is God’s choice to choose what is right for her. By directly disobeying the Lord, She is committing a serious sin. Our culture, through our government, is hiding this and underplaying this sin by disguising it with words that have fallacious euphemisms as â€Å"rights† instead of â€Å"crimes†. At this basis, we find the source of the predicament our society is in today. Our culture openly practices these things, causing the immorality of it to be disguised or hidden. This is an â€Å"eclipse† of sin, which is very alarming in my eyes, to our culture today. We are headed in the wrong direction, a direction where justification, acceptance, and the proliferation of wrongdoings is becoming more and more prevalent from decade to decade. Human beings today attack life as if it were nothing and this spreading can crash our culture into a spiral fall into sin and ultimately spinning out of control into hell. The fact that attacks on life are spreading greatly and are receiving great support from the general culture is a powerfully despondent thought. This is also supported by broad, widespread legal approval of the involvement of certain sectors of health-care personnel. The reality of it is, the twentieth century will have been an era of massive attacks on life, or endless series of war, and a continual tacking of innocent human life, unless we put an end to these sins and make it known the evil, depravity, and corruption of these ideals. The two most flagrant enemies of present day threats to human life are abortion and euthanasia. Abortion is well-known, and is the work of the devil himself. Many have a feeling of constraint when talking about abortion because it is such a touchy subject. The fact of the matter is abortion is killing. It is paralleled with how Cain rose up against his brother and killed him. It is the same as taking a gun and shooting your baby daughter, brother, son, sister, mother, father, anybody. It is a complete sin, attacking God himself. For the Jewish people, blood is the source of life, and life, especially human life, is in the hands of God and belongs to God alone. By this fact, when one attack’s life, he or she in some way is attacking God himself. Just as Cain tried to justify his means of killing his brother and hiding it by saying â€Å"Am I my brother’s keeper?† many justify their means of killing and hiding it by acting naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve toward the subject. Cain does not like to think about his brother that he killed and refuses to accept responsibility for it. This can be the same way that we, in society as a whole, refuse to accept responsibility for our brothers. Again, just as God did not leave the crime of Cain unpunished, he also punishes us, accept our price we will pay in the heavenly kingdom. Euthanasia goes along with these hidden crimes of violence. Euthanasia is murder as well, just as is abortion. Our culture tends to include the lack of solidarity towards the weakest members of society. We sometimes have a misleading thought that pain and suffering should not be associated with death. We think that just because one is able to end a life to avoid suffering that he or she should avoid it. We think that, if the life would require greater recognition or time, that love is considered useless, and is actually considered a burden. This leads to the rejection of the life. A person who, because of a certain illness, being handicapped, or just because they are existing, makes one think that it compromises the well-bring or life-style of those who are living without assistance. This is a lie from the devil and you cannot fall into his trickery. Sometimes, the Catholic Church is accused of being pro-choice, and pro-abortion, just because it is against the use of contraception. This may be that many people use contraception with a view to stop the temptation of abortion. In fact these thoughts themselves strengthen this temptation when an unwanted life in conceived because of its negative values that go along with it. The pro-abortion culture is especially strong when the Church teaches that contraception is bad. When reflecting on these two acts, the church teaches that contraception and abortion are two different and distinct evils. Contraception is a contradiction to the real truth of sexuality as an act of proper conjugal love of a married man and woman. It is opposed to the virtue of chastity in marriage and it warps the minds of individuals to make them believe that, just because they can have intercourse without being married means that they should. Abortion on the other hand destroys the life of a human being. It directly disobeys God’s commandment â€Å"You shall not kill.† Life starts at the moment of conception, not when the baby starts to grow. But, even though these two ideas are evil, they are still closely connected as â€Å"fruits of the same tree†. Contraception and abortion are practiced with the pressures of your peers, real life situations, and a society that accepts these things are â€Å"normal†. These things have to be taught from the beginning that they are wrong. Another present day crisis that is used against life is the demographic question. There are many different parts of the world with different cultures, but it is still a sin to kill, no matter where the killing is taking place. In some poorer countries over-population occurs. Programs of cultural development and distribution of anti-birth policies are being formed. Contraception, sterilization, and abortion are certainly part of the reason why in some cases there is a very steep decline in the birthrate. It is not hard for these cultures to use the methods that attack lives when there is a situation of â€Å"demographic explosion†. An example of where this is prevalent is China. China has a one-child policy of birth planning. The Chinese government puts it under the pretext of a â€Å"Family planning policy†. It officially restricts the number of children married couples can have to one. A spokesperson of the Committee on the One-Child Policy has said that about 35.9% of China’s population is currently subject to the one-child restriction. The Chinese government introduced this policy to alleviate social, economic, and environmental problems in China. Authorities claim that the policy has prevented more than 250 million births from its implementation to the year 2000.1 This goes against everything we believe. This is because of the negative economic and social consequences the policy introduces, such as forced abortions and female infanticide, which is the probably cause of China’s significant gender imbalance. This shows that the government is a huge concern for the future of our culture. The Pharaoh of the Old Testament did the same thing. He ordered that every male child born of the Hebrew women were to be killed (Ex 1:7-22), due to the increase of children in Israel. These sins are very prevalent throughout our world and for the sake of our future, need to be stopped. God asks Cain, â€Å"Where is your brother Abel?† Cain answers â€Å"I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?† (Gen 4:9). The answer to this is yes. Each of us has a moral obligation to take responsibility for watching over our brothers. This is because God instructs us to watch over our brothers. He gives us the freedom to choose to watch over our brothers. Humanity today is given great freedom, and we need to use our freedom wisely. We cannot waste our freedom by being tricked into sin. We need to watch out for the other side of freedom that we do not know about. This is the freedom that destroys ourselves and becomes the factor leading to the destruction of others. It no longer recognizes and respects its essential link with the truth. When our freedom is used to follow others, our freedom is dead. When our freedom is used to follow the Lord, our freedom is living. If we follow the will of others all the time, we tend to just look for the easy way out of things, and much of the time we look for the thing that will be more helpful to us. This is a selfish way to live, and if we always live in this way, we will not live in eternal happiness with the one who gave us this freedom to begin with. Our life was given to us by the Lord. With this life we are given a freedom to choose and make the right decisions. Sometimes our society and culture may lead us down the wrong path, and hide the truth about what is right and what is wrong. What we don’t understand is that this is really Satan trying to do his work and cause us to sin. He doesn’t want us to achieve total happiness with our Creator. He wants us to suffer with him, so he makes up lies, and covers up the truth to cause us to sin. Our society as a whole needs to realize these things. Our present culture needs to realize that life is not in our hands, but in the hands of God our Creator, and that he wants us to spread the truth about life and the truth about present day threats to human life. 1 1 Rosenberg, Matt. â€Å"China One Child Policy – Overview of the One Child Policy in China.† Geography Home Page – Geography at About.com. 14 May 2009 .

Management and Leadership in Sport Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management and Leadership in Sport - Case Study Example The existence of the above attributes cannot lead to the assumption that a CEO is successful within a particular organization. However, it can be a positive indicator of his/ her professionalism and his/ her willing for success. Current paper examines particularly the issue of leadership in sports. The particular characteristics of management in the specific industry cannot be doubted. For this reason, it is necessary that all appropriate measures are taken in advance by the leader in the relevant organizations in order to avoid any potential failure or threat against the firm's interests. One of the main aspects of management in sport is the administration of funds granted by various organizations and institutions. Regarding this issue Chadwick et al. (2005, 328) stated that "sponsorships are failing because corporations do not recognize that they are complex and challenging to manage; in this context a failure to professionally manage sponsorships still poses a threat to their effectiveness". It should be noticed however that because of the complexity of tasks involved in the sport management, a series of appropriate models and theories are available to individuals that are interested in activating in the relevant sector. One of the main issues that need to be addressed when involving in sport management, is the management of risk which is closely related with the specific industrial sector. For this reason, Bennett et al. (2001) proposed the implementation of a crisis-management plan (CMP) "that is understood and regularly practiced by all staff members" (2001, 27) and that "could prove invaluable in the event of an actual crisis; since it is impossible to conduct a physical-activity program that is 100 percent risk free, all programs should have an appropriate CMP covering a wide range of potential crises" (Bennett et al., 2001, 27). However, in many cases risk in sports appears unexpectedly with no time for preparation or for application of an appropriate plan of activation. In these cases, successful leader would be able to effectively adapt the elements of the CMP to the conditions of the particular case so that for the problem to be resolved on time. In accordance with the above an appropriate c risis-management plan should be available within every short organization and should be applied when external events or unexpected changes occur that need to be handled immediately. In such a situation the competencies of the leader will be 'expressed' offering to the organization the chance to survive and be developed. Regarding the above it should be noticed that "the primary goal of crisis-management planning is to develop comprehensive, written contingency plans that are based on existing resources and operational capabilities and that will enable staff members to deal with crises effectively" (Bennett et al., 2001, 27). In other words, the above plans should be appropriately designed in order to meet the needs of the particular sport organization while their performance should be closely monitored in order to evaluate their

Gender Roles Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gender Roles - Research Paper Example An important aspect of socialization is teaching children about the significance of gender roles and raising them in accordance with the acceptable norms and principles of a society. Gender roles have pivotal and ingrained importance in the structure of a society. For instance, in most societies, men are expected to acquire the role of a bread winner of the family and tackle tough household chores such as performing necessary yard work and tinkering cars. On the other hand, their female counterparts are expected to adopt the roles of being a mother, handle household chores, and look after their husbands. In accordance with Eagly’s social role theory, the occurrence of gender differences is a direct result of the fact that since childhood, men and women are guided by different role expectations. Gender roles are molded and influenced by a range of factors including social and biological factors. In simple terms, gender roles are a cumulative result of numerous factors (Weiten e t al. 2012). Environmental and Social Factors The social construction of gender roles is heavily guided by what a society considers as gender appropriate and inappropriate behavior. The appropriate behavioral characteristics are instilled in young individuals by a series of patient rewards and punishments. The power of reward and punishment shapes gender role and are considered as the key processes in operant conditioning. â€Å"Gender appropriate behavior† is reinforced by parents, teachers and peers while gender inappropriate behavior is eliminated by persistent punishments. In school and at home, boys are often told that â€Å"big boys don’t cry† whenever hurt themselves and if this inhibits their crying, they are rewarded with powerful reinforcements such as a pat on their backs or a smile. The tendency of boys to â€Å"act like a man† and suppress emotional displays is strengthened by a consistent pattern of similar reinforcements. Observational lear ning or imitation constitutes an important way for younger children to learn gender appropriate roles. Younger children imitate the behavior of an older sibling or parents to modify their own behavior accordingly. The social cognitive theory states that individuals who are powerful and nurturant are more likely to be imitated by younger children. During early childhood years, children imitate both genders but they are more likely to imitate individuals that are of the same sex. For this reason, girls are more likely to imitate their mothers and adopt feminine characteristics such as empathy, compassion, and nurturing. Furthermore, by imitating their mothers young girls start playing with toy stoves and doll houses. On the other hand, young boys follow in the footsteps of their fathers and by imitating masculine behavior, they prefer to play with miniature trucks and tool kits. In case of very young individuals, same gender peers serve as more influential models than parents. The ado ption of gender roles begins very early in the life of an individual. In a society, people are labeled and expected to have gender appropriate characteristics which plays an important role in the determination of appropriate gender roles. In accordance with a recent study, children start utilizing gender labels as soon they turn 19 months old. Therefore, the perception of gender labels coupled with the processes of reward and pun

Security and the Technological Revolution Research Paper

Security and the Technological Revolution - Research Paper Example According to Dulles (2014), one of the greatest threats to the security profession is cybercrime. Security officers are forced to implement new technologies in order to detect any malicious attempts of cybercriminals and undertake counteractive measures to avoid exposing citizens to harm. For instance, cybercriminals are currently using sniffer malware to extract password files from their targeted computers hence using them to gain unauthorized access to critical information within organization’s system. Therefore, the security profession has been forced to implement new technology that would enable security officers to curb such kinds of crime. They have implemented audit trailing technology that enables them detect the log in details that were used to access information within the system during the time of crime. The report generated after performing audit trailing enables the security officers to identify the possible security loopholes that might have been used by the cybercriminals to perpetrate the crime. Technology has also enabled them to track cybercriminals to their exact locations hence making arrests in efforts to curb the vice. The security profession used to face a lot of challenges before establishment of the audit trailing technology because it was hard for them to detect any unauthorized access to organization’s information. Moreover, Back-off Malware has been another cyber threat that forced the security profession to implement new technology in efforts to curb it. Back-off is a Malware program that is installed in the Point of Sale (POS) terminals by cybercriminals in order to collect credit card information and transaction data of the users. The malware uses traditional scraping mechanisms to record critical information from customers and using it to initiate transactions without the account owners’ consent. The

Political socialization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Political socialization - Essay Example There are many different agents of political socialization, which have various kinds of influences on the people who are exposed to them. The basic understanding of the processes of political socialization could be considered from the point of view of the shaping of individuals’ minds towards certain directions. Some of the agents of political socialization include family, the media, peer influence, school, religious affiliation, geographical factors, environmental factors, and other realities that influence perceptions and attitudes towards tasks (Greenberg 41). Individuals may awaken to political realities in accordance with the general direction provides by the family. Usually, parents or the elderly people in the family teach the younger members of the family about certain political subjects. In most cases, such early contact with political realities eventually affects the manner in which people come to perceive of political matters in their future. Studies have pointed out that family is usually the most important agent of socialization for any individual or a group of individuals. It is therefore important to consider the fact that family affects people and individuals in a very significant way. The media is another most influential agents of political civilization (Greenberg 55). The function of the media as an agent of socialization could be seen in terms of its standard roles, which includes informing, entertaining, and educating. Many people come to learn of political realities through the information they get from the media. The media may have a lot of influence on the attitudes and opinions regarding certain political positions. Generally, the media provides the kind of information that helps people to make decisions regarding political matters. It expands the understanding of people by reporting and analyzing political events, personalities, ideas, and situations. Families and

Mergers and Acquisitions in UK Banking Sector Essay

Mergers and Acquisitions in UK Banking Sector - Essay Example Moreover, it is not always necessary that the target board has a preceding knowledge of the same. Mergers and Acquisitions are associated with various terminologies which aid in analyzing the subject in an efficacious manner. Although, acquisition delineates the purchase of a smaller firm by the larger one, at times, it does happen that a smaller firm takes-over the management regulation of a largely developed corporation, thereby, keeping its name for the collaborated body which can be taken to meaning as reverse take-over. Similarly, reverse-merger deals with enabling the private company which has authoritative prospects along with enthusiasm to hoist the financial purchasing a publicly cataloged shell firm, too often, the one with limited assets. The act of mergers and acquisitions is quite intricate, however, with a variety of dimensions impacting its consequences, the process of studying mergers and acquisitions becomes handy. Usually, mergers and acquisitions are a significant part of the expansion strategy as they can be documented as horizontal deals in which the competitors are united. According to Gaughan, the $77.2 billion merger between Exxon and Mobil is one of the finest examples of a successful horizontal deal in the year 1998 (Gaughan, 2001). Horizontal mergers and acquisitions are the ones that occur between the companies generating analogous goods and offer analogous assistances. They take place quite often as a consequence of bigger companies trying to generate more efficacious economies of the scale. On the other hand, by straight away merging with the suppliers, it is possible for a company to decrement its reliance, thereby, incrementing profitability. This merger is a Vertical one, in which two companies generate different goods and services for one precise finished product. One of the perfect examples of a vertical deal is the $6.6 billion merger between Merck and Medco in the year 1993, who were a pharmaceutical manufacturer and a pharmaceutical distributor, respectively (Gaughan, 2001). Companies may also get their hands on the firms which are in entirely different industrial silhouettes. These kinds of deals can be called as conglomerate mergers which are delineated by an efficient example of Daimler Benz's deals in the aerospace industry sectors that helped replicating the premium automobile producer in to a multinational company or a conglomerate,

Cyber Bullying in Schools Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Cyber Bullying in Schools - Term Paper Example The paper also seeks to critically analyze the legal framework and policies that are in place to combat the problem of cyber bullying. To this end, the paper has relied on information from various pieces of legislation. The paper will concentrate on implementation of legislation and school programs to prevent and stop cyber bullying in schools. The research will therefore not explore in detail the other ways of combating cyber bullying; like reporting cyber bullying to parents, not responding to emails that are meant for bullying, among others. The paper recognizes that cyber bullying is not only a vice found among children but also adults. The study however does not look into the issue of cyber bullying among adults. Outline The paper is divided into three major parts. The first part is an introduction of the paper. This part outlines the concept of cyber bullying giving the various definitions that have been given by various authors. The introduction gives the various methods used in cyber bullying including use of the internet as well as mobile phones. This part also introduces the concepts of implementation of legislation and school programs to combat cyber bullying. These are the major action plans identified by the paper as solutions to the problem of cyber bullying. The introduction also identifies the various stakeholders who are the key players in the proposed solutions. These are also the audience of the paper, and these are identified as lawmakers, school heads, parents and students. The second part of the paper provides a background and a historical perspective of cyber bullying. In this part, cyber bullying is identified as a form of bullying that emerged as a result of the... This research will begin with the definition of bullying as an act of frightening or harassing a person who is supposedly weaker or smaller. This behavior is triggered by various aspects. For instance a person can be bullied because of their race, their gender, their sexual orientation, religion, weight, disability or even talent. Bullying can take many forms including physical bullying where a person can be kicked, hit or pushed. Bullying can also be verbal or through technology, which is referred to as cyber bullying. Bullying mostly occurs in schools and is mostly physical and verbal but cyber bullying is fast emerging as the preferred way of bullying. Bullying has two players involved, namely the bully and the victim. The victims of bullying vary depending on the form of bullying. For instance bullying can take place as early as kindergarten; this is especially for physical and mostly verbal bullying. At this stage however it is very rare to have cyber bullying for example. Cyber bullying is mostly common among teenagers, who are the frequent users of technology and more so the cyberspace. Canadian teacher Bill Belsey is recognized for having coined the word cyber bullying. Belsey described cyber bullying as the use of technology for repeatedly communicating harmful and hostile messages to others. In understanding cyber bullying, one must realize that there are various forms of cyber bullying and there are tools that are used to commit cyber bullying.

Levels of Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Levels of Management - Essay Example This essay talks about different levels of management. According to Bernard L. Erven (1999), the five functions of management are â€Å"planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling.† Though management involves additional functions, most can be categorized under one of the five. However, the level of management does determine how much involvement the manager may have in each of these functions and what the manager’s specific responsibilities are. Senior managers are more likely to be responsible for the bulk of strategic planning. Line manager are likely to be involved in planning as well, though the main responsibility is identifying how specific jobs should be completed or altered to help the organization implement its strategy. For the senior manager, problem solving involves analyzing the business environment and evaluating all possible alternatives and related outcomes. Reports from industry sources, financial officers, middle managers and others will likely be accessed to explore all possibilities. The responsibility of the line manager is to provide senior managers with information regarding the capacity and capabilities of workers, through production reports. For the sales manager reports on current sales and marketing strategies, and customer purchasing trends may be required. The most inexperienced workers may contribute more to the strategic planning process. Experienced managers may be more likely to consult with workers directly, to obtain information for developing or changing the strategy.

Will Afghanistan achieve peace and prosperity Research Paper

Will Afghanistan achieve peace and prosperity - Research Paper Example It is a landlocked nation occupying part of South, Central and Western Asia. Afghanistan’s population is approximated to be thirty million head counts which almost the same as that of that of Uganda in Africa. Afghans population growth rate is approximately similar to the population growth rates of most third world country like Brazil. Afghanistan is approximately 647,500 square km making it one of the top fifty most populous countries in the world as a result of the large population occupying a small area1. Location of Afghanistan on the globe as produced by the UN, retrieved on December 1, 2013 Afghans urban civilization is believed to have begun in early 3000 to 2000 BC. Afghanistan is home to people from various parts of the world given its strategic location as a connection point between the Middle East, Central Asia and India. This is clearly seen the wake of military campaigns in this nation dating the era of Alexander the great of Britain, Russia, Arab Muslims, and Gen ghis khan. Afghanistan is a nation which was formed after an agreement between British and Russia. The fight for Afghanistan is experienced in the modern era of religious groups likes Taliban and the Western nation each having the desire to control the mineral deposits in Afghanistan2. The history of Afghanistan is begun in 1709 after the establishment of Hostaki dynasty, which led to the rise of Pashtuns. The Hostaki dynasty was preceded by the Duran Empire in 1747. After the great Anglo-Afghan war, the king began to modernize Afghanistan using the British system. This method of modernization was met by opposition from the conservative Muslims. When the British withdrew the neighboring India during the cold war, Russia and the United States started influencing Afghanistan. These influences from United States led to war between Russian backed Afghanistan government, and US backed Mujahedeen militia in 1779. This was the beginning of a series of wars in Afghanistan including the 1990 s civil war, the Taliban wars and the present war led by the United Nations security forces (Riphenburg 2006). A photo of American forces in Afghanistan: produced by CIA, retrieved on December 1, 2013 Resources Afghans natural resources include coal, copper, iron ore, lithium, uranium, rare earth elements, chromite, gold, zinc, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, marble, precious and semi precious stones, natural gas and petroleum. Afghanistan government estimates quite a large number of untapped mineral resources. Afghanistan is endowed with five major rivers which include: Helmand River, the Kunar River, the Oxus River, the Hari rod river and the Panjisher River. The five rivers in Afghanistan are fed by the snows and glaciers on the mountains of Afghanistan, and they flow to the neighboring Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Tajikistan and Pakistan. This implies that Afghanistan supplies its neighbors with freshwater which is very crucial for the survival of any nation. Poor management of water resources is a contentious issue in Afghanistan3. Afghans landscape; produced by Aljazeera, retrieved in December 1, 2013 This is because most residents of Afghanistan do not get the chance to enjoy this crucial resource regardless of its abundance the country. Everyone wants to control the parts endowed with water resource since most leaders believe that once they take control of water resource, they can control a vast population of any nation. A country like Afghanistan which has this great resource in abundance should not be complaining of scarcity of water. This though does not surprise many due to poor management of water resources in Afghanistan. Afghanistan also lack proper infrastructure, which can aid in water storage since water is available

Holdens Passive and Unwillingness Essay Example for Free

Holdens Passive and Unwillingness Essay Holden is the protagonist in the novel, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (1945). Holden is a character who tries to seek for dignity, but he has some flaws holding him back. Holden is passive and unwilling to examine himself and seek his own dignity. Three reasons for his tragic flaw are: his craziness, his immaturity, and his phoniness and madman stuff. The first reason for Holden’s flaw is his craziness. He acts this way because he is not normal like others. Something that he repeats constantly throughout the novel is, â€Å"He is the biggest phony.† This quote shows how Holden thinks and acts towards others. Holden acts this way because who falls in love too quickly with Jane and Sally. He also thinks this way because Jane and Sally equal perfection and he isn’t perfect like them or anybody else. Finally his thoughts are what can he do to be perfect like everyone else because he seems to be the only that is crazy. Therefore, Holden acts and thinks differently from everyone else because he is insane. The second reason for Holden’s flaw is his immaturity. He acts this way because Holden is always alone and have no family to support him except his younger sister, Phoebe. Something that is repeated constantly throughout the novel is, â€Å"Jane keeping her kings in the back row.† This symbol shows that Holden cannot separate the past from the present time. Holden thinks this way because he was always necking with Jane when they were young. He also thinks this way because of his immaturity of always wanting to have sex and always wanting to be a kid instead of growing up to is an adult. Finally his thoughts always want to be with Jane, but because of his immaturity Jane doesn’t choose him. Therefore, Holden acts immature towards others because he has been expelled from four different schools and no one is there to teach him his manners and to discipline him. The third reason for Holden’s flaw is his phoniness and his madman stuff. He acts this way because he doesn’t want to get help. Something that Holden repeats constantly in the novel is, â€Å"I’m a madman.† This quote shows that he has some personal issues going on with him, but he doesn’t want to get help. He thinks this way because his other lover, Jane is going out with others, but not him because he is a jealous person. He also thinks like this because it shows his low-self esteem and his view towards women. Finally his thoughts are I’m a madman because he is inexperienced with women. Therefore, Holden is a madman because of his jealousy toward women and never did have a real relationship with any women before. In conclusion, Holden is passive and unwilling to examine himself and seek his own dignity. Three reasons for his tragic flaws are that he is crazy, he is immature, and his phoniness and his madman things. Holden acts crazy because he is not normal like others and isn’t perfect at everything. He acts immature because no one is there to teach him his manners and no one is there to also teach him his respect and manners. Holden also acts like a madman because he is jealous of Jane and Sally. He also acts like this because he doesn’t like the private schools that he goes to. Therefore, I think that Holden needs to go get some serious help to become a good and a better person.

The Treatment Of Errors In The Classroom English Language Essay

The Treatment Of Errors In The Classroom English Language Essay LAST PART OF CHAPTER 3 As I mentioned before, error correction is the classroom activity that most people think as one of the language teachers most important functions (Nunan, 1989: 9). This is because most of the time the teacher is the one who corrects. The first and most important step a teacher must take is to determine the aim of the activity. As Ancker (2000: 20) mentioned in his article Errors and Corrective Feedback, if the objective is to develop accuracy, then of course correction is necessary. In this case, the correct approach is to allow the student to self-correct first. If that does not work, teachers should allow peer correction. But if no one seems to know, teachers can give the answer or correct. Although error correction seems time consuming, it helps students to focus their attention and to reduce their dependence on the teacher, and this reduction of dependence encourages students autonomy. On the other hand, if the objective of the activity is to develop fluency, then correction may not be necessary (Ancker, 2000: 20). Unless the error has been made many times, then the error correction needs to take place. One important question is who should correct learners errors. There are three possible answers to the question: the teacher, the learner him/herself or the others learners (peer-correction). But this will depend on the importance or success of the error corrections, as well as the ability of the students to do self or peer correction. According to Ellis (1994: 489) studies of repair in naturally occurring conversations have shown a preference for self-initiated and self-completed repair. But, in many cases the teacher is the one who usually corrects students in the classroom. It may be appropriate to allow the learner to self-correct without any further help from the teacher by using clarification requests such as: what?, excuse me?, what did you mean by à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..?, etc. That is because learners are actually capable of making changes in their developing Interlanguage systems (Allwright and Bailey, 1994: 49). Most of the times, teacher intervention should be reduced and students must be encouraged to provide feedback to their partners. In one interpretation of language acquisition, Kessler (1992: 85) suggests that the monitor can prevent or repair some errors under certain conditions. These conditions include: a) a focus on form, rather than on communication of meaning, and b) adequate time for the learner to process the output. Ellis (1994: ibidem) conducted a study to find out whether learners reformulate their use of past tense in their utterances, when given a second opportunity to do so, or ignore it. He found out that those who, when pushed through a request for clarification to reformulate their utterances, did so, by correctly forming the past tense and maintained their improved accuracy in the past tense on the subsequent occasions. Teachers must have clear that each teacher must come to an individual decision with respect to treatment of errors, just as a proverb says: what works well in Madrid may not work well in Tokyo, because not all the students have the same personality. Allwright (1996: 32) makes a strong claim for the study of error correction in the classroom in which they occur. From this observation, he came to the following conclusions: 1) Teachers just tend to repeat the correct model rather than telling the student where his error occurred and why it was incorrect. 2) Teachers are also inconsistent in their treatment of learning errors. (Because errors are not always corrected). Also, Allwright (1996: 33) asserted that another possibility is that other learners in the classroom could help by providing corrective feedback if it is necessary. In one experimental study related to this issue, Porter (1986, mentioned in Chaudron, 1993: 71) found that second language learners were able to accurately correct other learners errors, though they rarely did so. 3.1.2.3 Error Correction Techniques Although providing correct forms of learner errors is one of the most popular techniques among many language teachers (Hendrickson, 1980: 160), the use of various types of treatment methods has been recommended as it is considered to be more effective and successful than relying upon a single technique (Lynch, 1996, cited in Muncie, 2000: 50). Holley and King (1971, cited in Hendrickson, ibidem.) suggest that teachers should not use the methods which make learners feel embarrassed or frustrated. Therefore, teachers should be more sensitive about how to respond to learner errors. Fanselow (1977: 588) has argued that teachers should offer learners the greatest possible variety of treatments because different people need to be treated differently. Also teachers need to keep on trying out different possibilities of feedback that would have to be delivered in such a way as to provide affective support, so the learners will not be demoralized, at the same time as the negative cognitive information is transmitted. Once teachers do decide to treat noticed errors, and when they will do so, they have a variety of methods to their disposal. Allwright (1975, in Nunan, 1989: 32) points out the complexities of the teachers task. In the case of error correction, this can be illustrated by the following options confronting the teacher in the face of a leaners error: To treat or to ignore the error completely. To treat immediately or delay the error. To allow another student, a subgroup or the whole class to find the correct form. To return or not to the original error-maker after treatment. To test for efficacy of treatment. To transfer treatment or not. To let it be self-treated. All these suggested options are appropriate in different moments; the teacher only needs to develop the intuition, through experience and solid diverse theoretical foundation. As Allwright has a variety of options, Long (1977, in Allwright and Bailey, 1994: ibidem) also notes that teachers have three choices in deciding what to do when they find the error: To inform the learner that an error has been made To inform the learner of the location of the error To inform the learner of the identity of the error Moreover, Corder (1967, in Allwright, 1996: ibidem) declares that in order to show that there is a problem, the teacher usually a) retains evaluation, b) ignores the answer given and repeats the question, c) repeats the trouble source as a question, or d) changes addressee. Errors are inevitable, but if there are too many it is probably the result of inefficient practice or poor exploitation strategies. Teachers have an arrangement of techniques and nomination strategies to deal with any correction that needs to be made. Correction techniques should be helpful and supportive. When an error is detected, the next problem is that teachers would have to choose the best type of treatment to provide in order to help the second language learners achieve this needed awareness. There are many types of errors and according to Slimani (1992, in Panova 2002: 582), teachers often use seven types of feedback (or error correction techniques) when correcting errors that occur in the language classroom. They are: recast, translation, clarification request, metalinguistic feedback, elicitation, explicit correction and repetition. As Slimani mentioned (ibidem) a recast is an implicit corrective feedback that reformulates a wrong or incomplete utterance. Example: 1. S: Dangerous? (Phonological error. /dangerus) T: Yeah, good. Dangerous. (Recast) you remember? Safe and dangerous. If you walk in the streetsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The second type of correction is the translation (from the teacher) that can be seen in many cases when students dont know how to say a definite utterance, for instance: 2. T: All right, now, which place is near the water? S: Non, Jai pas fini (L1) T: you havent finished? Okay, Bernard, have you finished? (Translation) The purpose of clarification request is to elicit reformulation or repetition from the student who has said a wrong form: 3. S: I want practice today, today (grammatical error) T: Im sorry? (Clarification request) In the example mentioned before, Im sorry is a type of clarification request but there is also another one that is very used: I dont understand. According to Lyster Ranta (1997, in Panova, 2002: 583), metalinguistic feedback refers to comments or information related to the form of the students utterance without providing the correct answer, as: 4. S: I accord T: Oh, but thats in French (metalinguistic feedback) Lyster Ranta point out that elicitation technique is a corrective feedback that prompts the learner to correct (Panova, 2002: 584); this is an example of a peer repairing: 5. T: In a fast food restaurant, how much do you tip? S1: No money (Lexical error) T: Whats the word? (Elicitation) S1: fiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦fourà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (needs repairing) T: Whats the wordà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦in a fast food restaurant? (Elicitation) S2: Nothing (repair) T: Nothing, yeahà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The sixth type of feedback is the explicit correction. 6. S: The day last tomorrow (lexical error) T: Yes. No, the day before tomorrow (explicit correction) In this type of feedback, the teacher provides explicit signals to the student that there is an error in the previous utterance. The last type of corrective feedback is repetition, which the teacher repeats the wrong part of the students expression, usually with a change of intonation. For example: 7. S: I am agree (lexical error) T: I am agree? (Repetition) The research on teacher treatment of learner error, including studies by Allwright (1975), Chaudron (1977, 1986b, 1987), Fanselow (1977b), and Long (1977), shows that teachers do not treat all errors that occur. The findings also reveal that teachers have a wide variety of techniques available for the treatment of errors, but they do not typically make full use of the repertoire of behaviors from which they might choose in providing feedback (Allwright and Bailey, 1994: 99-100). Knowing all these types of error correction techniques (named also as feedback) teachers are more self-confident on what they are doing, because they know that the type of feedback they give to their students is mentioned in the seven techniques pointed out before, and they make sure they are doing right. 3.1.2.4 Momentum of the Correction The dilemma of; to correct or not to correct, has persistently engaged the minds of language teachers. Concerning to correction, Lyster Ranta (1977: 51) acknowledge that there is a certain dilemma in this regard: if teachers do not correct errors, opportunities for students to make links between form and functions are reduced; if teachers do correct errors, they risk interrupting the flow of communication. According to Longs (1977: 279) opinion, once the teacher has decided that an error should be treated, the next decision that he/she has to make is when to treat the error. The teacher may deal with it immediately, or delay treatment somewhat (for instance, until the learner finishes with the message he/she is trying to convey), while still treating the error within the boundaries of the same lesson in which it occurred. The `problem with immediate error treatment is that it often involves interrupting the learner in mid-sentence, it is a practice which can certainly be disruptive and could eventually inhibit the learner willingness to speak in class at all. Allwright Bailey (1991: ibidem) assert that if we adopt the notion of Interlanguage in the discussion of second language learners errors, we realize that by treating errors, teachers try to help learners move ahead with their Interlanguage development. However, they believe mistimed error treatment may not be helpful and may even be harmful if it aims at structures which are beyond second language learners in terms of their Interlingua development. They refer to mistimed with forms at the right time in the course of the learners speech. While correcting errors, teachers can make corrections at the moment the error is made or at the end of the activity. Having the correction at the moment is advisable when students do not make many errors and this will help not only the students who made the error , but also to the whole class or those who are paying attention; and having the correction at the end of the activities is advisable when students have many errors and run on them every five minutes, so that students do not feel like foolish in front of the whole class. The place of error correction has been controversial because teachers have to know the adequate moment to do the correction and how to do it in order to not inhibit students participation. Nunan and Lamb (1996, in Poppi, 2001: @), point out that it is important to consider when the adequate moment to make a correction is. They say that it is better to correct errors at the end of the activity just by writing on the board and explaining the reasons of the errors made since in that way, the teacher gives a better explanation of the error, but also focuses more on the error. On the other hand correcting at the moment is not advisable, because of the lack of time and also the teacher could demotivate the students. Alternately, Allwright Bailey (1991: ibidem) state that teachers may postpone the treatment for longer periods of time for two reasons: a) teachers do not want to explain the error to the whole group. For instance, oral errors, particularly if they are shared by a group of learners, may form a starting point for a future lesson. Long (1977: 290) observes that error treatment becomes less effective as the time lag between the performance and the treatment becomes longer. Deciding when and which errors to correct causes problems to teachers, as teachers may think they are encouraging their students, but they are doing the contrary or vice-versa. Teachers must also take in consideration, that constantly interrupting students to correct them can be irritating. If teachers do not know when to correct, it is necessary to consider the nature of the activity that is being undertaken. For example if students are performing a drill in order to practice pronunciation or phrases, then they should be stopped immediately when they make the error, otherwise they will continue repeating defective language; on the other hand, in fluency, if there are frequent errors, the teacher can make a mental or written note to provide feedback after the activity, so students can feel comfortable and self-confident. Teachers do not have to correct all the time, they have to be conscious on what and when they are going to correct in order to promote students participation, otherwise if teachers make lots of corrections, students could be irritated (Norrish, 1990: 280). Long (1977: 292) points out that the psychology of research literature shows, that the feedback becomes less effective as the time between the performance of the skill and the feedback increases. What is more, Virgil Oller (1976: 288) think that correcting errors at the moment is a waste of time and instead of doing that, teachers should avoid error correction at the moment. So, correcting at the moment can certainly be troublemaking and could eventually inhibit the learners willingness to speak in class at all, or students could forget what they wanted to say. Contrary to this, correcting at the end of activities is better because teachers have already finished their activities and can explain in detail the reasons of the errors (Virgil Oller: ibidem). In short, we may say that teachers can choose the moment to correct their students taking into account their necessities. 3.1.2.5 Students Attitude Attitudes are complex, hypothetical construction, which general definition includes some notion of evaluation. Ajzen (1988: 85) states that an attitude is a disposition to respond favorably or unfavorably to an object, person, intuition or event. In addition to this, Triandis (1971: 289) writes that an attitude is a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor. This evaluative aspect of attitude is its defining attribute, and sets it apart from other affective variables. Attitude is an emotion that all people show when they have views of an attitude object: i.e. a person, behavior or event. Attitudes come from judgments. Triandis (1971: ibidem) says that attitudes develop the ABC model (affect, behavioral change and cognition). The affective response is a physiological response that expresses an individuals preference for an entity. The behavioral intention or change is a verbal indication of the intention of an individual. And the cognitive response refers to a cognitive evaluation of the entity to form an attitude. Heider (1958, in Triandis: ibidem) points out that attitude is usually defined as a disposition or tendency to respond positively or negatively towards a certain thing (idea, object, person, and situation). The type of feedback language teachers provide for students reflects their view of language and their objectives. The attitude of students plays an important role in learning a second language. This attitude is developed by a variety of factors, among them feedback, which may have desirable or undesirable cognitive and affective results. Students characteristics have an impact both on the teacher who corrects the learners errors and on the learner who is corrected. The teachers treatment of error might also be influenced consciously or unconsciously by the state of mood teachers are. The attitude of learners toward error correction, not only by teachers during focused activities but also by native speakers with whom they converse, is remarkably positive (Chenoweth, Chun and Luppescu, 1983: 82). Cathcart Olsen (1976: 41) found that ESL learners who hold positive attitude toward correction like to be corrected by their teachers and want to have more correction than they are usually provided with. Another important point about attitudes is that they are subject to change; they are not set in concrete. This is good news for teachers in that poor attitude can be changed. But the good news is tempered by the fact that there are many variables associated with attitude change, such as the state of mood, the classroom environment, the students personality and so on. Probably, the most difficult aspect of the correction process is tailoring corrections to individual students. Teachers who wish to provide effective correction must consider its effect on each individual student. The problem has two aspects: affective and cognitive side. Truscott (1998: @) says that on the effective side, learners clearly differ in their reactions and attitudes to correction. For some, no adverse effect is likely unless corrections are delivered in a very aggressive or unfair manner. For others, there is a serious danger that correction will produce embarrassment, anger, inhibition, feeling of inferiority, and generally negative attitudes towards the class and possibly toward the language learning itself. Consequently, there are different reactions in students because all students are different: positive and negative. In this way, in order to avoid harmful effects and to make correction effective, the teacher should see each student as unique and to ask how each student will respond to correction in many possible forms, varying the type of error correction and the frequency of the correction, the clarity of the correction and the most important: the intensity of the correction. Nunan Lamb (1996, in Poppi, 2001: @) mention that attitudes and responses vary among students depending on the different ways that teachers treat their errors. For example, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.teachers can correct students in a way that makes students feel comfortable and some students can have a positive attitude to the correction while others will react with a negative attitude by making gestures (like a grimace) and some others will just accept the correction and repeat it with a smile (Pinazo, 2001: @) Moreover, Wajnryb (1992, in Poppi, 2001: @) makes the point that, if teachers attempted to correct every error that occurred in class, there would be little time to do anything else. Correcting at anytime many times creates a negative classroom atmosphere, discouraging learners from risk-taking and experimentation. So, when learners are corrected intensively by the teacher it could have negative consequences in their motivation. Students will think that if they continue speaking, the teacher will continue correcting, and in order to avoid this reaction (the teachers one) they stop speaking. Pholsward (2001: @), in his investigation at the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce at the Faculty of Humanities in the language department of English, about students reaction to the error treatment, concluded that most students were quite relaxed and satisfied as they helped each other in a groups attempt to identify errors. In Pholswards research, the teachers would suggest answers in guidance to students and if the students were still not responsive, the teachers would identify errors and edit them, followed by detailed explanations. In brief, Ellis (1994: 490) affirms learners attitude towards error correction can also vary according to their characteristics, their cognitive and affective states and the nature of the treatment they receive. Apart from what was mentioned before, students reaction is complemented by non-verbal gestures, too. Students talk with gestures and their meanings are clear and specific for instance: waving goodbye. Other types of gesture, the gestures that express emotional states, reflect the mood and feeling of people. Pinazo (2001: @) expresses that these gestures show anxiety or tension of the moment such as pain, triumph and happiness. The attitudes that will be taken in consideration in this research project are: positive and negative, with its corresponding classification that were taken from the works of these authors: Rebel Gà ¼nther (2002: 49-51, 96-165), Louis Porcher (1989: 77-82), Ana Muà ±oz (2002: @), Olman Martà ­nez (2004: @) and Pinazo (2001: @): POSITIVE ATTITUDE NEGATIVE ATTITUDE Move the head from up to down in a moderate form Smiles Laughs Repetition of the correction Lips movement by saying thank you Soft tone of voice Quickly movement of the head in an affirmative form Hinge or attentive look Grin Smirk Sneer Snarl Rotating the eyes upward (eye rolling) Rude tone of voice Fig. 3.1 Common attitudes on error correction 3.1.3 Error Correction, Motivation and Communication in English Language Learning Motivation is as much an effect as a cause of learning. Ausubel (in Budden, 2004: @). Motivation is related to error correction in English language learning because the manner teacher corrects, is the way in which students are going to react to teachers correction. Students main goal is to participate in communication with other people. This learning goal is possible if teachers can keep students motivation for learning during oral practice activities. Terese (2005) explains that one natural and non-treating way of encouraging students to give feedback is by using a number of strategies like: clarification requests (What did you mean byà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦?), requests for repetition (sorry, can you say that again?) and the use of questioning looks. This means that motivation is the force which determines if learners initiate, or not on a task, also how much energy they dedicate to it and how long they continue in it. Famous research carried out in the second half of the twentieth century by Gardner and Lambert (1999 in Harmer, 2001: 205) suggested that students who felt more warmly about a language, who wanted to integrate into the culture of its speakers were more motivated (and learnt successfully) than speakers who were only learning language as a means to an end (e.g. getting a better job). Harmer (1999: ibidem) says that real motivation comes from within each individual. Teachers are not responsible of their students motivation; they can only encourage students by using word and action, while teaching the foreign language. Motivation is the energy that catalyzes behavior. In psychology, motivation refers to the initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of behavior (Budden, 2004: @) Motivation is a temporal and dynamic state that should not be confused with personality or emotion. It is sometimes assumed by language teachers that if students make any kind of error when talking to a native speaker they are learning, but learners frequent attitude to this is to maintain a terrified silence upon meeting a native speaker (Norrish, 1990: ibidem). This is because students think that errors discredit them with the person they are talking to. On the other hand, certain errors may conduct to a breakdown in communication, while others to social reactions. For instance, one of the breakdowns in communication is inhibition (Norrish, 1990: ibidem). Students get inhibited because they fear making errors when communicating and being ridiculous in front of the teacher or native speakers. But also when staying in the classroom or talking with other students, they feel embarrassed when making errors, because they are afraid of being seen as dumb. Nunan and Lamb (1996, in Poppi 2001:@), mention an investigation on teacher behavior and student responses on occasion of which the following question was established: Do students attitude about the types of error treatment used by their teachers in the classroom during oral classroom tasks influence their motivation? They concluded that students do hold attitudes about different ways that teachers treat their errors, and also learners would like the teacher to improve raising their awareness by allowing opportunities to self-correct and to analyze the errors; the learners would like to be provided in a positive way with information and clarification, rather than: a) being exposed by non-verbal signs, b) providing feedback without explanations, c) asking the students to repeat the sentence and d) activating the right answer on the part of the student. Additionally, students would like to build up the belief that errors are to be considered as signs of progress of the learning process , rather than evidence of failure. Correcting errors disturbs the ongoing communication process (Truscott, 1998: @) but it is important to express that errors do not necessarily guide to a breakdown of communication, because sometimes correcting errors in students encourage them to continue participating in order to improve their speaking skill. In short, along this theoretical framework, I have mentioned all topics related to error correction that will be necessary to carry out this research project. For instance, I have mentioned that errors are considered to be incorrect, wrong or should not be done. In addition to this, I have described the different types of errors like error, mistake, lapse or slip as errors, this way was easy to identify what I was referring to in the investigation. I have talked about the sources of errors; but also, and something important is that, I have mentioned error correction and the types of error correction that teachers usually use when correcting students. When correcting errors, I said that we need to take into account who will treat errors and when to treat errors. CONCLUSION Being a teacher of a foreign language implies having certain skills, whether by nature, acquired outside teaching, or arising from university studies in education. They may also gain this knowledge with books concerning issues of education or by taking professional courses on the subject. In this case, the research presented, is primarily based on improving teaching skills of those teachers who didnt study a bachelors degree in English Teaching, by providing the teaching of various courses. Improving in various teachers fields was primarily important. But, understanding two main points that serve as departure is the start point: what does teaching mean? And what does being a teacher imply? Teachers must understand that a good class depends on many factors; although the material presented to teach the class is important, the teacher should take into account that leadership and management at the beginning, during and at the end of the class is essential, for the students to learn what is taught. It is of vital importance to know the likes and preferences of the students who we give classes to; this will serve as a key piece to encourage them, especially those who learning a foreign language are a rejection. Teachers should practice self-reflection on how to teach a foreign language, and have feedback from other teachers; this is of great help in order to implement different kinds of methodologies in the classroom, especially in error correction during the communication of the students to the teachers and among themselves. Doing the research on these topics, I noticed and reflected on the magnitude of being a teacher I understood that teaching is a great responsibility, because the way of teaching depends on the likes and disposition of the students to the learning of English language, due to the motivation transmitted by the teacher. This also includes the methodology used by the teacher to teach a class, as it influences how well students understand the topic. Another important point is the attitude that teachers have in front of groups when teaching. It must be enthusiastic and positive, factors to include in the education of a class presentation. Of all these factors that I explained above, I conclude that it is very significant to continue preparing ourselves and practice teaching training, in order to perk up foreign language education. Improving internally and externally all the factors in teachers such as: learning new teaching methodologies, be at the forefront of materials that can be used with the group, making use of different types of feedback from teachers, using different tools and techniques in teaching as well as self-reflection are some of the factors explained in this research. This paper concludes that teachers that do not have a bachelors degree in English Teaching should always look for continuous improvement in different ways in all areas, in all levels of language education towards the students. Taking into account all the factors set above, this research was done, in order to improve the level of education qualitatively, pedagogically and psychological practicability in the teachers practice of English teaching at the Liceo Josà © Vasconcelos, in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas.

Impact of Social Processes on Services and Users

Impact of Social Processes on Services and Users 3.2 Analyse how social processes impact on users of health and social care services The Social process can be defined as the pattern of social interaction that in turn has a changing effect on society over a set period of time (Bain, 2017). It plays a vital role in shaping society. Social processes can impact on users of health and social care service. Processes that lead to marginalisation, isolation and exclusion e.g poverty, unemployment, poor health, disablement, lack of education and other sources of disadvantage can have a negative impact on the demand for health and social care services. Social processes can also impact health and social care services in due to a variety of socio economic factors such family, community, peer groups, social class, values, attitudes, gender, income, expenditure, employment status, housing, media, cultural beliefs, discrimination, education and bullying. Family This refers to genetic relationships (blood ties) or by marriage. There are 4 types of families; extended: including mother father grandparents and other relatives, nuclear:Â   including only mother, father and children, reconstituted: similar to nuclear but not all children are biologically related to both parents and lone parent: a single parent with child. It is where our first emotional relationship takes place. It should be noted that a stressful family environment can influence negatively and affect self-confidence (Boundless, 2017). A warm and pleasant family atmosphere will allow for increased feeling of safety and comfort and therefore enhance confidence and creativity. Community This looks at how a grouped social order such as the local community can affect people. It includes places of religious worship, educational and recreational institutions. The community in which someone is brought up will influence their values, attitudes and beliefs. An individual brought up in a supportive community is likely do better than those that are isolated. Peer groups People of your own age also affect our development especially in the adolescent stage of life. Examples of peer group influences include smoking because most of a persons peers taking it up. If people hang around with negatively influential people it will influence negatively on their values, attitudes and beliefs. Peer groups can be a positive by influencing for example in political socialization (Boundless, 2017). Social class and employment Your occupation or your parents occupation determine your social class. People from the higher social class have enjoyed good health and lived longer on average than people of a lower social class (Ford et al, 2017). This may be because they earn more money and have a better living condition etc. low income individuals live in poor environment with more stress and crime. Income and expenditure Income comes from various sources such as from wages, benefit, sale of property, interest on savings and profit from business. People who live on very low income are typically lone-parents, unemployed, and elderly, sick or disables, unskilled workers. The economic resources that you or your family have make a lot of difference to the quality of life that people have (Ford et al., 2017). This is related to social class as the more income you have the more increased your social class will be; this is due to the increased ability to be self-sufficient. With increased income your expenditure can increase showing your increase in class. An example can be seen in buying an expensive car; by having an expensive car you are perceived to be wealthy and therefore is a sign of higher social class. Employment If you or your parents are out of work you may life on benefit which is low income. You will end up living in poor accommodation and settlements which will in turn affect your development (Ford et al., 2017). Housing When you have a high income you can take out a mortgage and buy a good house. And decide where you want to live. If you have a low income then you have less choice. Live in council estates or densely populated areas. These areas are associated with poor health, increased crime in the neighborhood, more noise from high density housing, stress from overcrowding and lack of privacy (Ford et al., 2017). Media Communities and families are influenced by the information and opinions communicated by the media. This include the newspapers, radio, TV internet, adverts magazines and poster. An example of positive influences can be from listening to debates and informative shows, these can encourage people to better question the world around them and fuel the hunger for knowledge which help them understand and improve their lives for the better. A negative influence could be in the watching of violent films and radicalization online or on TV this can be detrimental to the community resulting in more crime and fear amongst locals. Culture and beliefs A culture can be identified by distinct aspects of the language, self-presentation, religion, music, art, architecture, and literature. It is the collection of values beliefs customs and behaviors. Children learn the customs associated with their family culture during childhood. They later learn the culture of the local community and end up sharing the same beliefs about religion and other issues. but now with the use of internet and how multicultural the society is, people can choose to identify with any culture (Boundless, 2017). Discrimination When people are discriminated against because of their race, beliefs gender, religion, sexuality or mental ability, they lose confidence, have a low self-esteem, become isolated, depressed, anxious, and feel angry and frustrated. They will withdraw and be stressed. This will lead to a poor mental health. They will also feel vulnerable and unsafe. This is when an individual is harassed or oppressed or intimidated by other people. Discrimination may result in bullying and hence people who are bullied will experience the same consequences of discrimination. Education Schools from deprived areas are overcrowded and most of the time the children do not do well. This is opposite for schools in affluent areas where children have more learning opportunities. Hence where a child goes to school can also determine what they become in future (Boundless, 2017). Social Processes: In high dense population areas with low income, unemployment, poor health, disablement, lack of education and other sources has an impact of Socio Economic factors. On the other hand, areas with high income and less population do not suffer any anti-social problems. They are highly educated and earn good wages. They also live in big houses with less people. Health and social care services need to be attuned to the social processes of the area being able to cater to a diverse society addressing concepts including prejudice, interpersonal, institutional and structural discrimination, empowerment and anti-discriminatory practices. Social process can affect health and social care services through lifestyle factors. This is the way we choose to live our lives and spend our time and money. This can influence our development through nutrition and dietary choices, exercise, stress and substance abuse. Other factors that can influence development can be seen in the environment. These factors include; aaccess to leisure/recreational facilities, access to health and social care services, access to employment and income, aaccess to education and water and sanitation/pollution. References Bain, R. (2017). The Concept of Social Process. [online] Brocku. Available at: https://brocku.ca/MeadProject/Bain/Bain_1932a.html [Accessed 6 Feb. 2017]. Boundless. (2017). Family, Peers, Church, and School. [online] Available at: https://www.boundless.com/political-science/textbooks/boundless-political-science-textbook/public-opinion-6/forming-public-opinion-45/family-peers-church-and-school-260-5674/ [Accessed 6 Feb. 2017]. Ford, S., Ford, S., Ford, S. and Stephenson, J. (2017). Social class and its influence on health. [online] Nursing Times. Available at: https://www.nursingtimes.net/clinical-archive/public-health/social-class-and-its-influence-on-health/5091017.article [Accessed 6 Feb. 2017].

Structure and History of Cobblestone Houses :: Engineering Construction Essays

Structure and History of Cobblestone Houses The cobblestone house is one of the most identifiable structures in Western New York. These houses date back to the early 1800’s when many of the towns that people in the Rochester area live in were being founded. When driving down many of the streets you can find these houses scattered on the left and the right. They are marvelous to look at and are also strange because they are some of the only houses in the area to be built out of stones, not lumber. These houses were in all probability made at first by someone who was too poor to pay for brick, or afford some kind of more expensive siding. Rocks are easily found and also insulate fairly well. These rocks were lined where the siding of the house would be and mortar was used to set the rocks into the house. Once the mortar set, it could not be broken easily. The mortar resembles what today would be concrete. It is very solid and nothing will penetrate. This makes it a clear favorite for the houses in New York due to the harsh winters. In Rochester particularly you need the extra protection. The winters in New York are the worst any where in the country where the average snowfall a winter is well over one hundred inches of snow. This allows for the insulated rocks to keep a more constant temperature than the lumber alternative which would allow much more heat to escape the house and cool it down. Conversely in the summers, where it is extremely warm the rocks allow a ki nd of air conditioning due to their relative lack of conductivity of heat. Cobblestone houses became extremely popular around the 1830’s in particular. This era marked a forever changing point in the history of both the United States and New York. The Erie Canal, a waterway connecting the Hudson River to the Great Lakes was being constructed. Right in the middle of it all was the metropolitan area around Rochester. It seems like every rock that was dug out of the ground during the excavation of the Erie Canal was used in a Cobblestone house.

The Ghost Dance :: essays research papers

The Ghost Dance In January 1889, Wavoka, a Paiute Indian, had a revelation during a total eclipse of the sun. It was the genesis of a religious movement that would become known as the Ghost Dance. It was this dance that the Indians believed would reunite them with friends and relatives in the ghost world. The legend states that after prayer and ceremony, the earth would shatter and let forth a great flood that would drown all the whites and enemy Indians, leaving the earth untouched and as it was before the settlers came to America. The religion prophesied the peaceful end of the westward expansion of whites and a return of the land to the Native Americans. The first dance was held by Wovoka in 1889. The ritual lasted five successive days, being danced each night and on the last night continuing until morning. Hypnotic trances and shaking accompanied this ceremony, which was supposed to be repeated every six weeks. The ceremony also had rhythmic drumming and introduced many new musical instruments into Indian religious ceremonies. In addition, both men and women participated in the dance, unlike other Indian religions in which men were the primary dancers, singers, and musicians. Word spread quickly and the Utes, Bannocks, and Shoshone tribes accepted the Ghost Dance. Eventually, the plains tribes also accepted the Ghost Dance movement. The peaceful message of hope was uplifting to many Indians. It gave them a sense of hope that the progress of the white man would be stopped by the will of Nature.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While adopting the movement, many tribes added specific customs and rituals that reflected the tribe’s individuality. The Sioux, for instance, added two specific elements including the use of hypnosis to bring about trances as well as aid in communication with the dead, and Ghost Clothing. There are two specific types most commonly used, the ghost shirt and the ghost dress. Both were believed to protect the wearer from bullets. Sitting Bull, a famous Sioux warrior, adopted the ghost dance into his way of life. He was a respected leader, medicine man, and warrior. His following of the movement alarmed both the military and Indian Agencies. In 1890, just a few months after attending his first ghost dance, Sitting Bull was killed while resisting arrest. His followers fled and joined Kicking Bull, one of the first to Practice with Wovoka. Donning their ghost shirts and with their beliefs firm in their hearts, the followers of the ghost dance were rounded up at Wounded Knee creek and killed while resisting arrest.

Socrates :: essays research papers

As we read in the Apology, Socrates was on trial because he was thought to be a wise man who taught his views to the youth. Being wise was an illegal behavior during his time. He was accused of making weaker arguments the stronger. Knowing none of these accusations to be true, Socrates told the jury what he believed to be true. When found guilty of such accusations Socrates did let it be known he did not fear death. As a philosopher he questioned the purity of everything, and of course the heavens were not overlooked. He wondered if after death there was a great place where all who have passed go and live an even better life than known to us on earth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He also wondered if death was a blessing. Not clearly knowing what happens after death, he thought one of two theories would occur. There was either a relocation for the soul in another place with an all new life, or the body was nothing and had no perception of anything once departed. Socrates viewed both situations as good, so a blessing it would be indeed. He then thought if it was like a state of dreamless sleep, death would be an advantage. Thus, think of the best sleep you ever had and did not dream at all. Also think of the mornings you do not want to wake up cause you know the upcoming day entails hard work and minimal pleasures. Socrates thought not many days were as good as this occasional great sleep. If death was as great as this, he thought there was nothing to fear. He also thought that if they were to go on to a different place after death, this as well, would also be great. Given the ability to once again see the people who have passed into this gr eat place.