Is Media Biased or Unbiased?

Year 1998 stuns our nation and naturally the whole world with the sensational news of the year: Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky. But there is another story linked to it. It’s about Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff who happens to be the first reporter to get hold of information on Clinton’s affair with Monica, but to his utter disappointment, even though he has evidence to his claim, his editors refuse to print his story. Somehow Matt Drudge, Internet political gossip columnist, gets hold of it and offers a package of two scoops; the Lewinsky affair and Newsweek cover up.(Grimes, Online Edition) Now the question arises why Newsweek editors refuse to expose the scandalous story of the year? Is it fear of President’s power or is there some kind of alliance with him? Is in a democratic nation like America Media is so biased? I will try to espouse the following question in context to the various media reports that has been appearing since last seven to e ight years and how the biased reporting is being openly covered by various media outlets?Eric Alterman, a cultural critic and an author of ‘What Liberal Media’, gives the answer to this question? â€Å"The current historical moment in American Journalism is hardly a happy one. Journalists trying to do honest work are finding themselves under siege from several sides simultaneously. Corporate conglomerates increasingly view journalism as â€Å"software†, valuable only insofar as it contributes to the bottom line. In the mad pursuit for audience and advertisers, the quality of the news itself becomes degraded, leading journalists to alternating fits of self-loathing and self-pity.Meanwhile, they face an administration with a commitment to secrecy unmatched in modern U.S history. And to top it all, conservative organizations and media outlets lie in wait, eager to pounce on any journalist who tries to give voice to almost any uncomfortable truth about influential A merican institutions (in other words, to behave as an honest reporter) throwing out the old but effective accusation of â€Å"liberal bias† in order to protect powerful from scrutiny†. (Alterman, Online Edition: 4)It is absolutely true if we delve into the current scenario; journalists are finding themselves under pressure from political leaders, police officials and dignitaries forcing them to churn out the news items according to their needs and aspirations.   And it is so surprising to hear that even media outlets are themselves using journalists as objects of their own desires, giving the truth but molding it into the fashion of the influential American institutions.Yet, another story that is making us ponder into the depth of bias reporting in media is the continuous statements of President Bush after September 11, 2001 attacks on World Trade Center. In his fifty minutes speech in a press conference in March 2003, he mentions fourteen times of the connection of a lQaeda and Iraq with the attacks of Sept. 11, 2003. Still no body questions him even though CIA hasn’t put forward any evidence that states any links of AlQaeda with the Iraq attacks.Brent Cunningham, a professor of Journalism, goes to the extent of saying that it appears as President himself has hinted them to write on this subject to justify his action because reporting on aftermath of war even before it occurs is difficult and speculative. (Cunningham, Online Edition) This shows journalists are being molded to meet the needs of politicians. In Oct. 2001, CNN chairman, Walter Isaacson, during a war in Afghanistan sends a memo to his foreign correspondents implicitly stating,   â€Å"to balance reports of Afghan casualties or hardship,† with reminders to viewers that this was, after all, in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept 11.† (Cunningham, Online Edition)But we should not ignore this fact also that the story, which is biased for one can be unbiased f or the other. It’s a most controversial subject in the arena of the journalism world of today because the essence and the nature of the news demand its peculiar perspective. In other words, Journalists carry the stories according to the situation and circumstances in which incidents are unfolding. If any murder has taken place, and the police gets a clue of the murderer, but its not yet proved, journalists can run the story in the following manner as for e.g. â€Å"In a day light on the streets of New Oakland, a man was found murdered.Further investigations revealed that a middle aged man Michael is supposed to be man behind this gruesome murder.† Though no concrete proof has been found out yet the name of Michael appears. The appearance of this name only in print or in electronic media can damage his reputation. But Journalists have to give what they have been told by the police or what they have seen in front of their eyes. This is just one aspect of the bias reporti ng that Journalists can go into or being alleged of having entered into but there is one another angle also of bias reporting. Liberals too are accusing media of being pro conservatives and this question has been under debate thousand times and is still being under continuous discussions.Studies conducted by Media Matters for America reveals, â€Å"Sixty percent of the nation's daily newspapers print more conservative syndicated columnists every week than progressive syndicated columnists. In a given week, nationally syndicated progressive columnists are published in newspapers with a combined total circulation of 125 million. Conservative columnists, on the other hand, are published in newspapers with a combined total circulation of more than 152 million.†(Media Matters For America, Online Edition) Many columnists or reporters have been fired or disciplined because they go ahead with their stories criticizing republicans and placing them in poor light for sake of propagandiz ing for the Democrats.Many cases have also come to light when whole program is stopped from airing because one group or party doesn’t want it to be aired. On 30th April 2004, Sinclair Broadcast Group prohibits its affiliates from airing the Nightline program in which Ted Koppel recites the names of 721 U.S. women and servicemen killed in the Iraq War. This act deprives viewers in eight cities of their right to information and the reason he gives is, â€Å"program appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq.† (Rothschild, Online Edition)This is one of the biggest examples of disservice to the viewers and came to be known as rightwing media bias as lamented by Democrats. Even he orders his news personnel to read patriotic statements at its Baltimore station in support of President Bush after September 11. This is all because he shares a great rapport and friendship with President Bush. In this way, they try to hide the facts from public to justify the decision of Bush to invade Iraq.Hereby, one question comes to the forefront? If we allege Media undertaking bias reporting, then is there any infringement to the right to information and right to express views? Every human being has been enshrined the right to express views and right to information in a democratic set up. If we go by this statement then no news and no views expressed by reporters shall be termed as biased but this is happening and the answer to this is simple. If any report or a story appearing in media infringes personal rights or harms some ones reputation and if some story of national interest is fulfilling the interests of any personal party or organization or person belonging to higher authoritative level is termed as Biased.In 2001, the very next day after the attacks on World Trade Center, Ann Coulter, syndicated columnist spurs out her anguish through her words â€Å"we should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.† This is nothing else than the extreme case of bias reporting increasing the chances of religious disturbances and religious warfare. (Washington Monthly, Online edition)But all in all, everything is not bad in this world; there are several media outlets that are delivering unbiased news and views taking national interest into consideration. As Cunningham also states that, â€Å"but must mainstream reporters by and large are not ideological warriors. They are imperfect people performing a difficult job that is crucial to society.Letting them write what they know and encouraging them to dig toward some deeper understanding of thing is not biased, it is essential. Reporters should be free, as Daniel Bice says, to â€Å"call it as we see it, but not to be committed one side or the other.† Their professional values make them, Herbert Grans argues, akin reformers, and they should embrace that aspect of what they do, not hide it for fear of being slapped with a bias charge. And when actual bias seeps in–as it surely will–the self-policing the newsroom must be vigorous.† (Cunningham, Online Edition)Eric Alterman hits hard at the way reporters are filing the news and are being treated as software and are being used according to the whims of the powerful but Cunningham in a quite positive note encourages the reporters to carry on their duty without any fear and with full freedom and choice. Journalism is the noblest profession and people look at media to express their views and grievances. Media is voice of the people, by the people and for the people therefore media need to write the stories in a responsible way taking the sensitivity and the interest of the masses into view.WORKS CITEDAlterman, Eric. â€Å"What Liberal Media?† The Nation. Internet   (February 24, 2003) Available: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030224/alterman2/4, 25 November 2007.Cunningham, Brent. â€Å"Rethinking Objective Journalism† Columbia Journalism Review July 8, 2003. Internet (2004) Available: http://www.environmentwriter.org/scienceandthenews/docs/cunningham.htm,25 November 2007.Grimes, Linda Sue. â€Å"Media Bias† bellaonline.com Internet. Available: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art32136.asp, 25 November 2007.Media Matters For America. â€Å"Black and White and Re(a)d All Over: The Conservative Advantage in Syndicated Op-Ed Columns† mediamatters.org Internet. Available: http://mediamatters.org/reports/oped/ 25 November 2007.Rothschild, Matthew. â€Å"This is Media Bias† The Progressive (Saturday, May 1, 2004) Available: http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0501-03.htm, 25 November 2007.Washington Monthly. â€Å"The Wisdom of Ann Coulter† washingtonminthly.com Internet (October 2001) Available: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0111.coulterwisdom.html,25 November 2007

Breaking Away from Stereotype

The United States of America has been called the â€Å"melting pot† of the world. It is a country that is open to diversity and welcomes culture, race and ethnicity of all sorts, for as long as it complies with its laws. United States become a nation rich in immigrants who found new home in a foreign land. Most of the big and key cities in the United States are culturally and racially diversified. This diversity is taught to be an asset of the society. If not understood well, this diversity may also lead to internal and external conflicts such as discrimination and stereotyping. Stereotyping can be as harmless as thinking that Chinese cooks the best orange chicken or Indians have the best chicken curry, but it can also be as destructive as stereotyping Muslims as potential terrorists or Mexicans as potential illegal aliens. Stereotypes come in different forms and it is also apparent in the news, media, television, songs and even literatures. Latino or Hispanic race, for example, has been a hot topic of racial stereotyping. A Latino man behind a cash register may often hear a customer asking â€Å"habla Ingles†. Failure to assimilate to American culture, including language, is one stereotype Latinos are facing. In the story â€Å"Rain of Gold†, written by Victor Villasenor, most of the characters spoke little or no English until they entered the United States. Another literary work, a poetry, written by Pat Mora entitled â€Å"Immigrants† contained lines that read â€Å"before the baby can even walk, speak to them in thick English, hallo, babe, hallo†. There may be some humor to the poem, but it stereotypes the Latino immigrants as having â€Å"thick English† accents. â€Å"Rain of Gold†, written by Victor Villasenor was about the three generations of two Mexican families whose hardship and adventures date back in the Mexican Revolution of 1910. The book chronicled the characters’ escape from Mexico and entry into the United States. It was entitled â€Å"Rain of Gold† because it is the English translation of the characters’ home town of â€Å"La Lluvia de Oro†. In the book, the characters spoke little or no English, which may still be apparent today in our society. However, from the book, we cannot generalize that Mexicans cannot assimilate the way of living or system of other culture. In the book, it was also written that the characters learned to use the survival techniques of Native Americans in order to survive the difficulties they were facing in their environment. The poem â€Å"Immigrants† by Pat Mora also wrote examples on how Mexican try to adapt the American culture by eating hot dogs and apple pie, by naming their children Bill and Daisy, or by buying their children football or blonde dolls with blue eyes. In the modern America, most stereotypes related to the Latino race are exaggerated in the movies or in the media. The movies would often depict Latinos as blue collared workers with little education, family with more than four children, or young Latino with literacy problem. Another stereotype that is attached to the Latino culture is the use of spiritual healing or magic. There are three literary works that took note of the Spiritual healing practice of the Latino culture. â€Å"Rain of Gold† by Victor Villasenor noted that during trying times, the character held on the belief of spirits and asked for their guidance and healing. â€Å"The Curing Woman† by Alejandro Morales was about the power of the traditional healers who use spiritual connection to heal physical ailments. It is about a Spanish woman named Marcelina who learned how to use â€Å"white magic† from her Spanish mother, Dona Marcelina Trujillo. â€Å"White magic† uses herbs, plants, minerals, chants and astrological formulas to cure diseases of the human body. â€Å"Curandera†, a poem written by Pat Mora describes the dependency of a Latino woman to the nature as means of survival and healing of the people. In the poem, the curandera (a woman who practices folk medicine), uses the elements found in the desert, plants, sunlight, and wind to heal other people to survive. Living in a modernized society and the availability of technology used as tools in medicine will create plenty of skepticism and mockery to spiritual healing as a form of cure. The use of spiritual healing will be rejected by most of American populations who grew up with vaccines, radiography, and antibiotics. It will be a challenge for any Latinos practicing this part of their culture to make someone else outside of their race to understand. Another Latino stereotype that affects most Latino men, is the machismo schema attached to Latino men. It is viewed that in Latino culture, men are the dominant gender, and women are submissive to their male counterparts. However, in â€Å"Rain of Gold† written by Victor Villasenor, the character of Dona Margarita, a wife and a mother, possessed strength that was even able to boldly reprimand the character of her husband. Dona Margarita’s strength and support was valued in the book as one of the reason of fulfilling the family’s dreams. She was able to express her anger and frustration on her husband, Don Victor, when he gambled and got drunk. Her family felt hope when she did not give-up her hope that her daughter, Sophia, was still alive. Although she wanted to give the leadership role to her husband Don Victor, the book made it apparent that she is the strength of her family. However, the story also depicted Dona Margarita as a housewife whose primary role is to raise her children and manage the household. Most Latino written works also depicted the common stereotype that Latinos mostly worked blue collar jobs. For example, in the â€Å"Rain of Gold† by Victor Villasenor, most men worked as miners, while some worked as soldiers. In the movies, most Latino females play characters such as nanny, cashier, waitress, or housekeeper. In conclusion, I believe that the Latino race does not only suffer from being stereotyped by people from another culture, but also from the literary works of Latino authors. Pat Mora, for example, used the â€Å"thick English† accent of Latinos to provide some humor to her poetry. In more than two literatures the â€Å"spiritual or magical healing† was also noted, providing a stronger connection between this practice and the Latino race. Personally, I believe that I am a victim of the movies and television programs who effectively instill cultural stereotypes in me. Fortunately, I was able to know numerous Latinos that proved that the stereotypes should not be used as a general depiction of their race. A research study survey noted that the stereotypical images of the Latinos in the media are not accurate and that most Latinos who participated in the survey were able to assimilate well into the US culture (Latino Professional Survey, 2006). The survey noted that 98% of the survey respondents were fluent in English and 80% were college graduate (Latino Professional Survey, 2006). This defies the common stereotyping that Latinos cannot speak English very well and mostly occupy blue collared jobs.

Has globalization transformed the pattern of global poverty and Essay

Has globalization transformed the pattern of global poverty and inequality In what ways - Essay Example Based on the assumption that comparative advantage of nations can offer countries an advantage over others, open markets and liberal trade can result into improved trade as well as capital flows and thus help improve the poverty and achieve economic prosperity. It is generally argued that Globalisation can reduce poverty if nations follow the open liberal policies and focus upon achieving sustained level of trade with developed countries. However, considering the inherent differences between developed as well as developing countries, it is also suggested that whether the distribution of flows generated as a result of Globalisation is fair or not. Inequality is also considered as another important issue regarding Globalisation (Moseley and Gray, 2008). This paper will argue and discuss as to whether Globalisation has actually resulted into transformation of poverty patterns and inequality and if yes, in what ways it achieved both the ends. Globalisation, Poverty and Inequality Globali sation is a relatively diverse term as it not only suggests an integration of ideas, products and economic flows but also signifies an integration of the culture also. ... Globalisation essentially suggests that poor as well as rich countries can actually trade with each other as poor or developing countries are considered as abundant in raw materials as well as cheap labor. Large global organizations, due to their sheer size as well as the improved communication and transportation infrastructure, can actually establish their manufacturing facilities in developing countries and subsequently transport back the finished goods to their own parent countries for subsequent sale. The overall economic logic is based upon the assumption that developing countries not only have the cheap and abundant raw materials but also have the cheap labor. Combining this two, it is assumed that it becomes relatively more cost effective for the global organizations to actually trade with poor countries (Goldin and Reinert, 2007). Poor countries on the other hand allow developed countries to enter into their countries with the assumption that such trade will generate employme nt, improve the level of skills of their workforce and will also result into transfer of technology to them. Apparently, Globalisation promises an equal access to the market for everyone, improve capital flows and ensure development and transfer of technology however, the actual results may suggest a widespread economic divergence between the developed as well as developing countries since the Globalisation forces started to dominate the economic policy making in countries (Kaplinsky, 2005). The overall evidence regarding the impact of Globalisation on poverty as well as inequality is relatively diverse in nature. There are two important cases in point which suggest that

Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Media - Essay Example Media as a form of communication was introduced about 550 years ago. In the past, there was only print and audio form of media; in the form of newspapers and radios. There has been a lot of growth in the media especially with the introduction of technology. Innovation in media related technology has ensured that the members of the public can access more information and in a timely manner. One of the mass media that revolutionized the advertising, information sharing and entertainment aspects of the media was the introduction of television. This paper will discuss the impact of television on the mass media content and origins of television advertising. Introduction Mass media is an important aspect in the world because it informs the members of the public on current events that are being witnessed around the nation. The advancement in innovations has led to a growth and advancement in the mass media channels. The introduction of television brought a form of media communication whereby individuals could see and hear what was being reported. Television grew to be very popular because could see and hear what was being communicated. Initially, most of the content that was being communicated was mostly informative content such as current events at the local and international level, the weather and documentaries. The content on the televisions was also black and white. With time, the content expanded to include entertainment content like music and soap operas that increased the number of individuals that subscribed to television. Thesis statement: Television media led to the decline in the traditional media channels such print magazines and radio. Television media content The introduction of televisions in the 1950 decade brought competition to the already established newspaper and radio industry. The other forms of media that existed had to establish and introduce new strategies so as to maintain market relevance. In the year 1962, installing and use of satellite Tel star I was initiated (Lamb et al). Real time images and audio content would be transmitted to the audience from wherever it was occurring. This enabled television media to have an upper hand since it could transmit news from all over the world. This gave television media an upper hand in the media because individuals would source information content from all over the world and it had an entertainment factor. According to Barkin (p 10), people liked television media because they felt that it was valid in comparison to radio and newspapers forms of information content. There were few television programs that broadcasted, so some of them had to be repeated before station broadcasting hours ended. The 1980 decade witnessed lot of progress in television media due to the launch of 24 television hours especially in the United States of America (Barkin p 9). This increased the number of audiences for the various television stations that aired throughout the day and night. People who worked at night were kept busy and entertained by the continuous programs on their favorite television stations. With the growing popularity of the television stations, other forms of media such as radio, newspapers and magazines recorded low sales volumes. Some newspapers had to close their businesses due to the high competition from the television stations. A greater number of people preferred to view images as they listened, in contrast to reading or just listening without

The advertisement's impact on the nutritional habits of adolescent Research Paper

The advertisement's impact on the nutritional habits of adolescent girls in Saudi Arabia - Research Paper Example This study focuses on adolescent girls within Saudi Arabia. This country was chosen because there have been few studies undertaken on advertising in this part of the world. It is likely that the effects that advertising has on adolescent girls will be significantly different in this part of the world than in Western country. Saudi Arabia is a Middle Eastern country that currently has a population of around 26.5 million people . There is a significant amount of segregation between the genders, and females mostly wear long black robes that cover their bodies . Because of this, it is likely that the influences that advertising has on the nutrition habits and behavior of adolescent girls is different in Saudi Arabia than it is in countries in the Western world. In particular, the aim of this research was to analyze the nutritional habits and behavior of adolescent girls in Saudi Arabia, and what effect advertising had on these habits. It was hypothesized that girls exposed to a high amou nt of advertising for unhealthy food would make poorer nutritional decisions than those who had less exposure to advertising. Review of the Literature Adolescence is a particularly important time in development, as decisions made and habits formed during this developmental period partially carry over to adulthood . For example, many adolescents, particularly females, do not eat breakfast in the morning due to a shortage of time or the desire to lose weight. This habit can carry through into their adult life, and females who had this habit when they were adolescents are likely to continue to feel that breakfast is not important. In addition, there is significant concern that the diet of adolescents is... This  «The advertisement’s impact on the nutritional habits of adolescent girls in Saudi Arabia » essay outlines and analyzes how the ad changed nutritional behavior of girls in this country. Advertising targeted at young females tends to focus on images of females who are thin, pretty and with good physiques. These images are often airbrushed, or the women themselves have achieved this physical form through eating poorly. Research indicates that advertising images of thin or beautiful women have negative effects on the body image of women viewing them. This can lead to dissatisfaction with their current body, and the modification of beliefs and behaviors associated with eating (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008). An example of this is that most females in advertisements for products are thin. This can result in adolescent females feeling that they are inadequate, and beginning to reduce their food intake to attempt to reach this unrealistic goal. Consequently, young females often starve themselves. These habits can remain long into adulthood, and may cause significant physical damage. This effect is strongest in adolescence where individuals are most concerned about their appearance and how they are perceived by others. Additionally, adolescent females are subject to extreme levels of hormones, and this can elevate their responses (Shepherd & Dennison, 1996). Adolescent females use images of others to construct their perceptions about themselves (Thomsen, et al., 2004). Negative body image is associated with a wide range of negative nutritional habits.

THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS - Essay Example A Brief History of Monopoly Law in the United States Monopolies came into being in the United States during the colonial administration. The public sector wanted to make some new world and old immigrants changes. Most companies were provided with exclusive contracts by the colonial administrations. Even after the colonial handovers, the American nation functioned effectively to ensure that the contracts and the land were held. Since then, the federal Government usually implements the antitrust laws. The laws seek to protect consumers from companies that tend to become monopolies and abuse the market. These laws include the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prevents the formation of a monopoly. If a company decides to operate in a monopolistic manner, the Act seeks to remove it from the market. In case there are any antitrust laws, the government takes charge through the office of the U.S or through the respective Attorney in the States. In this case, the United States Government and the 1 9 States filed a suit against Microsoft for operating as a monopoly. The Sherman Act forms the basis of modern-day Anti-trust legislations whose mandate is to protect consumers from wayward corporate practices that aim to exploit them. In essence, the Act tries to promote integrity in the market and for companies to operate in a competitive environment. Monopolies together with their subsidiaries or acquired companies can lead to great developments though the only downside is their control on the market. Unless monopolies prove a threat to national security, they can be embraced for the provision of certain products and services (Yao and Loo 34). Monopolization has a downside, since it is the sole supplier of certain goods and can decide to produce substandard and low quality goods (Boldrin and David 36). Monopolies create barriers to entry in the market due to large economies of scale among other factors (Yao and Loo 34). This reduces the marginal costs in producing additional unit s since the price is increased. Therefore, it is better to remove monopolies and promote competition, which will ensure good quality goods at affordable prices. This eliminates price fixing and the exploitation of end users (Boldrin and David 33). Firms may collude to operate as one in distribution of products. This is possible where the companies are involved in a similar business operate producing related products. Collusions lead to the formation of oligopolies, which reduces competition in the market. The firms can be involved in the price fixing that disadvantages the buyer. If the large firms collude, they gain the market and result in imperfect competition between the large and small firms. The firms obtain market power and thus determine prices to the disadvantage of the smaller firms. An example of oligopoly is the internet where few firm control the internet. These are shaw, Telus, Bel and Rogers. Government monopolies are usually involving in distribution of products, whi ch if left to the private sector would undergo exploitation. An example is the armed forces and the military (Lynn 22). In my opinion, Google is a monopoly company facing many criticisms most of the prompted by Microsoft. The main question has been whether Google is abusing its monopolistic position. Studies reveal that the company has been encrypting traffic for many years, and the recent changes were prompted by the USA over Kerfuffle as they attempt to force people to

Juvenile Waivers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Juvenile Waivers - Essay Example They were treated as juveniles. Special psychological treatments were given o them. Juvenile homes make every effort to turn them into responsible citizens. The main reason for children committing crimes is the domestic violence. Another reason is hardcore video games and movies containing this sort of acts. According to some voluntary organizations dedicated to drug and alcohol de-addiction, in the last few years' lots of youngsters have started approaching them. They also say that drug addicts start taking drugs at 13 or 14, but only come to the rehab centers when the situation becomes grim or out of control. This is because they start taking drugs recreationally and by the time they start having problems and decide to seek help it takes time. Unlike social drinking which doesn't affect one's lifestyle, there is nothing like social drugs because substances like cocaine and heroin are very addictive and illegal. The problem arises because most youngsters believe they won't get addicted not realizing that with drugs like cocaine and heroin it's very easy o get hooked on. And when they get addicted the trouble starts to unfold and slowly indulging in criminal offences comes into the picture. Independent courts act separate from other courts and are found in Connecticut Rhode Island and Utah. States like Alabama doesn't have independent and separate courts.

Masters of Science in Information Management at Syracuse University Essay

Masters of Science in Information Management at Syracuse University - Essay Example Some of the most interesting and useful courses that make part of the program are ’Web-Design and Management’ and ‘Application Programming for Information System’. Designing web and making java programs are some of the key skills contemporary organizations expect to find in the graduates of Information Management. ‘Intro/Info Based Organization’ is a very good course whose knowledge guides the professionals in maximizing benefits for the company through informed decision making. The courses ‘Info Reporting and Presentation’ and ‘Global Financial System Architecture’ helped improve my social skills as I had to frequently work in collaboration with my teammates and develop business plans. These courses and the exercises they comprise have interesting ways of inculcating the required skills in the students. Reflecting upon my past experience with this field of study, I am positive that studying it at Masters level would p ave the way for new opportunities for me both in academia and industry. After almost four years of study in the Syracuse University, I have become quite aware of this university and this city. The school faculty is very helpful and is always available to guide the students through matters related to studies, career, or life in general. Syracuse University organizes many educational and recreational events every semester. Syracuse University maintains a high profile in sports as well; as a royal basketball fan, I believe that Syracuse University is second to none in offering the students' growth opportunities in sports along with studies. Since Syracuse University can offer me both good quality study and rich leisure life, it is really a place where I can draw a balance between studies and life. My parents can finance my studies. They can pay for the tuition either by international wire transfer or by credit card.

The Process of Banking Regulation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Process of Banking Regulation - Essay Example The financial crisis exposed failures of banks to control financial meltdown. The case pointed out that banks directed their interest at the expense of the common good of the financial markets. Regulation in the sector is an issue that is quite complex because the UK has banks which handle domestic and international banking. This paper analyses banking regulation and its effects on the financial market. The argument for and against regulation The argument about the need for bank regulation has divided economists into two groups. The first group feels that the banking sector should institute policies, which regulate the operation of banks while the second group feels that banks are volatile to instability, hence less need for regulation. Economists have observed that unregulated actions lead to greater social marginal costs and less private marginal costs (Slaughter and May. 2011). The effects of social marginal costs influence the overall economy because banks form important units of making public payment. This contrasts to private marginal costs because it belongs to a clique of shareholders of the firm. Turner Review on banking regulation proposed interest policy that should be able to tone down macro stability as well as bubbles in the financial sector. However, during the financial spill, it was evident that central banks were unable to control the macro stability of the banks. Elaborate regulation influence practices, which influence lending, and borrowing. Complexity in the sector crops whenever banks failed to comply with the regulation because they tend to manipulate the markets to gain profit (Hoose, 2010:136). The challenge is to balance the financial market as well as doing business. Serving these interests have often thrown the market into crossroads where financial spiff off is inevitable. However, the mandate of the regulation is to promote common good among the market players in the financial sector (Hardy, 2006:6). Economists for regulation have argued that uninsured depositors would create a financial spill when they acquire information about the poor performance of the banks. For instance, Northern Rock bank was a victim of depositors run during the financial crisis in 2007. Many of its depositors were not certain that bank suffered liquidity problem. It means that a bank run would create an adverse effect on the economy because of loses that banks would incur in its attempt to meet the demands of its depositors. The idea is to equip the banks to handle unstable markets (Independent Commission on Banking. 2011: 23). During the 2008 crisis UK, government shielded the banks from falling because they did not have the capacity to absorb the risks. Early banks had demonstrated their ability to lend without evaluating their capacity to handle the risk. Erosion of bank equity destabilized the financial market because the banks lost the ability to bear loses. Proposal on banking regulation is an issue that committees such as the Basel committee have discussed reviewing macro-prudential methods of regulating operation in the banking sector. The report charged with reviewing stability in the banking sector identified three areas first, the minimum requirement of capital, second, supervisory on internal bank assessment and third, cushioning public from risks. Basel committee recommended that each loan should command its own capital requirement as opposed to portfolio the loan added.

Put the best subject you fell its good Research Paper

Put the best subject you fell its good - Research Paper Example Timur claimed to descent from the family of Ghengis Khan towards the 14th century’s end. Benefiting from the chaos in Mongol Transoxania, he laid the foundations of a kingdom in Central Asia. Timur entered Iran in the year 1380 and after taking Baghdad, reduced the power and domination of the Jalayirids in 1393 (Ghasemi, 2015). He captured Bayezid, the Ottoman Sultan, at Ankara in 1402 and after conquering Syria, shifted his focus towards the capaigns to the east of the empire which was in its nascent stages. Timur passed away on an expedition to China in 1405 (Ghasemi, 2015). He had deep interested in the Islamic mysticism known as Sufism. Timur’s legacy destabilized Iran and his ill-assimilated conquests were divided between his sons in such a way that it was impossible to achieve an integrated and strong Timurid Empire. Timurid state evolved into an integrated Iranian Empire during the reign of Shahrokh Shah, Timur’s son. Shahrokh Shah made Herat the home of P ersian philosophy and poetry revival that was linked with an effort to claim the leadership in Sunni ideology’s propagation for an Iranian center. Western Iran was dominated by Turkman after they had replaced the Jalayirids in Azerbaijan. The Safavids were a militant Islamic Sufi order that came from among the Turkish speaking people at Ardabil. Table 1 shows the Safavid Kings from 1502-1736. In the late 13th century, the Safavids survived Timur’s invasion in the west of the Caspian Sea. The Safavids had adopted Shi’ism by 1500 and were all set to use military means to advance Shi’ism. In 1502, Esma’il, Sheikh Heydar’s son, defeated the ruler of Azerbaijan’s army and seized Tabriz and at 15 years old, Esma’il was declared the Shah (Ghasemi, 2015). His descendants were Shah Tahmasp I, Shah Esma’il II, and Shah Mohammad, each of whom expanded the Empire as far as Transoxiana. The control of Safavid Shahs over Iran

Final Exam - Latest Essay Example for Free

Final Exam Latest Essay 1) When a manager makes use of a SWOT analysis, one of his or her objectives is to 2) 2) A company that wants to distinguish itself from the competition in the marketplace is most likely using which of the following strategies? 3) 3) An organization’s ________ goals are official statements of what an organization says its goals are. 4) 4) When planning for unexpected events, a company is using which of the following techniques? 5) 5) The ________ determines the number of levels and managers in an organization. 6) 6) Which of the following is a characteristic of an organic organization? 7) Which of the following is a characteristic of a matrix organization? 8) Searching for new ideas beyond an organization’s boundaries and allowing changes to easily transfer inward and outward is known as ________. 9) Which of the following stages is when the group structure is in place and accepted by the group members? 10) Conflicts can be resolved by satisfying one’s own needs at the expense of others. This conflict- management technique is known as ________. 11) Which of the following statements is true about group decision making? 12) According to the Ohio State studies, which of the following dimensions of leader behavior refers to the extent to which a leader is likely to define and structure his or her role and the roles of group members to meet goals? 13) Which leadership theory is derived from the belief that a leader’s job is to remove pitfalls and roadblocks so followers can achieve their work goals? 14) If Carol Reece is a charismatic leader, which of the following characteristics is she most likely to possess? 15) Indira Patel has been working in her organization’s computer security department for the past 10Â  years. If another employee follows Indira’s recommendations in a given situation, based on her expertise in computer security, which source of power is Indira using? 16) Melvin manages a team of 10 employees, including Jane and Jared. Jared is leaving the organization to find a job as a manager in another field. Meanwhile, due to performance issues, Melvin terminates Jane’s employment with the company. Both of these are examples of what type of employee behavior? 17) Thomas often annoys his coworkers with his talkativeness and assertive personality. According to the Big Five Model of personality, Thomas would be described as high in the trait of 18) Kelly is interviewing candidates to fill a vacancy on her team. One candidate has a degree from a prestigious university, and Kelly is impressed. In speaking with her fellow members of the interview panel, however, Kelly finds that no one else enjoyed the interview with the candidate, finding her to be pompous, aggressive, and self-serving. In her focus on only the candidate’s education, Kelly may have fallen victim to 19) It is crucial to determine an acceptable _____ during the comparing step in the control process. 20) If a manager rationalizes that he or she does not have time to investigate the source of a problem and instead resorts to putting out fires, the manager is missing the use of 21) Why are feedforward controls more rarely implemented as compared to other types of controls?

Role of a Teacher in English Language Learning

Role of a Teacher in English Language Learning Chapter I Introduction The Problem and Importance This investigation is fundamentally based on the situation that the students live every day in Public High Schools students live everyday, such a case is Liceo Diurno de Esparza within the process of learning English for Oral Communication. As part of Academic Education, learning English has become of primary importance in a globalized world. The creation and the advance of the massive mass media as well as the means of transportation have contributed for people to be able to communicate more quickly. However, despite the fast advancement of communications, an idiomatic barrier exists, and it is imposed among all the communities in the world and that impedes to communicate more efficiently. The study of a foreign language was set in order to improve communication among different countries; those countries establish a universal language as an international way of communication. English is that language; it has become a worldwide language due to the great number of countries that use it as a native or foreign language. English has become mandatory in all public educational institutions in our nation. In the same way, the introduction of transnational companies during the first years of XXI, has brought to the country not only the aperture of more and bigger companies, hence opportunities to Costa Ricans, but also the demand on English speakers in terms of quality and quantity. In our country is very important that at least the basis of English are known in order to communicate in simple phrases, in our daily life routines, also because Costa Rica is a paradise for tourists and it demands a fullness in the way we manage this universal language as part of cultural and social diversity. The intervention of the state in the design of English programs for the public sector was given a little late. According to Cordova, (1994), cited by Miranda (1997): It was not unitl 1925, when the Costa Rican Government through the Department of Public Education decreed an internal regulation that permitted the teaching of foreign languages such as Latin, French, and English in Casa de Estudio Santo Tomà ¡s. English programs were not a success because of the lack of materials and English Teachers; for that reason, the programs were given by people who spoke that language and they had materials brought from other countries (p.3). That is to say, the Department of Education did not have as a priority the learning of foreign languages for the students. Despite the effort made by the Department, the quality of teaching was worse. English teaching continued being developed without qualified professionals, methodology, and material. English teaching and learning changed significantly in 1991, when the National Advisor decided to give a new course to the programs. It was in that year when a specific curriculum for English learning was created in High Schools and it covered Tercer Ciclo and Educacià ³n Diversificada (Senior High). Those programs were based on students needs. As a result advisors established in 1994 a program called Children of Costa Rica, in a modern and integrated world and decided English should be a subject inside the curriculum of schools. (Cabrera, 2005 p.3) Despite all the efforts, English had be taken as common subject inside the national test and covered only the written skill and it did not take into account the oral skills. Cabrera (2005) said that English had become a written test that included only reading comprehension, and the professors were limited only to teach how to read, but they excluded the other linguistic abilities. (p.1) After almost 70 years of English teaching in Costa Rica and multiple attempts to improve the English programs, it was only during the Government of Josà © Maria Figueres Olsen in 1996, when they really began to evaluate the quality of the programs, and it was determined that students from public schools needed to be orally proficient in English. Some years later, the Department of Public Education presented the first program of Conversational English for public schools which is part of the technological Education. The program of Conversational English covered listening and conversational skills to give students the capacity to use any given situation. Since the year 2001, the Conversational English Program has been implemented in the Public High Schools of Costa Rica that want to enter Conversational English as an optional subject in Technical Education. The Advisors of Technical Education are conscious of the responsibility that the High Schools represent in terms of English learning and the quality of the graduated students for they will face the dynamics of the business sector. Thus our current students should respond to the demands of the world in a near future. Yet, and during the last six years, the Department of Education has tried to change English Curriculum to give more emphasis on the oral and listening skills in the quality of English teaching and learning. Despite all the efforts, it is pitiful to know that after five or six years of English lessons, with three weekly lessons in the Tercer Ciclo (seventh, eighth and ninth grades), five weekly lessons in the Ciclo Diversificado (10th and 11th grades) and the development of a Conversational English Program with six weekly lessons, our graduates are still incapable of speaking English fluently. (Al Dà ­a, 2005). Badilla (2003), in his study A proposal of improvement of the applicability of the conversational English program of Public Education expresses that: The Costa Rican curriculum has suffered changes to be adapted to globalization and the programs should be analyzed to guarantee their quality(p.lO). Today, there are few existent studies related to the Conversational English Program and its applicability in different contexts. In the same way, it is important to mention that human beings suffer changes through life, and these changes possess some specific characteristics in the social and cultural aspects. In addition, all societies or communities present different characteristics from others. Those differences produce on any program the necessity of a contextualization because it is impossible to develop a program in the same way. All those aspects are very important to take into account in a program evaluation or study. Due to the little existence of research about the social factors and a good teacher as a facilitator and the way the curriculum of the MEP is applied, the research is considered of importance to contribute with the needs of the students learning. The main focus in this investigation is placed in determination of the topic in theoretical and social frames, according to the Costa Rican context. The investigation is build, as a main source, which analyzes the main factors that have their influence on the learning process of English for oral communication, with a hypothetical supposing that there are many factors which are motivators and barriers for the process of learning English for oral communication. The research considers the individual social characteristics as factors for participation in the process as well. A special emphasis in the investigation is directed about the students achievements toward the skills and capabilities which are required for successfully coping with the everyday job tasks and rapid changes in the students environment and society. Research is also giving the answers about the Teachers role and investment in the process of learning of the students. All of the factors if treating in positive manner will give an impetus to the learning process of individuals while have a negative impact on learning process if acting in a negative manner. But for this investigation we are taking into account three specific elements only, social factors, role of the teacher and curriculum designed by the MEP. The preceding situation justifies the importance of the present study. Justification Todays society demands more active and dynamic communication by the used of efficient ways focused on the learning of foreign languages in order to improved the universal the development not only in terms of economics but also culture and society. Therefore, in the last decade many countries have entered different programs for learning a second language. English learning as a second language requires the developing of a very complex learning process. It has become a need above all in the Costa Rican context because English becomes a language that offers opportunities to find employment. This is one of the greater demands that require the Costa Rican young population. It is important to emphasize that English is currently very important as an international language, and it is the main-reason to justify its teaching and learning to contribute to the student integral education. The students deficiencies to speak English are the result of some aspects such as teaching methodologies, teachers proficiency, short time for the development of the program, the program design, and the students social factors. There are many reasons and needs to learn a second language such as English; some of them are the bilingual personnel that the Job market, business and productive sectors demand. To cover those needs. Costa Rican government has established English teaching in private and public institutions. The authorities of the Department of Education, different businesses and the press have expressed concern because of the poor English fluency that students of secondary schools have after graduating. Umaà ±a (2005), a journalist of Al Dà ­a newspaper, States: English is increasingly necessary to opt for a position of work and it is a great worry in the country because people have very limited preparation to meet the demands of this language. (p.13) Besides the imposed needs by the companies and Jobs, other factors exist which contribute to different personal development of individuals periods; above all, in the social, intellectual, emotional, and psychological aspects. It is important to emphasize that the purpose of the different English programs is not to teach a foreign tongue, it is to teach people to be able to communicate with it. (Cabrera, 2006). In our country, Educational System has advanced by the introduction of the Conversational English Courses in High Schools, yet, there is a need for improving. Learning a second language, in our case English, requires of a process followed by steps that influence drastically the development of the students academically. In the last years, and in an overall way, it is clearly perceived the evidence that the graduating students have suffered the consequences of a poor efficiency level of oral communication in English received during their years in High School. Due to these effects, it is imperative to determine and analyze the relationship among the different factors that influence and provoke whether a positive or negative result in the students oral performance. This case of study focuses on the investigation of the relationship among the main internal elements that influence the process the learning English for Oral communication according to the current profile proposed by the M.E.P. in the 11th graders. Communication is many ways transferring information (Wikipedia.org). Our educational system places more emphasis in other areas of writing and reading. These two skills are important and part of a whole spectrum, however, there must by a greater emphasis and reinforcement on the listening as the input and oral communication as the output. The students that represent the case of study, are teenagers who have being exposed through out all the years to the Educational System. These students carry 10 years of studying English, and still unable to communicate orally in an efficient way. In addition to this, the profile proposed by the M.E.P. within the Communicative Framework attempts that all graduating students reach a certain level of oral communication which sufficient enough will give the future labour sector, the tools to find well remunerated jobs in a competitive world in which the use of a foreign language is mandatory as in the case of English. Yet, the intention of fulfilling the expectations need to be analyzed in order to find better methods and techniques in the process of learning English for oral communication. There is not doubt that the accurate development of the process of learning English through the Conversational English arises as way of given students a new opportunity to develop oral skills that will result into a successful tool for the future. It becomes of primary importance that students fulfill a series of standards imposed by a continuous changing and demanding society in which having a backup of a second language represents a key for progress in all aspects. While many discussions about learning a second language focus on teaching methodologies, little emphasis is given to the internal factors that influence the process such as the role of the teacher, students social factors, and the appropriate use of the curricula of the system. Therefore, this research considers that the study of the internal elements that affect the learning process comes to contribute with the improvement of the pedagogical practice. State the Problem Based on the premonition that the process of learning oral communication is influenced by a series of factors, it is imperative to identify and determine the main questioning as follow: Which Basic Internal Elements Influence the Process of Learning English in a Conversational Course for Oral Communication based on the Profile Proposed by the MEP in the 11th graders of the Liceo Diurno de Esparza in Puntarenas? Hypothesis The basic internal elements in the process for learning English in a conversational course for oral communication to be considered the main influence for the 11th graders are: The role of the teacher as a facilitator The students as the social center of the class The appropriate use of the communicative approach proposed by the MEP. The effect of the internal factors in the English Conversational Class at the Liceo Diurno de Esparza. General Objective Investigate how the role of the teacher as a facilitator, the students as the social center of the class and the appropriate use the communicative approach proposed by the MEP, influence the performance of the students during the process of learning English for oral communication. Specific Objectives Analyze the students as the social center of the class through the process of learning English for oral communication. Demonstrate the role of the teacher as facilitator in the process of teaching specifically listening and speaking. Relate the appropriate use of the communicate approach as part of students ´ achievement of the profile proposed by the MEP. Determine the internal factors effect on the 11th graders oral performance in the English Conversational Class at the Liceo Diurno de Esparza. Scope and Limitations As the major scope of this study, there is the attempt of making a relationship between the internal elements that affect the process for oral communication in the 11th graders. The achievements of this research are: This is centered on the Liceo Diurno de Esparza; therefore, its results to other high schools or institutions of the country cannot be generalized. The expectation for this case of study is to find and prove the effect whether negatively or positively that the role of the teacher as facilitator, the student as a center of the class and the communicative approach working together will launch. The main objective is to compile data that launches important facts about the main elements influencing the process of learning oral communication in the last year of Public High School. The study may be of interest for all English teachers around the country as a diagnose about the importance of teaching a second language using the Curricula (CLT) imposed by the MEP and under the stipulations of the Public Ministry of Education as well as any individual interested in having a view on the basic elements that influence the process of leaning oral communication. In the same way, the study may be a starting point for investigation that in the attempt to look for further information may use this case as the based for their investigation. Finally, in regards of the limitations that may be presented in the investigation are: It is imperative to mention that the Communicative Language Teaching used by Public Education in Costa Rica involves all four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) as a whole spectrum in an integrated way; however, this study focuses only in Oral communication, in other words, in the speaking including the listening skill as the input. The little existence of investigations and studies that can serve of guide for the present investigation. The little existence of theoretical sources about the social factors and its influence on learning English for oral communication. The lack of confidence that the teacher and students can offer about the development of the program in its institutions. The validity or truth of the answers that the students offer in the different instruments. CHAPTER II Literature Review Role of the Teacher as a Facilitator within a humanist and constructivist point of view Today, teachers have to face the incorporation of new principles taken from educational psychology, such as humanism and constructivism. New beliefs, values and assumptions of the teacher about teaching encouraged the emergence of the view of the teacher as a facilitator rather than a transmitter of knowledge (Brown, 2001, 1991; Cook, 2003, 1991; Grasha 1996; Richards Lockhart 1994). According to Grasha (1996), a facilitator is a supporter, a guide, and feedback provider; a facilitator is a monitor and observer of students progress and an aide while learners are building and appropriating their knowledge.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Grashas (1996) description of a facilitator certainly reflects the influence of the humanistic view of education in which the learner is seen as a whole person, not just as a cognitive being whose thoughts, feelings and emotions should be considered by the teacher who makes learning meaningful and engaging (William Burden, 1997). In fact, according to these authors, making learning meaningful and engaging requires a facilitator who can:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ..create a sense of belonging, make the subject relevant to the learner, involve the whole person, encourage knowledge of self, minimize criticism, encourage creativity, develop knowledge of the process of learning, encourage self-initiation, allow for choice , and encourage self-evaluation. (p.38) Furthermore, the description of Grasha (1996) of the facilitator also reflects the principles of constructivism which integrates two branches, the cognitive and social (Brown, 2007, p.12) on learners. Several authors (Mitchell Myles, 1998; Williams Burden, 1997) describe a constructivist teacher as a mediator who encourages students to discover principles by themselves, engages in collaborative dialog with their students to help them connect their prior knowledge with the new knowledge being acquired and presents information in a format appropriate to the learners level of understanding. The humanistic and constructivist influence on the teaching-learning process of second languages is clear. In fact, in order for Communicative Language Teaching to reach its objectives, it requires of a teacher who perform a wide range of roles. According to Gebhard (1996, p.55), teaching is multifaceted, and much of the complexity involves how to assume roles that capitalize on our abilities in English while we at the same time take on roles that contribute to creating interaction in the classroom that is meaningful for both teachers and students, as promoted by constructivism. This explains why several authors agree that teachers perform different roles in the teaching-learning process according to the lesson stage (Harmer, 1991; Nunan Lamb, 1996, Richards Rodgers, 2001). Consequently, the teacher will be a controller when the group must be attentive to the topic being discussed at the moment; an adviser (when the teacher corrects or gives feedback to the students); organizer (when the teacher gives instructions or keeps the students working so the lesson goes on smoothly); encourager (when the teacher needs to encourage students to participate); participant (when the teacher participates in the class activities and respects the ideas, thoughts, and opinions given by students); resource (when the teacher provides information and assists students); tutor (when he/she helps to clarify ideas); researcher (when he/she observes and does some research on the teaching-learning procedures in the classroom), and facilitator (when the teacher creates a pleasant atmosphere for language learning). At first, it might seem that these roles are not consistent with the description of the facilitator, it should be remembered that the facilitator would adapt its teachi ng to suit the learners needs (Gebhard, 1996; Mitcherll Myles, 1997). On the other hand, the humanistic influence on todays teachers is further noticed in what Underhill (as cited in Arnorld, 1999) calls the holistic nature of facilitation. According to this author, every personal feature feelings, attitudes, thoughts, physical, presence, movements, quality of attention, degree of openness and so on (p132) of the instructor can influence the learning environment in which the learners are involved in every lesson. This holistic nature of facilitation also enhances the sensitiveness of teachers toward students reactions to class activities. In this sense, (OHara, 2003, as cite in Brown, 2007), focuses on the process of learning- teaching as a transformative pedagogy. He states that the goal of education is the facilitation of change and learning, where the teacher lowers to the level of student. Moreover, Rodgers (as cited in Brown, 2007) supports this idea by stating that the chance is established by the interpersonal relationships among facilitator and learners. According to this author, for the teacher to be facilitators, fist they must be real and genuine, discarding masks of superiority and omniscience; second have genuine trust, acceptance, and a prizing of the other person as a worthy, valuable individual and third need to communicate openly and empathetically with their students and vice versa. Teachers are challenged in fulfilling the wide range of roles somehow to be balanced in order to create harmony, positive atmosphere and guidance for the students. Yet, in order to be facilitative teachers, Krishnamurty (2001) points out they have to be enthusiastic participants in the classroom   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ..who facilitate personal growth in students, are unique, extraordinary, worthy of the dedicationIt [Facilitation] requires a self assurance, a willingness to share self, to care, to begin a journey, then launch the student on a personal quest when we find the teacher who is facilitator, we find a classroom where personal growth is flourishing. (p.1) Satir (2001) says that the facilitator promotes effective listening, genuine understanding, respect, and teacher-students-students effective communication in the classroom. Moreover, an effective facilitator makes as many inquiries as possible in order to detect the strengths and weaknesses of students. Grasha (1996) points out that a facilitator is an instructor who guides the students by asking questions, seeking alternatives, and pushing them to have independent criteria. For him, one of the main goals of a facilitator is to encourage the students autonomy. Authors such as (Harmer, 1991; Richards Rodgers, 2001; Underhill, 1999) discuss different traits that an effective facilitator shares. They state that the facilitator keep a low profile so that students can come up with their own ideas about the learning situation. Teachers must not intervene when the students are having communicative activity but must always be ready to help students as necessary. The facilitator does not only understand the subject matter and has the ability to use methods and techniques; the effective facilitator also studies and pays attention to the psychological environment and the learning processes in order to let students take responsibility for their own learning. Importance of Students as the Center of the Social Factor As part of a society, community, school community and consequently of a classroom, the student has an active performance. It is at the core of every day class, thus, of the teaching-learning process. For many years, traditional education has viewed teacher as authority figures Oxford (1990.p10), thus, the center of the class. In these classrooms, the students are objects rather than the subjects. In our country, it is very likely to occur that students have magisterial class even thought our educational system is based on the Communicative Language Approach since many years ago already and consequently, on student-centered classroom. The interaction and exchange of information in language learning of the students is affected by variant social factors. Indeed, students are part of this social community in which students are social beings that communicate in many different ways, are as well a social factor that influence the process of teaching-learning at the internal. The responsibility for learning and progressing is characteristic of the students: Learners must individually discover and transform complex information if they are to make their own, [suggesting] a more active role for students in their own learning than is typical in many classroom (Slavin, 2003, pp.257-258, as cited in Brow, 2007, p.12) Students must control the way they manage themselves within the teaching-learning process, the teacher is just a guide and facilitator (Brown, 2007) who gives them the tools, but it is up to them what the results would be. The whole process focuses on the communicative competence of the students who are at the center of the classroom and the real protagonists. Understanding Fundamental Principles on Learners For understanding the role of students and their development within the process of language learning, Brown (2001.p.54), reflects three fundamental principles for understanding practices for the student to develop a communicative language process. Brown demonstrates by three main principles, the conceptions to be considered: Cognitive Principles Affective Principles Linguistic Principles Cognitive Principles According to Brown (2001.p.55) cognitive is related to mental and intellectual functions. In other words, it refers to what is inner the students mind that influences their development within the teaching-learning process. Automaticity This principle relates to the learning of the language subconsciously, in other words, students exposed to language input that later have the opportunity to experience output, will learn the language without thinking about it, as in an automatic way. In order for students to accomplish this principle it is important that they experience (Brown2001): Subconscious absorption of language through meaningful use Efficient and rapid movement away from a focus on the forms of language to a focus on the purposes, to which language is put, Efficient and rapid movement away from a capacity-limited control a few bits and pieces to a relatively unlimited automatic mode of processing language forms, and Resistance to the temptation to analyze language forms Yet, the principle of automaticity is stated as follow:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Efficient second language learning involves a timely movement of the control of a few language forms into the automatic processing of a relatively unlimited number of language forms. Overanalyzing language, thinking too much about its forms, and consciously lingering on rules of language all tent to impede this graduation to automaticity. (Brown, 2001 p.56) In order for students to built automaticity more efficiently, students should use language in authentic contexts for meaningful purposes. Moreover, students must be aimed at employing functional purposes (Brown, 2001) for gaining more language competence. Meaningful Learning This principle is closely related to the principle of automaticity. Brown enhances the strength of meaningful learning opposed to rote learning- taking isolated bits and pieces of information that are not connected with ones existing cognitive structures(Ausubel 1963, as cited in Brown,2001). On the other hand, meaningful learning (Brown, 2001) incorporates new information into existing structures and memory systems. The fact that students associate sounds, words, structures and discourse elements with what is relevant and important in their every day life use for knowledge or survival is more likely to (Brown, 2001) lead toward better long-term retention. Then, this principle emphasis on students to: Capitalize on the power of meaningful leaning by appealing to students interests, academic goals and career goals. When a new topic or concept is introduced, attempt to anchor it in students existing knowledge and background to associate with something already known, also referred as schemata activation On the other hand, students should avoid rote learning: Too much grammar explanation, abstract principles and theories, drilling and memorization. Activities whose purposes are not clear Activities that do not contribute to the accomplish of the goals of the lesson, unit or course Mechanical techniques, instead, the use of language and meanings. The Anticipation Reward Skinner (as cited in Brown, 2001p 58) states that:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Human beings are universally driven to act, or behave by the anticipation of some sort of reward -tangible or intangible, short term or long term-that will ensue as result of behaviour. It is understood that people are somehow inspired and moved by a goal or purpose and according to this author; the anticipation of reward is the most powerful factor in directing ones behaviour. Within the classroom application and more specifically with the students, it is important that they receive for example rewards for having a good performance that indicate their success. At the same, Brown (2001) agrees that it helps students to see that what students are doing has relevance to their long- term goals in learning English. Yet, it has to be clear stated that this practices must be regulated in order not to create (Brown,2001) dependence over the rewardsto look only over rewards and the development of own internalsystem of rewards by the students side. Instead, students have to be aimed to receive according to Browns constructive classroom implications: An optimal degree of immediate verbal praise and encouragement. Reward each other [students] with compliments and supportive action Short-tem reminders of pro

Project Monitoring And Control Information Technology Essay

Project Monitoring And Control Information Technology Essay Project monitoring is the observation and supervision for those in the management team to detect and react appropriately to deviation and changes to a project plan. By monitoring the progress, the management teams are able to determine how far the project has proceeded and whether it has met the completion expectation or re-forecast the expectations originally set out in projects plan. One way to succeed in monitoring projects while maintain a positive progress of the project is the need to do a report detailing their observation. However, this report needs to be done in a frequency (continuously, regularly, logically, etc.) so that the management hierarchy can exercise their control without stepping on the responsibilities of other levels.1 Other than report, monitoring project can also be done through meetings with clients and parties involved in the project (contractor, supplier, etc.) at a regular basis to keep track of the progress. Monitoring alone, however, will not be effective in managing a project without control. With the combine effect of monitoring and control of a project, managing team will be able to move towards its final decision where corrective actions and decision will be made to pull the project back onto its original objective.1 Monitoring and control helps to make sure the projects position with respect to the nine functions of project management: Scope, cost, time, quality, risk, communications, procurements, human resources and integration. In short, if the project is off course, then control in the form of corrective action must be applied if possible corrective action can take the form of re-planning, reprogramming, or reallocating resources or changing the way project is managed and organized. Impact of Project Monitoring and Control: Project monitoring and control is a crucial system that is used widely by organizations. Monitoring and controls of a project with the nine functions scope, cost, time, quality, risk, communications, procurements, human resources and integration allows the management team to note the progress of the project whether they are in the original objectives. An organization operating without a project monitoring and control system is considered a risk that will eventually lead to its failure. In term of cost, if there are no proper monitoring and control, the company will be paying more for a resource compared to one that is carefully monitored and controlled because without control, the team might be paying more, when comparing prices from different contractors and make sure the prices are within project budget. Naturally without monitoring and control, time will be an aspect that cannot be avoided. Without monitoring and control, work may be repeated because of a fault or delay in the process, such as delayed in delivery by a contractor or a source that didnt pass quality control. Therefore they will consume more time to accomplish. Lack of Motivation. Motivation is defined as a pull and push forces, which result in unpredicted behavior of human directed towards their goals.2In the aviation industry, motivation is used to ensure employees have the intensity and direction of which is geared towards flight safety.   Aviation is a huge industry that involves huge number of employees of different department that have work for a different goal to each other but it will ultimately involves the safety of its passengers and pilots. Employees such as pilot, flight crew, engineer and technicians would have done the similar tasks repetitively and could claim they have enough experience to complete their task without fail yet under different circumstances; human factor will still play a role in maintaining the quality of the performance of all employees. The working environment plays a major role in effecting employee performance. 3In a working environment having a hot working environment will de-motivate employees performance. However, pilot faces a more serious environment factors as they need to take into account of flying in an aircraft loaded with technological environment. Be it the design of the equipment and flight control, displays/interface characteristics and task factors a pilot need to be very focus and well-motivated in order to maintain the quality of their performance in such a harsh environment. The condition of an employee is a common problem that almost all organizations face. This factor involves mental condition of the employee, which negatively affects performance of the task, such as mental fatigue, pernicious attitude. This is perhaps the most important factor because personal issues cannot be governed by their employers.   Impact of lack of Motivation. Employees are an organizations needs to function. An organization whose employees have not been motivated is vulnerable to both company and personal challenges because its employees are not pushing themselves further to maintain the stability which ultimately means they are underperforming. Therefore, lack of motivation equates to less work being accomplished. It does not however, mean there is no productivity coming from the employees; it can be said that they the productivity are transfer to aspects not related to their work. Simple things like internet surfing while at work and taking longer break time for lunch will cost the organization time and money. Low employee motivation due to unpleasant working environment can also impact how existing and potential clients/partners view on working with such an organization.3When employees are lacking motivation due to unpleasant working environment for instance a salary cut or no incentives. The consequences of such action would normally cause what we know as going on strike. When that happen, the organizations reputation to their clients/partners will plunge downward and the forces clients/partners to reconsider signing any contract with such an organization. This organization will suffer greatly in terms of the quality of work being produced and slowed production rate. Project Monitoring and Control, and Motivation Case: 4 On 3rd Oct 2006, European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) announce the delay in the production of Airbus A380 Aircraft which will push back the delivery of this aircraft by 2 years. An estimated loss of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬2.8 billion in pre-tax earnings between 2006 and 2010 has been revealed. In June 2006, Airbus acknowledges that they had underestimated the amount of work to be done to finish up the installation of the electrical harnesses into the forward and rear sections of the fuselage. The reason of this long delay was contributed by the complexity of the aircrafts electrical wiring system. The root cause was the fact that a new 3D digital mock-up, which facilitates the design of the electrical harnesses installation was implemented late as well as the people working on the aircraft was still in their learning curve, the problem arises when the internal wiring of the aircraft in the fuselage section which has been changed and reconfigure several times during its produc tion. The thousands of cables embedded inside the fuselage were wrongly configured and delivered. This case can been describe by 2 project failure factors: Project Monitoring and Control: The management team was at fault for this reason. During the installation process, there was no frequent inspection on the wiring configuration and only after installing thousands of wire then they realize the problem theyll be facing. If the management team had set up an inspection team to do a more frequent inspection on the installation the problem could have resolved earlier and minimizing losses. If monitoring and control has been properly managed, the risk of such an incident would have been minimized. Motivation: Human factor is ultimately related to motivation and one of the main problems with the wiring problem rise from those who are installing them in the aircraft be it the technician and engineer. In another report, it was explained by the chief executive Christian Streiff Beyond the complexity of the cable installation, the root cause of the problem is the fact that the 3D digital mock-up, which facilitates the design of the electrical harnesses installation, was implemented late and that the people working on it were in their learning curve. He stated clearly that the people working on it were in their learning curve. Knowing that they were in their learning curve, the people should be more aware that they are not experience in this new installation process and should be more aware that they need more supervision and review on this installation process. If worker are motivated enough, they wouldve seek the necessary assistance to advise them appropriately so that they will be able to c ontinue without any problem. Project Monitoring and Control Strategy: Earned Value Management System An established project management principles and techniques such as Earn Value Analysis (EVA) can be used to monitor and control a project.5 Earned value analysis is a method that measure performance that uses work in progress to forecast what will happen to the project in the future. In short, it is an early warning program/project management and suitable for project monitoring and control. Earned value analysiss aim is to use cost to determine a projects progress. Three quantities form the basis for the cost performance measurement using earned value management. They are Budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS) or Planned Value (PA), Budgeted Cost of Work Performed(BCWP) or Earned Value (EV) and Actual Cost of work Performed(ACWP) or Actual Cost(AC). From these three bases, managers can determine the projects budget as well as make a determination of schedule and cost performance and provide an estimated cost of the project at its completion. By cross referencing each of this data to a work breakdown structure, a network diagram, it can indicate how the project should be carried out and thus giving a sense of control to project leader. Cost performance index (CPI) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI) give an early warning to project leader using data from the 3 bases. Cost performance for instance is the ratio of cost of work performed (BCWP) to actual cost (ACWP). A CPI ration of 1.00 implies that the actual cost is within the estimated cost. Greater than 1.0 indicates work is accomplishes with less cost than what was expected. CPI below 1.0 indicates the project is currently over budget and require project leader to take control of the situation. Motivation Strategy: Motivation is a powerful tool that can help project members to perform better and produce higher quality of work, so project management team need to make a concerted effort at planning, establishing and maintaining a motivated team through recognition and rewards. There are 2 motivational theories which can be used to effective run a project team. Maslows Hierarchy: Motivational theories such as Maslows hierarchy, it explained that human beings are motived by unsatisfied needs, and that lower factors needs to be satisfied before higher needs can be satisfied.6 According to Maslow, these deficiencies needs are explained: Physiological Motivation: Provide ample breaks for lunch and  recuperation and pay  salaries that allow workers to  buy lifes essentials. Safety Needs: Provide a working environment which is safe, relative job security, and freedom from threats. Social Needs:  Generate a feeling of acceptance, belonging, and community by reinforcing team dynamics. Esteem Motivators: Recognize achievements, assign important projects, and provide status to make employees feel valued and appreciated. Self-Actualization:  Offer challenging and meaningful work assignments which enable innovation, creativity, and progress according to long-term goals.7 When this deficiency is satisfied, only then can a person act unselfishly and they will be able to act independently and take responsibility of their actions. With such a team member, any organization will be able to run a project with high confidence and expect a higher quality of work produced. The Herzbergs Motivation-Hygiene Theory: Herzbergs motivation-hygiene theory , also known as a Two factor theory, explain that the factors that lead to job dissatisfaction are completely separate from the factors that motivate employees and they are known as the hygiene factors and motivating factors.7 Herzberg finding explain that by adding hygiene factors, it may decrease job dissatisfaction but it will not motivate employees. Employees are motivated only when they feel a sense of job satisfaction is in place. We can assume that with motivation factors in present, satisfied employees can generally be more productive. The picture below states what motivation and hygiene factors are. Figure 1. Monitor/Hygiene factors. Source: http://www.pmroadtrip.com/files/PMRoadTrip_V4Ch09.pdf Both Maslows Hierarchy and Herzbergs Motivation-Hygiene theory can be used in the same project team. Having the Maslows hierarchy theory, we are actually adding the 2 factors which are mention in Herzbergs Motivation-Hygiene Theory. In short, by combining the two theories, we increase the chances of having a motivated project team. By using this system, we can avoid having a demotivated team that can increase the chance of project failure due to human factor such as the one described in the case study above, costing both time and money to an organization. Through such a system, future organization can source a team of motivated members capable of increasing the quality of work done, at the same time allowing organization to have an increased profit gain with less time wastage which cost more to operate. When problem do rise, these team will be able to discuss and solve problem more quickly and effectively.

supreme court desicion of hypothetical case :: essays research papers

The appellant, Salim abdul Aziz Rahman, the founder of the group called the Global Islamic Jihad, was convicted under the USA Patriot Act of 2003 for â€Å"furthering the aims of known terrorism organizations by advocating the violence of the United States government that is called for by those organizations.† He was tried and convicted by the Federal District Court, and has challenged the constitutionality of this Act on the grounds that it violates his First Amendment right of Freedom of Speech as protected by the United States Constitution. The United States Patriot Act of 2003 makes it a crime to â€Å"further the aims of known terrorist organizations by advocating the violence against the United States government that is called for by those organizations.† This act was formulated and put into effect after the acts of terrorism in September of 2001.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The record shows that a man identified as the appellant, distributed to the inhabitants of his predominantly Middle-Eastern New York City neighborhood, pamphlets stating â€Å"the American government is controlled by Zionist agents and is using it’s arrogant power to murder believers around the world.† These pamphlets also contained the sentence â€Å"The penalty for murder is death.† These pamphlets were printed and distributed by his organization, Global Islamic Jihad.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At a rally of his organization in April of 2002, Mr. Rahman burned a flag (though protected by Texas v Johnson, 491 US 397, ‘O’Brien 626’), and presented a speech where he called for â€Å"death to any country that supports Zionist aggression against true believers† as well as cataloging â€Å"American crimes against humanity.† In a speech on the day of his arrest in this same Middle-Eastern neighborhood, the appellant catalogued â€Å"America’s crimes against humanity and the believers,† as well as declaring â€Å"We must not sit by idle. We must stand up with all of our strength with our brothers and sisters who struggle against the Zionists and against those who help them with money and weapons. The treacherous Jews and Crusaders must go down. Jihad knows no boundaries and no limitations on its means.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Through legal FBI wiretaps, it was found that Mr. Rahman was in direct contact with representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood, a political group both in the United States and abroad. Previously an Egyptian terrorist group whom publicly renounced violence, this group now claims to advocate a â€Å"peaceful transition to a worldwide Islamic state.† However, this group often conveys ideas by known terrorist organizations that it calls â€Å"brothers in the great cause.

Barnabas :: essays research papers

Barnabas I. Who was Barnabas? II. Where is he first mentioned in the Bible? III. Barnabas' introduction of Saul to the apostles IV. His mission work with Paul V. His departure from Paul VI. Barnabas as a writer VII. His Death Barnabas was a native of the island of Cyprus. His birthplace makes him a Jew of the Diaspora, the dispersion of Jews outside Palestine or modern Israel. He was originally named Joseph but the apostles called him Barnabas, he probably acquired this name because of his ability as a preacher. The name Barnabas was understood by Luke to mean "Son of Encouragement" (Acts 4:36). Barnabas was an apostle of the secondary group, companion of Paul on his mission to Cyprus and the Pisidian mainland. Barnabas first appears in Luke's account of communal living in the Jerusalem church, as a man of some means who gave to the church the proceeds from the sale of a piece land, "Barnabas sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet" (Acts 4:36-37). After the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7:54-8:1, the church was persecuted and scattered, "On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison" Acts 8:1-3. In Acts 9:26-27, "Saul tries to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus." Barnabas thus belongs to the company of first converts in Jerusalem who were won by the apostolic preaching, if not by Jesus himself. Though not a native, Barnabas had the confidence of the apostles. Later he was sent to join the company of workers at Antioch, to preach to Jews, Hellenists, and Greeks (Acts 11:19-22). As the work of the Antioch church expanded and more workers were needed, Barnabas went over to Tarsus and brought back with him Saul. It seems that Barnabas was the leader of the Antioch church, and the order which Luke gives, "Barnabas and Saul," indicates the pre-eminence. It was "Barnabas and Saul" who carried relief funds from Antioch to the famine- stricken Jerusalem (Acts 11:30).

Who’s Watching Whom? A Study of Interactive Technology and Surveillance

Who’s Watching Whom? A Study of Interactive Technology and Surveillance is a comprehensive essay written by Lee Humphrys looking into the effects of using social networking sites. Humphreys takes on the task of looking into many different issues over the course of this one year study. Lee Humphreys’ research looks into whether users feel safe and secure while using the site, and what they find to be strengths and weaknesses of the network. He hopes to understand to whom the shared information is going to and if those sharing the information know their true audience. Finally, Lee Humphrys also wishes to see the percentages of who is contributing and who is just surveying or â€Å"stalking† on the network. With this, Mr. Humphreys also looks to see what kinds of contributions and what types of surveillance are being used with Dodgeball. This particular study looks at a previously existing network called Dodgeball. Dodgeball was created in 2000 and utilized in 22 cities around the United States. The social network only lasted nine years before it was shut down. It was a popular concept though and so other networks like it were started; such as FourSquare and Google Latitude. This network is similar to the previously mentioned sites because users can report their whereabouts to friends within their connections circle. Dodgeball is one of the first of its kind in social networking as it worked by using text messaging rather than GPS. During his yearlong study Humphreys utilizes interpersonal interviewing to gather his information. He holds comprehensive interviews with users of Dodgeball to gain insight on his different concerns. He gains his target study group of 21 users from the Dodgeball founder, Dennis Crowley. ... ...allow them to look back on the tangible happenings of their life. All in all I feel this study is very relevant to our world and especially communication and journalism professionals since social networking has become personal and business oriented. Many newspapers release their stories on social networking sites before they can hit paper and communication professionals will use social networks to make public announcements quickly and to a large audience. With this these professionals must not just know how to use the networks but also how and why they work the way they do. It also would help, in addition, to know how consumers feel about their privacy and who is watching them. Work Cited Humphrys, Lee. Who’s Watching Whom? A Study of Interactive Technology and Surveillance http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01570.x/abstract

A Preview Of The Twentieth Century Essay

History tells us so much that the essence of humanity would be of a void nature without it. We can safely say that history is the collective experience of humanity itself. Thus, a distortion made upon history is irreverence to our collective experience. If one distorts history, he/she changes humanity’s life story. There is a need to preserve history as it happened. From history we learn lessons and avoid doing things that lead us to our own destruction. Take for example the two world wars that happened, if a third world war happens, then we, humanity, did not learn and care at all about our own history. History distortions commonly happen in the ideological and political arena. These distortions kill human lives. Conflicts that happen in the Europe and the Middle East as well as in America are caused by differences on the way people view religion and faith. Infamous of these are bombings caused by Muslim fundamentalists. Hence, history should be taught as it happened. History should be taught with clarity and vividness. People are intelligent enough to discern between the good and bad events that happened. Respect given for each other’s perspective and ideology should be encouraged to avoid conflicts. An integration of history arriving at the closest description of events as they happen should be done taking into consideration the differences in the religious and political beliefs of different races. Research should be done in order to correct the mistakes made on writing history. Yet, the most important of these is respect. If people cannot agree on a particular issue of history, then their only option is to respect its other’s views. There is no other alternative, they must respect each other. History is what we are. If we distort our perception of history, we change our very lives’ meaning.

Competitive vs Collaborative Essay

This is when members of the group are preoccupied in establishing that they are â€Å"right† [AWJ2]and that the others are â€Å"wrong.† The group member may not want to adapt any of their work to have it blend with the others. They may pressure others into thinking their way. Some groups may suffer â€Å"group think,† where a bad choice goes unquestioned because group members are unwilling to go against what appears to be a consensus. Solution: Separate the tasks so that there is little or no overlap of topics. Make sure that each person clearly perceives that there exists a clear reward for the effort expended in the group work. Group members should keep in mind to compromise when coming to agreements because not everyone will always agree. Group member leaves the class. A team member could potentially drop the class because either they just don’t want to take it anymore or because a family issue, or for other reasons. If this occurs after research section assignments, this leaves the group vulnerable without that section. If it was far enough along in the timeline, it would be very difficult to cope with problem because the group would have to start from scratch to complete the remaining sections and assignments. Solution: If the group has not heard from a team member all week, they should message that particular person to ask them about the assignments. If the team still does not hear from them, they should write an email to the professor inquiring about the other team member to find out if they dropped the class for any particular reason. If the team member has dropped the class or refuses participation, the group should divide the remaining sections and tasks to complete the project in a timely manner. Depending on the situation, the team should contact the professor for an extension or guidance for the particular case. Consequences: The obvious penalty for lack of communication and cooperation in group work would be a lower grade or even failure to complete the project. Overcoming obstacles like these in group projects is crucial to actively use and improve communication skills and to build teamwork experience used in the classroom as well as the workplace. Individual’s effort towards group work shows one’s ability to contribute meaningful information and skills to the worth of the total project. Although team members receive grades based on individual efforts, the project grade is collaborative at first. Each team member’s role and effort affects the initial group’s grade. In APA style, quotation marks are reserved for directly quoted materials. Never use quotes to set off a word or phrase. APA style does allow for the use of italics where terms might be new or confusing. None of the words in your check point are new or confusing or might be confusing to your reader so there’re is no reason to use quotes or italics.