Saturday, November 30, 2019

Sundry Shop free essay sample

Sundry shop owners get a chance to tukar By Ooi Tee Ching [emailprotected] com. my 2010/10/28 KUALA LUMPUR:Â  The 10-year Small Retailer Transformation Programme or Transformasi Kedai Runcit (Tukar) aims to help small sundry shops modernise and prepare for the goods and services tax (GST). The government will eventually impose GST. When small sundry shops learn to incorporate point-of-sale systems in their daily trading activities, this will help them prepare for GST when the government implements this measure, said Mydin Mohamed Holdings Bhd managing director Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin. He said when sundry shops were modernised to use point-of-sale system, it would be easier for the retailers to itemise food items that were within or excluded from GST. The Tukar programme offers opportunities for 50,000 small sundry shops throughout the country to modernise and upgrade with the help of bigger retailers like Mydin, Econsave and Speedmart99. The Tukar initiative was a collective vision under the wholesale and retail lab session organised by Pemandu (Performance and Delivery Unit), Ameer said. We will write a custom essay sample on Sundry Shop or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Under Tukar, traditional sundry shops are offered the option to upgrade and undergo a facelift with the help of key local anchor companies like Mydin and Econsave. It is not mandatory, it is voluntary. Sundry shop owners who want to modernise can register with the government, Ameer said. The Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry will play the role of a facilitator to set rules for large, medium and small outlets. Medium- and large-sized retailers like us can offer the time and effort to give consultation to small sundry shops on the proper layout of merchandise, said Ameer. Well be doing this on a corporate social responsibility basis. Money is not everything. In fact, fair competition among retailers, big and small, is healthy. We have our own niche and we want to play a complementary role to small sundry shops. Ameer expects at least 10 per cent or 5,000 sundry shops to upgrade and modernise their retail business in the next 10 years.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Free Essays on Japanese Social Programs

compare to English, and the sentences flows constant. Japanese find it very difficult to distinguish the stressed syllable and unstressed syllables, and this problem caused them to have wrong rhythm in speaking English.... Free Essays on Japanese Social Programs Free Essays on Japanese Social Programs Contrastive Analysis: English and Japanese The majority of Japanese find learning English hard, especially learning to speak English is the hardest part for them. The main reasons of these difficulties are in English teaching system in Japan and the distinctive features of Japanese language. In Japanese schools, English are taught as academic purposes rather than practical one. Its teaching materials are emphasized more on grammatical rules or sentence patterns rather than the pronunciations or conversation. Therefore, students perform very well on writing or reading, but they perform poorly on speaking or pronouncing. Learning English through this teaching system, I experienced a lot of difficulties in having a conversation. When I first started to practice a conversation, I often try to translate sentences in my mind before I actually speak it. This takes a lot of time just to say one sentence. Besides, by the time I finished saying it, I often forget the point of the subject. Because the Japanese grammatical order or composition of the sentence is completely different from those of English, it causes to have fragments by translating the sentences. Thus, it was impossible to translate Japanese into English without changing the meaning of the sentences. However, I have learned English only through reading and writing, this is the only way I found to speak English. The cause of the poor performance of Japanese in speaking English is not only in the English teaching system of Japan but also in the unique features of Japanese language. Japanese has less stress on words compare to English, and the sentences flows constant. Japanese find it very difficult to distinguish the stressed syllable and unstressed syllables, and this problem caused them to have wrong rhythm in speaking English....

Friday, November 22, 2019

Radiation Definition and Examples

Radiation Definition and Examples Radiation and radioactivity are two misunderstood concepts. Here is the definition of radiation and a look at how it differs from radioactivity. Radiation Definition Radiation is the emission and propagation of energy in the form of waves, rays or particles. There are three main types of radiation: Non-ionizing radiation: This is the release of energy from the lower-energy region of the electromagnetic spectrum. This includes light, radio, microwaves, infrared (heat), and ultraviolet light.Ionizing radiation: This is radiation with sufficient energy to remove an electron from an atomic orbital, forming an ion. Ionizing radiation includes x-ray, gamma rays, alpha particles, and beta particles.Neutrons: Neutrons are particles found in the atomic nucleus. When they break off the nucleus, they have energy and act as radiation. Examples of Radiation Radiation includes emanation of any portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, plus it includes the release of particles. Examples include: A burning candle emits radiation in the form of heat and light.The Sun emits radiation in the form of light, heat, and particles.Uranium-238 decaying into Thorium-234 emits radiation in the form of alpha particles.Electrons dropping from one energy state to a lower state emit radiation in the form of a photon. Difference Between Radiation and Radioactivity Radiation is the release of energy, whether it takes the form of waves or particles. Radioactivity refers to the decay or splitting of an atomic nucleus. A radioactive material releases radiation when it decays. Examples of decay include alpha decay, beta decay, gamma decay, neutron release, and spontaneous fission. All radioactive isotopes release radiation, but not all radiation comes from radioactivity.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Literature Review on Group Creativity Theory Essay

Literature Review on Group Creativity Theory - Essay Example rt in their field and have strong knowledge to properly guide the design team and create an environment that is conducive to creativity, innovation and stimulation of new ideas (Paulus & Nijstad, 2003). In other words, the art director serves as a project manager, designer and coordinator of all design activities in order to achieve the best possible end-product for the customer. Without a strong art director, a design team may not have clear direction or have the tools necessary to instill creativity and innovation for all projects. Perhaps the most difficult challenge for the art director is to implement a creative environment while balancing the challenges of group creativity theory and all of the variables associated with group dynamics. There are many external, social and psychological factors that can impact a design team’s ability to think creatively. Furthermore, the politics of a creative team can impact the group creativity because individuals begin to compete over whose ideas are more creative. One issue that can arise is an over-abundance of ideas that can actually reduce the positive creativity that is desired within a group collectivity situation (Goncalo & Staw, 2006). In this situation, it is highly important for the art director to utilize the control and organizational power awarded by the position to continue to harbor good ideas while reducing the opportunity for too many ideas to have a negative impact on group creativity. In the end, a choice must be made and the group must push forw ard to produce a strong website that is both creative and to the customer’s approval. Due to socio-psychological issues stemming from criticism in the workplace, there is often a serious issue that confronts group creativity. Many employees shut down their creativity when their own work has been criticized, in which case, directors often avoid criticizing work which negatively impacts the quality and abundance of creativity (De Dren et al., n.d.).

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

As ocean temperatures increase, the intensity and strength of Research Paper

As ocean temperatures increase, the intensity and strength of hurricanes also increases - Research Paper Example Numerous impacts of this increase, on the other hand, were obscure until recently or are still obscure. Some researchers are presently discovering a relationship between the increment in ocean surface temperature and the increment  in hurricane intensity and frequency (Chan, 2012). Unless the increment in worldwide temperatures is not stopped or possibly slowed, hurricanes and other natural disasters may tend to keep on growing in duration and strength. It is crucial to see how global warming may incorporate with different variables known to prompt the development of hurricanes (Pielke & Laver, 2005). Anthropogenic components may be in charge of the warming of the globe. Greenhouse gasses discharged through the utilization of agriculture and fossil fuels, and, in addition, numerous different sources have prompted the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse impact causes the atmosphere to ingest more solar energy yet does not permit this radiation and heat out of the air. The more green gas in the environment, the more radiation and temperature that are caught or trapped and add to increased worldwide temperature (Yoshimura, 2006). Global warming or temperature increase has had a genuinely huge effect on ocean temperatures. Actually, records demonstrate nearly 1 degree Fahrenheit, around 0.5 degrees Celsius, warming of the seas in the past 50 years. Studies in sea or ocean temperature changes demonstrate that this sort of expansion is exceptional (Stenseth & Straile, 2007). Notwithstanding the increment in ocean surface temperature that has effectively occurred, it is anticipated that multiplying the air carbon dioxide, doubling, would prompt an extra temperature increment of 0.5 degrees Celsius. The liquefying of the polar ice caps additionally raises the ocean surface temperatures around the globe and adds to an increment in the rising heights of the seas. About 60% of hurricanes occurring in the Atlantic Ocean are developed from winds coming westbound

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Art of War Studies Essay Example for Free

Art of War Studies Essay What is War? In order to describe what war is one has to define it. According to The Collins Dictionary war is 1. open armed conflict between two or more parties, nations or states 2. a particular armed conflict: the 1973 war in Middle East. 3. the techniques of armed conflict as a study, science, or profession. 4. and conflict or contest: the war against crime. 5. (modifier) of, resulting from a characteristic of war: war damage; war history. This is obviously straight to the point, but does not go into enough detail to fully describe what war is. Clausewitz chooses not to follow the definitions put forward by, what he calls, publicists, in Vom Kriege. Instead he puts forward his own view that it is nothing but a duel on an extensive scale. To fully understand what war is you have to look at the four main factors in war; force, the agents involved, intensity and duration, and teleology. The use of force and the violent nature of it is arguably the most obvious feature of war. However, one has to consider what force actually is, the answer to this creating significant disagreement. When talking about the use of force as a feature of war one immediately considers this force to be of military form, whereby weapons are used to strike down their opponents. This is of course true to an extent, but is not the only force used in war. Force can also be political or ideological force, as seen in the beginnings of the Cold War. Here, the Soviet Union uses their ideological ties with other countries in Eastern Europe to force them to reject the Marshall Plan in their war against the United States of America (US) for dominance. Clausewitz Total War, whereby the nations uses all of their wealth and resources, putting them on the line, in order to destroy their enemys armies, property and even their citizens, ties in with this use of force. Here, force is everything that the attacking group can muster together in order to destroy the other groups will to fight and bring a quick, decisive victory, and can involve killing soldiers as well as destroying important buildings. Wars are not always like this, and with the introduction of nuclear weapons, Van Creveld believes that conventional war is effectively at its end. Also, if this Total War was true then more groups would use nuclear weapons in order to win the war, but they do not. This is due to mutually assured destruction and the risk of a backlash from other nuclear powers. There has been plans to try and incorporate nuclear weapons into conventional war, but this was unsuccessful. When considering what is war, it is not simply a case of the use of force by the attacking party, but one has to take in account the opposed force. Without this opposed force it would not be war, it would simply be a massacre or perhaps genocide. The form of opposition force, like an attackers force, can vary, whether they respond in an offensive or defensive manner. If they are defending the war will be restricted to their own turf and their forces concentrated on preventing attack and protecting certain people or buildings. However, the offensive force of the attacking party can be met with similar offensive force. The war will ultimately begin on their turf as they are being attacked, but they will attempt to remove the threat and then attempt to destroy them as in Clausewitz Total War. If force is indeed the use of weapons, then one has to consider what sort of weapons are used in war. Weapons have changed through time, becoming increasingly high-tech to the point of nuclear weapons that could remove all humans off the face of the earth, but they have not been used to their full extent as of yet. The larger powers tend to use weapons such as aircrafts with bombing and firing capabilities, tanks and battleships, whilst the soldiers involved will carry such things as guns and grenades. Martin van Creveld puts forward his thesis that in future wars weapons will become less sophisticated due to the types of groups involved. With this, he believes the production of high-tech weapons will stop and cheaper, but still effective weapons, will be used. This is already happening in the war between Al-Qaeda and the West, where they are trying to bring down the US and the whole western system. They did not kill people with high-tech weapons in their most devastating strike against the US, which killed thousands of people, but took over two aeroplanes around New York and flew them into two buildings, which were among the most important in the West, showing it does not have to be all guns and bombs in wars. Another important part of war is the agents involved in it. In todays world, since the Peace of Westphalia, one would find it very tempting to say that war is a game played out by states. However, it is increasingly emerging to be not just a game played by states, but other groups are emerging that take refuge in sympathetic states that wage war on other states or groups. One such group is Al-Qaeda, which took refuge in Afghanistan in their fight against the West. If it is states fighting wars then this will be very similar to Clausewitz Trinitarian war, which is made up of a trinity of the government, the army and the people. In this situation, the government decides whether to go to war but they do not fight it. The army are strictly the players in the game and the ordinary civilians are not allowed to join in at all. If indeed this is true then all wars in the world would be an army versus an army. However, in todays world we see wars break out between armies and a group of civilians, like the situation in Iraq at the moment and the War against terror. Wars can even break out between two non-army organisations, such as a gang warfare between Mafia groups, although obviously the scale will not be as big as van Crevelds conventional war. These wars which do not occur between armies does not fit into Clausewitz Trinitarian war, but is more an element of van Crevelds non-Trinitarian war. He sees a decline of the state and with this the liquidation of boundaries between the trinity. This means that it will not only be armies that fight wars, but also groups of civilians, as seen with groups like Al-Qaeda. This arises another important part of war, which is how intense or how long it has to go on for in order for it to be classed as a war and not a skirmish of any other act of violence that is not a war as such. A war cannot simply be a single gun fight between two gangs as this is just a one off event. It has to be a series of events or battles between two or more groups for a certain cause. The saying you may have won the battle, but you have not won the war, although is a very dramatic saying, is perhaps the most obvious quote that war cannot just simply be one battle, that would be a skirmish. War is number of these skirmishes and would ultimately be more than two. The intensity is another matter, and this varies from war to war depending on the strength, nature and will to destroy of the groups involved. Wars do not necessarily have to be high intensity, although Clausewitz Total War would be, where as Van Crevelds Low Intensity Conflict would not. War would not happen if it was not fought for a certain reason, for that fact one has to understand what means war is fought for. This can be seen in Clausewitz definition that war is the continuation of politics by other means. War is not always going to be fought for political reasons and can in fact be due to such things as ideological and economic factors. In conclusion one can see that the definition of war in a dictionary is not explicit enough. Saying war is an open armed conflict between two or more parties, nations or states is much too thin an answer to discuss what war is in who is involved. Discussing fully the four factors in the introduction brings about a clear definition of war, which cannot really be put into a few sentences as it varies a great degree and is ever changing through time, whether it be who is involved, the weapons used or the means of which it is fought for. Bibliography Martin van Creveld Transformation of War Carl von Clausewitz On War Lawrence Freedman War The Collins Dictionary

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Vietnam Retaliation In The U.S :: essays research papers

â€Å"Vietnam was the first war ever fought without any censorship. Without censorship, things can get terribly confused in the public mind.† - Gen William C Westmoreland, US Army (http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/13476.html)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is said that a war cannot be fought without the support of the people. Much so was this related to the Vietnam conflict. I say the â€Å"Vietnam Conflict† in that the United States never actually declared war on North Vietnam after its communist split-up in 1960. The conflict was based on the principles of containment stated in the Truman and Eisenhower Doctrines. These documents stated that military aid would be given to any nation willing to fight communism. This idea of â€Å"keeping communism in it’s place† without it spreading to new nations was called containment, a name given by President Harry Truman.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In May of 1955, Vietnam, which was a French colony, was broken up by rebels led by Ho Chi Minh. Under the accords of the Geneva Convention, the French colony was broken into Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. North Vietnam was supported by the Communist China and Soviet Union while South Vietnam fought off communism with aid from the United States. These series of events added to the tensions felt in the Cold War, which lasted between the United States and the Soviet Union until 1989.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The year 1964 brought the United States into the conflict even more with President Johnson’s Operation â€Å"Rolling Thunder†, which bombed railroads, troop camps and other North Vietnamese targets. This also brought two battalions of 3,500 marines and opened the door to lead 540,000 men in Vietnam by 1967. This drastic call for troops to be deployed to Vietnam called on the Selective Service Act, which drafted men into the military who fit certain requirements. This combined with anti-war sentiments felt at home led to the opposition to the war I am to speak about.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Conflict in Vietnam did not go unnoticed at home as well. Some Americans were eager to fight Communism in Vietnam. But, unlike most wars of American time, the action in Vietnam had a very split approval amongst Americans. Many believed that the conflict was the responsibility of South Vietnam, and not that of the United States. By the conflict’s escalation, however, the approval of the practice of containment in Vietnam dropped drastically as more Americans lost their lives to Viet-Cong guerillas. But some were optimistic, said here: â€Å"Writer James Reston commented that the anti-war demonstrations were not helping to bring peace to Vietnam. He said they were postponing it. He believed the demonstrations would make Ho Chi

Monday, November 11, 2019

Directed Writing: Report on Water Pollution Essay

Water is one of human beings most important basic needs. Human can survive without food for couples of days but somehow going without water, human will not survive. Using safe, clean, water is a basic human right. Mother Nature gifts us free water but selfish human beings keeps polluting the water with actions such as chemical leaks, littering into water, disposing industrial waste and also ship waste into the water. Water pollution may affects a lots of things in our daily life. Here in this little village outside the town is one of the victim that suffered a lots of water pollutions. Recently, we received a complaint letter from the villagers that claimed that their daily life is difficult to go on with heavily polluted water supply. We checked out at the village water supply locations and found some shocking discoveries. The rivers are heavily polluted with litters such as plastic bags, bottles, paper cups, straws, unused furniture, and many more rubbishes. The river water is so heavily polluted that the water had turn into brown and discolored. The rubbish that was threw into the river became the major factor that pollute the water. The water supply in the village is not suitable to use, neither drink nor carry out daily tasks. The villagers doesn’t have enough supply of clean water after using the clean water to cook and drink, they needed clean water to carry out daily tasks such as bath, clothes washing, and housework. The dirty water in the village might be the major causes of illness such as diarrhea. The water is not clean and safe enough to drink that maybe the water still carries bacteria or even viruses. Other than that, the clogged drains and water stagnant in the village will provide mosquitoes a perfect environment for its breeding. Some dangerous mosquito species may carry virus that capability to kill a person by just a sting. Mosquitoes such as Aedes carries Dengue virus that maybe causes Dengue Fever. People that have a strong and healthy body maybe survive the sting but those people with weak immunity system may die under the Dengue Fever. Dengue Fever kills at least 20 villagers last year. The selfishness and laziness of the villagers shows their irresponsibility attitude to the village. The villagers will throw the rubbish everywhere especially dump area that closes with water supply. This causes a lots of bacteria breed from the rubbish dump site that formed an unhealthy living environment. These pollutions will also endanger the aquatic living things that live under the water. If these living things were being sold in the market or ate into human body, what harm or diseases will bring to these innocent victims? As a first step to solve the water pollution, the most important thing is the local authorities must take action. The authorities such as government may consider to enforcing laws on water pollution. Local authorities of the village should form a team or committee that control and supervise the water pollution, they can caught and send those who polluter the water to police officers or higher authorities. Once they form a committee, the villagers will not to litter into the river. Whoever litters into the river should be punish heavily either by prisoning, whipping, or fine. After these actions of authorities taken, they people will be aware, not to do it again. Other than that, the government should educate the villagers on the importance of water and ways to dispose unused rubbish or chemical waste correctly. The committee that responsible to the village cleanliness should also provide more rubbish bins and also recycle stations. The government can also launch camp or seminar that related to the important of water and ways to prevent water pollution. Local authorities can try to improve the water supply by launching clean-up activities. The villagers must be responsible to their own village. Hence, the committee should require the villagers to get involve to the clean-up activities for compulsory. Action will be taken to the family that doesn’t involve in the activities. To clean up a heavily polluted river need a long time and a couple lots of procedure for example picking up the floating rubbish, cleaning up the rubbish that sink into the river bed. All this procedure needs really long time to purified a polluted river. â€Å"Teamwork divides the tasks and multiple the success.† If the villagers of the village could be  cooperative and do their job together, it will really speed up the recovery of the river. Besides than the government, the villagers also should give fully co-operations that needed by the village. Every individuals also responsible to their village. Do not throw litter or harmful substances into the river or lakes. Do your part by picking up the litters and throw them in to the rubbish bin. Villagers also should promote the ways to prevent water pollution to relatives and friends so that they can also advocate this concept. In addition, if you saw any villager that litter or polluting the river, should report or contact the appropriate authorities so that they can take actions. Villagers also should avoid of water wastage. Ensure that there are no drips or leakages in the house plumbing. Saving water will ultimately lead to the reduction of water that flows into the sewage treatment. As for daily tasks, use laundry detergents that have low levels of phosphate only as phosphate is a major water pollutant that will heavily affect the water supply when the used water flowed back to the river. As a conclusion, water is essential for us. Thus, we must appreciate it because Mother Nature gifted us with water for free. We show our thankful to Mother Nature by not polluting it and keep it clean at all time. These water will be used by our next generations in near future. Hence, for their health, we should start to maintain these good habits and passing this habits to our next generation.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Effective Reading Strategy for Efl Students in No.9 Middle School in Beijing Essay

1. 1 Background of study In China, English is a compulsory course, so in Chinese education system has an examination at the final end of each term in Junior or Senior high school. In the examination, it is mostly used as a way to test students’ English level, so English becomes an important course in school education. The exam will test students’ listening, reading and writing ability. Therefore teachers are paying more attention on students’ ability on reading, listening and writing. Based on researcher understanding about teaching reading, researcher wants to do some research about investigating what types of cognitive reading strategies are used in middle school in Beijing. Aim at cognitive reading strategy researcher wants to the researching about it. And which one is the most commonly used during the reading class. Through the researcher tries to find some problems to teaching at the same time, it also referred in the research. Research paper is more focused on students learning strategy and teachers training process. For experienced teachers, who are good at summing up experience through their teaching then using in the teaching process. Through this study researcher gets more information about how to teaching reading and reading strategies. 1. 2 Statement of the Problem Researcher finds some problem when doing the research. In the real classroom, teachers have no enough time to give exercises for different level of students when they did reading class. In Chinese secondary school, English teacher should attention on arrange time effectively. Give enough time on  teaching four basic skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing and doing exercises at the same time. Sometimes students can’t concentrate on these four skills, how to improve their ability in those four skills in the same time is the problem. As a researcher need research some teachers and related their teaching experiences they told some skills that teacher should change some basic teaching methods in their classroom . Teacher are not limited on traditional English teaching, but also created some new methods to adapt on different level of students in the classroom teaching. Effectively and improve their ability is important. Teachers are not only teaching knowledge but also pay attention on students’ attitude and taken in strategies in the classroom. The research is search about teaching reading strategy in Chinese middle school. Researcher chooses a famous middle school to finish the questionnaires. However the defect is all of participates are coming from same school. It can not full access to information and data. It is a problem for the research. To achieve the goals researcher should considers how to choose different level students to finish the questions and consider the teacher’s experiences to complete all questions. It is a challenge for researcher. 1. 3 Aims of the study This research is aimed to find out one useful cognitive reading strategy among the students used when they doing reading. It can enhance students reading ability when they doing exercises or in the examination. It also becomes a useful strategy when students do reading comprehension in the examination. Although there are many types of cognitive reading strategy in reading comprehension, how to choose one strategy when students doing reading is become a problem and it also can help students save time during their English examination. 1. 4 Research objectives At the end of the research, researcher will list of some reading strategies when teacher teaching reading in the class. After analyze the data, choose one strategy is used among students used. The research objectives are: 1 To investigate the cognitive reading strategies in a middle school students in Beijing 2. To investigate which type of cognitive reading strategy is most commonly used among the students. 1. 5 Research questions The research will seek answers to the following questions: 1 What are the cognitive reading strategies of middle school students in Beijing? 2 Which type is the most common used by the students? 1. 6 Rationale of the study Because the research is survey about reading strategies, so in the beginning of the research, researcher will list down what are the types of reading strategies of middle school students in the school teaching. â€Å"There are plenty of strategies for the beginner reader and many can be adapted to fit the needs of more advanced readers as well. † (Dorit Sasson, 2007). Then researcher chooses 45 students (15 students are attended in the pilot study) based on their different grades and gender to answer the question. Finally through analyze the data researcher chooses one common cognitive reading strategy is used in middle school students in Beijing. 7. Limitations of the study Research questionnaires are based on the No. 9 middle school students. Limited is both of the students and teachers are in the same school and numbers is the problem. Although their students’ levels are different but the whole English levels are not too low. And choose the students’ number is less than get enough data. Both the quantity and quality are not exactly. So these are the limitation about the research. CHAPTER ? LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1 Introduction The first part of this section deals with the definitions of reading. Secondly it will discuss about Issues relating to English in the secondary curriculum in China. Thirdly is reading strategies. The last part will focus on the types reading strategies. Both of the contents are mainly concerned in the real classroom in Beijing. 2. 2 Definitions of Reading Reading is a huge topic, potentially beset with myriad difficulties not easily addressed in a book of this length. Brindley (1994) in her introduction to the ‘Reading’ section of Teaching English offers a helpful starting process: Reading is a complex area. We can use the term to mean the process itself, or a response to literary text. It is means reading is combine with other knowledge that used in the teaching English. Use the technical term to explain what is meaning and give the answers. Andersen et al. (1985) has shown that ‘Reading is the process of construction meaning from written texts. It is a complex skill requiring the coordination of a number of interrelated sources of information. ’ His opinions is talking about reading is a process which connected the writer’s writing skills and writing content. It needs reader has own reading skills or strategies to understand the meaning of reading materials. What the content is and writer wanted conveyed the information to reader. It is a difficult thing between the writer and reader. There is a book By Joan Brooks McLane, Gillian Dowley McNamee, in one chapter is described that â€Å"Reading can be compared to the performance of a symphony orchestra. This analogy illustrates three points. First, like the performance of a symphony, reading is a holistic act. † It stands for when reader reading an article, they must focus on all contents and used different reading strategies, mobilize all positive factors that you have when they reading. â€Å"Second, success in reading comes from practice over long periods of time, like skill in playing musical instrument. † Everyone known that want to be successful man, they must persist in one thing that they choose. Like a player play the wonderful music, they used lots of playing skills and they need long time to practice well. Reading is the same thing like player. If they want to master the reading strategies, they should study how to read and need lots of time to practice and improve their reading comprehension. â€Å"Third, as with a musical score, there may be more than one interpretation of a text. The interpretation depends on the background of the reader, the purpose for reading, and the context in which the reading occurs. † It needs reader give their opinions after they reading the text. Because of there are many different between everyone, so after they read the text their understanding is also different. 2. 3 Issues relating to English in the secondary curriculum in China Course Description â€Å"In describing the role of a foreign language, the 1993 syllabus emphasized its instrumental value for ‘acquiring cultural and scientific knowledge, gathering information, and conducting communication with the world’ (Ministry of Education 1993: 1). † In the Chinese principle of curriculum, English as an important role in the secondary school teaching. The purpose is â€Å"foreign language teaching in China was ‘to meet the needs of the Open Door Policy and to speed up the socialist modernizations’ (Ministry of Education 1993: 1). † It stands for China should study how to become a modern country among all over the world. And welcome foreigners come China to do the business or study. The new curriculum is changed. â€Å"Using English for the acquisition of knowledge and recognizes the humanistic value of a language in the transformation of the learners’ cognitive and personal development beyond its instrumental value in knowledge acquisition. † English is becoming a popular course in the new principle of curriculum. Students should learn more knowledge not limited in the grammar or the acquisition, but also for the human value’s benefit and personal development. â€Å"English language learning, as described in the 2003 curriculum guidelines, can help students develop ‘intelligence, affect, attitudes, values, and character’ (Ministry of Education 2003: 1). † The Ministry of Education is more attention on students’ to built good educate environment and provide fully development space for students. Course Objectives â€Å"The 1993 syllabus stressed two basics: basic linguistic knowledge and basic language skills. † It is traditional and easy syllabus for students to do before 2003. However in 2003, The Ministry of Education published new syllabus objectives is ‘to help students further clarify the purpose of learning English and develop autonomous learning and cooperative learning abilities; to help students develop effective English learning strategies’ (Ministry of Education 2003: 2). Students’ language use ability is based on ‘a mastery of knowledge, skills, affect, learning strategies, and cultural awareness’ (Ministry of Education 2003:2). Students should master one language when they learning in the classroom. According to the new curriculum, â€Å"An English course should help develop students’ ‘critical thinking ability, information gathering and analysis ability, problem solving ability, and a world vision’ (Ministry of Education 2003: 2), which are essential for a citizen in the twenty-first century (Pasch and Norsworthy 2002). †English is become a course in the classroom teaching and popular in China. It develops students’ ability in all aspects. All these reflect a humanistic approach, which, according to Johnson and Johnson (1998: 158), â€Å"respects the integrity of learners, allowing for personal growth and responsibility, taking psychological and affective factors into account and representing whole-person learning, going significantly beyond the use of English as a conduit of knowledge acquisition. † It needs learners has own opinion’s and some factors will change based on their experiences and reality. Course Design The 1993 syllabus required only one compulsory module. There were no specifications for the teaching aims and demands for Grade 1. Grade 2 and Grade 3 shared one set of aims and demands in general and distinctions were made only in some aspects of listening, speaking, reading and writing for the two grades. It means there is no specific teaching aim between three grades. And how to distinguish by some aspects on four teaching skills, there are listening, speaking, reading and writing. The new curriculum offers two modules (one compulsory and one elective) and grades the aims and demands with a four-band system according to learners’ language use ability, and describes each component at different bands in detail. From the new curriculum syllabus, it has targeted for each grades of students and the aims of teaching aid. The ability-banded framework can help solve such problems as the unbalanced development of the curriculum in different regions, the learning gaps between different stages (primary, junior secondary and senior secondary), and the waste of resources as a result of repetition in the curricula. Based on different backgrounds and others, teacher used different methods. The ability-banded design also provides more flexibility and openness in the curriculum, making it more possible to teach students with diverse competences. Students can learn special technical skills provide the needs of social. Teaching Aims and Demands For teaching aims and demands, the 1993 syllabus emphasized the development of two basics: basic linguistic knowledge and basic language skills. It isolated linguistic knowledge into discrete items, for example, word class, sentence structures. And confined linguistic skills to classroom application, for example, ‘students can understand classroom English and the explanation of new language points with language learned, do question and answer on the text, and retell the story orally or in writing’ (Ministry of Education 1993: 2-3). The new 2003 curriculum gives meaning to both knowledge and skills and integrates the two by engaging students in active use of the language with what they have learned as knowledge and developed as skills and by describing the language ability as what they can do with the English language. For example, students know language forms and their functions in real communication, under- stand and master the ways to describe people and objects, to describe the development of events. For students’ all round development, the new curriculum stresses the development of their affect, learning strategy and cultural awareness along with their linguistic knowledge and linguistic skills, and defines specific teaching aims and demands for these components at different bands. Implementation Guidelines The implementation guidelines help to reach the goals set for a curriculum. The guidelines in the new curriculum, as compared with those in the 1993 syllabus, are more concrete, hence playing a stronger guiding role. Ministry of Education (2003: 23-25): The guidelines for teaching include â€Å"focusing on all learners and helping them lay a solid foundation for lifelong development; attending students’ affect and creating a pleasant, democratic and harmonious learning atmosphere; reinforcing the guidance for students’ learning strategies and helping them develop autonomous learning ability†. These guidelines represent the learner–centeredness philosophy in curriculum development (Nunan 1988: 2003). For teachers’ better understanding of the teaching methods, model teaching plans are provided. Ministry of Education (2003: 40- 42) â€Å"For assessment, the stress is put on the explanation of the underlying rationale. It emphasizes that ‘both formative assessment and summative assessment be used and attention be paid to the motivating and facilitating roles of assessment in students’ learning’†. 2. 4 Reading Strategies The best definition of a reading strategy is the tactics or actions teachers implement in order to approach and make sense of a reading text. Reading is important and necessary for human especially at the present day which technology is growing rapidly. D. C Mitchell (1982:1) wrote that â€Å"reading is the way to express meaning from writer to reader. It is the way to exchange ideas of writer according to his/her styles. The ability to grasp these ideas is depending on reader’s experience, language knowledge and attitude as a fundamental basis. † Reading is a Rebecca L. Oxford (1991:1-163) classified reading strategies into four categories: 1. Memory Strategies 2. Cognitive Strategies 3. Compensation Strategies 4. Social Strategies 1. Memory Strategies are personal strategies that depend on skills and ability of each person by using something close-by as a tool for understanding, learning and memorizing that passage. This is the definition of memory strategies. It means users use memory to remember the reading contents. 2. Cognitive Strategies are essential in learning a new language. Cognitive strategies are typically found to be the most popular strategies with language learners. Based on the reader’s comprehension, they use their cognitive to understanding the reading materials. 3. Compensation Strategies enable learners to use the new language for either comprehension or production despite limitations in knowledge. Compensation strategies are intended to make up for an inadequate repertoire of grammar and, especially, of vocabulary. 4. Social Strategies is a term of social behavior; it is communication, and communication occurs between and among people. Learning a language thus involves other people, and appropriate social strategies are very important in this process. 2. 5 Teaching Reading Strategies Teaching reading strategies will increase students on reading skills in the core subject areas; this will also improve the student’s level of achievement. When Student’s are lack of knowledge will affect their ability to learn, read or write in all subject areas. Furthermore, helping students learned to read and write in the core subjects-areas will increase a student’s ability to read in all core subjects. A student’s reading comprehension skills will improve at the same time. That’s why teaching reading strategies is important in the classroom teaching. The teacher can use reading strategies that connect the students’ interest in core subject areas, this can help a student maintain their focus, improve their ability to understand and then apply what they read to the real world. . Reading is a blend of word recognition and comprehension. This involves the response of printed motivation but the growth of sense or knowledge, is the real meaning of reading. The reading process is a mix of finding words and comprehension that involves recognition of printed incentive however, the development of meaning or understanding is the core of reading about meaning. The reader should think and talk about what they are reading and the meaning of the passages, and connect them to what makes sense. Teachers and parents should assist the student by having them begin underlining the most important words in the reading material. The process of pre-reading teaching strategies will help improve reading comprehension. Effective language instructors show students how they can adjust their reading behavior to deal with a variety of situations, types of input, and reading purposes. They help students develop a set of reading strategies and match appropriate strategies to each reading situation. Strategies that can help students read more quickly and effectively include five different types. There are Previewing, Predicting, Skimming and Scanning, Guessing from context and Paraphrasing. Next researcher will list down some characteristics about each reading strategies. First type is previewing: reviewing titles, section headings, and photo captions to get a sense of the structure and content of a reading selection. Second type is predicting: using knowledge of the subject matter to make predictions about content and vocabulary and check comprehension; using knowledge of the text type and purpose to make predictions about discourse structure; using knowledge about the author to make predictions about writing style, vocabulary, and content. Third type is skimming and scanning: using a quick survey of the text to get the main idea, identify text structure, confirm or question predictions. Fourth type is guessing from context: using prior knowledge of the subject and the ideas in the text as clues to the meanings of unknown words, instead of stopping to look them up. The last type is phrasing: stopping at the end of a section to check comprehension by restating the information and ideas in the text. 2. 6 Conclusion This chapter is related some review about the definition in reading, compare between old syllabus and new syllabus in China Education system, reading strategies and how to teach reading strategies in the classroom. These four parts provide more information about reading comprehension and it is very useful for teachers training. CHAPTER ? METHODOLOGY 3. 1 Introduction This chapter provides detailed information regarding the process of collecting the data for this research. The aspects of the research method that are being focused are the subjects, instruments, questionnaires, method of data analysis and also research procedures. 3. 2 Research Design This research is a procedure for collecting and analyzing quantitative data access the research problem. The questionnaire is for Chinese students. It is a survey in No. 9 middle school in Beijing. This design has chosen because it really suits with how the study is carried out. 3. 3 Research Population For the pilot study and the questionnaire part, the population is all Chinese students and teachers are come from No. 9 middle school. The pilot study researcher chooses 15 students because there are totally three grades and each grade has three students to answer the pilot study. All together the questionnaires give the 30 students to answer it. Another part is the teachers’ part, there are three teachers attended in the pilot study and another six teachers are answering the teacher’s questionnaire. 3. 4 Research Sample The samples that had been taken into consideration consist of 30 different grades students of No. 9 middle school in Beijing. The samples are from same school and the school is well-known in Beijing. The samples are also from different level, their learning background also different. In the samples, it also included 6 teachers are teaching three grades of No. 9 middle school in Beijing. Their teaching experiences are different, because two of them are new teachers. Their teaching experiences are not enough. It can contrasts in different teachers and get the different data during the research. 3. 5 Research Instrument To meet the purpose of this study, the researcher looks at the types of reading strategies and which type is more common among students used and teacher teaching in the classroom. To conduct the process of this study the researcher uses questionnaires for the students and teachers. This questionnaire forms are distributed to the students. This is to gather information of the student’s background and their learning and the teachers’ teaching experiences and methods about reading strategies. The students are given answers and elicit responses regarding the research question. Teachers answer the research question based on their teaching experiences. 3. 6 Pilot Study It is to check the reliability and validity of results. In the research paper, in order to make sure the questions and data are stable and consistent in the questionnaires. The researcher distributed the questionnaire form to 15 other Chinese students from No. 9 middle school in order to get feedback about the questions, and then revise the survey 16 based on the written comments. The researchers will analyze their answer and data which is focused on the types of reading strategies. After they answer the questions, the researchers will discuss with the sample and analyze the questions. Will make sure each item is clear. The questions are aligned to the researcher to get the research purpose. As a result of the analysis, there are 15 items which are of the questionnaire. From my statistics the r=0. 79 3. 7 Data Collection Procedure About the questionnaire, researcher followed the procedure of searching information, constructing the questionnaire, inviting the participants, E-mailing the questionnaire, waiting for response, asking back the completed questionnaire. 3. 8 Data Analysis Procedure The researcher analyzed questionnaire data by using descriptive statistics. The procedure includes input data, summed score method to analyze data, report by using tables and summary of the major results. CHAPTER ? FINDINGS 4. 1 Introduction The main aim of this chapter is to investigate the types of cognitive reading strategies and cognitive reading strategies in the classroom among the middle school students in Beijing. In order to achieve these, data are obtained from a questionnaire that provides answers for the following research question: 1. What are the cognitive reading strategies of middle school students in Beijing? 2 Which type is more common among the students used in the classroom? 4. 2 Questionnaires Two set of questionnaires are distributed to two different groups of subject: the students and the teachers. The first set of questionnaire is distributed to the three grades students who are in No. 9 middle school. The questionnaire is distributed to gather information about student’s reading strategies and through their reading process, which type is used more widely among students in the classroom. The second set of questionnaire is distributed to six English teachers from the same school to find out about teachers teaching reading strategies in the classroom. The information and data gather from the questionnaires are calculated using the ‘percentage’ method. 1. Set 1: Student’ s questionnaire There are three sections in the student’s questionnaire. First section is background information. Table 4. 1 shows the students background information. TABLE 4. 1 Student’s background information 1. Gender |Gender |Male |Female |Percentage | |Students |15 |15 |50% | 2. Grade. |Grade |1 |2 |3 |Percentage | |Students |10 |10 |10 |33. 3% | The data collected shows the total students are 30. Male and Female percentage are equal in the table. And there are three grades in the No. 9 middle school, the percentage of each grade also the same reached at 33. 3%. The data is suitable to analysis. TABLE 4. 2 Types of Reading Strategies TABLE 4. 2. 1Skimming and Scanning Item NT UNT ST UT AT (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) B1: I briefly skim the 1 5 5 7 12 text before reading (3. 3%) (16. 7%) (16. 7%) (23. 3%) (40%) B2: I skim/ scan to get 3 2 6 10 9 the main idea (10%) (6.7%) (20%) (33. 3%) (30%) From the table, 60% students like skimming reading strategies before reading the text. Only 4 students or 13. 3% never use this strategies when they reading the text. Therefore they like skimming reading strategies very much, and some would rather remain neutral attitude on this strategy. Students can get main idea through they skim/scan the reading materials. The percentage is very high in these reading strategies. Illustration 4. 2. 2 Previewing [pic] The bar chart shows the percentage of the students who use previewing reading strategies in the classroom. The middle of blue and yellow bars means that the majority of people keep in neutral about these two questions, Section B question 3 and 4. It reflects that 9 students or 30% and 12 students or 40% not always use it in the classroom reading. Only 3 students or 10% strongly agree use previewing strategies during their reading. And 2 students or 6. 7% never use it. The data is average in this bar chart. TABLE 4. 2. 3 Predicting Item NT UNT ST UT AT (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) B5: I usually make 4 11 11 2 2 predictions as to what (13. 3%) (36. 7%) (36. 7%) (6. 7%) (6.7%) will follow text. The table of 4. 2. 3 is about students use predicting reading strategy in the classroom. Number of each option is average. Four students or 13. 3%, they never use it during the classroom reading. Most of students are thinking it is â€Å"usually not true of me† or â€Å"Somewhat true of me†, percentage of it reach 36. 7%. Contrast it the students who choose â€Å"Usually true of me† or â€Å"Always true of me† has 4 students only. They prefer use it during their reading. TABLE 4. 2. 4 Guessing from context Item NT UNT ST UT AT (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) B6: While I am reading,  I reconsider and revise 5 8 9 5 3 my prior questions (16. 7%) (26. 7%) (30%) (16. 7%) (10%) about the text based on the text’s content. B7: While I am reading, I consider and revise my background 6 7 11 4 2 knowledge about the (20%) (23. 3%) (36. 7%) (13. 3%) (6. 7%) subject based on the text’s content. Question 6 and 7 are related with the fourth type of reading strategy: Guessing from context. The students are also keeping the neutral attitude about this strategy. For question 6, there are 13 students or 43. 4% they don’t like use it. It takes up most of time doing reading comprehension. Only have 8 students or 26. 7% they always use it in the classroom reading. However the question 7 has some related with question 6. Already almost half of student they choose â€Å"never or usually not true of me† this option. Another 11 students or 36. 7% choose â€Å"Somewhat true of me†. Last 6 students they like use it very much in the classroom reading. Item NT UNT ST UT AT (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) B8: While I am reading, I try to determine the 1 11 11 7 – meaning of unknown (3. 3%) (36. 7%) (36. 7%) (23.3%) – words that seem critical to the meaning of the text. B9: As I am reading, I evaluate the text to determine whether it 3 8 12 6 1 contributes to my (10%) (26. 7%) (40%) (20%) (3. 3%) knowledge/ understanding of the subject. Two questions are also about â€Å"Guessing from text†. From the data analyses about this two questions, students who choose the same options with Question 6 and 7. There are 12 students or 40% who never use this strategy. 11 students sometimes use it, but there are only 7 students often use it. No one always use this strategy during their reading. Some data are the same with question 9. There are 11 students or 36. 7% who never use guessing from text strategy in the classroom. 40% students use it seldom. And only 7 students or 23. 3%, the number of students who choose this options is same with question 8. TABLE 4. 2. 5 Paraphrasing Item NT UNT ST UT AT (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) B10: I summarize/ paraphrase the material that I am 3 8 7 3 9 reading in order to (10%) (26. 7%) (23. 3%) (10%) (30%) remember the text. B11: After I have read 2 8 13 4 3 a text, I review it. (6. 7%) (26. 7%) (43. 3%) (13. 3%) (10%). B12: After I have read 5 11 7 6 1 a text, I evaluate what (16. 7%) (36. 7%) (23. 3%) (20%) (3. 3%) I have read. B13: After I have a read 1 5 12 10 2 a text I summarise it. (3. 3%) (16. 7%) (40%) (33. 3%) (6. 7%) The last type of reading strategy is Paraphrasing. These four questions are related to the paraphrasing. From the data analyse we can see that most of the students are keep neutral about this strategy. They are neither use it often nor they always use it and still maintains their neutral options through their chosen. Item NT UNT ST UT AT (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) B14: I search out  information relevant 1 10 5 10 4 to my reading goals. (3. 3%) (33. 3%) (16. 7%) (33. 3%) (13. 3%) B15: I evaluate whether what I am reading is 4 8 10 6 2 relevant to my reading (13. 3%) (26. 7%) (33. 3%) (20%) (6. 7%) goals. The last two questions also connected with paraphrasing. There is some different with last four questions. It is happened in the post-reading strategies. It is based on the reflection that readers give feedback after they did reading in the classroom 4. 2. 2 Set 2: Teacher’s questionnaire Set 2 consists of three sections. There is section A: Background information, Section B: The time arrangement about teaching reading and Section C: Teaching reading strategies in the classroom. TABLE 4. 4 Teacher’s background information 1. Gender |Gender |Male |Female | |Teachers |1 |5 | |Percentage |16. 7% |83. 3% | There are six teachers to participate in the research questions. Five are female or 83. 3% from the table analysis. Only one male participate in the research, percentage is 16. 7%. 2. Teaching Grade |Grade |1 |2 |3 | |Teachers |2 |2 |2 | |Percentage |33. 3% |33. 3% |33. 3% |. All of the six teachers are teaching Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3. Percentage is average 33. 3%, it shows researcher consider about the data analyze stability and choose the same teacher who teaching in the same grade. The data is easier to analyze and has pertinence for teaching purpose. 3. Education Qualification |Education Qualification |Bachelor degree |Master |Doctor | |Number |4 |2 |- | |Percentage |66. 7% |33. 3% |- | There are three levels for the education qualification, Bachelor degree, Master and Doctor. Four teachers or 66. 7% their education qualification is Bachel.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Everyone in a stage of their life have encountered themselves with racism

Everyone in a stage of their life have encountered themselves with racism. Imagine yourself in the life of an African American in the 1950s. You wake up every morning in this segregated world, not knowing if god made the right choice in having you wake up. You think of the Jim Crow laws that have been put in order, that dont allow whites to mix with blacks, and you say to yourself when are we going to put an end to this injustice, when are we going to find someone who wont be afraid to fight for us, for we are too much afraid of doing so. Well look no further, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is the man who fights for the African Americans in a non-violent method. Of course we always have the opposite of non-violent. Malcolm X Little is the man who fights for the African American rights using the method of By all means necessary. This period of time when African Americans protested to gain their equal right is known as The Struggle For Civil Malcolm Little known better as Malcolm X was born in 1925. Growing up in poverty was a difficult thing to do. Malcolm didnt see himself capable enough to succeed in life. Since this was a white-dominated world, the fact of being black lowered his chances in life. His dream was to become a professional lawyer when he grew up, but his hopes were soon crushed by one of his white teachers. He was told We all here like you....But youve got to be realistic about being a nigger. A lawyer-thats no realistic goal for a nigger. why dont you plan on carpentry? (Textbook pg. 773). With his only hopes in succeeding in life crushed Malcolm soon dropped out of school and turned to the wrong side of life. He was in jail but there learned the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, who was the head of a religiously inspired group called the Nation Of Islam. They believed

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Gender-Inclusive Language for English Learners

Gender-Inclusive Language for English Learners Gender refers to either being a man or a woman. Gender-inclusive language can be defined as language  that doesn’t prefer one gender over another. Here are a few examples of gender-biased language  common in the English language used in the past. A doctor can treat you for a wide variety of diseases. It’s important that he understands your health history. Successful businessmen understand how to negotiate good deals. In the first sentence, the writer speaks in general about doctors, but assumes that a doctor is a man. In the second example, the term businessmen ignores the fact that many successful business people arewomen. Terminology Gender the sex of a person - male or female  Gender-inclusive including all gendersGender-biased showing a preference for or against a genderGender-neutral showing no preference for or against a gender As an English student, it’s possible that you’ve learned some English that has gender-biased language. Gender-biased can be understood as language which uses stereotypes to describe men and women.   This article will help you recognize gender-biased English language statements and provide suggestions on how you can use more gender-inclusive language. English is already difficult enough, so you might not think this is  important. However, there is a strong push towards the use of more gender-neutral language in day to  day usage, especially at work. Over the past few decades, writers and instructors have become more aware of common terminology and writing styles that tend to favor men and assumptions about behavior that no longer reflect the modern world. To change this, English speakers have adopted new terminology that reflects a more gender-neutral style. Common Changes in Professions The easiest change you can make is with professions that end in ‘-man’ such as ‘businessman’ or‘postman’. Often we substitute ‘person’ for ‘-man’, in other cases the name of the profession maychange. Another word that changes is ‘master’ which indicates a man. Here are some of the most common changes. Common Changes to Gender-Inclusive English actress - actorstewardess - flight attendantanchorman/anchorwoman - anchorbusinessman/businesswoman - businesspersonchairman/chairwoman - chair person / chaircongressman - member of congress / congress personcraftsman - artisandeliveryman – courierdoorman -  door attendentstatesman - statespersonfireman -  firefighterfreshman - first year studenthandyman - maintenance personheadmaster - principalheroine -  herohousewife - homemakerFrenchman -  French personmaid - house cleanermailman - mail carriermankind - humanitymaster - expertmasterpiece – great work of artMiss / Mrs. - Ms.mother tongue - native language/first languagespokesman/spokeswoman - spokespersonwaitress/waiter - wait personpoliceman - police officer/officer Shaun Fawcett has a great page if youre interested in an extensive list of gender-neutral equivalent words. Mr. and Ms. In English, Mr. is used for all men. However, in the past, women were either ‘Mrs.’ or ‘Miss’ dependingon whether they were married. Now, ‘Ms.’ is used for all women. ‘Ms.’ reflects that it is not important toknow whether a woman is married or not.   Gender-Neutral Pronouns Pronouns can be very tricky. In the past, when speaking in general, the pronoun ‘he’ was often used. A person who lives in the country has many advantages. He can enjoy daily walks and enjoy fresh air. He can live a healthy life and meet with his friends. However, this shows a bias towards men in general. Of course, there are healthy women who live in the country! Here are a few suggestions on how to stay away from this common mistake. They She/He Using they/them to indicate a single, gender neutral person  is now commonly accepted.   You can be sure someone understands by how they react to your statement.Does anybody know the answer to the question? They can email the director with the answer. He/She Before they/them entered the common vernacular, writers often used he/she – him/her (or she/he – her/him) to show both are possible when speaking in general. When someone gets ready to find a new job, he/she needs to be aware that there are many challenges in this difficult market. It’s up to her/him to research any job opening carefully. Alternating Pronouns Another approach is to change pronoun forms throughout your writing. This can be confusing to the reader. Someone who goes shopping will have too many choices. He might have more than twenty clothing stores to choose from. Or, she might just go to a department store. In any case, he might spend more time trying to find just the right item.   Plural Forms   Another way to be gender-neutral in your writing is to speak in general and use plural forms when possible rather than the singular. Consider this example: A student has to be on time and take careful notes. He/She also needs to do homework every night.Students have to be on time and take careful notes. They also need to do homework every night.   In the second example, the plural pronoun they replaces students as the rules are meant for everybody.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

'Teamwork is a method for organising activities in the workplace that Essay

'Teamwork is a method for organising activities in the workplace that offers undeniable advantages'. Discuss this statement - Essay Example The adoption of agriculture and the subsequent rise of farming communities likewise showed the importance of group work, when it comes to planting, irrigating and finally, harvesting the crops. Group work lightens the load as well as hastens the task completion when it is crucial to finish the work before adverse weather conditions set in, such as the coming of winter. Discussion This brief paper explores some of the theories involving teamwork in organizations and provides some examples to illustrate the importance of teamwork to group performance in achieving overall corporate strategy as one of its competitive tools. In this paper, teamwork is discussed within the context of a modern corporate organization. Previous ideas of teamwork entailed mostly primitive activities like hunting and planting, but in the modern setting, it is a teamwork that is anchored in an industrial setting in the post-Industrial Revolution period. In this context, teamwork ideas are anchored on mostly proj ect-based work but it also has other varied applications which are discussed as the paper progresses. Participative management, co-determination, worker representation in management teams, quality improvement circles, and small-group activities, are just some of the fine examples of teamwork (Kandula 124). Organizing activities around teamwork in a corporate setting offers advantages that cannot be attained by someone working individually; some distinct advantages are: Employee involvement – people become more committed when they are involved in the business, when they are consulted, and given a chance to share their inputs. Organizational success is better assured when all people get involved, rather than just a select few or elites. A good way to involve people is to make them join a team for an equitable participation. Conducive to new ideas – people can become more creative when they are exposed to various ideas, suggestions, and comments of other people within a t eam setting. Although it is sometimes the originality and brilliance of one individual which can make a difference, it is more often the case that an exchange of good ideas in a team that produces the most brilliant insights because data, information, knowledge, and wisdom are shared together. Enhances communications and relationships – the nature of group work requires all people within the team to work together, share their ideas, and communicate frequently such that in the process, they become more interdependent and thereby build stronger relationships. Organizational performance is enhanced when there is effectiveness in good teamwork. Improvements in quality levels – whether it is a product or a service an organization is selling, teamwork raises the level of quality because people supplement and complement each other when quality consciousness is embedded in each employee as a team concept. Raises the learning process – teamwork promotes the learning proc ess in socializing, when people are doing a common task assigned to them, and given a group objective. The idea is an entire organization learns in the process, not just the individuals (Marquardt 52). Reinforces individual strengths – most work today is multi-disciplinary in nature, so no one person can be expected to do it all alone. Teamwork can likewise mitigate weaknesses, enables more rapid adaptation to changes, and saves resources by doing more with less. Various theories have