English Essay

People who ultimate while doing their homework are restricting their critical thinking cap abilities. Students who multicast while doing homework are more likely to see grade drops, and they tend to participate less in class discussions. Because multitasking is inefficient, student TTS should separate homework with other activities unrelated to their assignments. Multitasking d isn't work and when you're done with homework then it may be time for other activities you want to concur. Multitasking affects learning as performance degrades and time is lost with eve ere task that is multitasking.All activities performances' are affected if multitasking. Multitasking and driving is very popular amongst adults and teens. Drivers SE me pretty comfortable chatting on their cell phones while navigating the streets. But bra in researchers say it's a terrible idea, even with a handshake device. When using a handshake dive CE, scientists have found that talking on the phone distracts us to the po int where we devote less s brain power to focusing on the road. If you're driving while challenging, then your performance CE is going to be as poor as if you were legally drunk. Driving requires a surprising amount of b rain power.Out on the road, we have to process huge amounts of visual information, predict the actions of other drivers and coordinate precise movements Of our hands and feet. It can be do en, but proceed at your own risk. Multitasking and homework may seem like a bad combination, but it helps you u out in ways. Multitasking while doing your homework gives you something to do who en you get stuck, then you may come back to your problem with a fresh perspective. Multitasking Eng also can help you find help, if you're stuck on something you can surf the web and find a so race that may get you to your answer. English Essay They faced extreme weather conditions and pirates attack on the sea, when they arrived in Australia they get paid poorly and work long hours. The poem â€Å"Crossing the red sea† by Peter Crooknecks talked about polish migrants had to leave their home and their past experiences of war and destruction after World War II. They are forced on a journey to Australia by boat. They have to sail through the Red Sea and cross the Equator. It is very difficult for them to speak about their experiences and memories and to hare their sadness and stories.An example that supports the idea is â€Å"Peaks of mountains and green rivers that shared their secrets with storms and exiles†. This example showed that during their journey, mountains and rivers are the only things who would share their secrets. This example also showed journeys are challenging by using personification, it described mountains and rivers as human being who would share secrets with people. Every text has its own wa y of communicating its ideas to readers. The â€Å"Crossing the red sea† used a poem format to communicating its ideas while ‘The happiest refugee† sing a novel to express its ideas.The memoir â€Å"The happiest refugee† by Ann. do encountered by Vietnamese refugees and their journey to Australia. The Vietnamese refugees traveled on a crowded fishing boat with mostly children and women. Their boat got attacked by pirates twice and left them with nothing but trapped in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a boat of Vietnamese refugees. When they finally made it to Australia, Ann.'s parents worked so hard to feed the family. Because Ann. couldn't speak much English he's often been teased at school. â€Å"As if they'd choose someone to be school obtain who has nits† is an example of people teasing Ann. at school.Because he's from a poor Vietnamese family, people make fun of him at school. This is the difficulty Ann. has to face in his life even though h e made it to Australia. Just like Ann.'s family many people in the world are facing different challenges every day and some of them are life threatening challenges. The features article â€Å"I've lost all hope that I can have a life here† highlights the challenges faced by Sir Lankan family after the civil war ended. In Sir Lankan thousands of families had been destroyed in the civil war.Women are being harassed and abused and men are facing finical problems. The biggest challenge for them is to cope with every days life and the quote â€Å"My dream is to give my children a good environment and education† emphasis the difficulties they're having in Sir Lankan. These texts have communicated journeys are challenging and difficult. The best text that demonstrates journeys are challenging is â€Å"The happiest refugee†. In this text composer used different types of examples to demonstrate their difficulties which successfully communicate the ideas to readers. English Essay ‘Birdsong with the themes of dreams and reality. Keats' however expresses his poems in the idea Of reaching the perfect moment and making it last forever. Skate's follows the idea of being transient through his poems and living forever, the theme of reality comes in to show you that there are the real things of life which need to be faced to take part in following your dreams.The novel ‘Atonement', written by Ian Mclean in 2001, emphasis on the young adolescent women, Bryony and the present self who bases herself as the a narrator of the book. She dreams of seeking â€Å"atonement† for the pain and suffering she has produced between Robbie and Cecilia. But through her efforts of achieving this reparation, reality comes in and crushes her chances of obtaining this dream of seeking forgiveness. Dreams and Reality possess a strong force in the three texts, often showing the reality in the harshness of the world we live in. English essay Students cannot get enough, it is like they would take a bullet for it. Smartest ones are crucial for everyday use & benefits students in a variety of different ways. It is useful for classroom learning because it is portable. Portability allows the device to fit al most every†here due to the size of the smartened. Also, using a smartened can save a massive amount of money in numerous ways. Lastly, it supports what a student does n school throughout their day. To tie it all together, smartness are going to benefit c assessor learning because it is portable, saves money, and supports students.Firstly, smartness benefit classroom learning because it is portable. Smarts hones require less energy to carry around because it is extremely lightweight. For in stance, portability enables students not to carry calculators, laptops, and textbooks AR mound since many of the essential necessities are already on a students smartened. For instance: a smartened provides most of the info on a l aptop. Carrying all the Laptops, tee taboo, & calculators wastes substantial amounts of money and space in your backpack .This generates into back injuries that could result In serious and/ or permanent damages. â€Å"Probabilities allows small devices to fit in a students hand, pocket, or purse† Elliot Swallows (1). Turf inning on with a press of a button; snapping a picture in less then a second; are many of the fee w phenomenal features of a smartened that relates to portability. Secondly, smartness benefit classroom education because it saves money. Students do not have to purchase the material that is already on the phone, s such as: cameras, books, calculators, & clocks.The necessities are already on a smarts hone. Phones also last a very extended time if taken care of properly. Textbooks tend to rip up because it is immensely old and usually the pages are missing caused by students reusing I t multiple times. Instead of buying textbooks, students can just use online te xtbooks who ICC is more convenient and saves an abundance amount of the school's money. Addition Ill, there are inline interactive educational APS that make learning enjoyable and free for students.As Elliot Swallows states, â€Å"Smart phones make possible everywhere learning, allot time learning† (1). On the whole, using a smartened can have a dominant impact on saving money for bounteous reasons. Although, smartness benefit students in a variety of different ways, on the other hand of course, it can also be an insufficient component in the classroom. The ma]or reason why many students oppose that smartness benefit learning in the classroom m is because it s terribly distracting.Many students are testing instead of paying attention to the teacher; using social media involving inappropriate websites; and especially superbly inning their fellow mates. Cheating is also a major issue also that needs to be addressed. When s dents are taking tests, there will always be a student on a smartened looking up the an sewers instead of trying. As a result, if students continue to care only about their social self & chi eat they may lack reading skills, manners, and many more negative attitudes/ habits.Elliot Swallows states You can not teach 21 SST century skills and content with 1 8th century paper an d pencil tools† (2). Back in the day students actually took the effort writing down stuff with a paper and pencil but in 2014 society, students are getting lazy due to smartness. To summary r;zee, smartness can be an inadequate factor in school by causing distractions, c heaters, and bad habits. Lastly, smartness furthermore benefit classroom education because it sup ports students. English Essay People who ultimate while doing their homework are restricting their critical thinking cap abilities. Students who multicast while doing homework are more likely to see grade drops, and they tend to participate less in class discussions. Because multitasking is inefficient, student TTS should separate homework with other activities unrelated to their assignments. Multitasking d isn't work and when you're done with homework then it may be time for other activities you want to concur. Multitasking affects learning as performance degrades and time is lost with eve ere task that is multitasking.All activities performances' are affected if multitasking. Multitasking and driving is very popular amongst adults and teens. Drivers SE me pretty comfortable chatting on their cell phones while navigating the streets. But bra in researchers say it's a terrible idea, even with a handshake device. When using a handshake dive CE, scientists have found that talking on the phone distracts us to the po int where we devote less s brain power to focusing on the road. If you're driving while challenging, then your performance CE is going to be as poor as if you were legally drunk. Driving requires a surprising amount of b rain power.Out on the road, we have to process huge amounts of visual information, predict the actions of other drivers and coordinate precise movements Of our hands and feet. It can be do en, but proceed at your own risk. Multitasking and homework may seem like a bad combination, but it helps you u out in ways. Multitasking while doing your homework gives you something to do who en you get stuck, then you may come back to your problem with a fresh perspective. Multitasking Eng also can help you find help, if you're stuck on something you can surf the web and find a so race that may get you to your answer.

A Review of the Internal Performance Measurement

Structured payout compensation Generous tuition assistance plan Comprehensive group insurance package Stock purchase plan Health/Fitness reimbursement program Employer matching Registered Retirement Savings Plan Recognition by awards Individual Goal Setting: The goals for production for the tax season are set using (SMART)2. These are specific, measurable and meaningful, assignable to a particular individual, realistic and time-bound. When hired associates are aware of their Job function and understand the level of performance required. There are opportunities for training, education and evelopment.Performance appraisals are done and discussed with the associate half way through the tax season. Any further training is offered to allow the employee to achieve the level of success expected. Compensation Structure: – Appendix B Associates are offered a thriving environment in which to expand their skills and develop their potential. 3 Payout is based on a formula calculated based :- Appendix B Cost of return on a tiered system Years of Service Data Collection Office Retention Tax Professional Retention Target goals set by head office Strengths Promotes personal growth and developmentBuilds Teamwork Client Focused Weakness Employees who are not tax preparers not recognized Does not fully utilize the knowledge and skills of employees Success in Strength Training H & R Block trains more than 10,000 students in the tax preparation classes each year. There are five levels of tax courses that have to be done sequentially. Once Level One is completed and the employee had a successful tax season with a high degree of accuracy they are allowed to proceed to Level 2 the following year. If not level one is repeated. Your compensation is partially structured based on years of service.Awards are presented at the end of the tax season for client retention, growth, highest number of returns in several different categories and many more areas. This is more bragging rights a nd public recognition rather than monetary. Office Goals Targets are set by head office based on location, population growth and budgeted growth for each office. Once all targets are met, the employee is compensated. If not the payout is reduced or eliminated. This builds team spirit in achieving office targets. Client Focused Tax associates are compensated based on client responses to a one question survey.This encourages employees to go above and beyond to assist clients with other queries not Just tax preparation. This encourages client retention, satisfy shareholders and succeed financially. Weaknesses Customer service representative are not compensated by incentives but instead are paid a flat hourly rate. They are the front line people and should be recognized. Awards should be presented for exceptional work. This would certainly encourage team spirit and align with the company's values of team work and respect. Seasonal employees are from various businesses and the knowledge and skills should be used o the advantage of the clients.

Network Server Administration Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Network Server Administration - Research Paper Example For instance, vulnerability is reported that may impose risks, bugs and errors, incompatibility issues etc. moreover, a news report of a new threat targeting user information may become a great challenge for organizations to sustain their business and customers. However, these news reports may lead to programming flaws and bad quality that may result in massive business losses. For a core banking application, errors, bugs or inadequate security measures cannot be ignored, as a single vulnerability may lead to a major threat for business. For this reason, integrating security in product lifecycle is the most important factor. As mentioned earlier, security breaches are now making headlines, as dependency on applications, mobile applications and online applications has sky rocketed. Users are now making complex online transactions from their cell phones and websites resulting in a rise of application threats. Consequently, there is a requirement of addressing security issues in an appl ication to a relatively high degree. Moreover, many organizations purchase applications from the vendor that all imposes inherent risks that are not known by that time. A recommended solution for addressing application security must be conducted during the feasibility study. Integration of security controls followed with a secure application development approach will ensure quality and security of an application. Furthermore, deciding recommended security controls in a feasibility study will justify the cost of implementing and integrating them within the application. Traditionally, organizations are not addressing application security during the software development life cycle. They conduct security audits by auditors with specialized tools (Edwards, 2006) and with partial resources, at the end of a finished product making the security isolated. If any issue arises during the security audit in end stages of a software development lifecycle, it is more time consuming and expensive t o address. Moreover, security auditors have their own criterion that is their primary objective. For instance, analyzing all risks are addressed or not, level of compliance by classifying vulnerabilities and controls for mitigating threats. All these issues are addressed before an official release of an application. Similarly, the development team has to ensure timely and cost effective development of the software modules and to make their name in the market first (Dave, 2011). Likewise, the audit report with a list of security vulnerabilities is submitted to the application development team for making any suitable changes (Dave, 2011). However, the report does not include any method or a hint of where these vulnerabilities exist. Developers on the other hand, launch the product as per schedule and therefore, security issues were not addressed. However, the best solution of addressing application security is in the software development life cycle, so that developers can rectify and remediate any security vulnerabilities through this process, as afterwards there is no time and the product launches without addressing security vulnerabilities that may result in major threats to organizations afterwards. 2 Implementing a Secure Domain Environment 2.1 Active Directory Implementation Active directory is an essential component which provides efficient and effective network administration. The first step is to prepare a domain. Active directory functions on the domain. The domain name for abc will be

Offshore Energy Data Systems Ltd Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Offshore Energy Data Systems Ltd - Essay Example The case here deals with the different issues that are involved in the profession, it being the issues like the professional, social, legal and the ethical issues. The code of the British computer society guidelines are made use in identifying the different code of the conduct and the different factors that are related to them. The quality analysis is also discussed and the quality measures of them are to be found out in having the quality products and the services. In the given scenario, we find Jane; the Project Manager is facing a serious issue concerned with professional ethics which can have serious implications. Her reporting about the same to her manager was ignored abruptly not even taking into account that it can result in fatal consequences. This very act of the higher official pin-points the ethical, social, legal and professional issues that the IT industry is made to face. Jane has rightly pointed out the risks and consequences to her higher authority when he overruled her professional judgement. This has given rise to a conflict situation between Jane and her manager. The code of ethics states that every software professional should strive to achieve high quality in the process as well as the product. The failure to deliver a quality product in future is very much proportionate to the failure to follow a process of quality. This questions the professional integrity of the whole organization. Professional issues are related to the employees and their level of professionalism within the organization and towards the society. There should be a proper coordination between the employees within the organization. There are professional bodies like Data Processing Management Association (DPMA), Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), Institute of Certification of Computer Professionals (ICCP), etc which have developed Code of Ethics for the computing community. (Oz). The British Computer Society (BCS) is one such

You will write a critical analysis on Johnathan Swift's A Modest Essay

You will write a critical analysis on Johnathan Swift's A Modest Proposal - Essay Example To develop this thesis he goes into details about how much it will cost to rear a child, how this cost can be saved if the child is sold as food and what portion of the population will be affected. He even gives specific details about the number of servings a child can provide. This is what Swift (1729) has to say, â€Å"I have already computed the charge of nursing a beggars child†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. to be about two shillings per annum, rags included; and I believe no gentleman would repine to give ten shillings for the carcass of a good fat child, which, as I have said, will make four dishes of excellent nutritive meat†. According to him the meat of the children of Ireland will be a delicacy for the English and the Irish landowners. Here Swift (1729) writes, â€Å"...a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled†. A satire has always been considered as a piece of art and A Modest Proposal, is a masterpiece belonging to this genre. Swift uses satire to give solutions to the Irish people. He argues that the Irish should either starve or take recourse to cannibalism by fattening up children and selling them in the meat markets. Swifts "modest proposal" is ironic and satirical and succeeds in pointing out the unfair and hypocritical way England had dealt with the famine in Ireland. Swifts satire is sometimes oblique and sometimes direct. For example in one place he says while the meat of children cannot be preserved in salt for long sea voyages, he â€Å"could name a country which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without it.† (Swift, 1729) Here he alludes to England. The satire in some places is directed at Protestant-Catholic divisions. He ridicules the Irish for their Roman Catholic religious practice which discourages birth control and encourages people to have more children.. . This is what he says his proposal would do,

Introduction to World History Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Introduction to World History Assignment - Essay Example Economic systems from the social point of view have been specified in varieties of mannerisms are transient as well as driving a strata of society that empowers phenomena for satisfaction of history. The views of Karl Marx are manifested in two methodologies and ways. As a methodology of interpretation as well as another in terms of doctrine that would provide guidance for practice in the political arena. There is a plethora of crisp characterisations that transforms into materialism of history blended with scientific socialism utilised primarily by Engels (1907) that embraces terms, an embodiment materialism utilised by Plekhanov (2008) as well as the interpretation of historical facts initially utilised by Bernstein. An opinion is extended to the effect that they do not satisfy the crux of the matter (Evans, 1975). At the outset Marx’s research is analytical about the assessment of alienating the product that is a part of division of labour based on capitalism. The next aspect manifests a comparison with a favourable economic as well as unfavourable observation that is sociological on division of labour made by the father of economics, Adam Smith. The third aspect the West, 1969 offers general criticisms about alienation that emerges from the standpoint of economics based on politics. L.D. Easton’s 1970 view on empiricism and alienation that analyses the thought of Marx as not standing the acid test of unique interpretation of Karl Marx’s views pertaining to explosion of knowledge for examining in brevity various statements that govern the development commencing from the angle and nomenclature of alienation in previous years’ writings. Easton’s aim was to bring about an assertion with hypotheses as well as ambiguities on empiricism as compared to rationalism. A.F. McGovern views on Marx were that he attempted the

Political Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Political Economy - Essay Example In addition, markets provide a framework where people voluntarily exchange their goods and services for an agreed compensation.In analyzing the Australian manufacturing industry, Freebairn uses a combination of the Keynesian and the neoclassical theories to drive his point home. The Keynesian theory, which is based on the works of the British economist john Maynard Keynes, is an economic theory that advocates for a system of a mixed economy. According to Keynesianism, the state as well as the private sector has their own roles to play in order to hasten the process of economic development. According to Freebairn, the government has the duty of providing a stable macro economic environment as well as the provision of conducive fiscal and monetary policies. On the other hand, the private sector is charged with the duty of carrying out research and development in order to come up with less labor-intensive modes of production as well as the use of less carbon intensive processes. In so d oing the government will compensate for what the private sector lacks in the production systems. In addition, since the government is well equipped to increase aggregate demand, especially at the macro level then the government through increased spending will indirectly increase the demand for industrial goods within the economy.

Develop marketing options for small business operations Assignment

Develop marketing options for small business operations - Assignment Example Currently, Vodafone and 2degree and telecom sell so many brand cell phones like nokia Samsung LG Motorola IPHONE Blackberry etc... There about 80% market for them. We do special mobile phone in the market that’s different with them. We can sell mobile phone price cheaper than them but with good quality and more features. Future growth of the market/products is projected in the following areas: Dual sim card: that’s mean people don’t need carry two phones on every day. Two sim card and works at same time. People can get two different numbers in one mobile. TV function: people can watch on the tv in anywhere with mobile phone they have. That’s totally free no cost for that. Picture message: people can send and received text with it. Java game: people can download and play java game with it. Potential customers Business People, Professionals, Students, Parents, Senior Citizens. Potential suppliers Our potential suppliers would be coming from China to ensure cost effectiveness making us competitive in the market in terms of price. Competitors Nokia C2 LG KS660 Dual-SIM Touchscreen Mobile Phone Spice D-1100 Dual SIM PDA Mobile Phone Spice D-88 Dual SIM Mobile Spice D-90 Dual SIM Mobile Phone Complementary business operations and affiliates Mobile Phone carriers like Vodafone, Telecom and 2degrees because they require celphone unit to be able to connect on their network. Publications Local news paper, Chamber Newspapers, School Publications, Market Research providers Can be done in-house to save on cost Market source Industry organisations Local market business organizations like Avondale, business and chamber organizations. Government agencies and departments SEC, Department of Trade and other regulating agencies Local Body organizations Avondale market business organizations. Internet Marketing Trade Me and Stella online shopping website. b) Give a brief description of the foll owing Market Research methods. (P.C. 1.2) i. Questionnaires Questionnaire is a quantitative form of getting information about the market in a form of written questions to obtain useful statistical information from a given sample from the market that determines consumer preference, customer behavior, market hypothesis, etch. ii. Surveys Survey is a quantitative form of getting information about the market’s individual characteristic that comprises the market from a given sample that represents the entire market. iii. Interviews Is qualitative method of getting information from the market through a structured and prepared conversation. iv. Product demonstrations Product demonstration is marketing research method whereby potential customers are asked to sample the product with a condition that tjeu will report its feedback that will be

Comparing the Organizational Structure of Nonprofit Organizations and Research Paper

Comparing the Organizational Structure of Nonprofit Organizations and For Profit Organizations - Research Paper Example r an organization is for-profit or non-profit, the organization exemplifies very diverse goals and objectives that are constructed around a particular strategic initiative and where all internal activities are aligned with these strategic objectives. It is the responsibility of an organization to not only fulfil its strategic goals, but to also satisfy the needs of very diverse and disparate stakeholder groups. To accomplish this, the organization must consider multiple dynamics, including economic policies within the organization’s region of operations, internal capabilities to accomplish its strategies, market conditions, social and cultural factors that will impact organizational strategy and be considerate of flexibility and change internally that will allow the entity to evolve with changing external conditions or needs. In order for an organization to remain relevant in its region of operations and sustain long-term significance, the organization must continuously adapt and develop contingencies to mitigate risks and better service stakeholders (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2010). Understanding that both for-profit and non-profit organizations have very disparate visions, missions and goals, the organization requires leadership and governance that can ensure regulatory compliances, develop a valuable product or service, promote a desired social or political change in a society, or generally remain competitive. Governance includes systems and oversights that direct and control an organization, inclusive of aligning management activities to strategic intention, performing various market analyses, ensuring all value chain activities effectively support the organizational mission and promoting change with minimal resistance (Tricker, 2009). For-profit and non-profit organizations operate quite differently in some dimensions, while also sustaining many similar characteristics. The most significant differences between non-profit and for-profit organizations are in

Currant Legislation for Home Based Childcare Essay Example for Free

Currant Legislation for Home Based Childcare Essay LawI would like to provide you with the following up to date legislation impacting on home-based childcare to ensure that your children are provided with the best possible care whilst with me. Sex Discrimination Act (1975) This Act states that all children are not discriminated against on the grounds of their sex and such discrimination is eliminated. It promotes equal opportunities between children no matter of their sex. Race Relation Act (1975) Amended 2000 This Act states that all children are not discriminated against their race and ensure early years providers work towards the elimination of unlawful discrimination and promote equal opportunities between children of different racial groups. Education Act (1981) This Act became law in 1983 and tried to provide adequate safeguards, rights and duties for all those concerned with the education of children with special educational needs and to ensure these children’s rights to be integrated into the life and work of the community. It also recognised parents’ rights regarding their children’s education. Public Health (Control of Disease) Act (1984) and Health Protection Agency Act (2004) All these legislations are focused on protecting people’s health, covering notification and exclusion periods for certain infectious diseases. Exclusions for children include exclusion from schools, places of entertainment or assembly. Education Reform Act (1988) The National Curriculum was introduced into England, Wales and Northern Ireland as a nationwide curriculum for primary and secondary state schools following the Education Reform Act 1988. Children Act (1989) This is the basis of the current child protection system in England and Wales and was introduced to consolidate and clarify previous legislation. It established the principle that a child’s welfare is paramount in any decisions made about their upbringing. It states that every effort should be made to preserve a child’s home and family links and also introduced the notion of parental responsibility. It details how local authorities and courts should act in order to protect the welfare of children. Education Act (1993) This Act is an education measure with the aim of making important changes to the education system in England and Wales. It has various chapters which give details on the responsibility for education, addressing children with special educational needs, setting out the requirements of school attendance and providing details in regard to admissions and exclusions. It also gives parents the right to ask for their child, which is under 2 years of age, to be formally assessed. Code of Practice for the identification and assessment of Children with Special Educational Needs (1994 revised 2001) This Code of Practice provides practical advice to educational settings, including Early Years settings, on carrying out their statutory duties to identify, assess and make provision for children’s special educational needs. Reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences regulation (RIDDOR) (1995). Major injuries, which include fractures other than to fingers, thumbs or toes, amputation, dislocation, loss of sight (temporary or permanent) * Accidents resulting in over 3 day injure * Notifiable diseases * Dangerous occurrences * Gas incidents Food Safety amp; General Food Hygiene Regulation (1995) This Act is not currently applicable to registered childminders but acquiring a basic Food Hygiene Certificate is considered good practice. Food should be prepared and provided in a hygienic way. Safety controls are in place, maintained and reviewed. Food safety hazards are identifies by doing risk assessments and implementing appropriate solutions. Family Law Act (1996) This Act sets out guidance on safeguarding and promoting the child’s welfare. Disability Discrimination Act (1995) This Act states that it is illegal to treat disabled person less favourably than a non-disabled person. Settings are required to make reasonable adjustments to prevent disabled people being discriminated. Education Act (1997) This Act incorporates all previous Acts since 1944. It recognise the rights of parents regarding their children’s education and set a time frame on the legal process for identifying and assessing a child’s needs as set out in the Code of Practice. Code of Practice for First Aid (1997) The Code of Practice sets out standard practice and guidance for trained first aiders and gives tailored advice to show different people in industry what they need to do to meet their legal responsibilities for health and safety. Human Rights Act (1998) The Act incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. Children are covered by this legislation although not specifically mentioned. Protection of Children Act (1998) The Act states that the Secretary of State shall keep a list of individuals who are considered unsuitable to work with children. Data Protection Act (1998) It relates to information held about an individual. This includes medical records, social services files, facts and opinions about an individual. Anyone processing personal data must comply with the eight principles of good practice. T This Act introduced the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), a statutory framework that sets the standards for learning, development and care of children in the period between child’s birth and their fifth birthday. It is designed to ensure that children receive a good start in life and build a solid foundation to prepare them for school and life. The revised EYFS is effective from September 2013. Safeguarding in Child’s Welfare (15th April 2013) This guidance sets out how organizations and individuals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and how practitioners should conduct the assessment of children.

Impact of Firm Level Characteristics

Impact of Firm Level Characteristics Abstract Organizational performance has attracted scholarly attention in corporate finance literature over the several decades. However, in the context of insurance sector, it has received a little attention. Current study examines the impact of firm level characteristics (size, leverage, tangibility, risk, growth, liquidity and age) on performance of listed life insurance companies of Pakistan over seven years from 2001 to 2007. The results of Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression analysis indicate that size, risk and leverage are important determinants of performance of life insurance companies of Pakistan while ROA has statistically insignificant relationship with growth, profitability, age and liquidity. Keywords: performance, firm level characteristics, life insurance companies. Introduction The performance of any firm not only plays the role to increase the market value of that specific firm but also leads towards the growth of the whole industry which ultimately leads towards the overall prosperity of the economy. Measuring the performance of insurers has gained the importance in the corporate finance literature because as intermediaries , these companies are not only providing the mechanism of risk transfer but also helps to channelizing the funds in an appropriate way to support the business activities in the economy . Insurance companies have importance both for businesses and individuals as they indemnify the losses and put them in the same positions as they were before the occurrence of the loss. In addition, insurers provide economic and social benefits in the society i.e. prevention of losses, reduction in anxiousness, fear and increasing employment. Therefore, the current business world without insurance companies is unsustainable because risky businesses have not a capacity to retain all types of risk in current extremely uncertain environment. For the past six decades, Pakistani life insurance companies have shown the impressive progress which not only creates the employment opportunities but also enhances the business activities in the economy. Financial statistics reported the phenomenal growth of Pakistani life insurance companies as these companies comprise 52% and 69% share of entire (life plus non-life) insurance market in terms of net premiums and assets (Insurance Year Book, 2007). In addition, the premium of these life insurers increased by 36% in 2007 (Insurance Year Book, 2007) shows the remarkable progress of life insurance sector of Pakistan. Therefore, what determines the performance of the life insurance industry is an important discussion for the regulators and policy makers to support the sector in achieving the excellence so that desirable economic fruits could be reaped from the help of the life insurance sector of Pakistan. Literature Review The Determinants of performance have been extensively studied in corporate finance literature from the last several decades. For instance; by selecting the sample of US banks, Berger (1995) investigated the impact of capital asset ratio on return on equity. He concluded that capital asset ratio has a positive relationship with profitability. Anghazo (1997) examined the impact of firm level characteristics on US bank net interest margin. The results documented that bank interest margin positively related with leverage, opportunity cost, and default risk and management efficiency. Neeley and Wheelock (1997) explored the determinants of profitability of commercial banks and find that profitability positively related with changes in per capita income. To investigate the performance of banks (Naceur Goaied, 2001)used the sample of Tunisian banks over the period of 1980 to 1995. They advocated that the banks who tried to maintain their high deposits and improve their capital and labor productivity are performed well. Guru et al. (2002) examined the determinants of performance of Malaysian banks over the 10 years period from 1986 to 1995. For this purpose, they selected both micro and macro level characteristics. The results revealed that inflation positively while efficient expense management and high interest rate negatively related with profitability. The results of Goddard et al. (2004) showed that Profit is an important prerequisite for future growth of banks and the banks that maintain a high capital assets ratio tend to grow slowly. A study conducted by the (Sufian Parman, 2009)to investigate the determinants of profitability by selecting the non-commercial banks financial institutions. The findings indicated that credit risk and loan intensity negatively related with profitability while large size and financial institutions with high operational expenses tended to high profitability ratio. (Hakim Neaime, 2005) Observed that liquidity, current capital and investment are the important determinants of banks profitability. (Aburime, 2006) Identified the firm level determinants of profitability of Nigerian banks over the five years period from 2000 to 2004. He concluded that credit portfolio, size, capital size and ownership concentration are important determinants of Nigerian banks. (Kosmidou, 2008) showed that money supply growth has insignificant impact on profitability while GDP and stock market capitalization to assets are significant and have negative relation with the ROA. (Asimakopoulos, Samitas, Papadogo nas, 2009) illustrated that Firms profitability is positively affected by size, sales growth and investment. On the other hand, leverage and current assets negatively related with profitability. Severeral studies also have been conducted to measure the performance of the insurance compnies. For instance; Sloan, A and Conover, J.(1998) deduced that functional status of insurers do not affect the profitability of being insured but public coverage have significant impact on profitability of insurance companies. Chen and Wong ( 2004) examined that size, investment, liquidity are the important determinants of financial health of insurance companies. Chen et al.( 2009) examined the determinants of profitability and the results showed that profitability of insurance companies decreased with the increase in equity ratio. In addition, insurance companies must have to diversify their investment and use effective hedging techniques which help them to create better financial revenues. Research Methodology Sample and Data Currently, there are five life insurance companies operating in Pakistan and all these five companies are selected to measuring their performance over the period of seven years from 2001 to 2007. For this purpose, financial data has been collected from financial statements (Balance Sheets and Profit and Loss a/c) of insurance companies and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Insurance Year Bookà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? which is published by Insurance Association of Pakistan. Model PR = ÃŽÂ ²0 + ÃŽÂ ²1 (LG) + ÃŽÂ ²2 (TA) + ÃŽÂ ²3 (SZ) + ÃŽÂ ²4 (LQ) + ÃŽÂ ²5 (AG) + ÃŽÂ ²6 (RK) + ÃŽÂ ²7 (GR) + ÃŽÂ µ Where: PR = Performance (Net income before interest and tax divided by total assets) LG = Leverage (Total debts divided by total assets) TA = Tangibility (Fixed assets divided by total assets) SZ = Size (Log of premiums) LQ = Liquidity (Current assets divided by current liabilities) AG = Age (Difference b/w observation year and establishment year) RK = Risk (standard deviation of ratio of total claims to total premiums) GR = Growth (Percentage change in premiums) ÃŽÂ µ = the error term Descriptive Statistics Table 4.1 presents descriptive analysis of the firm level characteristic associated with life insurance sector. This study considers performance as dependent variable whereas leverage, size, growth, tangibility, liquidity, age and risk as independent variables. The industry average is provided by mean along with are the minima and maxima for respective year while standard deviation indicates the inter-industry variation of the variables value within the respective year. Table 4.1 indicates that the minimum value of industry mean of leverage is 0.79 in 2004 and 2007 while the mean value is at its maximum level in 2006 at 0.84.The maximum variation in leverage is observed in 2007 valuing at 0.30 and minimum is found in 2003 at 0.19. The variable size constantly shows the increasing trend from year 2001 to 2007. The mean value of size is at maximum level in 2007 i.e. 7.51 whereas minimum mean value for size is observed at 6.02 in 2001. In addition, the inter industry variation is minimum in 2001 at 2.12. Table 4.1 also shows that growth of Pakistani life insurance companies is not consistent in all seven years and mean value of growth is reached 34.84 in 2007 from 11.53 which is observed in 2001. The mean value of performance (dependent variable) is maximum in 2007 valuing at 0.07 and the minimum value is observed in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005 at 0.02. The standard deviation is also not very high i.e. around 0.02 as compare to other variables except in the year 2007 in which it touches it maximum of 0.07. Table 4.2 also provides descriptive results of tangibility, liquidity, age and risk for the period of seven years from 2001 to 2007 for the life insurance sector of Pakistan. The mean values and standard deviations of tangibility is around 0.03 and 0.02 respectively in all seven years from 2001 to 2007.The mean values of liquidity are indicating an increasing trend from the minimum of 1.70 in 2001 to the maximum value at 6.36 in 2007. The standard deviation is also establishing an increasing trend from a minimum value of 0.76 in 2001 to a maximum value of 8.63 in 2007.The mean value of risk is at its lowest level in 2003 at 0.58 with a minimum standard deviation of 0.45 while these values have reached their maximum level in 2007 i.e. 6.35 and 6.51 respectively. Analysis Table 4.2 reports the results of regression analysis in which seven independent variables are regressed by using the data of life insurance sector of Pakistan from 2001 to 2007. The value of R square (0.816) indicates that performance of life insurance companies is nearly 82% dependent on independent variables i.e. size, leverage, growth, tangibility, age, risk and liquidity. Therefore, performance is mainly defined by these seven variables of life insurers in Pakistan over seven years. Table 4.2 indicates that leverage is negatively and significantly related with the performance of the life insurance companies. This predicts that the performance of highly levered Pakistani life insurance companies is not up to the mark. Table 4.2 also shows that coefficient of variable size is positive and statistically significant at 1% level. This predicts that performance of large size life insurance companies is better than small size companies. The negative coefficient of growth indicates a negative relationship between growth and performance. However, this negative relationship is found to be statistically insignificant with the p-value of 0.809. Therefore, growth is not considered as a proper explanatory variable of performance in life insurance sector. The beta values of explanatory variables tangibility and liquidity are 0.507 and 0.001 respectively with the positive coefficient sign. However, tangibility and liquidity are not statistically significant with the large p-values. Therefore, tangibility and liquidity are not Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta (Constant) .010 .051 .204 .841 Leverage -.265 .090 -1.579 -2.940 .008* Size .038 .009 1.722 4.120 .001* Growth -4.69 .000 -.032 -.245 .809 Tangibility .507 .367 .183 1.382 .183 Liquidity .001 .003 .058 .205 .840 Age -.003 .003 -.235 -1.169 .257 Risk .004 .002 .374 1.903 .072** considered a powerful explanatory variable to define the performance of life insurance companies in Pakistan over seven years. Negative coefficient of variable age specifies the Table: 4.2 Regression Coefficients Their Significance level R Square 0.816 Adjusted R Square 0.749 F statistics 12.062 * Significant at 1% level **Significant at 10% level ______________________________________ negative relationship between performance and age of the Pakistani life insurance companies. However, the relationship between performance and age is statistically insignificant. Table 4.2 indicates that the coefficient of variable risk is positive and statistically significant at 10% level. According to the nature of insurance industry, ratio of total claims to total premiums (loss ratio) is used as a proxy to measure the risk of the life insurance companies in Pakistan. Positive sign shows a positive relationship between performance and risk of the insurance companies i.e. performance increases with the increase of loss ratio. Conclusion The current study investigates the impact of firm level characteristics on performance of the life insurance sector of Pakistan over the period of seven years from 2001 to 2007. For this purpose, size, profitability, age, risk, growth and tangibility are selected as explanatory variables while ROA is taken as dependent variable. The results of OLS regression analysis reveal that leverage, size and risk are most important determinant of performance of life insurance sector whereas ROA has statistically insignificant relationship with profitability, growth, tangibility and liquidity. TABLE 4.1: Descriptive Statistics Years Leverage Size Growth Performance Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max 2001 0.80 0.21 0.45 0.99 6.02 2.12 3.06 8.93 11.53 11.90 3.22 32.39 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.03 2002 0.81 0.20 0.47 0.99 6.21 2.11 3.29 9.07 22.21 23.52 3.68 60.99 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.03 2003 0.82 0.19 0.51 0.99 6.50 2.08 3.57 9.20 37.18 32.62 8.30 90.71 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.03 2004 0.79 0.24 0.38 0.99 6.68 2.09 3.56 9.31 22.20 27.93 -1.78 61.16 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.05 2005 0.83 0.21 0.47 0.99 6.95 2.03 3.96 9.53 31.18 10.30 24.97 48.98 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.05 2006 0.84 0.20 0.49 0.99 7.21 2.02 4.24 9.68 31.79 26.14 3.74 72.78 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.06 2007 0.79 0.30 0.26 1.00 7.51 2.06 4.50 10.03 34.82 9.25 22.44 45.66 0.07 0.07 0.00 0.17 TABLE 4.1 (Continued): Descriptive Statistics Years Tangibility Liquidity Age Risk Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max 2001 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.06 1.70 0.76 1.07 2.65 16.60 20.40 6.00 53.00 1.92 1.33 0.70 3.94 2002 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.06 1.73 0.86 1.14 3.01 17.60 20.40 7.00 54.00 0.83 0.47 0.40 1.34 2003 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.05 2.18 1.11 1.22 3.72 18.60 20.40 8.00 55.00 0.58 0.45 0.18 1.34 2004 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.04 2.24 1.77 1.09 4.85 19.60 20.40 9.00 56.00 3.34 3.08 0.00 7.23 2005 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.04 3.02 2.26 1.15 5.94 20.60 20.40 10.00 57.00 4.70 2.15 1.23 6.36 2006 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.03 3.98 2.72 1.36 7.37 21.60 20.40 11.00 58.00 3.60 3.86 0.51 9.72 2007 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.05 6.36 8.63 1.33 16.33 22.60 20.40 12.00 59.00 6.35 6.51 1.78 16.00 Table: 4.2 Regression Coefficients Their Significance level Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta (Constant) .010 .051 .204 .841 Leverage -.265 .090 -1.579 -2.940 .008* Size .038 .009 1.722 4.120 .001* Growth -4.69 .000 -.032 -.245 .809 Tangibility .507 .367 .183 1.382 .183 Liquidity .001 .003 .058 .205 .840 Age -.003 .003 -.235 -1.169 .257 Risk .004 .002 .374 1.903 .072** R Square 0.816 Adjusted R Square 0.749 F statistics 12.062 * Significant at 1% level **Significant at 10% level

Making Uniforms Mandatory for High Schools Essay -- School Uniforms Dr

Making Uniforms Mandatory for High Schools School uniforms in high schools are becoming increasingly popular across Canada. In fact, most school boards are positive towards making uniforms mandatory. Uniforms at high schools should be mandatory. Can uniforms really make a difference in a student’s academic performance? Of course, they can. First of all, uniforms create an atmosphere of equality at school. When worn by all students, uniforms reduce the gap between the rich and the poor and therefore, promote equality. Moreover, in the absence of uniforms, the wealthier students tend to look down and shun the poorer students as it gives them a chance to flaunt their wealth. For instance, other students mock at a student who does not keep up with the latest fashion, because he/she cannot afford it. However, introduction of uniforms gets rid of this problem because all the students wear the same clothes to school and no one has a reason to mock at the poorer students. Consequently, equality and freedom are established in the schools. Reduction in economic differences, as a result of wearing uniforms, creates an environment of equality at high schools. In addition to promoting equality, uniforms also decrease the violence levels at high schools and improve discipline. School uniforms play a major role in reducing potentially dangerous altercations among students. Many unsuspecting and vulnerable students unknowingly wear gang-coloured or gang-affiliated clothes to school. Ma...

Passion in Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre :: Jane Eyre Essays

Passion in Jane Eyre It is believed that we are born with a predestined personality. Our spiritual individuality is just as much a product of our genetic makeup as the color of our skin or our eyes. With our soul firmly planted, we can then build upon this basis as we are educated of the world. The social climate and cultural atmosphere shape our personalities, however, it is the people in our lives who have the greatest influence. Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre reveals this idea by the development of the protagonist. Through a series of character foils, Bronte expresses her idea of self- development and growth of the human spirit by contrasting passion with reason. By my interpretation of the novel, Bronte suggests that in one's life time, they will encounter a number of people and experiences that will arouse enough emotion in them to have the power to change their direction in life. St. John Rivers plays one of these life determining foils to Jane Eyre. His confidence, devotion and reason intrigue Jane almost enough to silence her inner passionate spirit, but it is the forces of nature that prove to be stronger than human will. The life path of a Victorian woman was somewhat limited in it's direction and expression of individuality. Jane Eyre strongly adheres to the Victorian morality which was dominated by the Anglican party of the Church of England in which passion and emotion were kept concealed. Jane's instinct for asserting herself was stifled at an early age and could only be expressed through defiance. The defiant declaration of independence from Mrs. Reed , "You are deceitful",(v.i.37) gives Jane the power of freedom and opens up a life of "unhoped-for liberty",(v.i.37). Through the preceding years Jane develops into a highly educated, well spoken and strong willed woman . She is taught to be patient and thoughtful during her years in Lowood , and is introduced to the emotions of the heart and spirit in meeting Rochester. Bronte makes an emphasis on the spiritual and supernatural atmosphere of Thornfield. The reference to the "Gytrash" and the mystical atmosphere she illustrates of their first meeting in the woods (v.i.113) could suggest that she is playing upon natural imagery and allusions to

A Tribute to a Special Person Essay -- Personal Narrative

A Tribute to a Special Person In 1982, at the age of fifthteen Debb ie Martinez of the Bronx, found out she was pregnant and was forced to drop out of school and move in with her boyfriend. She had a baby girl she named Jasmine. With little education and no job, it wasn’t easy for her to raise her child. She stayed at home caring for her daughter while her boyfriend worked. Since it was his house she had little say about anything that happened. He did as he pleased and came home with money only when he wanted to. Less then two years later she found herself about to raise another child. She had a baby girl she named Jennifer. She struggled to care for her two babies without much help from the father. It was then that she realized she had to do something to better her life. She decided to move back in with her mother and go back to school. She found work that barely gave her enough to raise her children. With two babies to care for, it was impossible for her to go back to high school full time so she received her G.E.D. She always had hopes of becoming a nurse so she enrolled in community college. By this time she was working and had her own apartment. While going to college she found herself about to raise another baby girl. She continued to attend classes until the last possible moment. When Aurea was born, school was once again put on hold so she could care for her baby. As soon as Aurea was old enough to stay with a babysitter Debbie went back to work and school. She worked during the day and went to class at night. Being able to only take a class or two per semester made it harder for her to graduate. She never gave up. In 1997 she finally received enough credit and graduated with a degree in medical assistance. She ... ...bbie is living her life day by day. She never knows when her multiple sclerosis will completely rule her life. Some days she wakes up fine, but then the day comes when it’s hard for her to do anything. Even though she is sick, she still works hard to maintain her family. When she’s having a bad day physically, she takes her medicine and gets ready for work. When her family is worried and tells her it would be best for her to stay home and rest she assures them she is strong and will be fine. Debbie Martinez is a very special person. She worked hard all her life to accomplish her goals. She continued to go to school and work, while still being able to take care of her children and making sure they had everything they needed. No matter what was thrown in her way she could overcome it. Debbie has played many roles in her life, being my mother is just one of the many.

Is the Globalization tide turning? Essay

Marber attempts to analyze the origin and goals of the G8 countries and postulates that G8 needs to reinvent and reorient itself to address changing dynamics at the global level. The Cold War played a crucial role in the formation of Group of Eight (G8) as a forum to address and promote multilateralism among the nations that endorsed market-centric approach to economics. Politically and economically G8 sought to offer a viable alternative to centrally planned socialist economics. G8 nations placed emphasis on stability from a cross-regional perspective and hence promoted economic interdependence among the member nations. To a large extent G8 has been successful and its success encouraged the hitherto closed economies to open and emulate the economic model of G8 nations. The fact that Soviet Union broke up into 15 different countries and they all shifted their economic approach to market-centric one is an ample evidence of G8 and its policies. Despite the success it has enjoyed since formed G8 is in urgent need of reorienting itself. Some of the â€Å"developing nations† have indeed developed to a large extent and G8 needs to acknowledge this fundamental fact of economic evolution. With globalization as its central tenet G8 needs a fresh approach for ensuring multilateralism in the future. This becomes doubly difficult as the world is witnessing lack of global consensus on trade, security and law. Due to the various financial crises and terrorism at the global level there is now the looming threat of reversion i. e. protectionist trade policies and capital controls. In order not to lose its relevance in the increasingly globalized world, G8 needs to address the paradox of countries cooperating with each other economically but moving apart politically. The former centrally planned economies in Latin America, Asia and Africa have abandoned their old economic policies and have embraced free market ideology. Marber stresses the fact that the some of the emerging economies actually fund the deficits of G8 governments and postulates the concept of E8 i. e. Emerging 8 nations that will include China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and Mexico. Marber further differentiates G8 from E8 based on parameters like median age and purchasing power parity and concludes that E8 will soon outperform the G8 nations. To accommodate this G8 needs to shed its old image of dominant hegemony and needs to take a fresh look at the emerging economies. The emerging economies do not represent the entire global citizenry by any means, but they do exhibit tendencies to join global commonwealth as responsible nations. Though the corporations in the G8 nations have acknowledged the relevance of E8, it has been observed the G8 nations are bit slow to integrate themselves into the changing economic world order. Marber provides numerous examples of the way corporations in G8 countries engage and compete in the emerging markets. The paper then differentiates all the emerging economies in detail individually and states the advantages these economies currently enjoy. China for example has renegotiated a new bilateral meeting with US to address trade issues and currently seems to financing major portion of US debt. India on the other hand seems to enjoy the benefits of world’s largest English speaking democracy and is deemed as a super power in the making in high-tech fields. Turkey is situated in a strategically important location and trace an historical relationship with Europe and its secular model seems to be proving a huge benefit. Mexico as largest trading partner of the United States is integrating itself faster into the US and Canadian economies within the framework of NAFTA. In contrast another Latin American giant Brazil has developed its capabilities in fields ranging from agriculture to aviation. South Africa possesses a capability to enmesh disparate political groups and ideologies in the African continent. According to Marber these are the salient facts that needs to be taken into consideration if G8 is to refashion itself and still play a meaningful role in the future. In this regard Marber mentions eight policy areas for G8, where G8 nations need to place a greater emphasis. He further explains these policy areas like trade, security etc in detail and is of the opinion that these need to be taken up seriously by the G8 nations and regain their pioneering efforts in globalization. The health of globalized system of interconnected and interdependent economies requires a vast diversification beyond the existing G8 nations. Marber claims that E8 nations should not just be free riders but should become active participants and hence should share responsibility in maintaining globalized world order. G8 nations on their part should cease to be patronizing and instead should seek to build partnerships with the emerging nations actively. According to Marber there is an acute need of expanded and enabled group deriving largely from the existing G8 nations and believes inclusion of E8 nations will be the right step in that direction. He concludes by saying this is the logical step forward that would preemptively exclude looming threat protectionist globalization. The central tenet of the paper lies in its emphasis on E8 nations as a counter threat to emerging anti-multilateralism. Answers to the Questions: 1. How many other were involved in writing this article? Answer: Three. Peter Marber was main author but he has been assisted by two of his colleagues (Christian Deseglise and Avi Sharon). 2. What are the 5 factors that contributed to a visible crack in the G8? Answer: The five factors that contributed to a visible crack are: 1) collapse of WTOs Doha talks on trade 2) lack of global consensus on environment laid out in Kyoto protocol 3) undermining of International Criminal Court 4) protectionist government policies related to selective cross-border acquisitions and 5) lack of consensus on the invasion of Iraq. 3. What are the 8 policy areas that will bring the G8/E8 together? Answer: The policy areas that will bring G8/E8 together are: a) Trade b) Security c) Energy d) Immigration e) Environment f) Health & Drugs g) Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) h) Poverty Works Cited Marber, Peter. From the G8 to the â€Å"E8† Is the Globalization Tide Turning? World Policy Journal 23. 3 (2006): 42-51.

On Education and Human Nature Essay

This paper is a brief discussion of the relationship between education and human nature as seen in two varying viewpoints – that of Callicles (in Plato’s Gorgias) and Protagoras. The author is of the belief that education, albeit necessary in the survival of man in the long run, is a construct that contradicts the nature of man insofar as it restricts certain aspects of an individual. Such an assertion is partly leaning towards Callicles’ view of man as a creature whose appetites, so to speak, have to be met by virtue of a natural law. This position, along with Protagoras’ view of the nature of education – that it is essential in the cultivation of civic virtue – is key to the author’s argument that education is restricting. Callicles and Protagoras are similar in the sense that both are Sophists, with the slight distinction that the former is a student of Gorgias. Protagoras (outside of Plato’s dialogs) is known for his assertion that man is the measure of all things, and with that in mind it can be said that Callicles likewise adheres to that position, but with reservations – i. e. , the â€Å"better† man (discussions on definition aside) seems to be the measure of all things, not all men as they are. Aside from that, however, there is nothing more that links the two characters in Plato’s dialogs together. In fact, the views of the two thinkers with regard to the issue central to the discussion in this paper differ greatly. To begin, Callicles admonishes Socrates in their dialog for remaining to be a â€Å"student† of philosophy even as an adult. For Callicles, philosophy is not meant to be studied extensively nor lengthily; it is supposed to be indulged in by the youth, and only in moderation. He maintains that studying philosophy insofar as it is required by one’s education is acceptable; however, to still be engaged in philosophizing when one is already past the age of schooling is short of appalling since it causes one to deviate from leading a practical life. But what is this practical life that Callicles is in favor of? The answer to this question is implicit in the discourse that followed his expression of dislike towards Socrates’ way of life. Callicles purports that there is a natural justice in existence in the world that is being resisted, or even disregarded, by conventional justice. His notion of what is â€Å"just by nature† revolves around the idea that the â€Å"superior† amongst men is supposed to be a kind of usurper of property (if seen in a negative way) who – by virtue of his superiority – has the right to rule over the inferior of his kinsmen, and is entitled to a greater share in everything compared to lesser men. Such a concept, as seen in his exchange with Socrates, is completely in opposition to what is being forwarded in their society at the time – the idea that all men are essentially equal, and that what is just is for everyone to receive an equal share. This is the conventional justice Callicles is referring to. Socrates, in turn, and with his method of â€Å"acquiring knowledge† (Socratic method), manages to use his opponent’s argument against him. He began his argument with questions that asked for a clarification of definition – what is superior? Better? – and ended with the statement that with Callicles’ own words he managed to show that since many is superior to one, then rules of the many are superior; hence, these rules are rules of the better; hence, the rules of these â€Å"better† people are admirable by nature since they are superior; thus, natural justice is not at all in contradiction with conventional justice. As mentioned earlier, within the aforementioned exchange regarding natural and conventional justice lies Callicles’ perception of the practical life, or the kind of life an individual ought to lead. As with countless other thinkers, his argument is deeply rooted with the idea of happiness as the end to which man should direct his actions. What distinguishes him from Protagoras, though, is his assertion that happiness – and his concept of natural justice – can be attained only by the man who will succumb to his appetites, or in his own words: â€Å"the man who’ll live correctly ought to allow his own appetites to get as large as possible and not restrain them†. As for what he termed as â€Å"contracts of men† – which are to be assumed as the laws that maintain order in the society – Callicles is of the opinion that since these go against the grain with which man is made, they are to be considered â€Å"worthless nonsense†. For his part, Socrates of course attempted to dissuade Callicles by means of his conventional method of discourse and by introducing the analogy of the two men with jars, to no avail. Protagoras’ main point in the discourse relevant to this paper is that virtue is teachable. In support of his assertion, he recalled the account of the creation of man in Greek mythology to Socrates. He recounted that all creatures of the earth are made by the gods out of fire and earth, and that prior to giving them life Epimetheus and Prometheus were tasked to facilitate the distribution of abilities to them. Epimetheus volunteered to do it himself, with Prometheus inspecting the result. Epimetheus balanced the distribution with regard to â€Å"nonreasoning animals†. As for the human race, they were left bare, in the broadest definition of the word. Prometheus saw the problem and solved it by stealing from Hephaestus and Athena wisdom in the practical arts and fire and gave them to man, which proved fatal for him in the end. It is important to note that wisdom in the practical arts is wisdom intended for survival. It did not include political wisdom – needed to be able to establish and maintain the order of a city – as this is kept by Zeus. The result was catastrophic, as evidenced by the fact that later on Zeus sent Hermes to distribute justice and shame to all men for fear that the human race will be wiped out because of man’s inability to coexist in cities they founded to protect themselves from wild beasts that placed them in danger of annihilation. Political or civic virtue then – products of justice and temperance – became a divine law of which every man is knowledgeable, unlike other virtues that stem from other arts (such as architectural excellence). This myth was used by Protagoras to show that inherent in all men are the seeds of civic virtue that only need to be coaxed out with the aid of education and constant admonition from one’s elders (particularly parents). And since this is the case, all men are capable to be taught virtue, because all men are in possession of it. Protagoras made a second, this time stronger point to support his statement that virtue is teachable. He began his argument by saying that the difference between evils caused by natural processes and those resulting from the lack or absence of civic virtue is that the former elicits pity for the person in possession of such an evil. Contrary to that, when society is confronted with a person exhibiting the opposite of virtue – injustice, impiety, etc. – it is not pity that’s felt but anger. Protagoras maintains that this reaction is due to the fact that civic virtue is regarded as something that can be acquired through training, practice, and teaching. He pushes his position further by saying that reasonable punishment – administered to a person who has committed an act that goes against civic virtue – is undertaken as a deterrence, the implication of which is that virtue is and can be learned. To further support his claim, Protagoras went into a brief discussion of how virtue is taught to all men all their lives. As little children, he said, men are taught not only by their parents about civic virtue but also through the education they receive. From the literature they study to the songs they play, teachers are keen on inserting messages meant to teach them what is good and just. For Protagoras, it seems, education is not merely comprised of letters and literature. Music is likewise necessary, as well as sports. Music, as he said, makes people â€Å"gentler† – they become more â€Å"rhythmical and harmonious† with regard to their actions. And this is important because for him, â€Å"all of human life requires a high degree of rhythm and harmony†. As for sports, Protagoras mentions that parents â€Å"send their children to an athletic trainer so that they may have sound bodies in the service of their now fit minds†. Even after one’s formal schooling is over, education on the virtues does not stop. As Protagoras said: â€Å"When [the students] quit school, the city in turn compels them to learn the laws and to model their lives on them. They are not to act as they please. † He ended his side of the discussion with a rhetorical question of how anyone can wonder about virtue being teachable when it is given so much care and attention in man’s public and private life. It is crucial to analyze the discourse both thinkers had with Socrates, albeit briefly, to be able to shed light on the position of this paper that education is necessary but constricting. With regard to the nature of man, it is clear that there is a clear dividing line between the idea of Callicles and that of Protagoras. For the latter, what is good for man is that which is good for the society. In other words, there is no contradiction between natural and conventional justice relative to the nature of man and how he ought to live. For the former, man is essentially a being meant to be governed by his appetites, or desires. The conflict lies in the fact that conventional justice dictates that there be a certain level of order maintained in a society, order which will only come about through the citizens’ willingness to subject themselves to laws that promote equality and peaceful co-existence. For Callicles, such laws are human constructs, designed to restrain his idea of a superior man, and as such should not be observed. The author will go one step further and say that although there is no direct discussion on education in Callicles’ discourse with Socrates, it is clear that since education is a human construct, he sees it as but another shackle his superior man has to bear. Despite the fact that Protagoras is amenable to education – as it teaches civic virtue – there is a single line in the discourse that implies a completely different attitude. Protagoras told Socrates that when a man’s formal education is over, he is still forced to learn the laws and live by them, and that he is not to act as he pleases. This goes to show that despite the eagerness of his version of man to live a life of civic virtue, part of him still needs to be shackled by laws. It is these deductions – from both thinkers – that led the author to believe that inherent in every person is a part that yearns for unbridled freedom and power. Education is an institution that strives to inculcate in man the characteristics needed for him to be able to lead a peaceful life in a society – characteristics that lean towards suppressing one’s desires and call for a sort of balance between fulfilling one’s wants and respecting those of others. Despite the restrictive nature of education, the author believes that it is still a necessary burden people have to bear. Gone are the days when man kept to himself, when he foraged for food and did not maintain a life of permanence in any one place. With the evolution of man came the need for permanence, and with that co-existence with other men. It may be true that at the core of every man is a selfish desire for power – to have everything and more. But if all men were to be allowed to act according to their whims, the stories of old – where Zeus feared that the human race might be annihilated because of man’s inability to restrain his need for power – may come true after all. Survival today does not only entail meeting one’s basic needs. It is also about respecting other men, if one were to be anthropocentric about it. And this – along with other things that will aid the human race to persist for the next millennia – can only be reinforced by education.

Phonetics and Phonology

REPUBLICA BOLIVARIANA DE VENEZUELA UNIVERSIDAD PEDAGOGICA EXPERIMENTAL LIBERTADOR INSTITUTO PEDAGOGICO DE CARACAS CATEDRA DE FONETICA Y FONOLOGIA ASIGNATURA: FONETICA Y FONOLOGIA II AN ANALYSIS OF A SPEECH SAMPLE IN WHICH UNDERLIE A VARIETY OF ENGLISH VOWEL SOUNDS Authors: Aymara Villasmil Daniel Rodriguez CARACAS, FEBRERO DE 2011 INTRODUCTION Throughout the years, a variety of famous linguists have made an attempt to define the difficult question of what language is. For instance, Halliday (1973) affirms that language is an instrument of communication among members of a social group.In relation to this, Gimson (1962) states that a language is a system of conventional signals used for a communication by a whole community. On the other hand, Whitman (1975) when trying to describe the concept of language establishes a particular connection between the use of language and the mental processes speaker experiences. He states that language, far from being independent of the mind, was so in extricably tied to the mind that the study of language was virtually the study of human mind.These different assumptions of what language is impel us, as future EFL teachers, to recognize the enormous responsibility teaching English as a foreign language involves. Due to the fact that we will necessarily have to handle several definitions of what language is and its components (syntax, grammar, phonetics and phonology, semantics,†¦) in order to help students realize the variety of elements they use when communicating with others.For instance, when teaching our students a language level such as phonetics and phonology, which primary involves pronunciation we have to make them aware that it is not only a matter of pronouncing sounds in isolation, but that these sounds are part of a communicative system the use in daily life. In relation to this, Strickland ( U. D ) states that learning a language, whether it is the mother tongue or a foreign one, is learning a system of sounds an d their arrangements in words and patterns of organization together with the concepts the words and patterns represent.The following written work has as a primary proposal, the analysis of a speech sample recorded from a beginner speaker of English language who read a four – paragraph newspaper article in which the following vocalic sounds were immersed: mid – low back /? /, low front /? / , mid -high back / /, mid – high front /? / . Through the record we will be analyzing the substitution the speaker made or not of any of the four vocalic sounds mentioned before.We will be explaining why the speaker made that substitution, which factors influenced in the substitution and finally, we will be giving a variety of suggestions / recommendations for the appropriated production of vowel sounds of English and the rest of the inventory sounds. General Objective ? To explain the transference the speaker makes when pronouncing the English vowels which do not belong / exi st to Spanish inventory sounds. Specific Objectives ? To demonstrate the articulatory features that influence the speaker when pronouncing English vowel sounds. To establish different factors that affect the Speaker when pronouncing English vowels. ? To provide students accurate and useful pronunciation techniques that will make them improve their pronunciation of English. ONE of the few surprises at the Golden Globes two weeks ago — you’ll be forgiven if you’ve already forgotten about that odd little broadcast — was the award given to â€Å"Carlos,† the French director Olivier Assayas’s five-hour-plus reconstruction of the life and career of the notorious terrorist of the 1970s and ’80s Carlos the Jackal.The award represented a high point of cosmopolitanism at a predictably parochial event: 11 languages spoken on screen; dozens of locations across Europe and the Middle East; a polyglot cast led by a Venezuelan star, Edgar Ramirez, wh o has the potential to become an international sex symbol. What more could you want from a foreign film? /w? n ? v fju s? rprajz? z ? t gold? n globz tu wiks ? go ju ll bi f? rg? v? n ? f ju vealready f? rg? t? n ? bawt t ? d l? t? l br? dk? st w? z ?w? rd g? v? n tu k? rlos, fr? nt? d? r? kt? r ol? vie assayas sfive- aw? r- pl? s rik? nstr? k n ? lajf ? nd k? r? r ? v not? ri? s t? r? r? st ? v 1970s ? nd 80s k? rlos d k? l. ?w? rd r? pr? z? nt? d ? haj p? jnt ? v cosmopolitanism ? t ? pr? d? kt? bli p? roki? l ? v? nt: 11 l gw? d z spok? n ? n skrin; d? z? nz ? v loke nz ? kr? s j? r? p ? nd m? d? l ist; ? p? liglat k? st l? d baj ? v? n? zwel? n st? r, dgar r? m, rezwho h? z p? t? n l tu b? k? m ? n ? nt? rn n? l s? ks s? mb? l. w? t m? r k? d ju w? nt fr? m ? f? r? n f? lm/ |Phonetic Transcription |Well pronounced |mispronounced |Segment used for substitution | |/? / | | | | |/? f/ | | |Substitution of the mid-high front | | | | |vowel /I/ for the Spanish /i/ | |/ t/ | | | | |/l? t? l/ | | | | |/br? k? st/ | | |Back closing diphthong /ou/ instead of | | | | |the mid low back /? / in the first | | | | |syllable. | |/br? dk? st/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? /| | | | |for the central schwa /? in the second| | | | |syllable. | |/g? v? n/ | | | | |/ol? vie/ | | | | |/? nd/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? /| | | | |for the central schwa /? in the second| | | | |syllable. | |/k? r? r/ | | | | |/t? r? r? st/ | | |Substitution of the Mid- high front | | | | |vowel /I/ for the Spanish /i/ | |/sev? nt? / | | |Deletion of the mid-high back vowel. |/? nd/ | | | | |/e? t? / | | |Deletion of the mid-high back vowel. | |/d k? l/ | | | | |/? t/ | | | | | | | | | |/pr? ? kt? b? l/ | | |Substitution o the Mid- high front | | | | |vowel /I/ for the mid front in the | | | | |first syllable and substitution of Mid-| | | | |high front vowel /I/ for the Spanish | | | | |/i/ in the second syllable. |/? v? nt | | | | |/l gw? d z/ | | |Substitut ion of the low front vowel /? /| | | | |for the central /? / in the first | | | | |syllable. | |/? kr? s/ | | |Substitution of the mid-low back /? , | | | | |for the Spanish /o/ | |/? nd/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? /| | | | |for the central schwa /? / in the second| | | | |syllable. | |/m? d? / | | |Substitution of the Mid- high front | | | | |vowel /I/ for the Spanish /i/ | |/k? st/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? /| | | | |for the Mid-low back /? / | |/r? mirez/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? | | | | |for the central Schwa /? / | |/h? z/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? /| | | | |for the Mid-low back /? / | |/b? k? m/ | | | | |/? n/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? | | | | |for the central Schwa /? / | |/? nt? rn n? l/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? /| | | | |for the central Schwa /? / | |/? nt? rn n? l/ | | | | |/s? mb? l/ | | | | |/k? / | | | | |/f? lm/ | | | | Except that â€Å"Carlos† was not n ominated for the Golden Globe in that category (the winner was â€Å"In a Better World,† from Denmark): it was made for, and first shown on, French television, a fact that also rendered it ineligible for consideration — as a foreign-language or any other kind of film — by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which announced its nominees last Tuesday.Mr. Assayas’s dark-horse victory at the Globes was for best miniseries or motion picture made for television. Fair enough, given its origins. Then again, â€Å"Carlos† has encountered its American audience in the way more and more foreign films do these days: on a handful of movie screens in big cities, and on cable and video-on-demand. So its exclusion from the Oscars seems somewhat arbitrary. /? ks? pt t k? rlos w? z n? t n? m? net? d f? r gold? n glob ? n t k? t? g? ri ( w? n? r w? z ? n ? b? t? r w? rld, fr? m d? nm? rk): ? t w? z med f? r, ? nd f? rst ? on ? n, fr? nt? t? l? v n, ? f? kt t ? so r? nd? rd ? t ? n? l? d b? l f? r k? ns? d? re n ? z ? f? r? n- l gw? d? ?r ? ni r kajnd ? v f? lm baj ?k? d? mi ? v mo n p? kt r ? rts ? nd saj? ns? z, w? t? ?nawnst ? ts n? m? niz l? st tuzdi. m? st? r. assayas sdark- h? rs v? kt? ri ? t globz w? z f? r b? st m? nisiriz ? r mo n p? kt r med f? r t? l? v n. f? r ? n? f, g? v? n ? ts ? r? d nz. n ? g? n, k? rlos h? z ? nkawnt? rd ? ts ? m? r? k? n ? di? ns ? n we m? r ? nd m? r f? r? n f? lmz du ? iz dez: ? n ? h? ndf? l ? v muvi skrinz ? n b? g s? tiz, ? nd ? n keb? l ? nd v? dio- ? n- d? m? nd. so ? ts ? ksklu n fr? m sk? rz simz s? mw? t ? rb? tr? ri/ |Phonetic Transcription |Well pronounced |mispronounced |Segment used for substitution | |/? ks? pt/ | | |Substitution of the mid high front /I/ for | | | | |the mid front /e/ | |/ t/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? / for| | | | |the Mid-low back /? | |/? n/ | | | | |/ t/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? / for| | | | |the central Schwa /? / | |/k? t? g? ri/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? / for| | | | |the Mid-low back /? | |/w? n? r/ | | |Substitution of the mid high front /I/ for | | | | |the highest front /i/ | |/? n/ | | | | |/? t/ | | | | |/? nd/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? for| | | | |the central Schwa /? / | |/t? l? v n/ | | |Substitution of the mid high front /I/ for | | | | |the highest front /i/ | |/f? kt/ | | | | |/ t/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? for| | | | |the central Schwa /? / | |/? t/ | | | | |/? n? l? d b? l/ | | |Substitution of the mid high front /I/ for | | | | |the highest front /i/ in the second | | | | |syllable. | |/k? ns? d? re / | | | | |/? z/ | | | | |/l gw? d? / | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? / for| | | | |the mid-front /e/ | |/en? / | | | | |/f? m/ | | | | |/? k? d? mi/ | | | | |/p? kt r/ | | | | |/? nd/ | | | | |/w? t? / | | | | |/? s/ | | | | |/l? st/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? / for| | | | |the Mid-low back /? / | |/m? st? r/ | | | | |/v? kt? ri/ | | |Substitution of the mid high front /I/ for | | | |the highest front /i/ | |/? t/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? / for| | | | |the central Schwa /? / | |/m? st? r? z/ | | |Substitution of the mid high front /I/ for | | | | |the highest front /i/ | |/p? kt / | | | | |/t? l? v n/ | | |Substitution of the mid high front /I/ for | | | | |the highest front /i/ | |/g? v? n/ | | | | |/? ts/ | | | | |/? ? d nz/ | | |Substitution of schwa /? / for the highest | | | | |front vowel /i/ in the second syllable, | | | | |Substitution of the mid high front /I/ for | | | | |the highest front /i/ in the third | | | | |syllable. | |/h? / | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? / for| | | | |the central Schwa /? / | |/? ts/ | | | | |/? n/ | | |Substitution of the mid high front /I/ for | | | | |the highest front /i/ | |/? d/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? / for| | | | |the central Schwa /? / | |/f? lmz/ | | | | |/h? ndf? l/ | | | | |/ h? ndf? l/ | | | | |/? / | | | | |/b? g/ | | |Substitution of the mid high front /I/ for | | | | |the highest front /i/ | |/s? tiz/ | | |Substitution of the mid high front /I/ for | | | | |the highest front /i/ | |/? d/ | | | | |/v? dio/ | | | | |/d? m? nd/ | | | | |/d? m? nd/ | | | | |? s | | | | |? ksklu n | | | | |? sk? rz | | |Substitution of the mid low back /? /, for | | | | |the Spanish /o/ |But so does everything else about the way the Academy deals with movies from the rest of the world. An elaborate and mysterious winnowing process pares down the thousands of potential nominees to five. This year they are â€Å"Dogtooth† from Greece, â€Å"Incendies† from Canada, â€Å"Biutiful† from Mexico, â€Å"Outside the Law† from Algeria and â€Å"In a Better World,† which might be considered the front-runner if you take the Globes as an omen. /b? t so d? z ? vri ?ls ? bawt we ?k? d? mi dilz w muviz fr? m r? st ? v w? rld. ?n ? l? br? t ? nd m? st? ri? w? no pr? s? s p? rz dawn ?awz? ndz ? v p? t? n l n? m? niz tu fajv. s j? r ? e ? r dogtooth fr? m gris, incendies fr? m k? n? d? , biutiful fr? m m? ks? ko, awtsajd l? fr? m ? ld ri? ?nd ? n ? b? t? r w? rld, w? t? majt bi k? ns? d? rd fr? nt- r? n? r ? f ju tek globz ? z ? n om? n/ |Phonetic Transcription |Well pronounced |mispronounced |Segment used for substitution | |/? vri / | | | | |/? k? d? i/ | | | | |/w / | | | | |/? n/ | | | | |/? l? br? t/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? / for| | | | |the central Schwa /? | |/? nd/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? / for| | | | |the central Schwa /? / | |/m? st? r? z/ | | |Substitution of mid high front /I/ for the | | | | |mid-front /e/ in the second syllable. | |/w? no | | | | |/ s/ | | |Replacement of the mid high front /I/ for | | | | |the highest front /i/ | |/j? r/ | | | | |/k? n? d? / | | |The speaker did not produce de vowel sound. |/? ld ri? / | | |Substitution of mid high front /I/ for the | | | | |mid-front /e/ in the second syllable. | |/? ld ri? / | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? / for| | | | |the Mid-low back /? / in the first syllable | |/? n/ | | | | |/w? ? / | | | | |/k? ns? d? rd/ | | | | |/? f/ | | | | |/? z/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? / for| | | | |the central Schwa /? | |/? n/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel /? / for| | | | |the central Schwa /? / | â€Å"Dogtooth† came and went on a few American screens last spring, and â€Å"Outside the Law† had a brief run in December (and may return shortly); only â€Å"Biutiful,† whose globally famous star, Javier Bardem, was nominated for best actor, is likely to be playing now at a theater near you.The others will be released in the late winter or early spring, in the hopes of realizing some kind of box office bounce. The usual pre-nomination handicapping — the canvassing of critical opinion and the weighing of popular sentiment — does not apply to these movies, which might in principle make the choices less compromised, but in practice only serves to make them more confusing. dogtooth kem ? nd w? nt ? n ? fju ? m? r? k? n skrinz l? st spr , ? nd awtsajd l? h? d ? brif r? n ? n d? s? mb? r ( ? nd me r? t? rn rtli); onli biutiful, huz glob? i fem? s st? r, h? vi? r bardem, w? z n? m? net? d f? r b? st ? kt? r, ? z lajkli tu bi ple naw ? t ? ?i? t? r n? r ju. rz w? l bi rilist ? n let w? nt? r ? r ? rli spr , ? n hops ? v ril? jz s? m kajnd ? v b? ks ? f? s bawns. ju w? l pri- n? m? ne n h? ndik? p k? nv? s ?v kr? t? k? l ? p? nj? n ? nd we ?v p? pj? l? r s? nt? m? nt d? z n? t ? plaj tu ? iz muviz, w? t? majt ? n pr? ns? p? l mek t js? z l? s k? mpr? m? jzd, b? t ? n pr? kt? s onli s? rvz tu mek m m? r k? nfjuz / Phonetic Transcription |Well pronounced |mispronounced |Segment used for substitution | |/? nd/ | | |Substitution of the low front vowel| | | | |/? / for the central Schwa /? / | |/l? st/ | | |Substitution o f the low front vowel| | | | |/? for the low-back. | |/spr / | | | | |/? nd/ | | | | |/h? d/ | | | | |/? n/ | | | | |/? d/ | | | | |/? kt? r/ | | | | |/? z/ | | | | |/ple / | | | | |/? t/ | | | | |/n? / | | |Substitution of the mid-high back | | | | |vowel /I/ for the central diphthong| | | | |/I? / | |/w? l/ | | |Substitution of the mid-high back | | | | |vowel /I/ for the Spanish /i/ | |/? / | | | | |/w? nt? r/ | | | | |/spr / | | | | |/? n/ | | | | |/ril? jz / | | | | |/? ? s/ | | |Substitution of the mid low back | | | | |/? /, for the Spanish /o/ | |/h? ndik? p / | | |Substitution of the mid-high back | | | | |vowel /I/ for the Spanish /i/ | |/h? ndik? p | | | | |/k? nv? s / | | | | |/k? nv? s / | | |Substitution of the mid-high back | | | | |vowel /I/ for the Spanish /i/ | |/kr? t? k? l/ | | | | |/? p? j? n/ | | | | |/? nd/ | | | | |/we / | | | | |/w? t? / | | | | |/? n/ | | | | |/pr? s? p? l/ | | | | |/? n/ | | | | |/pr? kt? s/ | | | | |/k? nfjuz / | | | | METHODOLOGYAn IPC s tudent from the Second semester was selected for the recording of the speech sample which was one of the main concerns of this investigation. The recording was made on February 9th in a classroom of the IPC. The electronic device used was a low quality cell phone whose recording application allowed us to record the student’s speech and then, through USB connection, transferred the audio to the PC and copied the data in a CD-ROM. ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS †¢ CHART N? 1 Production of the vowel sound mid – low back /? / in a text read by a student of the second semester at the IPC. | |Pronunciation | | |Sound | | | | | |Substitution | | |Well – Pronounced | | | | | |Mispronounced | | | | | |Substitution of the mid | |/? |0 |4 |low back /? /, for the | | |0% |100 % |Spanish /o/ in most of | | | | |the cases. | †¢ For the vowel sound low front /? / (fifty – three times). †¢ For the vowel sound mid -high back /? / (two – times). †¢ Fo r the vowel sound mid – high front /? / (eighty – two times). †¢ For the vowel sound mid-low back /? / ( four times) Sound |Right |Wrong |Substitution | | |2 |0 | | |/? / |100% |0% |None | |Sound |Right |Wrong |Substitution | | |57 |24 | | |/? |70% |30% |In most of the cases, | | | | |replacement of the mid high | | | | |front /I/ for the highest | | | | |front /i/ | Sound |Right |Wrong |Substitution | | |22 |31 | | |/? / |42% |58% |In most of the cases, | | | | |Substitution of the low front| | | | |vowel /? for the central | | | | |Schwa /? / | 1- The speaker’s most troublesome sound was the mid – low back vowel of English /? /, although its incidence in the whole article was very low, only four times. Nevertheless, the student substituted the English sound /? / whose lip- position is similar to the one of Spanish / o /, that is, slightly rounded. 2- After the mid-low back vowel, the most troublesome sound was the low front vowel /? /, due to the f act that the speaker substituted this sound /? / in most of the cases for schwa /? or Mid-low back /? /, in which the lips are slightly spread and the vowels for the substitution are lax (/? /) and tense (/? /) respectively. Some aspects that may cause trouble for the speaker is the word spelling, because sometimes they tend to get confused or doubtful when pronouncing a word, in the moment they see a difficult or uncommon spelling. RECOMMENDATIONS In order to facilitate our labor as future English teachers and to encourage our students to learn the language while developing effective skills, being speaking our main concern, the researchers selected a series of educational techniques: ? ReadingsAs future EFL teachers we have to expose our students to English language through â€Å"readings† in which students will find a visual stage (graphemes) and an auditory one (phonemes). Students will read aloud pieces of writings made by them or any selected reading material made by the teacher such as, short stories A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, To Build a fire by Jack London, or any play such as: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Students will read or hear structures like: pot – stop, tip – sleep, car – bad and the will also be aware of the likenesses or differences among vocalic sounds immersed in the readings. Dictation EFL teachers must develop listening skill, so as a speaking one, in their students and this can be done through the appropriate use of dictation as a useful and realistic technique that will allow students to receive a phonic background and then to analyze the spelling data involved, that is, graphemes. The most important part of this method is that students will be able to create the pieces of writings that will be read by the teacher or among the classmates and whose content will be according to their interests and experiences, so student? creative expression will also be taken into account as essential par t of the learning process. ? Poetry According to Stuckland (1962) students like poetry first for its singing quality, for its rhyme, rhythm and all that goes into the melody of verse. That is, the enjoyable environment poetry creates when students interpret its content. Suggested poems will be: Hickory, Dickory, Dock by William Wallace Denslow in whose content are presented a variety of vowel sounds. CONCLUSIONSIn order to make our students aware of the different vowels in English, we as English teachers, have to clarify and exemplify several exercises for them, to make a distinction in pronunciation patterns of the sounds they can find more troublesome in English. We can write similar words in the board and provide a distinction of sounds to differentiate them, so students could see the pronunciation if we would practice with them the distinction and very essential, the spelling patterns for the English vowel productions and examples with these.Furthermore, if we teach these spelli ng patterns criteria and we practice the pronunciation of these difficult vowels for our students, they will assimilate and acquire a better understanding, specifically if we focus our attention on these vowels /? / and /? /. As another useful activity, we can encourage our students to produce the different vowels of English by different techniques, and be aware of common mistakes in the utterance of the mid-low back and /? / and the low front /? /.Regarding this, we can explain our students different techniques to practice in the classroom, such as reading activities, dictations, spelling patterns, pronunciation differences and others. Finally, we as EFL teachers have to be more sensible while listening to our student? s vowel production and when they find it difficult to make a distinction between the vowel systems of English and Spanish, and we can provide them with a comparison and contrast pattern, in order to provide them with the comprehension and accurate distinction between these systems, making their pronunciation more accurate. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCESSAPIR, EDWARD  (1921)  Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech. Harcourt Brace and Company, Orlando, Florida. STRICKLAND, RUTH (1969) The language arts. D. C Health and Company. Lexington, Massachusetts. A. C,GIMSON (1962) An introduction to the pronunciation of English. Reader in Phonetics, University College, London. A. C,GIMSON (1975) A practical Course of English Pronunciation, a perceptual approach. Edward Arnold Publishers, 25 Hill Street, London. ———————– Professor: Viktor Carrasquero Hickory, dickory, dock The mouse ran up the clock The clock struck one, The mouse ran down, Hickory, dickory, dock