My Experience with Music :: Personal Narrative, Autobiographical Essay

My Experience with Music At ten years old, my folks concluded that I ought to figure out how to play an instrument. What's more, they additionally picked which instrument I ought to learn, the guitar. I had no enthusiasm for learning the guitar, since all I needed to invest my relaxation energy in was extemporizing my soccer aptitudes. Be that as it may, my folks accepted soccer was a misuse of my valuable time, time which I ought to use to concentrate on school and growing my cerebrum by taking on a troublesome errand, for example, figuring out how to play music. This was in opposition to what I accepted, however I needed to do it or, more than likely my folks would be disappointed. In this way, the next week, I started taking guitar exercises. Since the very beginning of exercises, I hated the guitar with an enthusiasm. My educator was old, cantankerous, and didn't care for small kids. We didn't get looking encouraging so far, particularly after I disclosed to him I detested the guitar, which made my teacher considerably angrier. Guitar exercises were something for which I had no excitement. I needed to play soccer as much as Possible. Be that as it may, what is a multi year-old expected to do when his folks guarantee to rebuff him for not putting forth a concentrated effort to some different option from sports. I was a standard youngster who simply needed to appreciate life. I didn't have confidence in getting the hang of something that didn't intrigue me. For congruity, I needed to achieve this errand so I could put a grin on my parents’ faces, despite the fact that I disdained that guitar with everything that is in me. I went without fail to the teacher, and consistently, I would return upset and tired of the exercises and of the unimaginable measure of training hours required. In the wake of squandering a time of my life figuring out how to play the guitar, I despite everything had not practiced anything extraordinary. My folks started to understand that I was not destined to play this instrument and that I was not having a ton of fun attempting to adapt either. They at last saw the amount I needed to play soccer. So following one hopeless year, my folks called the music teacher and disclosed to him I would never again be taking guitar exercise. The educator was very upbeat about my choice, telling my folks I was his most exceedingly awful understudy ever, yet at any rate I had done as well as I possibly can.

Analysis OF Fortes-Cue Metals

Question : In surveying business advance applications, banks and different moneylenders frequently request the budget summaries of candidates so as to direct fiscal summary examination before concluding whether to support or decrease the advance application. Answer : (1) Introduction: The organization picked for figuring of the proportions is Fortescue Metals. It is the organization bargains in iron metal and is situated in the zone that is rich in Pilbara locale of the Western Australia that has nearness to Asia and India. It is the fourth biggest maker of iron. This report targets leading the proportion examination of the company.(Fmgl.com.au, 2014) (2) Calculation of proportions: The accompanying table shows the determined proportions: (Sums in $ in millions) (Sums in $ in millions) Points of interest 2014 2013 2012 Momentary dissolvability or liquidity proportions: Current resources 4,477.00 3,662.00 3,650.00 Current liabilities 3,270.00 1,414.00 2,116.00 Current proportion 1.3691 2.5898 1.7250 Current resources - stock 1,467.00 961.00 617.00 Current liabilities 3,270.00 1,414.00 2,116.00 Brisk proportion 0.4486 0.6796 0.2916 Productivity proportions: Deals 11,753.00 8,120.00 6,716.00 Normal indebted individuals 502.50 505.00 506.50 Indebted individuals turnover proportion 23.3891 16.0792 13.2596 Cost of products sold 7,002.00 5,140.00 4,008.00 Normal stock 1,214.00 789.00 517.00 Stock turnover proportion 5.7677 6.5146 7.7524 Productivity proportions: Net benefit 2,740.00 1,746.00 1,559.00 Deals 11,753.00 8,120.00 6,716.00 Net overall revenue 23.31% 21.50% 23.21% Net gain 2,740.00 1,746.00 1,559.00 All out resources 22,694.00 20,867.00 15,063.00 Profit for resources 12.07% 8.37% 10.35% Net gain 2,740.00 1,746.00 1,559.00 Investor's value 7,583.00 5,289.00 3,762.00 Profit for investor's value 36.13% 33.01% 41.44% Long haul dissolvability or financing proportions: All out liabilities 15,111.00 15,578.00 11,301.00 All out value 7,583.00 5,289.00 3,762.00 Obligation to value proportion 199.27% 294.54% 300.40% All out liabilities 15,111.00 15,578.00 11,301.00 All out resources 22,694.00 20,867.00 15,063.00 Obligation to add up to resources 66.59% 74.65% 75.02% EBIT 3,913.00 2,466.00 2,263.00 Intrigue cost 741.00 586.00 565.00 Intrigue inclusion proportion 5.280701754 4.208191126 4.005309735 Working pay 4,633.00 3,019.00 2,768.00 All out obligation administration costs 741.00 586.00 565.00 Obligation administration inclusion proportion 6.252361673 5.151877133 4.899115044 (3) Meaning of the proportions and proportion investigation: Coming up next are the meanings of the different proportions: Liquidity proportions: Current proportion: Current proportion is the measure that lets us know with respect to what degree the present resources can take care of the present liabilities of the organization. It is shown up at by partitioning the present resources by the present liabilities. The above proportion shows an abatement in it throughout the years. The principle reason of the equivalent could be increment in both the present resources and current liabilities. Proficiency proportions: Indebted individuals turnover proportion: It is a measure through which the organization appraises the occasions the organization gathers the equalization in the records receivables account. It is shown up at by partitioning the deals by the normal of opening and shutting records of sales. The diagram above delineates the expansion in the proportion and this could be because of the expansion in the deals throughout the years. Long haul dissolvability or financing proportions: Obligation value proportion: It is a measure to discover the degree to which the value just as the liabilities of the organization is utilized to back its benefits. It is determined by partitioning the all out liabilities by investors value of the organization. The diagram above delineates a diminishing in the proportion and the fundamental explanation could be the expansion in the obligation and increment in all out value. Obligation to add up to resources: This proportion reveals to us the measure of obligation that has been utilized so as to fund the advantages. The expansion in the % shows that a higher measure of obligation has been utilized for the financing of benefits. Productivity: Productivity is the capability of a business to return addition or benefit. Gainfulness is estimated by the productivity proportions like net revenue, return on resources proportion, and profit for value proportion. The chart above shows a lessening in the proportion and the primary explanation behind the equivalent could be the expansion in the measures of all out liabilities and all out resources. Intrigue inclusion proportion: It is the proportion used to decide the straightforwardness with which the organization can take care of the enthusiasm on extraordinary borrowings. It is shown up at by isolating the income before intrigue and assessments by the intrigue cost. The proportion has just expanded throughout the years, which is a decent marker. Obligation administration proportion: It is the proportion communicated between a specific timeframe and the intrigue and head over the obligation. The proportion has just expanded throughout the years, which is a decent indicator.(FMGL, 2015) End: The organization will get the advance with no problems. References: Fmgl.com.au, (2014). Strong points signal Metals Group Ltd - Share Price and Graphs. Recovered 4 November 2014, from https://www.fmgl.com.au/investors_and_media/Share_Price_and_Graphs www.fmgl.com.au, (2015). Yearly report 2012. [Online] Available at: https://www.fmgl.com.au/UserDir/FMGReports/Documents/Fortescue%20Annual%20Financial%20Report%202012142.pdf [Accessed 21 Jan. 2015]. www.fmgl.com.au, (2015). Yearly report 2013. [Online] Available at: https://www.fmgl.com.au/UserDir/FMGReports/Documents/ASX%20Release%202013%2008%2022%20-%202013%20Results%20and%20Appendix%204E182.pdf [Accessed 21 Jan. 2015]. www.fmgl.com.au, (2015). Yearly report 2014. [Online] Available at: https://www.fmgl.com.au/UserDir/FMGReports/Documents/20140820%20annual%20results785232.pdf [Accessed 21 Jan. 2015].

Change Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Change Management - Assignment Example The postal association works in messenger and express administrations (Australian Government, 2011). The association is attempting to grow business in the field of retail product and office administrations. Conventional postal assistance business had gotten unrewarding in most recent couple of years. The idea of conventional postal correspondence has changed because of development of email correspondence, informal communication. Individuals want to utilize web correspondence as opposed to conventional postal administrations. The postal association has brought about lost $90 million in most recent 5 years. Australian Post is attempting to change business technique regarding moving spotlight on retail Merchandise and organization Services. They have to deal with the change procedure cautiously. Change the executives will assist them with building a solid authoritative structure. Change Management Change the board attempts to incorporate various frameworks and structure with the hierarc hical structure of the organization. Change the executives can be applied in the progress period of the association. An organization can go for entire framework change or incomplete framework change. Numerous associations use ADKAR change the executives model to improve efficiency. Dupont is a notable concoction organization of USA. They utilized the model to actualize change the board in the creation procedure. ADKAR model can be clarified in the accompanying manner. An Awareness is created for change. Top administration of the organization distinguishes issue territories like staff efficiency, poor help conveyance, poor yearly deals volume and low profitability of existing framework. The administration at that point chooses to change existing procedure. D-Existing workers express want to take an interest in change process. They can be named as change specialists. K-Knowledge as far as preparing and improvement is given to the change specialists. The information procedure causes th em to comprehend key issues of new framework. A-This is the application part of progress the board. In this stage association begins to utilize new executed framework. Association takes outer assistance to actualize new framework. The outside framework screens the application stage. Training and coaching are required to oversee change operators. R-Organization attempts to strengthen the supportability factor. Organizations attempt to keep up the new actualized framework. They attempt to investigate the consequence of progress the board in this stage. Change the executives is a unique procedure. Association can execute change the executives program in different territories like promoting, creation process, budgetary administration framework and authoritative structure. Change the board can be executed by modifying the considering procedure existing representatives. It is exceptionally hard to track down representatives who acknowledge change effectively. The association needs to choo se change specialists prepared to acknowledge new framework. Administration based models like changing client relationship the board requires thorough preparing and improvement program. Top level administration needs to speak with change specialists normally. Study shows that in any event 15 commitment are required to explain the targets of top administration (University of Pennsylvania, 2010). Change Management in Australia Post Australia Post has business skill in the field of postal administrations (like letter and package conveyance, messenger administrations). The association is attempting to grow business in the field of outsider office administrations like banking, charge installment, protection, visa application and

A Marxist Reading of Native Son Essays -- Native Son Essays

A Marxist Reading of Native Son In the Communist Manifesto Karl Marx states unmistakably that history is a progression of class battles over the methods for creation. Whoever controls the methods for creation additionally controls society and can drive their arrangement of thoughts and convictions onto the lower class. The current prevailing class philosophy is, as it has been since the composition of the United States Constitution, the belief system of the high society, Anglo-Saxon male. Clearly, when the designers talked about uniformity for all, they implied for all land-possessing white men. The expressions of the Declaration of Independence, likewise composed by high society, Anglo-American guys, are clear: life, freedom, and the quest for joy are rights important to every individual and ought to never be removed. Governments are set up to ensure these rights, yet these rights don't have any significant bearing to everybody, especially to the Bigger Thomases of the world. Despite the fact that the designers of the Constitution and the creators of the Declaration of Independence couldn't investigate the future to see the appearance of Richard Wright, his 1940 novel, Native Son, with its fundamental character, Bigger Thomas, or the disappointed urban young people whom Bigger was designed after, they knew their own needs. They likewise comprehended the significance of being allowed to achieve those requirements. A long time later, Abraham Maslow concurred with the ancestors and gave the hypothesis of necessities a name. In 1943, clinician Abraham Maslow built up a hypothesis of essential human needs: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. His hypothesis proposes that installed in the very idea of every individual are sure needs that must be achieved all together for an individual to be entire genuinely, mentally, and inwardly. To begin with, there are phys... ... is the thing that society does to Bigger: it places him in a confine, gets him into a tough situation, and when he lashes out, it murder him, similarly as Bigger slaughtered the rodent. Works Cited Boeree, Dr. George. Character Theories: Abraham Maslow. 1998. 7 November 2001. , Booker, Keith M. A Practical Introduction to Literary Theory and Criticism. White Plains: Longman 1996. Steward, Robert James. The Function of Violence in Richard Wright's Native Son. Black American Literature Forum. Vol. 20, Issue 1/2, 1986. DeCoste, Damon Marcell. To Blot It All Out: The Politics of Realism in Richard Wright's Native Son. Style. Vol. 32. 127-148. Grigano, Russel C. Richard Wright: An Introduction to the Man and His Works. Pittsburgh: College of Pittsburgh Press, 1970. Inge, M. Thomas ed., Fadiman, Clifton. New Yorker. 2 March 1940 53-53.

That fear of falling behind

That fear of “falling behind” Class started today and before we know it, a lot of us on campus will be engulfed in the so-called MIT bubble. Which basically means, getting so into the hectic rhythm of classes, psets, extracurricular commitments, that soon its like, Oh yeah! The rest of the world! I forgot it existed! People live in houses! Dogs exist! Babies exist! Here, I am quoting fellow blogger Elizabeth.  Every time I see a baby on campus, its like Whoa, little creature, what are you. Anyways, besides just missing things outside the bubble, Im increasingly feeling like its also easy to get too-focused inside bubble. People who come to MIT are usually ambitious, have goals and dreams, and are willing to commit to making those dreams happen. For me, being an architect was not my childhood dream, or teenage dream. Ive just always loved art and design and cities, and in the last year of high school, somehow synthesized those likes into architecture and thought studying architecture @ MIT would be really cool. (And so far, it has been really cool.) But still, its like, Ive been trying so hard to do well in school, be productive in the summers and you know, keep moving towards that architect goal. But this summer, interning in China allowed me to really step back and re-evaluate what I want to do. And I finally understood the appeal of a semester or year off. Because once you get into the MIT momentum, it seems like theres only pushing forward. You dont want to ever feel like youre falling behind. And really, you cant afford to (with the default fear of not graduating on time, etc.) The fast-paced nature of MIT makes big changes an intimidating task. But being in China this summer was really inspiring in a way, because this was a country with soooo many people (still an understatement) in a wide variety of career fields. People are really practical but also literal in terms of their career choices. People who want to cook learn to be chefs, people who like to draw practice to be artists, people who want to make a lot of money go into the financial sector, people who care about research or want job stability go into academia and people who find out they dont like a field or said field is not faring so well change fields in a moments time. I guess thats basically the case everywhere, but it was just highly visible in the current Chinese culture where people are reconciling the pragmatic need to be employed with the newer, perhaps more modern/Western mindset that one can and even should follow his or her passions. Its not that my internship made me like architecture less. In fact, I actually really like and admire the process of designing and turning concepts into real constructed spaces where people can use.  But the fact that billions of lives in China were changing every second just reminded me how its never too late to be in charge of what you want to do. And that on the flip side of fearing falling behind is being constrained by the pressure of following a well-planned path that may or may not still be what you want. I picked Architecture before I came in to MIT, looked around, and liked it. I declared course 4 with no hesitation and was relieved that the decision came so easy (whereas my friends were having dilemmas with 7 or 10 or 20 or 15 …or 21 or 2? or some combination of those).  Im not even a senior yet, but at this half-way point, I would tell my freshman self to explore more and dont be rigid for convenience sake. Right now, Im enthusiastic about finishing my major in Architecture, minor in Management. But Im also looking into Comparative Media Studies. There are so many possibilities with all of those. I met with my advisor yesterday, and at some point he said, When the time comes, Ill tell you why its better to work before grad school. I think he by time he means registration day in the spring term. Meanwhile, its going to be a constant calibration process. P.S. Im not especially advocating a gap year or a semester off, but just that dont let the fear of falling behind keep you from stopping to explore other options. I honestly really love the entire design process, especially the design mentality of looking at things through different lenses and rehashing them until theyre just right. And its exactly this mentality I want to share with everyone.

Academic Tutoring Middle School Summer Activities

Here are five ways you can help your child have fun learning this summer: One of the thorniest problems middle schoolers face every summer is learning loss: while away from the school environment, children risk losing academic skills and rolling back growth achieved during the year. By introducing fun educational activities into your child’s summer schedule, you can help them maintain or even improve their academic level in preparation for the next school year. Here are five ways you can help your child have fun learning this summer: 1. Go on field trips. Field trips don’t have to be merely a fun treat during the school year – scheduling trips to local attractions is a great way for kids to have fun and learn new things at the same time. Trips to zoos, museums, planetariums, national parks, science centers, or historical landmarks are great ways to foster conversations about various topics. By learning with your child about your destination beforehand, you can frame a discussion with them about what they’ll see on the trip. After you return, talking about what they enjoyed the most helps them think about the new things they experienced and think critically about the topic they explored or the artifacts they saw. 2. Utilize your local library. The summer is a great opportunity for students to read books that interest them, and you can help them stay invested in their reading by asking questions about the books and initiating discussions about key themes in the material. Most libraries have summer reading contests, where kids can earn prizes and recognition for reading during the summer. Many libraries also have a calendar of special events throughout the summer, from interesting presentations or speakers to interactive activities for different age levels to participate in, which are often free! 3. Take advantage of online resources. With today’s technology, many different free middle school educational resources exist online to help with a variety of educational areas. From free typing lessons to interactive math games, you can find targeted resources for any areas that your child needs to improve. If you can’t go on trips to local museums, for example, you can access archives of many Smithsonian exhibits online: http://www.sil.si.edu/SILPublications/Online-Exhibitions/. Learn about other useful digital resources to engage your child academically here: http://blog.cambridgecoaching.com/blog/bid/180260/Middle-School-Maze-IV-The-Summer-Online-Classroom-Academics. 4. Encourage the development of writing skills. Helping your child strengthen their writing skills will benefit them in all aspects of their academic career. Over the summer, your middle school child can practice writing in a variety of different ways, from writing letters to family members to keeping a daily journal chronicling their summer vacation to starting a blog about a topic that interests them. Learn more tips on middle school writing help and how your student can strengthen their writing skills with this post: http://blog.cambridgecoaching.com/blog/bid/183826/The-Middle-School-Maze-V-Learn-to-Write-Early 5. Turn your home into an academic learning environment. Many aspects of daily life can be turned into learning experiences around the house, which not only provides an academic opportunity but also helps your child to see how they can apply the skills and information they learn in school to their home life. Growing a home garden can teach students about nature and how the plant cycle works. Baking projects teach students unit conversion and math skills. Family game nights increase reading comprehension, vocabulary, spelling skills, problem solving, and more. The summer can be a great opportunity to not only increase your child’s academic skills and engagement, but also to demonstrate how the topics they are learning are applicable and to show them how school can be fun.

Stress And Its Effect On Our Lives - 1494 Words

Sinister Stress Everyone has stress, but not everyone realizes the impact it has on their lives. Most people don’t realize or understand the amount of stress they are under. What used to be considered extreme levels of stress has become normal in today’s society. Most people, adults especially, don’t realize that teens largely experience these high levels of stress. Before talking about the stress that teens experience, though, it is best to understand what stress is and why one has it. Stress is a natural response and reaction the body experiences to things that occur in life, both to and around a person. Humans have had stress since their first creation. It is a survival instinct, enabling our flight or fight mode, only nowadays it has†¦show more content†¦It is a constant pressure that sits on a teen’s shoulders. Adults are constantly pushing students to work harder, get better grades, get to class on time, and have all their work finished and done correctly ( Gregson par. 3). What’s so hard about that? one might think. Well, what most people don’t realize it that it is harder than it sounds. Many teens are involved in extracurricular activities, like clubs, sports, and jobs as well. There is only so much in a day and so many things that they have to do within that limited amount of time. Teens are at school most of the day, then many of them either have to go to some sort of practice, meeting, job, or do chores at home. Usually by the time they are free to do their homework it is late. Not to mention the sizable amounts of homework that is dolled out to them. Sometimes they are given large amounts of work in just one class, along with the work they may receive in the many other classes they are enrolled in. Fear is also another stressor teens experience much of. Teens have the constant fear of not being enough, not doing enough, and most of all failure in life (Lee 4-5). Fear somewhat relates to the stress teens experience because of school- fear of a bad grade, fear of not getting their homework done on time, fear of being late to class, or even fear of not being able to understand what is being taught. While school and fear are obvious sources of stress

Compare and Contrast of the Three Faces of Power - 1821 Words

Some theorists believe that ‘power is everywhere: not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere†¦ power is not an institution, nor a structure, nor possession. It is the name we give to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. (Foucault, 1990: 93) This is because power is present in each individual and in every relationship. It is defined as the ability of a group to get another group to take some form of desired action, usually by consensual power and sometimes by force. (Holmes, Hughes Julian, 2007) There have been a number of differing views on ‘power over’ the many years in which it has been studied. Theorist such as Anthony Gidden in his works on structuration theory attempts to integrate basic†¦show more content†¦Luke’s one-dimensional view of power is centred on this concept and in order to develop understanding as to how power is achieved and maintained within society, an analyses of decision-ma king in the public arena must be made. It also contests that the group that holds and maintains power can be determined by looking at who succeeds when there is political conflict. (Lukes, 1974:12) It emphasises the importance of the observed behaviour of those in power and analyses the effects on the wider community when making decisions (Lukes 1974:25) Lukes spends a lot of time discussing Dahl’s theory of power through his own theory. The power held by a specific group may be either, ‘overt’ or ‘covert’ but the triumph of power is at the point is during the decision-making process and when these decision have been made, especially, those of the controversial nature of ones centred around the most conflict (Lukes, 1974:13) The one dimensional view of power proposed by Lukes is the most straightforward of the three dimensions. In a way, it is also the easiest to observe, as the power structure through decision-making is more translucent and has a lo t of clear definable features. The two-dimensional view or second face of power discusses the non-decision making and how the group or individual controls what is put on the political agenda. This form of power is power through agenda setting. The perspective of theShow MoreRelatedDescription of Different Feelings in Sonnets Essay1532 Words   |  7 Pagesthis essay, I am going to look in detail at three sonnets showing very different feelings. I will show all the main features and try to explain what the writers were trying to show and underline in there sonnets. Each of the three sonnets I have chosen are by different writers and also from different centuries, I have decided to look at ‘God’s Grandeur’ by G.M Hopkins, ‘Death be Not Proud’ by John Donne and also ‘Shall I Compare thee to a Summer’s Day’ by William ShakespeareRead MorePersuasion Of The Book : The Book Thief And Meiin Kampf744 Words   |  3 Pagesgargantuan amounts of power, and they could render an abysmal or euphoric event based on how they are used. The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, and Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler, are both famous novels that relate to the Holocaust. The Book Thief takes place in the Holocaust and tells of the struggle that the Hubermann family and Liesel endure. Meanwhile, Mein Kampf is a book that Hitler wrote to explain his views and convince people to think the same as him. One could compare and contrast persuasion, toneRead MoreBauhinia: Milk and Specialty Food Industry Essay665 Words   |  3 Pagesdistribution channels. Economics scale is achievable by building new capacities in jumps in the dairy industry. 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Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett Nothing Happens,...

Waiting For Godot By Samuel Beckett â€Å"Nothing happens. Nobody comes, nobody goes. It’s awful.† How far do you agree? Initially written in French in 1948 as â€Å"En Attendant Godot†, Samuel Beckett’s play was first staged in 1952, in Paris. It represents one of the most important movements of the twentieth century and is an example of the so-called â€Å"Theatre of the Absurd†, which had subsequently inspired numerous plays that were based on the idea of an illogical universe. The plot of the play is fairly simple and is, in fact, purely a development of its title. Its description is rather ambiguous, for while one may think that no action whatsoever takes place throughout the play, another might suppose otherwise. Principally, the story includes†¦show more content†¦They now lead a meaningless life (as meaningless as their constant exclamations and unsuccessful conversations), losing track of time and memory, passing time, existing: Estragon: â€Å"We always find something, eh Didi, to give us the impression we exist?† They merely exist, breathe, walk and eat. All these verbs are included in the play, for they give us the illusion of reality on the stage. However, far from that, the vagabonds are simply emblems of despair. These religious beliefs prevail in the play, placing faith under the spotlight of doubt. It is a scandalous topic, but it is presented in a somewhat naive manner: Estragon and Vladimir themselves hardly known what Christianity is; they consider the Biblical story an anecdote, for they know nothing of it. Beckett seems to doubt the necessity of religion without the basic knowledge of biblical myths, which, in our days, is a highly common occurrence. Nonetheless both Estragon and Vladimir believe in the existence of Godot, whose prophet descended seven skies to deliver a message. They do question his identity and distrust his facelessness and Estragon at times is ready to quit the worthless act of waiting, but scolded by Vladimir, remains immobile. Estragon: â€Å"I cannot seem to depart.† Estragon can see the logic of renouncing this lifestyle clearly, but neither can do itShow MoreRelatedWaiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett Nothing Happens, Nobody Comes, Nobody Goes Analysis1331 Words   |  6 PagesWaiting For Godot By Samuel Beckett â€Å"Nothing happens. Nobody comes, nobody goes. It’s awful.† How far do you agree? Initially written in French in 1948 as â€Å"En Attendant Godot†, Samuel Beckett’s play was first staged in 1952, in Paris. It represents one of the most important movements of the twentieth century and is an example of the so-called â€Å"Theatre of the Absurd†, which had subsequently inspired numerous plays that were based on the idea of an illogical universe. The plot of the playRead MoreEssay Writing9260 Words   |  38 Pagesopinion plays a significant role in the process. However, a certain objective standard needs to be maintained and, as in a persuasive essay, your assertions need to be proved. The formality of the review will be determined by how much of the essay is analysis, how much is summary, and how much is your reaction to the work you are reviewing. A more formal review will not only discuss the work on its own merits but also place it in context. Newspapers and popular magazines tend to review in terms of finance:

Martin Luther King Jr And Henry David Thoreau - 1393 Words

Martin Luther King Jr and Henry David Thoreau were both two important men in our society that ultimately changed things for the better or at least had some part in our stride for equality in the United States. Whether it be in the Transcendentalist Era of the early 19th century in which Thoreau composed one of the most prominent documents of his time â€Å"Civil Disobedience†, or during the 1960’s fight for racial equality in which Dr. King wrote his powerful â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail†, both seeked to better the ways in which the government was wrongfully treating its’ citizens. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was greatly influenced by Henry David Thoreau’s work and was very close in his position on just and unjust laws and ultimately the two were very close in their views about the government’s need for change but had different ideas on how to change them. Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr both had similar views on conscience a nd the fact that there are two sets of laws: just and unjust. Dr. King exemplifies his views on conscience when he states: â€Å"I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for the law† (para 20). King knows that he was wrongfully thrown in jail and accepts going to jail because he believed that eventually the community will see the injustices andShow MoreRelatedMartin Luther King Jr. And Henry David Thoreau1311 Words   |  6 PagesAmerican citizens expect the authority to work â€Å"for the good of the people† and â€Å"follow in everything the general will†, however, it was not always the case, according to influential American authors and civil rights activists Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau. Although both of their works were written over a century apart, one cannot deny the fact that both of them successfully and nonviolently converted their ideology into action using different methods of civil disobedience. TheirRead MoreMartin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau Essay976 Words   |  4 PagesThe essays by Martin Luther King Jr., â€Å"Letters From Birmingham Jail† and Henry David Thoreau, â€Å"Civil Disobedience† show how one can be a civil person and protest against unfair, unjust laws forced upon them. Both authors are very persuasive in their letter writings. Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. write about the injustice of government laws, of right and wrong, and one’s moral and upstanding conscience of a human being. Martin Luther King Jr. is a religious, peaceful man who usesRead More Comparing Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr.933 Words   |  4 PagesComparing Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Any one can say that a law is unfair and unjust. However, who is really willing to accept the consequences for going against an unjust law? Is breaking this law really worth the punishment? The government is the one to decide whether a law is reasonable, but what if a member of the public believes that a law is not? Should he rebel against this law? Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. answered yes to this questionRead MoreHenry David Thoreau: Great Influence to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.629 Words   |  3 PagesI strongly believe that just as Henry David Thoreau was greatly influenced by the writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, (who introduced Thoreau to the ideas of transcendentalism) Martin Luther King, Jr.s thinking was greatly influenced by that of Thoreaus. He was most probably influenced more by Indias Mahatma Gandhi; however, Gandhis principles were mainly based on those of Thoreau. Though Thoreau lived more than 100 years before the time of King, his thinking remained an influential legacy. They eachRead MoreMartin Luther King Jr., Lenard Pitts, Henry David Thoreau, And Harper Lee970 Words   |  4 Pageshow immense the situation is and how rapidly it should be dealt with, and there must be nonviolent demonstrations for superb end conclusions. There are 3 steps in order for justice to prevail which were ideas derived from Martin Luther King Jr., Lenard Pitts, Henry David Thoreau, and Harper Lee. Those three steps will be explained and discussed throughout this thesis paper. The first step is realizing or â€Å"Bearing Witness† as Lenard Pitts would say, as stated in his speech Bearing Witness â€Å"We mustRead MoreMartin Luther King Jr., Lenard Pitts, Henry David Thoreau, And Harper Lee972 Words   |  4 Pageshow immense the situation is and how rapidly it should be dealt with, and there must be nonviolent demonstrations for superb end conclusions. There are 3 steps in order for justice to prevail which were ideas derived from Martin Luther King Jr., Lenard Pitts, Henry David Thoreau, and Harper Lee. Those three steps will be explained and discussed throughout this thesis paper. The first step is realizing or â€Å"Bearing Witness† as Lenard Pitts would say, as stated in his speech Bearing Witness â€Å"We mustRead MoreHenry David Thoreau, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.s Use of Civil Disobedience562 Words   |  2 Pagescollective means of forcing concessions from the government.† Men such as Henry David Thoreau, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. have all used forms of civil disobedience and nonviolent protest to make changes in the world. These changes have made huge impacts on our societies and how we are able to live our everyday lives. Without these three men and their practice of civil disobedience, the world would be a very different place. Thoreau views civil disobedience as a necessity when the law causes someoneRead MoreHenry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King, Jr.s Justification of Defying Unjust Laws1820 Words   |  8 PagesHenry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King, Jr.s Justification of Defying Unjust Laws In his famous essay, â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail,’’ Martin Luther King, Jr. cites conscience as a guide to obeying just laws and defying unjust laws. In the same way, Henry David Thoreau wrote in his famous essay, â€Å"Civil Disobedience,† that people should do what their conscience tells them and not obey unjust laws. The positions of the two writers are very close; they use a common theme of conscience, andRead MoreCivil Disobedience, by Henry David Thoreau and Letter From Birmingham Jail, by Martin Luther King Jr.909 Words   |  4 Pages The essays, Civil Disobedience, by Henry David Thoreau, and Letter from a Birmingham Jail, by Martin Luther King, Jr., incorporate the authors’ opinions of justice. Each author efficiently shows their main point; Thoreau deals with justice as it relates to government, he asks for,†not at one no government, but at once a better government.†(Paragraph 3). King believed,† injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. (Paragraph 4). Each essay shows a valid argument for justice, but KingsRead MoreHenry David Thoreau Resistance To Civil Disobedience Analysis1508 Words   |  7 Pagescivil government by Henry David Thoreau is an essay written about his opinion on opposing the government that was taking control of people’s rights, motivating his disagreement of slavery and the Mexican-American war. Mahatma Gandhi, a leader who fought for the Indians independent movement against British. Lastly but not least, Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the civil rights movement. Within the tree leaders, Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. their connections

Summary of the Film “The Smartest Guys in the Room” Free Essays

string(98) " to say escapes from Enron with 250 million \$ and becomes the 2nd largest landowner in Colorado\." ‘Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room’ Frauds and financial scandals in the business world were before an Enron’s case and will be after it. That’s in human nature. But a chain of events lead to an enormous shock on the Wall Street and went down in history as one of the biggest business scandals. We will write a custom essay sample on Summary of the Film â€Å"The Smartest Guys in the Room† or any similar topic only for you Order Now For a long time sequence of events was a basis for articles and books, documental films and analytic researches. Specialties were retold and discussed by analytics. It was real human tragedy. The film ‘Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room’ tries to answer the questions that all people somehow connected with the business world were interested in: How it could happened? What are the reasons and who is responsible for that? The film tries to lift the veil. From the beginning of the film it is clearly stated that the Enron case is exceptional. Working in a field of energy and power, having reputation of ‘unsinkable’ ship and demonstrating fascinating financial results, Enron dramatically collapsed almost in a day. But the beginning of this story is bright and ambitious. Enron represents a company of great promise. The first seconds of the film represent an end of it: John Cliff Baxter committed a suicide, being heartbroken with what was happened. And it was a conviction of the fraud that was happened. After this crucial episode, viewers come to the best years of the Enron. It is a seventh largest corporation in America, valued 70 billion $. It is an innovative business with absolutely new business model. But how it starts? It starts with Ken Lay, who comes to the story of Enron from humble roots. His father is a Baptist minister and their life is rather poor. Probably, his background plays an integral role in having huge ambitions to make wealth of him. Ken Lay wants to change a market of power and energy. He convinces that government is not a solution but a problem to the business. In other words, he involves in the idea of deregulations. Not only he but other participants of a power and energy business share this outlook. A tendency to deregulations starts to develop in 1985 and in this very moment the Enron is founded. Kay Lay thinks that it would be beneficial for his new company that gas prices float with the currents of the market. That is the power of deregulations. An important episode of Enron is a contribution to the presidential campaign of George Bush, who lately helps to secure money in government subsidies and to promote Ken Lay with idea of deregulations. Trading in oil market considers as a very risky business. But Enron always wins. Even then an improbable success gives a rise to doubt about legality of Enron’s business. Illegal actions start with the president of Enron Louis Borget, who takes about 3 billion $ of corporate funds in his personal account with the help of a treasurer Mastroeni and his phony books. When the rumors become too strong, Mastroeni discloses real books and it becomes clear that all reserves of Enron are gambled away. This tremendous news is hidden by the bluffing of the market and that is how Enron stays afloat. But a little later Enron is forced to disclose the information about those manipulations and all guilt is focused on Mastreoni and Borget. Mastreoni receives a suspended sentence, Borget spends 1 year in a prison. So who will make money now? The second period of Enron’s history is connected with Skilling, who is a person with the biggest ideas of all. He is a great visionary as a Ken Lay. It is he who comes up with a new idea: make energy a financial instrument like stocks and bonds. And it is like an explosion in the industry. Enron becomes a genius of the industry. All employees are proud of being working in Enron. It is worth mentioning, that it is a moment when SEC approved an implementation of a mark-to-market accounting approach, which allows estimating assets of the company by a market price and not by a real. It also allows booking potential profit as it is already gained before money comes to Enron. That is the first almost unobservable alarm bell to a room for unethical actions and frauds. If to speak about work environment, it is clearly seen that Skilling is an unconstrained leader. Interesting fact of his power is that when he stops wearing glasses, everyone in the company does the same. But the culture that is cultivated is aggressive and tough, like in a wild nature with the basic instincts of survival of the fittest. Skilling is convinced that money is the only thing that motivates people. He wants employees to show him great results, great profit. Therefore, traders are encouraged to gamble. Making money no matter what the methods are used. Skilling also implements a system of evaluation of employees and every employee who does not meet the demand of Skilling’s vision is fired. As a result of this system, turnover index is 15% that is really negatively impressive. Skiling’s vision of people is based on the theory of ‘People with spikes’. Only extraordinary and exceptional people deserve his attention and respect. The list of people consists of Ken Rice who is a salesman of Enron; John Cliff Baxter who is very talented but prone to depression (as viewers of the film know, that will be a fatal point in his future). The list continued with Lou Pai – a key skilling lieutenant, working in one of the business units of Enron – Enron Energy Services (EES). His activity is wrapped in a mystery; employees even call him ‘Invisible CEO’. Lou Pai is highly motivated by money. When he loses interest in his work in Enron, put another way, when he achieves a marginal profit, he leaves or better to say escapes from Enron with 250 million $ and becomes the 2nd largest landowner in Colorado. You read "Summary of the Film â€Å"The Smartest Guys in the Room†" in category "Papers" The next stage of Enron is connected with its stocks that are being increased significantly day by day. Everyone wants to play in the market because prices go up and up; there is an illusion that it will never end. The heading of this time is ‘A new day a new record’. By all means, these records have a direct impact on a profit of Enron, which gets higher and higher. But how they get these numbers? It is a questionable issue. In the books everything goes perfect but in reality it was quite the opposite. At this time Enron invests in India that is unreasonably risky. And they fails because India could not afford to pay for the power which Enron offers. As it is said in the fim ‘Failure was not an option’. Hence, Enron hides nsuccessful results in India, continuing show artificial bright results. Later, a merger with electrical company makes it possible for Enron to come into a new deregulated market of California. The company shows unrealistic results: stock price are soared by 34% in 2 days. Analysts were blinded to the doubtful information that is already occ urred. It is not an unfortunate occurrence, but it will be disclosed only later. Enron diversifies its activities; in particular, it covers a new market of broadband. But it does not work. It is a mark-to-market accounting that helps Enron to book revenues as it is wanted to be. In reality there are not any revenues. And that is the moment when executives of Enron begin to understand a certainty of collapse; they start to sale their stocks. In other words, they leave a sinking ship. The end is coming. In 2001 dotcom companies undergo massive difficulties whereas Enron is a shining star of an American economy. It is named as the â€Å"most admired† corporation by Fortune magazine. But Enron is a black box. Nobody knows how exactly money is made. Suspicions of falsification of financial statements begin to occur. The next key figure in the Enron’s case is Andy Fostow who is a financial officer. He is motivated by a future career. He tries to please Skilling and therefore he hides debts in artificial companies and handles finance so that stock prices continue to going up. Moreover, he encourages 96 individual banks to put their money in LGM (Andy’s artificial company) to somehow change Enron’s situation. Why respectful banks do not suspect illegality? Analytics suppose that they do suspect, but agree to give money because Andy Fastow plays on their greed. They are ‘useful idiots’. Actions cross the line when Skilling responds unethically to one reporter. It is already seeable that Skilling starts to lose his countenance. He does not know how to keep stock prices high. Meanwhile, one more illegal chance to keep Enron’s stock prices takes place. It is called ‘California’. Enron produces an energy crisis. Blackouts take plays; as a result a demand on electricity is soared and so do the prices. Consequently, Enron gets money. These manipulations lead to a lot of domestic problems of citizens of California but nothing changes. During this part, there is a comparison of Enron’s activity in California with Milgram’s experiment which is quite remarkable. Both ‘experiments’ are about how people can be convinced to do something morally wrong if a person in authority tells them it is his responsibility and he will not be blamed. As in the Milgram’s experiment Enron continues to manipulate with electricity and things become worse and worse. People understand that nothing is left to accident, they blame Enron in this; desperate protests take place. In this time George Bush becomes a president of the USA and therefore with the old beneficial relations Enron does have an easy access to the administration. As a consequence, government does not interfere in the Californian difficulties. People stop believe in Enron and its stocks begin to fall. In this moment Skilling suddenly announces that he resigns from Enron. Employees take this is as a betrayal. One of the employees – Sherron Watkins becomes aware of the fraud that takes place at Enron. She tries to speak with Ken Lay but he does nothing. Meanwhile Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) starts an investigation and discovers that in reality millions of assets are millions of debts. And it is Andy Fostow who is blamed by all Enrons’ executives for falsifications. It is interesting to note that the same situation was with Borget and Mastreoni in the early 1990s. The end comes in 2001 when Enron declares a bankruptcy. Employees feel that they are on the sinking whip without lifeboats. They lose everything. Cliff Baxter commits a suicide 7 months later. Concerning tragic specialities, $ 1,2 billion in retirement funds and $2 billion in pension funds are disappeared in a matter of weeks. 20,000 employees lose their jobs. Ken Lay and Skilling are under a precise look of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The congressional committees launch court proceedings. It is the end of the film ‘Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room’. Enron’s tragedy is often compared with Titanic. And that is not just empty words. In both cases there were a lot of warnings of possible danger but ‘ships’ continue a full-speed running. In both cases there were great opportunities but then a combination of human errors and hubris lead to a fatal meltdown. The fall of Enron is a story not only about people but about whole system, consisting of government, financial and business institutions, conditions and relations. All participants in fraudulent actions have their share of a pie. That is why this story is called ‘a story of synergetic corruption’. I am absolutely fascinated by this film, to be precise, by a scale of greed and addiction to money and power. Understanding that characters of this film are the real people and all actions that were showed really took place makes me fascinated even more. To my mind, Enron case is not an aberration; it is a consequence of way of living. It is a ‘dark shadow of the American dream’ as it is said in the film. Therefore, it can be repeated. And it can be us who would be affected by manipulations. That really boggles the mind. How to cite Summary of the Film â€Å"The Smartest Guys in the Room†, Papers

Food chain free essay sample

Anything which we eat to live is called food. Food contains energy. The food (or energy) can be transferred from one organism to the other through food chains. The starting point of a food chain is a category of organisms called producers. Producers are, in fact, plants. So, we can say that all the food chains begin with a green plant (or grass) which is the original source of all food. Let us take an example to understand the meaning of food chain. Suppose there is a field having a lot of green plants (or producers of food). Now, plants can be eaten up by a rat. The rat, in turn, can be eaten up by a cat. And finally, the cat can be eaten up by a dog. So, we find that there is a sequence (or order) in which one organism eats up the other organism (or consumes the other organism) to fill its belly. The sequence of living organisms in a community, in which one organism consumes another organism to transfer food energy, is called a food chain. In simple words, a list of organisms (living beings) showing who eats whom is called a food chain. Let us make this point more clearly by taking the example of a simple food chain operating in a grassland or forest. In a grassland or forest, there is a lot of grass (which are green plants). This grass is eaten up by animals like deer. And this deer is then consumed (eaten up) by a lion. This simple food chain operating in a grassland or forest can be represented as: Grass Deer Lion (Producer) (Herbivore) (Carnivore) This food chain tells us that grass is the starting point of this food chain. The grass is eaten up by deer and the deer is then eaten up by a lion. In this food chain, grass is the producer organism which uses sunlight energy to prepare food like carbohydrates by the process of photosynthesis. This grass is then consumed by a herbivore called deer. And the deer is consumed by a carnivore called lion. The above food chain can be represented more clearly with the help of a diagram as follows. More Examples of Food Chains : In the food chain that we have discussed above, there are three organisms involved in it: grass, deer and lion, so it is said to be a food chain having three steps or three links. The same grassland has many other food chains operating in it which can have different number of steps. Let us take the example of a grassland food chain having four steps or four links. In a grassland ecosystem, grass is eaten by insects; the insects are eaten by frog; and the frog is then eaten by birds. This is a grassland food chain involving four organisms (or four steps) which can be represented as follows: Grasslnsect Frog Bird (Producer) (Herbivore) (Carnivore) (Top carnivore or large carnivore) The above food chain can be represented more clearly with the help of pictures of all the organisms involved as follows: Please note that in this food chain grass is the producer. The insect (herbivore) is the primary consumer; the frog (small carnivore) is the secondary consumer whereas the bird (top carnivore or large carnivore) is the tertiary consumer. Another four-step food chain operating in grassland is: Plants Worms Birds Cat (Producer) (Herbivore) (Carnivore) (Top carnivore) ecosystem) like a pond, lake, or sea (ocean). In a pond, lake or sea ecosystem, the algae are eaten up by protozoa; the protozoa are eaten up by small fish; and the small fish is eaten up by big fish. This aquatic food chain can be represented as: Algae Protozoa Small Fish Big Fish (Phytoplankton) (Zooplankton) (Carnivore) (Large carnivore) (Producer) (Herbivore) Please note that in a pond, lake or ocean ecosystem, the producer is a minute organism called algae and protozoa is the minute herbivore. Each organism (or living eing) occupies a specific position in the food chain. For example, grass, deer and lion occupy specific positions in the food chain: Grass Deer Lion Another point to be noted is that one organism (or same organism) can occur in more than one food chains. For example, in the forest food chains, a deer may be consumed by a lion as well as by a Jackal: Grass Deer Jackal So, the same organism, deer, occurs in the food chains of lion as well as that of Jackal. The organisms representing producers and consumers in a food chain give a definite structure to an ecosystem. Food Web : A large number of food chains exist in a community of living organisms in an ecosystem such as grassland, a forest, a pond or a crop-field. Many of these food chains are inter-connected by species (organisms) which occur in more than one food chain. The inter-connected food chains operating in an ecosystem which establish a network of relationships between various species, is called a food web. In simple words, the network of a large number of food chains existing in an ecosystem is called a food web. The food web has many intercrosses and linkages among the various species (producers and consumers) present in it. This means that the various food chains in an ecosystem do not operate in isolation (or alone). In this food web, we can see a network of numerous pathways along which the food (or energy) flows within grassland community. This food web starts from the plants which is a producer and ends in top carnivore hawk (baaz). There are as many as six food chains operating in the food web shown above which have been marked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. 1. In the 1st food chain, plants are eaten by rabbit and then rabbit is eaten by hawk: Plants Rabbit Hawk 2. In the 2nd food chain, plants are eaten by mice (or rats) and the mice are eaten by awks: Plants Mice Hawk 3. In the 3rd food chain, plants are eaten by mice; mice are eaten by snakes and then snakes are consumed by hawks: Plants Mice Snake Hawk 4. In the 4th food chain, plants are eaten by seed-eating birds and the seed-eating birds are consumed by hawks: Plants Seed-eating Bird Hawk 5. In the 5th food chain, plants are eaten up by grasshopper and the grasshopper is consumed by hawks: Plants Grasshopper Hawk 6. In the 6th food chain, plants are eaten by grasshopper, grasshopper is eaten by frog, frog is eaten by snake and then snake is consumed by hawk: Plants Grasshopper Frog Snake Hawk

Micro Level Language Policy for Teaching- MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theMicro Level Language Policy for Teaching. Answer: Language Policy The development of macro language policies for countries and governments, together with nation-state level, is related to language planning and policy. Outside countries and government, language policies and planning, may also be present in communities, business establishments, institutions of learning, and education research institutes. The inclusion of language planning and policy outside government and countries leads to the development of language needs by these institutions. Such inclusion is due to the occurrence, at the micro-level, of policy planning (Baldauf 2005). In the education research institutes and the institutions of learning language, students needs can be catered for by developing micro language planning. The development of micro language planning is done by improving the language skills of the students with the involvement of teachers. The development of micro language policy is not smooth sailing as it seems, many issues and problems often arise hence hindering t his implementation. This paper discusses some of these problems and issues which arise during the implementation of language policy. Policy actors, nonetheless, can use several ways to solve and mitigate these language planning and policy issues. The issues can be mitigated because there are many an implication that can be used to improve the adoption of the micro-language policy and planning. An assessment of the literature on language planning and policy is necessary before embarking on the problems which affect its implementation. The review of the literature will enable us to understand the basis and contexts of the problems for the implementation of developed policy. Covering the framework that was used to develop the micro and macro policies is also necessary for understanding the context. Literature Review Language planning has been defined by Baldauf (2005) as the modifications, both organized and intentional, to a language. This modification of the language often occurs among a similar group of persons, in countries, or in governments who have a common language. This attempt to give the meaning of language planning also concludes that language policies come as a result of language planning by educational specialists and by countries. This explanation relates language policy to its planning. Language policy and planning relation are meant for language modification through the amalgamation of processes, ideologies, rules, and regulations (Kaplan Baldauf, 1997). Further relation of the two is seen when official and unofficial government papers meant for language planning contain policies on language (Baldauf, 2005). A well-made framework is what guides all the aspects of planning, for example, corpus and status planning, involved in language planning. These aspects of planning are asso ciated with features of languages. Other aspects of planning include the prestige planning which labels the appearance of a language and acquisition planning which involves the; learning of a new language. Language planning is a complex aspect which can take place in many levels starting from a large aspect to a small aspect. Language planning can take place at the micro and macro levels (Kaplan Baldauf, 1997). The focus of this essay is on one of these levels of planning; the micro level hence the descriptions and the deliberations found therein will be based on micro level planning. Macro level is often thought to give rise to the micro level of planning, but this is not the case. Micro level planning is a different aspect which is focused on governments, countries, focus individuals, educational institutions, and groups with similar objectives. These groups hatch a plan to exploit and advance language policies which are not related to macro policies. The language policies based on micro-planning are a reaction by the groups because of the problems of their existing languages (Baldauf, 2005). This, in itself, shows the difference between micro policy and macro policy. There are many factors and groups of people who are involved in micro planning. These groups range from large institutions of learning to other stakeholders such as education organizations. Because of the many players and organizations involved, micro-planning is often in many different shapes and forms (Baldauf, 2005). Different groups implement the policies differently hence the outcomes are often varied. In his study, Baldauf found out of a different micro planning when the postgraduate students he was assessing used the frameworks that have been introduced before. The different micro planning aspects as a result of use of different frameworks by the groups which are involved in the language policy and planning. The postgraduate students mentioned came up with different micro planning policies due to the application of the different structure of planning. Some of the examples used by the students and the frameworks they used to come up with them have been indicated in this essay. The postgradu ate students gave some reasonings behind their choosing of this kind of framework which gave rise to different micro planning policies. The use of the different framework was necessitated so that they could achieve their aims. One of their reasons was so that they could find support materials which were to be used planning. This is known as corpus planning as it involves the collections of writings to be used in a particular task. The other reason was prestige planning which is the labeling of the appearance of a language so as to promote them. The final reason was the planning of language-in-education so that it could develop the language abilities in their workforce (Balduaf, 2005). Problems Affecting Implementation of Language Policies This essay aims to understand the context of language problems affecting an English language center in Saudi University in the United Arab Emirates. This context can also apply to other English language centers in the region. This essay aims to come up with the resolutions to these complications faced by the center. The English learning centers such as the one in Saudi University were established mainly to give students who were interested in learning the English language an opportunity where they can learn and advance their English skills. Most of these centers are based on informal settings hence they give learners an outside-class experience in improving learning skills. In this center, the teachers and the students themselves help each other to advance their language skills. Such centers are also developed to assist students to be proficient in the English language to help in their quest of joining institutions of higher learning. In this language policy in the learning centers, the main players are the head of these institutions since they make the policies. The teachers are also seen to be the main players since they are responsible for developing the planning of the policy made by the institution heads. The tutors provide their suggestions and expertise in generating the language policy. Many problems arise as the teachers and the heads of the learning centers roll out policy plans. The problems faced by the tutors and the institution heads arise when they are implementing the policies in the learning centers. The problems faced by the tutors and the heads are as a result of planning and implementation of language policy. The role of teachers in attracting students to these institutions can lead to a rise in problems. Since most of the students are used to speaking in their native languages outside the classroom, it creates a challenge to the implementation of language policy. Some of the programs taught in these institutions are offered in times which conflict to the real programs of the other courses, and this can prove challenging since the students have to choose one to attend. The students often prioritize their regular programs hence creating problems for language planning implementation. Additionally, problems can arise due to the use of improper materials and weak teaching methods used by tutors during the program, the goals of the learning program are also unclear leading to the use of a weak curriculum of teaching. Finally, the tutors and the managers, due to societal behavior and other factors, fail to take into account the students suggestions and needs when they are looking for ways to improve the program. Such a failure to listen to the students often result in a poor utilization of the program by students and hence do not lead to the improvement in their language skills. As previously seen, most of the problems arise from the way the teachers and the heads of the institutions implement the program. One of the notable problems that arises due to this implementation is the approaches and methods used by these teachers. The teachers use methods which are similar to normal programs hence most of the students get bored with the program since it extends the same monotony of the classroom programs. As seen, the objectives of the program are not well defined and are not communicated to the students. This is a problem in that the students do not consider the objectives when taking the program. One significant problem, however, is that the players of the policy implementation do not take in the students suggestions on how best to implement the program. For a program to succeed, it must take in the feedback from the students since they are the one whom the program is meant for. The goal of the program is to improve the skills of the students and to do that; it should get their input on how they can improve their English skills. Solutions to the Problems Affecting Language Policy Implementation For proper implementation of the language policy, the tutors and schools heads should tackle the problems facing the implementation. There exist some ways in which the problems facing the language implementation can be tackled, or at least, mitigated. For an effective policy to be implemented, the problems must be tackled. The proposed enhancements should be factored in by the tutors and the institution heads so that the English learning center can implement a successful policy. The tutors and the heads can team up with the students to ensure that they implement the English language policy (Baldauf Li, 2008). The instructors at the English learning center should play a part in making the appearance of the English language attractive to learners. The tutors should demonstrate why learning English is important to the students since language skills are important in todays contemporary world. The students should know that will get more opportunities and more skill if the attend the program which they will not gain in their normal program. The tutors also need to make the English language look attractive to the students so that many of the students can enroll in the course. They should also encourage the students to promote the program by telling their colleagues about the advantages of the program and by coming up with other ways of promoting the program. This can be achieved by telling the students the objectives of the program and the aims of the program. These aims and objectives can then be placed on the notice boards around the institution so that other students can see and enroll. An important solution to the problems facing the program implementation is factoring in the students suggestions and needs so that the students can continue attending the program. The different planning methods should be applied to ensure that they students keep attending the program. Regarding gathering the materials used in the program, the tutors and policy heads who are responsible for the enactment of the curriculum used in the program should carefully select the materials that will be of benefit to the students and which factor in the needs of the students and the needs of the job market. The syllabus used should improve the language and communication skills of the students. The program heads should also make sure that the tutors are well trained and are conversant with the goals of the program. The tutors should use materials which bring out the best in the students. There should be open communication between the tutors and the students who are in the program and with those wh o want to join the program. The students should play a big role in the development of the curriculum used in the program. The students should have a say on what is to be taught in the in the program, what materials should be used, the materials they deem effective, and how the tutors should improve. The students should be given evaluation forms where they can suggest ways improve the programs, what is wrong with the program, and anyway, the program can be made to be effective. The institution heads and the instructors should factor in the students needs so that the program can achieve the maximum benefit to the students. Questionnaires and surveys are important to be taken by all the stakeholders to get feedback on the English learning program and to find new ways of improving the program. The questionnaires should be given to the students at the end of each semester. Education specialists should be called in to give their views on how the program should be modified so that the students can benefit maximum from the program. As seen already, explaining the objectives of the program to the students will enable them to gain a lot of the course. Surveys are to get input so that the program can be improved. By giving out the questionnaires and the surveys and enabling the students to have to say on how the program should be, will improve the reception of the program on the students who will see it as more engaging than the usual traditional programs offered at the institution. To conclude, this essay has looked into how an English learning center has started a program on micro policy planning, the problems the institution faces in the implementation of the program, and the solutions to the problems being faced by the institution. Players in policy implementation should be aware of the problems and come up with ways of mitigating them to improve the program. To solve the mentioned problems, the essay came up with many solutions in which the institution can implement so that it can improve the policy implementation in the English learning center. Solving these problems will lead to the effectiveness of the problem in developing students language skills and giving them an edge over their colleagues who did not attend the program. The solutions to the problems and the recommendations on how to improve the program should be taken into consideration by the tutors and the school heads so that they can improve the implementation of language policy. References Baldauf Jr., Richard B. (2005). Language planning and policy research: An overview. InEli Hinkel(Ed.),Handbook of research on second language teaching and learning(pp.957-970)Mahwah, NJ, U.S.A.:L. Erlbaum Associates. Baldauf Jr., Richard B. (2005). Micro language planning. InPaul Bruthiaux,Dwight Atkinson,William Eggington,William GrabeandVaidehi Ramanathan(Ed.),Directions in Applied Linguistics: Essays in Honor of Robert B. Kaplan(pp.227-239)Clevedon, U.K.:Multilingual Matters. Baldauf Jr., Richard B., Li, Minglin and Zhao, Shouhui (2008). Language acquisition management inside and outside the school. InB. SpolskyandF. Hult(Ed.),Handbook of educational linguistics(pp.233-250)New York, U.S.:Springer. Baldauf Jr., Richard B. (2008). Rearticulating the case for micro language planning in a language ecology context. InAnthony J. LiddicoatandRichard B. Baldauf Jr.(Ed.),Language planning and policy: Language planning in local contexts(pp.18-41)Clevedon, U.K.:Multilingual Matters. Chua, C. S. K., Baldauf, R. B. Jr. (2011). Micro language planning In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research on second language teaching and learning (pp. 936-951). New York; London: Routledge. Hamid, M. O., Baldauf, R. B. Jr. (2014). Public-private domain distinction as an aspect of LPP frameworks: A case study of Bangladesh. Language Problems Language Planning, 39(2), 192-210. Kaplan, Robert B. and Baldauf Jr., Richard B.Language and language-in-education planning in the Pacific Basin.Dordrecht; Boston:Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.

Downloading and Preparing for the TOEFL

Downloading and Preparing for the TOEFLThere are many sources online that can help you with your download of the TOEFL sample essay. The way in which you choose to research, get help, and prepare for your test will depend on your particular situation. Below are some general guidelines that will help you.First, you must take the time to find a provider that offers the sample essay. Once you find one, choose a provider who has a reputation for delivering excellent customer service. Remember, there is no substitute for practice, so make sure that you are constantly reviewing the TOEFL test. A good practice site will let you download a copy of the test so that you can work on it at home.Next, review the rules and regulations about how to prepare for the test. You may have questions about what test taker roles there are and which kinds of tests are offered. Know what resources you need to prepare for the test, such as practice test games or resources from your regional accreditation agenc y. If possible, know what kind of interview strategies you should use and be prepared to defend them against the real interviewer. As you know, the real interview is likely to be a much tougher exam than the sample.You may want to review any previous work you have done in the past. A sample of previous work can help you learn from mistakes and do better this time around. However, doing this too often may actually damage your scores. So, take some time off and take a break from reviewing the previous work.Rehearse and study, but also get help. Keep in mind that this is a new test, so you will likely not have the luxury of reading a sample essay before taking it. However, you can gain much benefit from the assistance of a professional TOEFL tutor. In fact, it may be a good idea to find a professional who can be available to answer your questions and help you with your practice and studying.Finally, spend some time practicing the sample. By practicing the sample, you will become famili ar with the format and concepts and will also be able to tell when your score is close to where you want it to be. As long as you do this, you will be well on your way to getting a high score on the TOEFL.These next steps should help you save money and time while using resources that can help you review guides for the test. First, remember that the TOEFL sample does not contain the same types of questions that will appear on a real exam. This means that you can be sure that the guidelines and examples are correct, but you will also be able to avoid a lot of confusing situations. You can also avoid losing points for inaccurate answers, which can happen if you rely on a guide alone.The second option is to review with a student loan or financial institution and be able to get a recommendation on which type of lender to use. There are many out there who can help you with the process, whether it is by reviewing loans and the TOEFL sample essays or by providing money and advising on other payment options. Lastly, by going online you can download the same guides to print off and take with you, so you don't have to keep running to a bookstore. It can all be done online and quickly, so you can review your guide or study resources on your own time and without running into traffic.

Botswana and Its Main Areas

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo - Book Review

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo - Book Review Summary of The Tale of Despereaux The Tale of Despereaux: Being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread by Kate DiCamillo is an odd and engaging fairy tale. The hero, Despereaux Tilling, is a mouse with large ears. The Tale of Despereaux: has a lot in common with Grimms fairy tales and makes a terrific read aloud for younger children as well as an excellent book for middle grade readers, ages 8 to 12. Kate DiCamillo was awarded the prestigious John Newbery Medal for The Tale of Despereaux.   According to the American Library Association (ALA), the Newbery Medal is awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. How Kate DiCamillo Came to Write The Tale of Despereaux Being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread, the subtitle of The Tale of Despereaux gives the reader a clue that this is not an ordinary book. It . What prompted Kate DiCamillo to write such a book? According to the author, My best friends son asked if I would write a story for him. Its about an unlikely hero, he said, with exceptionally large ears. When DiCamillo asked him, What happened to the hero, his response was, I dont know. Thats why I want you to write this story, so we can find out. The Story The result is a wildly entertaining novel with some important messages about being yourself and redemption. The characters include a very special mouse with an affinity for music, a princess named Pea, and Miggery Sow, a poorly treated, slow-witted serving girl. Since every tale needs a villain, even a sometimes sympathetic one, there is a rat named Roscuro to fill that role. This odd assortment of characters is drawn together because of their desire for something more, but it is Despereaux Tilling, the unlikely hero with large ears, who, along with the narrator, is the star of the show. As the narrator states, Reader, you must know that an interesting fate (sometimes involving rats, sometimes not) awaits almost everyone, man or mouse, who does not conform. The unnamed narrator adds wit, humor, and intelligence to the story, frequently speaking directly to the reader, asking questions, admonishing the reader, pointing out the consequences of certain actions, and sending the reader to the dictionary to look up unknown words. Indeed, her use of language is one of the gifts that Kate DiCamillo brings to the story, along with her imaginative storytelling, character development, and voice. It was interesting to me to see how Kate DiCamillo incorporated several of the central themes of her two previous books (Because of Winn-Dixie and The Tiger Rising) - parental abandonment and redemption - in The Tale of Despereaux. Parental abandonment comes in several forms in DiCamillos books: a parent leaving the family forever, a parent dying, or a parent withdrawing emotionally. Each of three main characters lacks parental support. Despereaux has always been different from his siblings; when his actions result in life-threatening punishment, his father does not defend him. Princess Peas mother died as a result of seeing a rat in her soup. As a result, her father has withdrawn and has decreed that soup may no long be served anywhere in his kingdom. Miggery Sow was sold into servitude by her father after her mother died. However, Despereauxs adventures change the lives of everyone, the adults as well as the children and the rat. These changes hinge on forgiveness and again emphasize a central theme: Every action, reader, no matter how small, has a consequence. I found this an extremely satisfying book, with lots of adventure, wit, and wisdom. My Recommendation The Tale of Despereaux was first published in 2003 by Candlewick Press in a hardcover edition, which is beautifully designed, with high-quality paper with torn edges (I am not sure what you call that, but it looks great). It is illustrated with strange and beguiling, dense pencil drawings by Timonthy Basil Ering. Each of the four books of the novel has a title page, with an intricate border by Ering. This is the first time that I have correctly predicted which book would win the Newbery Medal. I hope you and your children enjoy the book as much as I did. I highly recommend The Tale of Despereaux, both as an unusual fairy tale for 8-12 year olds to read and as a read aloud for families to share and younger children to also enjoy. With the coming of the movie version of The Tale of Despereaux in December 2008, came a number of movie tie-in books and a handsome special boxed edition of The Tale of Despereaux. In late 2015, a new paperback edition (ISBN: 9780763680893) of The Tale of Despereaux was released, with new cover art (pictured above). The book is also available as an audiobook and in several e-book formats. The Tale of Despereaux - Resources for Teachers The books publisher, Candlewick Press, has an excellent 20-page Teachers Guide you can download, with detailed activities, including questions, for each section of the book. The Multnomah County Library in Oregon has a helpful one-page The Tale of Despereaux Discussion Guide on its website.

Analyse and discuss how the introduction of internet technologies has Essay

Analyse and discuss how the introduction of internet technologies has and is changing retailing. Give examples to illustrate your answer - Essay Example Over the years, the advancements on the internet have led to many companies adapting to the use of online. Online retailing or e-retailing resulted in the development of the e-tail ware (software tools that help in creating online catalogue and at the same managing those businesses connected with the e-tailing). The introduction of internet technologies has been and is still changing retailing; companies have adapted the system of online retailing, as it is fast and cheaper that of "physical" retailing (Doherty & Ellis-Chadwick, F, 2010). Its emergence brought about some benefits that included the ability to offer unusual, unique products and services, improve the economic gains, and made distribution of these products more efficient. The e-retailing also results to an assortment of complementary products. Examples of these businesses that adapt to the concept of online retailing include the Netflix and the Amazon. These companies usually dispense with the staffing and the costs requirements and exist only on the internet. The introduction of the e-retailing (internet technologies) concept greatly influences the way businesses handle their customers; however even with the many benefits resulting from the concept they also have several disadvantages. These disadvantages include security issues, in that the sharing of data may not be secure and may face threats suck as ‘hacking. Another disadvantage is that the use of the concept includes the lack of proper payment system, slow internet connections at times, and there may be limited access to the customer/consumers. The impact has impacts on retailing (the impacts of e-retailing), for the positive impacts of using online retailing is the cost. Use of online retailing reduces the costs of marketing, for example, the cost of referencing and storing a product in e-retail website is less that the cost of referencing and storing a product in a "physical" store. With the

Effective Interpersonal Communications Term Paper

Effective Interpersonal Communications - Term Paper Example You see there are also many misconceptions about communication. A misinterpretation can cause problems between parties; however not communicating at all may cause problems as well. When two people do not communicate with each other, there is no way to express their feelings or intent about each other and thus people assume that the hostility will remain between each other unless clarified through communication. Another factor of how miscommunication can take place is through having different communication styles. More predominately found in males and females who have contradicting ideologies about communication styles. An example of this is that if a student asks too many questions, to one person it may seem as if he is interested in studies while another will contradict the belief by assuming that he is disrespectful to the teacher by cutting her off again and again. Studies have shown that women tend to prefer intimacy when they communicate preferring to look at the person they are communicating with right in the eye while males remain predominately professional preferring to look around and shift at an angle which will reduce eye contact to a bare minimum. Women will also be sympathetic to each other and will prefer to talk to each other and men would rather push something under the carpet then deal with a problem with requires one to communicate. Fortunately, these breakdowns in communications can be repaired. Misconceptions can be cleared out, relationships can be restored and languages can be translated.... The first of these states that if communication can fail, it probably will; A message can be understood in different ways, most of the times being in ways that does most harm; There is always an individual who understands what you mean by your message a lot better than you do; As communication takes place more, it becomes difficult for communication to succeed. You see there are also many misconceptions about communication. A misinterpretation can cause problems between parties; however not communicating at all may cause problems as well. When two people do not communicate with each other, there is no way to express their feelings or intent about each other and thus people assume that the hostility will remain between each other unless clarified through communication.   Another factor of how miscommunication can take place is through having different communication styles. More predominately found in males and females who have contradicting ideologies about communication styles. An example of this is that if a student asks too many questions, to one person it may seem as if he is interested in studies while another will contradict the belief by assuming that he is disrespectful to the teacher by cutting her off again and again. Studies have shown that women tend to prefer intimacy when they communicate preferring to look at the person they are communication with right in the eye while males remain predominately professional preferring to look around and shift at an angle which will reduce eye contact to a bare minimum. Women will also be sympathetic to each other and will prefer to talk to each other and men would rather push something under the carpet then deal with a problem with requires one to communicate

Using Roleplay To Help Students Learn English

Using Roleplay To Help Students Learn English 1. INTRODUCTION The more students talk, the better they learn; Speaking skill is not given special significance in the teaching of English in Vietnamese universities. Traditional English education in Vietnam focuses heavily on reading skill. Also, many Vietnamese students and even teachers have examination-orientation. In the first semester, students start the elementary level with the textbooks Lifeline set (Hutchinson, 2001). The textbook cover four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. The assessment at the end of each semester is based on a written test involving reading and writing skills only. As a result, pre intermediate students spend more time improving reading and writing skills and mostly ignoring listening and speaking skills. This fact happens at not a single university in Vietnam but across the country. In the first semester, pre intermediate students do not have many chances to communicate in English; therefore, their speaking skill is restricted with lack of naturalness, reaction and pronunciation. Many are shy to speak out in English as they are afraid that listeners cant understand well what they say. Role play is considered one teaching method which motivates pre intermediate students to get involved in speaking lessons. In opinion of James G. Clawson (1997, p.2), role play is a superb vehicle for bringing the distiction between concept and reality to the fore. During role play, students are motivated to perform and act and speak in English class. They are challenged to use their English words in mind to apply into simple conversation in daily life. This indeed enables them to get familiar with normal conversation in their real life. Also, motivation influences how and why people learn as well as how they perform (Chin Chun Shih, 2001). While role play contributes to affect students attitudes positively and improve their English speaking skills, there is little research examining its effectiveness towards pre intermediate students in universities. In Vietnam, much of the research focuses on role play aiming at junior high schools students in foreign countries like Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. There is little research that indicates how role-play could influence students learning attitudes directly. Scarcella Oxford (1992, p.54) also pointed out that most researchers talk about using cooperative learning activities or student-centered learning in order not to put too much pressure on an individual student in front of the class. Therefore, this particular research is intended to focus on the effectiveness of role play in teaching speaking skills for pre intermediate students. Based on the above rationale, this research tends to seek answers to two below research questions: What are pre-intermediate students attitudes toward the role-play activity? In what way does role play improve pre-intermediate students speaking skills? Generally, this research aims at making clear two important aspects of role play: affecting attitudes positively and improving speaking skills properly. Firstly, this research shows how role -play has a direct effect on learners attitudes. Secondly, this research intends to point out how role play help improve their speaking skills in particular. The structure of this research includes the context and methodology as the qualitative method. Data will be collected via oral test, interview and observation, which will then described and analyzed in item data analysis. Next, the content of reflection shows what is gained and which possibly further research questions are. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Definitions of terms Role-play can be divided into role and play. Gillian (2002, p.7) refers role as to play a part (either their own or somebody elses) in a specific situation. He also indicates that Play represents the role is taken on in a safe environment in which students are as inventive and playful as possible (p.5). This teaching method enables students to enjoy the experience of having conversations with people in real life so as to develop their social communication. The function of role-play in language learning Teaching English in Vietnam mostly concentrates on grammar translation methods and is examination oriented. Adian Doff and Maxwell (2002, 1997) pointed out the problems of those English teaching methods, and argued that there is a need to develop more diverse English teaching methods or activities. Vietnamese students have common weakness reportedly as their speaking ability. They have little chance to practice conversation, even in the second language classrooms. In order to encourage students to speak in public, role -play is often used by teachers as one of the teaching methods. Maxwell (1997) holds the opinion that the purpose of role-play is to improve students verbal and nonverbal communication skills and to link and use previously built schemas, in both structured and improvised situations (p.1). This viewpoint shows that role -play could improve students in verbal or nonverbal communication while they are performing the roles in the dialogue. James G. Clawson (1997, p. 4) pointed that A common theme in the benefits of using role play is that the techninque can bring abstract discussions alive, make them live, and in so doing, open up students willingness to learn When taking part in the dialogues created by teachers or extracted from the text books, students will be required to act as the characters in the dialogues, therefore, they will find it easier to use the conversation in daily lives. Daily conversation will create lots of unpredictable situations that make students confused how to deal with. As noted by Salies (1995, p.6), role-play helps learn ers to deal with unpredictability, motivating them by adding emotion and increase the awareness of the listeners. Accordingly, role-play helps create a safe environment for students to practice their language skills. The influence of role play on attitudes Attitude plays an important role in learning English speaking skill. Without adequate and appropriate attitudes, pre-intermediate students are usually unwilling to learn what their teachers try to teach them. To make a change about students learning attitudes, teachers can use role play to increase their confidence because role-play proves to be a good choice for them to understand and handle the learning content. James G. Clawson (1997, p4) indicated that role play helps improve learners abilities to communicate their thoughts and feelings in effective and productive ways among peers. They will find themselves better motivated to learn if they are recognized as a part of the class. Motivation is important because it helps create good start. Role-play can also help reinforce students knowledge gained through constant practice and acting. Also, students learn to how to cooperate well with each other through working and discussing English together, which will lead to mutual affection. He pointed that emotional climate is a good motivation during learning process (Ray, 1992, p.9). Students can gain more confidence in a safe environment brought by role play method. The learning environment ha s become particularly important for students. Ray (1992) also agreed that students prefer a consistent learning environment with good order at which they feel safe. (p.5). In other words, students can learn better in a little pressure environment. Furthermore, role-play helps create peer relationships which have become very important in improving attitudes. Ray said that the main motivational factor for pre intermediate students is the social incentives reflected in peer relationships (1992, p.13). The speaking and practicing subjects would be their classmates, who are familiar to the students and cause them less pressure and nervousness. Students work in small or big groups and there is a competitiveness among these groups. By this kind of stimulus, students are able to increase their learning attitudes, and to learn the second language further. Therefore, in the context of this research study, the findings above show that role-play could affect students attitudes positively in four aspects: improving students confidence, motivating their participation, creating interest in speaking lessons, and improving peer relationships through moderate competition. In conclusion, the literature above may lead to the fact that the main function of role-play is to help students improve speaking skills. Below context will indicate that there is a need to examine how role-play can facilitate students speaking ability in Vietnams education environment. 3. CONTEXT In Vietnam, the teaching of English has been criticized with lack of practice and heavy focus on written examination. In most universities in Vietnam, students are tested in written form, meanwhile, oral tests are ignored since they are time consuming and too difficult for students. Many pre- intermediate students are reported with lack of English communicative ability due to their emphasis on the written exam in previous grades. Adian Doff (2002) stated that teachers would look at prior tests to assure that they covered the subject matter of the test or test objectives (p.2). The Entrance Exam is the main examination for high school students to enter university. There are two parts of questions. The first part include multiple choice grammar questions for each of which students must choose the best answer. The second part is a reading comprehension assessment that includes cloze tests (Ministry of Education and Training, 1999). Thus, students focus on writing and reading rather than speaking skills. Also, starting their learning in universities, pre-intermediate students are lack of chance to improve their speaking skills. They feel shy and can hardly speak and listen to English in their daily lives. Although they are taught the curriculum Lifeline set (Hutchinson, 2001) with four skills, the speaking skills are often ignored due to limited time in one period. Grammar or reading exercises are taken greater priority. Besides, teaching speaking seems to put a lot of effort into and not every teacher will be successful in a speaking lesson. As a matter of fact, so many teachers of English in Vietnam universities are trained with grammar translation method. That is the reason why they will face a big challenge to create an environment in which students are given more opportunities to use English as a means of communication. It has become more and more difficult for Vietnamese teachers when they have to work with large classes which are more suitable to give lectures instead of asking students to work in small groups. Teachers of English make it impossible to control such large classes if they have intention of teaching English in communicative way. A serious problem teachers in Vietnam have to tackle is that although there is a number of a method of teaching speaking skill, it is not easy at all to find out appropriate methods which help Vietnamese students, especially those at pre-intermediate leve l make some improvements in speaking skill. Researchers argue that role-play can help learners improve it. Firstly, role-play helps improve students listening ability. In viewpoint of Salies (1995, p.8), role-play makes students aware of the listener. Therefore, listening ability is as important as speaking ability and role-play might help to improve this skill. Secondly, role -play contributes to improve speaking ability. In order to speak well in a daily conversation, one should take consideration about the pronunciation as well because clear pronunciation helps speaking become two-way communication. In this case, while students are performing in speaking lessons, teachers will be able to listen to each students pronunciation and correct him/her individually during speaking sessions. In conclusion, the context above is critical because it indicates that there is a need to examine how role-play can facilitate pre intermediate students speaking ability in Vietnams universities. 4. METHODOLOGY According to C. Pope and N. Mays (1995), the goal of qualitative research is the development of concepts which help us to understand social phenomena in natural (rather than experimental) settings, giving due emphasis to the meanings, experiences, and views of all the participants. In the researchers viewpoint, qualitative method is proper to discover pre-students attitudes towards role play and how role play motivates them in speaking lessons. This part presents subjects, data collection instruments consisting of oral tests, interview and observation via two role play activities. 4.1. Subjects Participants Six students are randomly chosen. All are between the age of 19 and 20 and study English at pre-intermediate level. Students at pre-intermediate level but not other levels are chosen as they have more chance to take part in communication activities. In order to get an exact result, the participants English speaking ability is different. The backgrounds of participants are stated below. Name Sex Background English Level Nam Male He is quite good at English. He performs enthusiastically and confidently in English class. Good Mai Female Her English is at medium. However, she is willing to learn and perform in class. Medium Trung Male He is a person who is enthusiastic in English lesson even though his English is not as good as others. Medium Hoa Female Her English level is medium. She is very shy. She likes English, especially English speaking skill. But she is too shy to perform in class. Medium Sy Male He likes taking part in all games in class. Although his English is not good, he is not afraid to speak English. Not good Phuong Female She likes to talk loud in class, but not in English. Due to her weakness at English she seems to be very quiet in English lessons. Not good Teaching materials The main pilot teaching material is The New Headway Pre-intermediate textbook compiled by Liz John Soars. There are two dialogues used in this research. The researcher asked the informants to play the roles of the dialogues. Students are voluntarily encouraged to contribute their own ideas to make the play role activities more creative and interesting. 4.2. Instruments of data collection 4.2.1. Oral tests and Interviews Two oral tests and interviews were conducted for this study with the participation of six students. The first oral test was done before the two-week experiment, and the second oral test was held after the experiment of the two-week experiment. Moreover, during the interview the researcher asked them related questions to clarify the purpose of the study. Yes-no questions and WH- questions that students have to answer are included in oral test questions. Yes-no questions are for students who can not have long answers, and WH- questions are for students who are at better learners. The questions are displayed in Appendix A. After finishing the pre-oral test, the study proceeded to the main part, which was role-play. During role-play, I interviewed every student individually. The interview questions were based on some basic questions but might be changed to adapt the situations and students reactions (see Appendix C). Moreover, students were interviewed in their mother tongue so that they felt at ease to express their feelings. When the pre-oral test, two role play activities and interview were finished, it was time to examine how students improve their speaking ability. And the post-oral test was done to compare the students performances from the beginning to the end (see Appendix A). 4.2.2. Observation The researcher observed six pre-intermediate students participation during two role play activities. The observation in this study was done via my note-taking or keeping diary, and tape-recording through the pilot teaching. The purpose of this part is to see what pre-intermediate students behaviors are when role play is employed as a speaking activity. Furthermore, during the pilot teaching, tape recording was also carried out to get the data for the research. The students utterances were recorded and analyzed later to find out how the role play was used and how it motivated students. 5. DATA ANALYSIS Descriptive data are analyzed by qualitative method. 5.1. Descriptive data of oral tests The oral tests were arranged and conducted at the participants convenience. The oral tests (see Appendix A) were given before and after the two-week experiment. In order to give descriptive data of oral tests, interviews and observation, I have based on seven criteria to review pre-intermediate students English speaking ability including: 1) the influency of speaking, 2) the frequency of using words that have been taught, 3) the accuracy of grammar application, 4) the listening skills absorption, 5) the anxiety of students, 6) the accuracy of pronunciation, 7) the pause while interviewing. The oral tests showed that students speaking ability did improve after the use of role-play. Specifically, three fourth of the participants spoke more fluently. While doing the oral test, I also felt that students would try hard to answer in English. They might not give complete sentences, but they would manage to use the words they had learned. They also tried to use correct grammar when giving answers. However, some students who were not good at English such as Sy and Phuong sometimes produced wrong grammar sentences. Moreover, students not only understood what I asked during the oral tests, but also tried hard to listen to whole sentences and digested them. I, myself, had a strong feeling that students tried very hard to pay attention to the post-oral test, because most students had enthusiastic responses with me. Moreover, students anxiety had been decreased during the second oral test. One of the reasons that the researcher postulated was that students were familiar with the res earcher, and might not be afraid to speak English. They also learned how to pay due attention to their pronunciation while performing in front of their classmates. This also made them have better pronunciation during the oral tests. Some of them even tried to improve their pronunciation by making repetition of what they spoke. The pause frequency of interviewees was really high during the first oral tests, but it seemed lower during the second. Some students said I dont know or I have no idea when they could not find the answers to the questions. In general, the oral-tests showed that role-play had a positive influence on pre-elementary students speaking skill. Most students might not have the ability to answer in complete sentences, but they showed positive attitudes during the oral tests. They paid due attention to the questions, and answered the questions using the vocabulary they had learnt, which showed their willingness to attempt to learn English in general and speak English in particular. Therefore, I can conclude that role-play not only stimulated students when they learned English in speaking lessons, but also made them eager to learn more. 5.2. Descriptive data of observation In order to assess the participation and effectiveness of using role-play in speaking lessons, I based on four levels: 1-3 (bad), 4-6 (medium), 7-9 (good), 10 (excellent). In this part, I would like to use two dialogues and asked participants to play role (see appendix B). For the first role play activity, the researcher used the telephone conversation between the receptionist and client in book New Headway Pre-intermediate by Liz and John Soars (p.77, unit 9). I asked the participants to work in pairs which mean three couples did the same role play. In order to make the role play more effective and to have an exact observation, I asked Nam to work with Mai, Trung with Phuong, and Sy with Hoa. Nam, Trung, Sy played the role of the receptionist whereas Mai, Phuong, Hoa played the role of the client. The researcher instructed first and three pairs presented in turn. During the role play activity, I would observe, take notes, and record. The first role play is easy and simple so that students can feel comfortable and confident to take part in. The results of observation basing on the four levels are presented as below. For the second role play activity, the researcher used a more difficult role play activity which was extracted from the book New Headway Pre-intermediate by Liz and John Soars (p.57, unit 7). This role play was an interview with the band Style. Participants had to play the role of an interviewer a journalist and the role of two interviewees Suzie and Guy. In this part, students worked in group of three. Nam, Mai, Sy were the first group. Trung, Hoa, Phuong were the second group. Nam, Hoa who are better at English were the interviewers. The rest were the interviewees in which Mai, Phuong played the role of Suzie, and Sy, Trung played the role of Guy. Similar to the first role play, the researcher instructed first, and the two groups presented in turn. The results of observation from the second role play activity basing on the four levels are stated as below. The second role play After experiencing the two role-play activities, the researcher found that the pre-elementary students English speaking ability has been improved. Specifically, four out of six participants made a clear progress in the influence of speaking ability, and the ability of expressing him/her self. Moreover, half of participants used grammar more correctly. Also, half of participants became more confident such as Mai, Trung, Sy. In addition, Nam the best participant at English speaking improved his vocabulary. Thus, the observations results show that pre-students English speaking skill has been improved when the researcher uses the role play in speaking lessons. 5.3. Descriptive data of interview The interview was conducted during and after role play. All the students were interviewed once. Additionally, the interviews were conducted in Vietnamese. During the interviews, the whole procedure was recorded and taken notes. The questions of interview are available in Appendix C When being asked to compare the traditional teaching method most of the students answered that they really like the role-play teaching method. They explained that role-play gave them a joyful feeling and avoid being sleepy in class. In general, most students feel that role play is an interesting teaching activity and they really like it. In other words, their feeling of this teaching method is positive. For example, one of the interviewees, Hoa, expressed that: Well, I extremely like this teaching activity. It helps me be more confident in speaking English. Especially, it makes me more interested in lesson instead of being sleepy. I always feel bored and sleepy in lessons which are given in a traditional way. Another participant Nam said that: I think using role play in speaking lessons is good because we get more confident when playing role and speaking in front of other friends. I like this teaching method than the traditional method. For the second question Do you think that your speaking skill has been improved after doing role-play in class? all participants answer Yes. For example, Sy pointed out that role-play can help him improve his speaking skill: I thinkà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ my speaking is better after doing role-play several times. My speaking ability seems to be more fluent. Andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.I feel more confident. When replying this question, Trung also determined that his speaking English skill had been improved. He said Ummà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.You know that now I can speak English a little bit fluently. I feel more confident to speak in front of other students. Does it mean that my English speaking skill has been improved? Furthermore, I asked the participants whether there are any negative sides when applying role-play in class. And most of them answered that the problem is the class order was not very good in that case. Sometimes, there was too much noise for students to act in class. Participants, however, still show a positive attitude. Mai said: I think noise is unavoidable when we learn speaking skill. I really like this kind of teaching activity. It is fun. It makes me want to study English and want to speak English in class. However, in order to add to the negative sides of using role play in class, Hoa stated that Sometimes role play takes much time. In my opinion, it is a negative side of role play. I asked the students if it was tiring or stressful for them to plan the dialogues beforehand. As a result, most students showed a positive response to the preparation. Phuong who is not good at English expressed that I feel difficult to have a good preparation at first. My English is not very good. I can not study it at home without teachers instruction. However, after preparing for the class for several times, I start to feel that preview is really important. I know the lesson prior to class and I can understand what the teacher talks about in class. Furthermore, as I have had preparation before class, I become less nervous and shy when speaking on the stage in English. Similarly, Trung said eagerly: Well, my teacher also asked us to prepare in advance. For the first time I felt quiet tired because I didnt get familiar with this learning method. But for the third time, everything seemed to be better. And now I have no problem with preparation in advance. When observing participants doing the first role-play, the researcher recognized that some of the students were very extroverted. However when they were asked to perform the role play in class, they started to keep avoiding from this opportunity. I wanted to know what resulted in such a reaction. Some students told me that they were really shy; some of them could not find out the proper way to act. However, after doing the second role-play the participants responses seemed to be more positive. They participated to the activity more enthusiastically. They did not appear to be shy any more. For example, Trung said that I am an extroverted person. However, I dont feel confident when speaking English in class because I know that my English is not good and as a result, I dont want to speak English in class. But now I feel better. After doing the first and the second role-play activities I recognize that theres no reason to be shyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦please take part in the activity, please spea k. Wellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it is really good. In short, most of the participants hold the positive attitudes to the role-play teaching activity in speaking lessons. For example, students showed more interest in learning speaking English with the role -play activity, students agreed that role-play helped improve their speaking skills, and they showed higher willingness to perform in public. 6. REFLECTION This study was designed to research the effectiveness of using the role-play to motivate pre-intermediate students in speaking lessons. There were six participants in the research. Also, the researcher used qualitative method to do the research in which oral tests, interviews, and observation are used to collect data. Based on the results of the study, the findings have been drawn. These findings are: (1) participants have a positive attitude to role-play in speaking lessons. (2) Role-play motivates pre-intermediate students in learning speaking. Moreover, the findings of this study may offer three practical implications for English teachers in Vietnam to help students develop speaking ability. The first implication for English teachers is that they should apply a communicative teaching technique in English speaking classes such as role play. However, role play should be merged with the traditional English teaching. The second implication is that teachers can affect students learning attitudes/motivation positively by lively activities. The last implication is to provide a safe environment with tender discipline in class because this will make student feel more comfortable and eager to learn, especially to speak English in class. In other words, English teaching in Vietnam should be added lively and interesting communicative teaching methods in class, especially in English speaking class. I believe that the study is successful. Also, it is proper to use the qualitative method for this study. However, there is one limitation which may influence the outcome of the study. The limitation referred in this study is time limitation. Because of limited time, I can only give two role-play activities to experience and test the effectiveness of role-play on pre-intermediate students. Suggestions for further research In order to have a more accurate and complete result, further study can be done with the cooperation of the involved students English teacher. Working with the English teacher is advantageous as he/she might help me understand every students English level in a short time. Moreover, it would be better to have two instructors to review students during oral tests and performances. Besides role-play, I would like to add some other activities to class and think of some interesting topics for students to act in role-play. It would be boring if the whole period of class was proceeding in the role-play teaching activity only, thus, added activities may help students concentrate in class more effectively. The dialogues in students textbooks did not really attract them. Students already had those contents in their regular English classes. It would affect students attitudes/motivation positively if there were more interesting topics for students to discuss and act. Last but not least, in a future research, I may have more chances to videotape the whole process of the experiment which includes the oral tests, interviews and performances. Students gestures, facial expressions or body languages could serve as the sources to interpret their intentions as well. Besides, some non-verbal languages could appear beyond expectation, so those expressions are also important for descriptive data. 7. CONCLUSION I would like to conclude my research in two aspects. Firstly, role play is not beneficial only for the pre intermediate students but even students of upper levels as well as lower levels. Role play proves to be a good way to motivate English learners to speak out what they want to say. In fact, students have to experience different situations in real life. The final and the most important goal of teaching English is none other than helping students use English in those situations. Role-play creates many daily situations for students to practice their English. In addition, it really creates a safe environment and productive learning environment in language class which would be interesting to absorb knowledge. Secondly, although role play works well in speaking lessons as well as with pre-intermediate university students, it is not the only method for teachers to apply in every lesson. In other words, there are numerous different ways Vietnamese teachers are offered to apply to motivate students communicate in English naturally and effectively, to affect their attitudes positively and to increase s