The Arguments for and Against the Right to Have an Abortion Assignment

The Arguments for and Against the Right to Have an Abortion - Assignment Example Roe v Wade was both seen as a victory and defeat. As the Texas law prohibiting abortion was put under debate and ended with women having the right to choose for themselves (Lively & Weaver, 2006). Because the debate over this controversial legislation has been the foundation of many platforms for politicians, the public has continued to be depressed by this conflict of ideas. There are a number of different reasons why people will come down on the side of making abortion illegal. In Texas, where the Roe v Wade controversy began, the state was justifying the restriction of abortions based on the idea that a fetus is a person and therefore the life interests had to be protected under the due process clause, which is in the 14th amendment. Justice Harry Blackmun, who wrote for the majority did not accept this promise. Although a fetus may be a life under some religious and moral codes, the majority decided that it could not be considered a fetus in a constitutional framework. Blackmun believed that the rights given under due process of the 14th amendment should be extended to women as well. And therefore this conflict came down on the side of women rather than the fetus (Hall & Clark, 2002). In 2005, the number of abortions in the United States was approximately 19.4 per 1000 women. Of that percentage, 3.2 per 1000 were given to women under the age of 15. The right to have an abortion has had a significant effect on the plight of women is not well supported in the United States in terms of providing for and giving care to children when they are left without a partner. The welfare system is not set up to help women raise children, but rather to try and get them out working in conflict with the act of raising children. One strong argument for the legalization of abortion is that the state does not provide enough support, and society has a negative attitude towards women were trying to raise children but do not have the economic  means to do so on their own.

Comparison Between Two Paintings Essay Example for Free

Comparison Between Two Paintings Essay During the 14th century, when the beginning of the Renaissance took place, Florence was one of the main political, economic, and artistic cities in Europe. The Black Death, the plague that reduced the population of Florence, and the difficulties Florence encountered by this time explain the heavy influence of gothic style in architecture and the elegance found in every artwork created in this era. Florence was one of the top European cities when it came to painting, because it had the greatest school of painting where many important artists assisted. Florence, throughout the years, has always been an important influence in history and art. Even though many artists have a vast aspiration for art, each artist possesses his own criteria and methods that they acquired during the time in which they lived. Artists in Italy from the 1400s throughout 1900s shared many common techniques and skills that were characterized by their era. This period brings a new perspective of life to the European countries in the early fourteenth-century. By this time, people in Italy thought that a new and contemporary era had begun with a new style in painting and architecture and a new evolution in music, science, philosophy, and literature as well. Lorenzo di Credi, is an Italian painter who belonged to the Renaissance period of the 1400s. Lorenzo di Credi, who lived in Florence, was learning about this new era that had a huge impact in everyone’s life. This new era had an advanced development in society and a rise of civic culture. A new sense of realism in art, new discoveries in the material world, and new more joyous vision of the world around them were taking place during the era. The Renaissance influenced the social, economic, spiritual, scientific, and religious aspect of Italy. Lorenzo, who started to have a special interest in art when he was in Florence by the 1450s, was already starting to produce his own paintings. When Lorenzo started his vocation as an artist, he always had a special interest in portraits. â€Å"He is known primarily for his devotional paintings, although he was also much in demand as a portrait painter and was a sensitive draughtsman. † Lorenzo also started painting in oil, which was a new technique that arose in the Renaissance period. This new technique was usually painted in wood or canvas. Oil has a deep, intense tone and has hard, enamel-like surfaces. With oil, painters could also demonstrate the glowing and the light and, if needed, they could arrange any possible mistake or part they wanted to change because oil dries very slowly. This technique is not easy to adapt and adjust, but this did not keep Lorenzo from painting with it. â€Å"It is not known how oil painting was first developed, but in Western Europe there are indications of its use from at least the 12th century AD, and it was widely used from the Renaissance. Oil was also very popular because with it, artists could produce the finest clarity of colour. Artists manipulate the oil using stiff brushes made out of hog hair. Lorenzo was recognized for possessing patience when working in his paintings, he did not only use oil, he also adapted other methods of painting that required a lot of skill. A perfect example of a famous artwork of Lorenzo di Credi is Portrait of a Young Women. In the Renaissance, women were not lucky to live in Florence if they wanted to be involved in society. Woman by this era were just a subject of men. The Portrait of a Young Women exhibits a widow woman. When looking at the painting, one can find a variety of characteristics that lead the viewers to think her husband has died. In the Renaissance era women in Italy dressed very elegantly, wearing long gowns with baggy and loose fitting dresses. Woman used to wear very complex fabrics that covered their entire body. Wool was usually the dominant fabric woman in Italy used to wear in different types of quality and colors. This young woman in the painting is wearing a long, simple black dress with long sleeves and a black veil on the head. The dress may not seem extravagant because she is dressed as a widow. The dress does not contain any important detail, but stills looks elegant. Besides her clothing, her appearance does not demonstrate a positive one. The look on her face and the body language the painting resembles has a negative connotation. It is said that this woman was Lorenzo di Credi’s sister-in-law. She is also holding a ring in her left hand, which one can assume is her wedding ring. The way she holds and places her hands leads the viewer to think she is thinking about him, she is recalling him. The look on her face, her eyes, nose, and mouth are all-static, they don’t have any positive expression. When looking at the eyes, one cannot tell where she is looking at. One may think Lorenzo was imitating Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting Mona Lisa. It is said that Lorenzo admired and followed Leonardo’s paintings. When looking at Lorenzo’s paining, one can relate with her because of the rigorousness body. Her hands and her face are painted with in an accurate manner. Lorenzo’s skills are perfectly demonstrated in this painting, one can see the shadows all over he painting and the different tones of colors he uses in his work. The young woman’s body is so realistic that one can even see the perfect nails and the wrinkles in her hands. Behind the widow woman is a beautiful garden and an enjoyable view. The background contains many details in the tress, especially in the leaves. The background incorporates the mountains and the sky with a variety of tones of blues and greens. The tree behind the woman is painted in a circular way looking like a halo, which can resemble an image of the Virgin Mary. Her face looks calm and docile, which can also be associated with the Virgin Mary. After analyzing Portrait of a Young Woman from the 15th century, one is going to encounter a whole new perspective of life with new techniques and characteristics in a painter from the 20th century even though both artists are Italian. This Italian artist, Umberto Boccioni, was not only a painter; he was also involved with sculptures, theories, and literature. Even though his career came to an end very fast when he died at a young age, he still influenced many artist around the world and had a very productive career. Boccioni was from the Italian city of Verona, but he spent the majority of his childhood in Forli, Genoa, and Padua. It is not until he moves to Rome that he found his passion for art. Boccioni, inspired by Balla, relates himself a lot with landscapes and nature. â€Å"In his first years of activity, closely following his master’s teaching, Boccioni produced oil paintings, sketches, pastels, studies in tempera, and advertising posters. † After several years he went to Paris where he got inspired by the modernity and the French metropolis, which impacted his life and his work in many ways. Boccioni was leaving in a new era were the Futurism, art movement, was taking place. The Futurism movement had a great influence in his artwork; it later became a distinguished characteristic in all of his paintings and his career as an artist. He established this movement, so by demonstrating his painting with this new movement, he also inspired other artists to follow the Futurism. Self-Portrait was painted in Rome in the 1905 when Boccioni was twenty-three years old. In Boccioni’s famous painting, one can see Umberto Boccioni well dressed in black also with a black, flat hat on his head. The painting does not show the body’s parts with clarity and the painting only covers less than half of his body. The way Boccioni paints himself is in a more modern manner using vivid colors in the background and in his face. This portrait is also painted with oil, but this time on a canvas instead of wool. Oil on canvas was the other method artist used in the 1400s, but still was popular in the 20th century. One can see that oil became an important gadget for artists in their paintings and is still currently in use by many artists at the present time. Boccioni’s painting, Self-Portrait, reflects a change in style from light tonalities in colors to stronger contrasts of light and dark. With the way Boccioni applies the oil in this painting, one can see that the body itself is not well defined because of the longer brushstrokes. His face has a deep, serious look with his eyebrows twisted even though his black, little eyes are almost close. At the background, one can see a wall with different tone of yellow, baby blue, and the leaves of a tree. One can see that Boccioni avoided the straight line and has used complementary colors to create a vibrant effect and express a positive connotation in his portrait. Now, one can see that even though both artists are Italian, they still have very different styles; they both have different perspectives of life because of different periods the lived in. Although they both have very different techniques, one can still find some characteristics that relate them and connect their paintings. Di Credi shows a more complex, divine, almost perfect human being while Boccioni portraits himself in a more modern manner. Both paintings are portraits; yet, one can find a lot of distinction between the two of them. While the young woman shows a negative connotation, Boccioni’s self portrait shows a lively man with vivid colors that gets the viewer’s attention immediately. Both artists found a way of establishing a human body in different styles using different methods with the brushes. Another difference in the way these two artists painted is that with di Credi’s painting one can see when he exactly ends in the edges. One can see that the young woman seems real, while Boccioni’s portrait has more shadows. In Boccioni’s painting is more noticeable the use of brushes than in di Credi’s young woman. Usually, each artist demonstrates his feelings in their paintings; or shows a current event happening in the artist’s era. Or they just produce something that has impact their life or them in any certain way. Zeitgeist , â€Å"spirit of the times† can be related with theses two artists and their paintings because both are presenting their passion for art in the epoch in which they are living. All artworks are a reflection of the time. By analyzing and comparing these two paintings, one can find many interesting aspects of art. Art is more than a painting; art is a history behind an artwork that each artist is trying to evoke in every viewer. Art is using one’s creativeness to transmit one’s thoughts. One can appreciate more the Art when learning the â€Å"spirit of the time†; one can comprehend the artist’s emotions by analyzing every single detail in the artwork and the historical background of it. It is beyond belief how many details one can find when observing in detail each painting; one can find intriguing how every artist was impacted and influenced by the political, economical and historical aspect of their own country. The techniques, skills, and styles di Credi and Boccioni possessed are still influencing other artist nowadays. Their artworks will always be recognizable and distinguishable to people because art will never be forgotten. As centuries go by, one will still see these two artists dominating, impacting, and influencing new artists and viewers.

Designing an Oral English Teaching Course

Designing an Oral English Teaching Course Introduction: Context Defining context is necessary for developing any course plan because the students, stakeholders and setting of the course have a large impact on all that is taught and learned. The very concepts of teaching and learning are culturally dependent and therefore care must be taken to match student and stakeholder expectations. Or in some cases it may appropriate to gently push the boundaries of what is acceptable and in so doing reveal a new way of learning and thinking. A cursory knowledge of the context is often not enough to push such boundaries. â€Å"The more information you have about the context the more able you will be to make decisions and to plan an effective course† (Graves 2000, p 18). This oral English course will take place at Leshan Teachers College in the mid-sized city of Leshan, in Sichuan province, China. This institution could be considered a 3rd tier college which grants bachelors and associates degrees to students headed for careers as secondary and elementary teachers. A minority of these English majors will go on to careers in translation, business or tour guiding. A minority will also go on for further study in various graduate fields. The institution offers no guidelines for the course except that the textbook titled Challenge to Speak by Wilson, Olson, Li, Chen and Yao (2005) be used as a text. The teacher is required to develop their own test for use in the course. The 1st year students enrolled in this course come directly from high school and the majority of them are from rural areas of Sichuan province. Many of their families work in agriculture or serve as migrant workers in factories or on construction projects in the eastern provinces. Students are often disappointed at being assigned to study at Leshan Teachers College. Many had hoped to attend somewhere with more prestige, but in spite of some initial disappointment, most are willing to study hard to improve their English. Previous to having this class, many of the students have not had a foreign teacher. Though they have studied English for at least 6 years in elementary and high school, they generally dont see English as a way to build relationships. Most of their focus in their English studies had been on reading and writing with the goal of doing well on the college entrance exams. Most of them lack the oral ability or confidence to consider beginning a conversation with the foreigners that they may occasionally see in their daily life. Though educational philosophies are gradually changing throughout China, the college entrance exam still dictates that much rote learning take place. In foreign language teaching, theories of grammar-translation and audio-lingualism predominate. Generally, students are not taught to question their textbooks, their teachers or their learning methods. Students typically follow their teachers recommendations and assignments very closely and rarely initiate studies on their own. That being said, their powers of memorization and grammar knowledge are usually quite good in comparison to their ability to speak extemporaneously in conversation. The course meets one time per week for two 45 minute periods. Due to a late arrival on campus and a week of military training, the 1st year students semester lasts only 12 weeks. With the distractions that come with adapting to life in new surroundings, the 1st semester of the 1st year typically features a lighter academic load. Many of these students have not been away from their parents before and this obviously affects students in different ways; some embrace their new-found independence while some long for home. I. Teacher Beliefs Though a course or a language program is set in a specific locale, and may try to incorporate the desires and needs of many students and stakeholders, ultimately the composition of the course or program flows from one source: the beliefs and identity of the teacher. Successful teaching requires knowledge beyond just the subject being taught; only through self-knowledge can a teacher fully inhabit the combined public and private persona that a teacher must assume (Palmer, 1998). The beliefs of a teacher regarding the subject being taught and nature of teaching and learning will have significant implications in the design of a course; however, a teachers worldview may impact his or her teaching approach in ways that are just as significant, but perhaps less apparent. Since language teaching often involves cultural differences between teachers and students, teachers may need to adjust some of their beliefs when or if they significantly violate the cultural norms of students (Graves, 2000; Lingenfelter Lingenfelter, 2003). While Johnson (1998, as cited in Graves, 2000) points out that many of a teachers beliefs can be difficult to articulate or can hide under the surface of his or her teaching, my experiences with the cross-cultural frictions found in language classrooms have often raised to my consciousness beliefs and values that would have remained hidden in monocultural classrooms. As teachers engage with different student populations, study language acquisition theory or perform action research, they may alter some aspects of their beliefs. This is only natural. The possibility of change ought to propel a teacher toward constant reevaluation of their beliefs because only an intimate acquaintance with ones beliefs allows a teacher to articulat e why a particular lesson was effective or ineffective (Graves, 2000). Nature of Language Just as language is constantly evolving and adding new words from a multiplicity of sources, so my beliefs about the nature of language continue to evolve. Originally, I had viewed language as primarily driven by the lexicon. Through performing action research on form-focused approaches, I have come to realize that grammar plays a role that is nearly as important as vocabulary (Eberly, 2008). But, language goes beyond mundane concerns such as conditional forms or definitions extracted from dictionaries; when forms and words are artfully rendered into literature, the result is somehow more than the sum of its parts. Language is capable of exquisite beauty, but it is not only in its ability to represent the physical world where this beauty is apparent. Its ability to capture the minute inner-workings of the self is peerless among the fine arts, at least in my view. As a literature major in my undergraduate years, I may be biased, yet Ive found the habit of reading literature and writing a journal to be the best means of understanding myself. Language is not only something one engages in alone, it is also a means to develop relationships. Though meanings occasionally get obscured in our speech with others, language is what separates us from animals and allows us to work together as villages, countries and with people from around the world to achieve mutually beneficial objectives. Love, as a supreme human experience, would be incomplete or impossible without language as a means of expressing that love. Language Learning My beliefs on language learning grow out of my view of language and out of my awareness of myself as a learner. The relational nature of languages and my level of connection to native speakers have played a large role in my success in learning Chinese and Korean, and my comparative failure in learning Spanish in high school and as an undergraduate. Coming from a largely monocultural area of Ohio limited my exposure to native Spanish speakers. So, during my high school and undergraduate days, I saw Spanish as book-bound and irrelevant to daily life perhaps akin to how some of my students feel toward English today. Yet living in Korea and China while I have studied those respective languages has allowed me to know the people that are connected with the languages. It has been my relationships to those native-speaking people friends, colleagues, students and above all teachers that have energized my studies and made me successful. This is very much in line with Vygotsky (1978) who first noted the crucial role that sympathetic interlocutors play in forming L1 competence in children (as cited in Lightbown Spada, 2006). Brown (2001) carried this into the L2 arena with his interactive approach which in essence declared that it is through meaningful interaction that learning occurs most effectively. Curran also recycles some of these relational ideas in his Community Language Learning approach (Brown, 2001). World View Not only do my beliefs on this issue arise out of my experiences as a language learner, they are also rooted in my spiritual understanding of my relationship to God. The Bible is a record of mankinds relationship with God and according to the Bible, humans were created for the express purpose of being in relationship with God. The arrival of Jesus on earth heralded the willingness of God to send and sacrifice his only Son so that believers might relate to more than just a book or a set of laws; through Jesus, an intimacy with God is possible. My life has been a gradual discovering of just how fulfilling this relationship can be. But though Jesus calls everyone into relationship with Him, He does not force anyone into a relationship they may not desire. This freedom of choice is an important element in any relationship and endues the weaker party with an agency, or freedom of choice, which is a necessary element in establishing an inquiry-based educational environment (Freire, 1996). Language Teaching This type of mutually respectful relationship causes not only an increase in knowledge about the other with whom one is in relationship, it also forces a reevaluation of the self as the two mutually define and refine each other. Language teaching approaches that do not in some way promote learner introspection run the risk of creating automaton learners, who, when left to their own devices, lack the ability to carry on with their learning. Undoubtedly, some implicit learner reflection on teaching and learning philosophies is inevitable when the teacher is from another culture. Yet, deliberate activities and assignments which nudge students toward greater reflection of their learning processes and preferences have been shown to lead to greater student proficiency over the long term (Snow, 1996; Brown, 2001). A host of surveys and inventories like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Rebecca Oxfords Strategy Inventory for Language Learners (SILL) have frequently been incorporated into l essons as a way to make learners more self-aware (Brown, 2001). However, the simple insertion of these surveys into a lesson does not a reflective learner make, as I have found in the past. The teaching approach itself must be designed to give students some experiential knowledge of whatever declarative knowledge such surveys may inculcate. By introducing learner-reflective strands into an approach, a teacher can foster one of the paradoxes which Palmer claims must be present in a successful classroom; the space of the classroom â€Å"should honor the ‘little stories of the student and the ‘big stories of the disciplines and tradition† (Palmer, 1998, p. 74). II. Needs Assessment Feeling that I know myself well after articulating my beliefs, there is a temptation for me to take some aspects of needs assessment for granted, especially since I have taught at the Leshan Teachers College (LSTC) for nearly 3 years. This is my 2nd year teaching freshman oral English and though I didnt do extensive formal needs assessment last year, I feel very cued-in to student needs in terms of affect, pragmatics and pronunciation. Also, part of my action research (Eberly, 2008) involved significant assessments of the grammaticality of my students speech, so I feel especially familiar with struggles the students may face in this area. Through classroom activities and conversations outside of class, I have learned much about the future plans, hopes and dreams of many of my students. Yet, student populations are not monolithic and even though the collectivist nature of Chinese culture makes it tempting to paint different groups of students with the same pedagogical brush, there wil l undoubtedly be subtle and not-so-subtle differences from year to year or group to group. The foregoing introduction has largely ignored what is potentially the biggest advantage, for experienced teachers in familiar environments, in incorporating well-planned needs assessment into their course: the effect on the learner. In addition to providing the teacher with information about how to structure the course initially or alter it as it progresses, needs assessment helps the learners to reflect on their learning, to identify their needs, and to gain a sense of ownership and control of their learning. It establishes learning as a dialogue between the teacher and the learners and among the learners. (Graves, 2008, p. 98) The dialogic nature of assessing needs is one way in which students can be â€Å"heard to speech,† a process which Palmer (1998) describes as necessary not only for the development of interpretive and analytic skills, but also as an affirmation of the humanity of the student. My hunch is that needs assessment rarely takes on a dialogic quality in traditional Chinese classrooms, which tend to be teacher-fronted or hierarchical (Hu, 2002; Pratt, 2007). Yet the benefits far outweigh any drawbacks that may stem from students initial confusion or discomfort when facing the task of assessing their own needs. Pre-course Needs Assessment Dialogue often is thought to occur between two parties, yet there are other interlocutors who contribute to the process of analyzing needs. Though they may not participate directly in the classroom, they nevertheless have important contributions to make to the direction of the course. The overarching goal of oral English classes in the view of the administration of the LSTC is to prepare students for the TEM4 oral English exam during their sophomore year. For this reason, the foreign teachers at LSTC rarely teach courses to students beyond their sophomore year. For teachers who are unfamiliar with their setting, a discussion or interview with the dean or other departmental leader would be necessary as an initial needs assessment to help establish the criteria for the course. Though I have not spoken to many parents of my students during my time here, my hunch is that they would see test preparation as the main objective of any oral English course, or any other course for that matter. A secondary concern for administrators and parents alike is the oral English requirements for any post-graduation job that the student may deign to pursue. As future elementary and secondary teachers, the students will likely need good facility with pronunciation, but fluency will not be as important. This is slowly changing though, and more and more top secondary schools are demanding teachers who can teach in English. For students who opt for other careers involving English, including business, tour guiding and interpretation, all facets of their oral English will need to be well-developed. I see the value of washback from the TEM4, which is scored on the basis of student competence in pronunciation, grammatical accuracy and fluency through the modalities of an impromptu speech, dialogue and story retelling (Wen, Zhao Wang, 2001). Yet I would seek to augment the criteria of the TEM4 with several of my own. As a firm believer in the value of relationships, I would argue that pragmatic, cultural and confidence-building activities are necessary to promote relationships between the students and foreigners. Though students and other stakeholders may not see much need for these skills, the day of Chinas full integration into the international community is fast dawning. Ive seen almost exponential growth since my arrival here in opportunities for students and recent graduates to go abroad. Also, as Chinas economic growth rate continues to outpace much of the rest of the world, foreigners flock here in increasing numbers to work, study and tour. Beyond these potential encounte rs with speakers of English, the students will have 3 or 4 other foreign teachers during their 4 years of study at LSTC and the ability to form relationships with these native speakers of English will to some degree determine a students success in those courses. The following table consists of stakeholder data collection procedures and descriptions. The procedures contained therein do more than just provide the teacher with a means to assess the needs of students, they also seek to enable students to self-assess. Though student self-assessment is not a significant facet in Chinese pedagogy, I feel these assignments will benefit them in their future language studies and in their life in general. Table 1: Stakeholder Data Collection Procedures Pre-field needs assessment Since my course is a mere 14 hours of total class time not counting the test, incorporating student input into my needs assessment will have to be done as efficiently as possible.   As a way to collect basic initial information, a survey questionnaire will be distributed on the first day of class and assigned for completion as homework. (see appendix A)   Assigning the survey as homework will allow students to use their dictionaries and work at their own pace.   The questionnaire has 2 main foci in addition to basic information needed for classroom administrative purposes.   One focus is students self-perceived weaknesses and strengths in relating to native English speakers.   Another focus is pronunciation; in what ways have students learned pronunciation, successfully or unsuccessfully, in the past? Because the Challenge to Speak 1 textbook by Wilson E., C. Olson, H-Y. Li, X-N. Chen B-H. Yao (2005) will be used in the course, the initial survey includes a list of the language functions included in this text and students are asked to rank their top three preferences in terms of functions to study during the semester as well as designate any of the functions they already feel comfortable performing.   In addition, a significant portion of the initial pronunciation needs assessment will occur in the second week with a recording and transcription project that will test students self-awareness of their pronunciation and spoken grammar. Field needs assessment In conjunction with an action research project on pronunciation, much of the on-going needs assessment will be performed concurrently with end-of-cycle data collection.   These attempts to gauge students feelings on both pronunciation and wider classroom issues will have to be done delicately to avoid overwhelming students who may have difficulty seeing the purpose behind providing the teacher so much subjective feedback.   Each of these short end-of-cycle questionnaires will feature 2 questions requiring written answers and 5 Likert survey items as well as opportunities for students to write further questions or comments about the course.   The initial 2 questions about pronunciation are likely to change from cycle to cycle; however, the Likert statements will remain the same.   Interviews with 3 students will be performed at the conclusion of each cycle, with the intention of gaining deeper insights into some of the issues raised in the surveys. Objective feedback will be obtained through the use of in-class recordings.   Though checking pronunciation will be the overarching goal of this technique, secondary information will be gleaned about the students ability to stay on task, interest in the activity, comprehension of directions, etc†¦ Recordings will be made in both small-group and whole-class settings. Post-field needs assessment My hope is that a large portion of the assessment and analysis at the conclusion of the course can be accomplished through a repeat of the initial recording and transcription project assigned during the second week of class.   By having students record and transcribe a passage which incorporates the gamut of English phonology as well as respond to several prompted questions, I hope to gauge their pronunciation and awareness of themselves as speakers.   If they produce fewer errors overall and are better able to articulate their pronunciation and grammar errors the second time through, I will consider them successful learners who have completed a successful course. III. Developing Learning Outcomes The challenge in developing learning outcomes is to balance the learning space between an authoritarian approach in which the teacher is constantly forcing their goals upon the students and an anarchist approach in which each student pursues their own agenda.   Undoubtedly needs assessment plays a role in giving the students a voice in planning the outcomes of a course.   Yet I have found in my particular locale in China that students accustomed to a teacher-centered approach may have difficulty in articulating what they hope to learn in a course.   Thus in attempting to maintain a space that is both â€Å"bounded and open,† in the words of Palmer, (1998, p. 74) I have often erred in the bounded direction.   I hope in this course, through dialogic needs analysis and attempting to articulate that which my students may find difficult, to be â€Å"open to the many paths down which discovery may take us, to the surprises that always come with real learning† (Palmer, 1998, p. 75). Of course this is not to say that the teacher should approach every course with a blank mindset and allow the students to do all the leading.   Taking into account the context of the course and the beliefs of the teacher will start a teacher down the road of formulating goals for a course.   But it is important to follow up on this start and define the course goals as precisely as possible.   A course â€Å"will be effective to the extent that its goals are sound and clearly stated† (Richards, 2001, p. 112).   The better able the teacher is to articulate the goals, the more succinctly they will be able to inform their students of the direction of the course an important consideration for a course with less than 14 hours of class time. While there are a plethora of philosophies and frameworks to draw on when establishing goals,   I find myself most adherent to theories of cultural pluralism as defined by Richards (2001) and the framework of ATASK formulated by David Thomson (as cited in Graves, 2000).   Obviously, there are pieces from each of the 5 philosophies described by Richards that I find attractive, yet my setting and beliefs make cultural pluralism the most relevant and accessible to me and my students.   I think the inclusion of a teacher parameter in the ATASK (Awareness, Teacher, Attitude, Skills, Knowledge) acronym allows me to articulate learning goals that I may have for a particular course.   Though social reconstructivists or critical pedagogues may wish to explode the teacher/student dichotomy, I dont think we can throw all power structure out the window.   The ATASK framework allows me to view myself as a learner and my students as teachers, which is something likely to be beneficial to both of us. The following table briefly outlines my goals and objectives according the to ATASK framework.   The pre-course portion of my needs assessment informs some of these goals and objectives.   Table 2: Though it is te Designing an Oral English Teaching Course Designing an Oral English Teaching Course Introduction: Context Defining context is necessary for developing any course plan because the students, stakeholders and setting of the course have a large impact on all that is taught and learned. The very concepts of teaching and learning are culturally dependent and therefore care must be taken to match student and stakeholder expectations. Or in some cases it may appropriate to gently push the boundaries of what is acceptable and in so doing reveal a new way of learning and thinking. A cursory knowledge of the context is often not enough to push such boundaries. â€Å"The more information you have about the context the more able you will be to make decisions and to plan an effective course† (Graves 2000, p 18). This oral English course will take place at Leshan Teachers College in the mid-sized city of Leshan, in Sichuan province, China. This institution could be considered a 3rd tier college which grants bachelors and associates degrees to students headed for careers as secondary and elementary teachers. A minority of these English majors will go on to careers in translation, business or tour guiding. A minority will also go on for further study in various graduate fields. The institution offers no guidelines for the course except that the textbook titled Challenge to Speak by Wilson, Olson, Li, Chen and Yao (2005) be used as a text. The teacher is required to develop their own test for use in the course. The 1st year students enrolled in this course come directly from high school and the majority of them are from rural areas of Sichuan province. Many of their families work in agriculture or serve as migrant workers in factories or on construction projects in the eastern provinces. Students are often disappointed at being assigned to study at Leshan Teachers College. Many had hoped to attend somewhere with more prestige, but in spite of some initial disappointment, most are willing to study hard to improve their English. Previous to having this class, many of the students have not had a foreign teacher. Though they have studied English for at least 6 years in elementary and high school, they generally dont see English as a way to build relationships. Most of their focus in their English studies had been on reading and writing with the goal of doing well on the college entrance exams. Most of them lack the oral ability or confidence to consider beginning a conversation with the foreigners that they may occasionally see in their daily life. Though educational philosophies are gradually changing throughout China, the college entrance exam still dictates that much rote learning take place. In foreign language teaching, theories of grammar-translation and audio-lingualism predominate. Generally, students are not taught to question their textbooks, their teachers or their learning methods. Students typically follow their teachers recommendations and assignments very closely and rarely initiate studies on their own. That being said, their powers of memorization and grammar knowledge are usually quite good in comparison to their ability to speak extemporaneously in conversation. The course meets one time per week for two 45 minute periods. Due to a late arrival on campus and a week of military training, the 1st year students semester lasts only 12 weeks. With the distractions that come with adapting to life in new surroundings, the 1st semester of the 1st year typically features a lighter academic load. Many of these students have not been away from their parents before and this obviously affects students in different ways; some embrace their new-found independence while some long for home. I. Teacher Beliefs Though a course or a language program is set in a specific locale, and may try to incorporate the desires and needs of many students and stakeholders, ultimately the composition of the course or program flows from one source: the beliefs and identity of the teacher. Successful teaching requires knowledge beyond just the subject being taught; only through self-knowledge can a teacher fully inhabit the combined public and private persona that a teacher must assume (Palmer, 1998). The beliefs of a teacher regarding the subject being taught and nature of teaching and learning will have significant implications in the design of a course; however, a teachers worldview may impact his or her teaching approach in ways that are just as significant, but perhaps less apparent. Since language teaching often involves cultural differences between teachers and students, teachers may need to adjust some of their beliefs when or if they significantly violate the cultural norms of students (Graves, 2000; Lingenfelter Lingenfelter, 2003). While Johnson (1998, as cited in Graves, 2000) points out that many of a teachers beliefs can be difficult to articulate or can hide under the surface of his or her teaching, my experiences with the cross-cultural frictions found in language classrooms have often raised to my consciousness beliefs and values that would have remained hidden in monocultural classrooms. As teachers engage with different student populations, study language acquisition theory or perform action research, they may alter some aspects of their beliefs. This is only natural. The possibility of change ought to propel a teacher toward constant reevaluation of their beliefs because only an intimate acquaintance with ones beliefs allows a teacher to articulat e why a particular lesson was effective or ineffective (Graves, 2000). Nature of Language Just as language is constantly evolving and adding new words from a multiplicity of sources, so my beliefs about the nature of language continue to evolve. Originally, I had viewed language as primarily driven by the lexicon. Through performing action research on form-focused approaches, I have come to realize that grammar plays a role that is nearly as important as vocabulary (Eberly, 2008). But, language goes beyond mundane concerns such as conditional forms or definitions extracted from dictionaries; when forms and words are artfully rendered into literature, the result is somehow more than the sum of its parts. Language is capable of exquisite beauty, but it is not only in its ability to represent the physical world where this beauty is apparent. Its ability to capture the minute inner-workings of the self is peerless among the fine arts, at least in my view. As a literature major in my undergraduate years, I may be biased, yet Ive found the habit of reading literature and writing a journal to be the best means of understanding myself. Language is not only something one engages in alone, it is also a means to develop relationships. Though meanings occasionally get obscured in our speech with others, language is what separates us from animals and allows us to work together as villages, countries and with people from around the world to achieve mutually beneficial objectives. Love, as a supreme human experience, would be incomplete or impossible without language as a means of expressing that love. Language Learning My beliefs on language learning grow out of my view of language and out of my awareness of myself as a learner. The relational nature of languages and my level of connection to native speakers have played a large role in my success in learning Chinese and Korean, and my comparative failure in learning Spanish in high school and as an undergraduate. Coming from a largely monocultural area of Ohio limited my exposure to native Spanish speakers. So, during my high school and undergraduate days, I saw Spanish as book-bound and irrelevant to daily life perhaps akin to how some of my students feel toward English today. Yet living in Korea and China while I have studied those respective languages has allowed me to know the people that are connected with the languages. It has been my relationships to those native-speaking people friends, colleagues, students and above all teachers that have energized my studies and made me successful. This is very much in line with Vygotsky (1978) who first noted the crucial role that sympathetic interlocutors play in forming L1 competence in children (as cited in Lightbown Spada, 2006). Brown (2001) carried this into the L2 arena with his interactive approach which in essence declared that it is through meaningful interaction that learning occurs most effectively. Curran also recycles some of these relational ideas in his Community Language Learning approach (Brown, 2001). World View Not only do my beliefs on this issue arise out of my experiences as a language learner, they are also rooted in my spiritual understanding of my relationship to God. The Bible is a record of mankinds relationship with God and according to the Bible, humans were created for the express purpose of being in relationship with God. The arrival of Jesus on earth heralded the willingness of God to send and sacrifice his only Son so that believers might relate to more than just a book or a set of laws; through Jesus, an intimacy with God is possible. My life has been a gradual discovering of just how fulfilling this relationship can be. But though Jesus calls everyone into relationship with Him, He does not force anyone into a relationship they may not desire. This freedom of choice is an important element in any relationship and endues the weaker party with an agency, or freedom of choice, which is a necessary element in establishing an inquiry-based educational environment (Freire, 1996). Language Teaching This type of mutually respectful relationship causes not only an increase in knowledge about the other with whom one is in relationship, it also forces a reevaluation of the self as the two mutually define and refine each other. Language teaching approaches that do not in some way promote learner introspection run the risk of creating automaton learners, who, when left to their own devices, lack the ability to carry on with their learning. Undoubtedly, some implicit learner reflection on teaching and learning philosophies is inevitable when the teacher is from another culture. Yet, deliberate activities and assignments which nudge students toward greater reflection of their learning processes and preferences have been shown to lead to greater student proficiency over the long term (Snow, 1996; Brown, 2001). A host of surveys and inventories like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Rebecca Oxfords Strategy Inventory for Language Learners (SILL) have frequently been incorporated into l essons as a way to make learners more self-aware (Brown, 2001). However, the simple insertion of these surveys into a lesson does not a reflective learner make, as I have found in the past. The teaching approach itself must be designed to give students some experiential knowledge of whatever declarative knowledge such surveys may inculcate. By introducing learner-reflective strands into an approach, a teacher can foster one of the paradoxes which Palmer claims must be present in a successful classroom; the space of the classroom â€Å"should honor the ‘little stories of the student and the ‘big stories of the disciplines and tradition† (Palmer, 1998, p. 74). II. Needs Assessment Feeling that I know myself well after articulating my beliefs, there is a temptation for me to take some aspects of needs assessment for granted, especially since I have taught at the Leshan Teachers College (LSTC) for nearly 3 years. This is my 2nd year teaching freshman oral English and though I didnt do extensive formal needs assessment last year, I feel very cued-in to student needs in terms of affect, pragmatics and pronunciation. Also, part of my action research (Eberly, 2008) involved significant assessments of the grammaticality of my students speech, so I feel especially familiar with struggles the students may face in this area. Through classroom activities and conversations outside of class, I have learned much about the future plans, hopes and dreams of many of my students. Yet, student populations are not monolithic and even though the collectivist nature of Chinese culture makes it tempting to paint different groups of students with the same pedagogical brush, there wil l undoubtedly be subtle and not-so-subtle differences from year to year or group to group. The foregoing introduction has largely ignored what is potentially the biggest advantage, for experienced teachers in familiar environments, in incorporating well-planned needs assessment into their course: the effect on the learner. In addition to providing the teacher with information about how to structure the course initially or alter it as it progresses, needs assessment helps the learners to reflect on their learning, to identify their needs, and to gain a sense of ownership and control of their learning. It establishes learning as a dialogue between the teacher and the learners and among the learners. (Graves, 2008, p. 98) The dialogic nature of assessing needs is one way in which students can be â€Å"heard to speech,† a process which Palmer (1998) describes as necessary not only for the development of interpretive and analytic skills, but also as an affirmation of the humanity of the student. My hunch is that needs assessment rarely takes on a dialogic quality in traditional Chinese classrooms, which tend to be teacher-fronted or hierarchical (Hu, 2002; Pratt, 2007). Yet the benefits far outweigh any drawbacks that may stem from students initial confusion or discomfort when facing the task of assessing their own needs. Pre-course Needs Assessment Dialogue often is thought to occur between two parties, yet there are other interlocutors who contribute to the process of analyzing needs. Though they may not participate directly in the classroom, they nevertheless have important contributions to make to the direction of the course. The overarching goal of oral English classes in the view of the administration of the LSTC is to prepare students for the TEM4 oral English exam during their sophomore year. For this reason, the foreign teachers at LSTC rarely teach courses to students beyond their sophomore year. For teachers who are unfamiliar with their setting, a discussion or interview with the dean or other departmental leader would be necessary as an initial needs assessment to help establish the criteria for the course. Though I have not spoken to many parents of my students during my time here, my hunch is that they would see test preparation as the main objective of any oral English course, or any other course for that matter. A secondary concern for administrators and parents alike is the oral English requirements for any post-graduation job that the student may deign to pursue. As future elementary and secondary teachers, the students will likely need good facility with pronunciation, but fluency will not be as important. This is slowly changing though, and more and more top secondary schools are demanding teachers who can teach in English. For students who opt for other careers involving English, including business, tour guiding and interpretation, all facets of their oral English will need to be well-developed. I see the value of washback from the TEM4, which is scored on the basis of student competence in pronunciation, grammatical accuracy and fluency through the modalities of an impromptu speech, dialogue and story retelling (Wen, Zhao Wang, 2001). Yet I would seek to augment the criteria of the TEM4 with several of my own. As a firm believer in the value of relationships, I would argue that pragmatic, cultural and confidence-building activities are necessary to promote relationships between the students and foreigners. Though students and other stakeholders may not see much need for these skills, the day of Chinas full integration into the international community is fast dawning. Ive seen almost exponential growth since my arrival here in opportunities for students and recent graduates to go abroad. Also, as Chinas economic growth rate continues to outpace much of the rest of the world, foreigners flock here in increasing numbers to work, study and tour. Beyond these potential encounte rs with speakers of English, the students will have 3 or 4 other foreign teachers during their 4 years of study at LSTC and the ability to form relationships with these native speakers of English will to some degree determine a students success in those courses. The following table consists of stakeholder data collection procedures and descriptions. The procedures contained therein do more than just provide the teacher with a means to assess the needs of students, they also seek to enable students to self-assess. Though student self-assessment is not a significant facet in Chinese pedagogy, I feel these assignments will benefit them in their future language studies and in their life in general. Table 1: Stakeholder Data Collection Procedures Pre-field needs assessment Since my course is a mere 14 hours of total class time not counting the test, incorporating student input into my needs assessment will have to be done as efficiently as possible.   As a way to collect basic initial information, a survey questionnaire will be distributed on the first day of class and assigned for completion as homework. (see appendix A)   Assigning the survey as homework will allow students to use their dictionaries and work at their own pace.   The questionnaire has 2 main foci in addition to basic information needed for classroom administrative purposes.   One focus is students self-perceived weaknesses and strengths in relating to native English speakers.   Another focus is pronunciation; in what ways have students learned pronunciation, successfully or unsuccessfully, in the past? Because the Challenge to Speak 1 textbook by Wilson E., C. Olson, H-Y. Li, X-N. Chen B-H. Yao (2005) will be used in the course, the initial survey includes a list of the language functions included in this text and students are asked to rank their top three preferences in terms of functions to study during the semester as well as designate any of the functions they already feel comfortable performing.   In addition, a significant portion of the initial pronunciation needs assessment will occur in the second week with a recording and transcription project that will test students self-awareness of their pronunciation and spoken grammar. Field needs assessment In conjunction with an action research project on pronunciation, much of the on-going needs assessment will be performed concurrently with end-of-cycle data collection.   These attempts to gauge students feelings on both pronunciation and wider classroom issues will have to be done delicately to avoid overwhelming students who may have difficulty seeing the purpose behind providing the teacher so much subjective feedback.   Each of these short end-of-cycle questionnaires will feature 2 questions requiring written answers and 5 Likert survey items as well as opportunities for students to write further questions or comments about the course.   The initial 2 questions about pronunciation are likely to change from cycle to cycle; however, the Likert statements will remain the same.   Interviews with 3 students will be performed at the conclusion of each cycle, with the intention of gaining deeper insights into some of the issues raised in the surveys. Objective feedback will be obtained through the use of in-class recordings.   Though checking pronunciation will be the overarching goal of this technique, secondary information will be gleaned about the students ability to stay on task, interest in the activity, comprehension of directions, etc†¦ Recordings will be made in both small-group and whole-class settings. Post-field needs assessment My hope is that a large portion of the assessment and analysis at the conclusion of the course can be accomplished through a repeat of the initial recording and transcription project assigned during the second week of class.   By having students record and transcribe a passage which incorporates the gamut of English phonology as well as respond to several prompted questions, I hope to gauge their pronunciation and awareness of themselves as speakers.   If they produce fewer errors overall and are better able to articulate their pronunciation and grammar errors the second time through, I will consider them successful learners who have completed a successful course. III. Developing Learning Outcomes The challenge in developing learning outcomes is to balance the learning space between an authoritarian approach in which the teacher is constantly forcing their goals upon the students and an anarchist approach in which each student pursues their own agenda.   Undoubtedly needs assessment plays a role in giving the students a voice in planning the outcomes of a course.   Yet I have found in my particular locale in China that students accustomed to a teacher-centered approach may have difficulty in articulating what they hope to learn in a course.   Thus in attempting to maintain a space that is both â€Å"bounded and open,† in the words of Palmer, (1998, p. 74) I have often erred in the bounded direction.   I hope in this course, through dialogic needs analysis and attempting to articulate that which my students may find difficult, to be â€Å"open to the many paths down which discovery may take us, to the surprises that always come with real learning† (Palmer, 1998, p. 75). Of course this is not to say that the teacher should approach every course with a blank mindset and allow the students to do all the leading.   Taking into account the context of the course and the beliefs of the teacher will start a teacher down the road of formulating goals for a course.   But it is important to follow up on this start and define the course goals as precisely as possible.   A course â€Å"will be effective to the extent that its goals are sound and clearly stated† (Richards, 2001, p. 112).   The better able the teacher is to articulate the goals, the more succinctly they will be able to inform their students of the direction of the course an important consideration for a course with less than 14 hours of class time. While there are a plethora of philosophies and frameworks to draw on when establishing goals,   I find myself most adherent to theories of cultural pluralism as defined by Richards (2001) and the framework of ATASK formulated by David Thomson (as cited in Graves, 2000).   Obviously, there are pieces from each of the 5 philosophies described by Richards that I find attractive, yet my setting and beliefs make cultural pluralism the most relevant and accessible to me and my students.   I think the inclusion of a teacher parameter in the ATASK (Awareness, Teacher, Attitude, Skills, Knowledge) acronym allows me to articulate learning goals that I may have for a particular course.   Though social reconstructivists or critical pedagogues may wish to explode the teacher/student dichotomy, I dont think we can throw all power structure out the window.   The ATASK framework allows me to view myself as a learner and my students as teachers, which is something likely to be beneficial to both of us. The following table briefly outlines my goals and objectives according the to ATASK framework.   The pre-course portion of my needs assessment informs some of these goals and objectives.   Table 2: Though it is te

SEC :: essays research papers

The Internet has transformed the computer and communications world like nothing before. The Internet is also known as the world-wide web, which has the capability of gathering information, and can communicate between individuals and their computers no matter where the geographic location. The Internet started some thirty years ago; it has been one the best investments that researchers have spent their time and commitment on. Today millions of people use the internet. The Internet is a widespread information infrastructure. Its history is complicated and its influence reaches not only to the technical fields of computer communications but throughout society as we move toward increasing the use of online tools to accomplish electronic commerce, information acquisition, and community operations. The Internet History The original name of the Internet was the Arpanet. The internet was based on the idea that there was going to be more than one independent network, with the Arpanet as the ground-breaking packet switching network. The Arpanet would soon include ground based packet radio networks, packet satellite networks, and other networks. In this approach, the choice of any individual network technology was not dictated by particular network architecture but rather could be selected freely by a provider and made to work with the other networks. Up until that time there was only one general method for federating networks. This was the traditional circuit switching method where networks would interconnect at the circuit level, passing individual bits on a synchronous basis along a portion of an end-to-end circuit between a pair of end locations. 1   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1. Cerf, Vinton Pages 10-20 In 1961 Kleinrock showed that packet switching was a more efficient switching method. Distinctive purpose interconnection preparations between networks were another possibility, along with packet switching. While there were other limited ways to interconnect different networks, they required that one be used as a component of the other. As an open-architecture network, individual networks could be designed separately and developed so each can have its own distinctive interface which it may offer to users and other Internet providers. Each network can be designed in accordance with the specific environment and user requirements of that network. There are typically no constraints on the type of network that can be included. Open architecture networking was introduced by Kahn in 1972, after his arrival at DARPA. This work was originally part of the packet radio program, but then became a separate program in its own right.

Porter’s 5 Forces and Pest Analyses of Kraft Foods Essay

ABSTRACT This paper will show the various analyses of Porter’s 5 Forces upon Kraft Foods as well as a PEST analysis of external factors influencing the company. Porter’s 5 Forces are industry environments: 1. The threat of new entrants to the foods industry (low) Online grocery shopping is proving to be a formidable threat. (Food Retailing Industry, 02/2/12) 2. The bargaining power of suppliers (medium to high) Agriculture has been impoverished by the U. S. drought in 2011-12 causing enormous loss of crops and animals. This devastation has resulted in less supply and much higher price demands. (Lempert, P. 12/12) 3. The bargaining power of customers (medium to high) Poor economic conditions, obesity and other health concerns mean customers are demanding healthier foods and snacks (Lempert, P. 12/12 Baby boomers, millennials, and cultural diversity are using smartphones and apps to search for similar products at better prices (Food Retailing 2/2/12). 4. The availability of substitutes (low) Grow your own, buy fresh foods, and eating out would be alternatives to Kraft’s processed foods. (Kraft Annual Report 10K 12/31/11). For most consumers, time and money constraints would preclude these alternatives. 5. The degree of rivalry among competitors (high) Kellogg holds 34.2% of the cereal market. This is a large percentage considering there is a greater demand for cereal nationwide. Other significant competitors are General Mills, Hershey, Nestle, and PepsiCo. (Kraft Foods Annual Report 2011). PEST analyses represent macro-environment: 1. Political In 2011, political upheaval in Egypt forced Kraft to suspend operations there (Just Food 2/11). Of the 300 workers, 250 joined to form a Union. In 2012, the new government instituted a social allowance which Kraft refused to pay resulting in a 3-day sit-in. Kraft fired five board members hoping to eliminate the union (IUF, May, 2012). This has caused much negative public relations. The Cadbury debacle (Chellel, 5/23/11) also tarnished Kraft’s reputation. 2. Economic Drought has caused raw products prices to rise. Unemployment has caused America’s middle class to shrink from 61% in 1971 to 51% in 2011 (Lempert, P 12/12) 3. Sociocultural The demand for healthier foods and snacks will cause Kraft to examine methods to provide these. The change of packaging and marketing will be necessary (Lempert, P. 12/12). 4. Technical The impact of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter can have devastating effects on Kraft’s reputation (Lempert, P. 12/12). Customers have access to apps that direct them to online grocery shopping and availability of similar products at lower prices. Porter’s 5 forces and PEST analyses of Kraft Foods In this paper, I will examine the effect of Porter’s 5 forces upon Kraft Foods Industry. I will present sources to validate those effects and explain how those sources are relevant. I will also present a PEST analysis using the information gleaned from the previous sources. The references will be critiqued. Porter’s 5 forces Threat of New Entrants (low) Food Retailing Industry: Market Research Reports, Statistics and Analysis http://www.reportlinker.com/ci02212/Food-Retailing.html. This site reports new trends in the retail food industry. It brings the information down to the customer in the grocery store who may now be using a smartphone to find a better price of a comparable product. The consumer’s limited time and demand for quality may be a driving force for online grocery purchases. Since Kraft sells mainly to large resellers, online suppliers may not offer their products. The strength of this article is that it concerns how the end consumer may be willing to change to private label or store brands to save time and money. It is useful in conducting an external evaluation because it focuses on how the consumer is changing grocery shopping and brand allegiances. Its weakness is that it concerns only the retail food industry. It does not address new manufacturing entrants to the food industry. The bargaining power of suppliers (medium to high) Lempert, P. Top Ten Food Trends December 21, 2012 http://www.factsfiguresfuture.com/issues/december-2012/top-ten-food-trends-2013.html. Phil Lempert, the supermarket guru, talks about the devastation that the United States drought in 2012 has caused in the food industry. There were enormous losses of both crops and animals. Because of this situation, suppliers have less supply and demand higher prices. Higher prices of groceries has forced the consumer to take note of how much food is being wasted and investing those grocery dollars in good snacks and healthy meals The author of this article, Phil Lembert, is an author, speaker, and food expert. His consumer panel of more than 100,000 opt-in participants contributes to his website. The strengths lie in the reliability of the author and his work. He addresses many different food trends for this New Year that will impact food manufacturers. However, Lempert only writes from the customer’s point of view, not the manufacturer. This is an especially helpful site to find several factors needed to do a PEST analysis for Kraft, including bargaining power of suppliers. The bargaining power of customers (medium to high) Lempert, P. Top Ten Food Trends (December 21, 2012) http://www.factsfiguresfuture.com/issues/december-2012/top-ten-food-trends-2013.html. Once again, Phil Lempert cites the bargaining power of customers in his article. Poor economic conditions have necessitated smarter use of grocery dollars. The grocery shopper wants quality products for a reasonable price. Pre-packaged whole meals have given way to more home cooking. Food Retailing Industry: Market Research Reports, Statistics and Analysis (February, 2012) http://www.reportlinker.com/ci02212/Food-Retailing.html. Improved technology is adding to the clout that customers have. Baby boomers and millennials are using apps to search out similar products at better prices.

Pond Lab Report essays

Pond Lab Report essays In the pond water lab experiment, our group has chosen to test the effects of nitrates on a pond community. After a lot of research, we have found that nitrates in a pond community can increase growth rates of plants and some animals. The effects of nitrates include algal blooms, which is when too much food or nutrients are consumed by producers, (i.e. algae) causing them to grow and spread, so they consume all of the dissolved oxygen in the water. Most animals in water like many kinds of fish and some insects need certain levels of dissolved oxygen to live. When it is used up due to algal blooms, they die due to lack of oxygen. It also causes plants who need certain levels of dissolved oxygen to die, so it starves creatures that eat the plants. The safest range of nitrates in an environment is 3-10 PPM. Although too many nitrates can kill them, they still need some small amounts of nitrate. So if there is too little nitrates, then plant life is limited to the amount of food availabl e, giving room for a small, healthy community. The substance enters streams and ponds from fertilizers from farms, animal urine, septic tanks, landfills or agricultural activity. Nitrates are very common. My prediction for this experiment is that the nitrates will cause increased algae growth. Thus providing more food for the creatures in our sample. But since this is a short period of time, I expect the creatures to peak rather than die, because not enough time will pass for the algal bloom process to take place. Our group is trying to find the effects of increased amounts of nitrates in the pond community. Whether or not it is healthy for creatures living in the environment. In addition, what the results are or the effects of the pollutant on plant life and animal life. I expect for this experiment, that the plant life will thrive more and more with the different levels of nitrates entered into the pond samples. I expect for the animal ...

Sister Act Critical Review

Sister Act Critical Review The Production Overview Sister Act is the famous Broadway musical which could also be seen at the Fox Theatre during November nights. This fact is important because many people interested in musical and comedy should see Sister Act which can be discussed as the funny and impressing show.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Sister Act: Critical Review specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The show is based on the music by Alan Menken, and the variety of wonderful songs the lyrics to which is written by Glenn Slater is presented in the musical. The story written by Cheri Steinkellner and Bill Steinkellner is based round the person of Deloris Van Cartier who became the witness of a crime and should have been hidden in a convent where this diva changed her life and the life of Mother Superior and other sisters. The character of Deloris Van Cartier was played by Raven Simone. The Environment The musical show could be se en at the Fox Theatre which is the effectively arranged performing arts center. While discussing the settings, it is important to note that decorative elements were chosen carefully not to draw the audience’s attention from the persons of singers. On the contrary, the dresses of the singers were rather vivid when the elements of show were accentuated, and they were rather simple when the events in a convent were discussed. The most important and vivid factors were the observed behaviors of the singers who attracted the attention of the audience from the first second of the musical. The Music Sister Act is written and performed as the typical comedy musical developed according to the Broadway traditions and principles to focus on the show. The funny story presents Deloris Van Cartier, a singing diva. This woman has to hide in a convent in order to avoid the gangsters’ revenge. Mother Superior begins to supervise Deloris, and the young woman decides to help with improvin g the convent’s choir. Deloris succeeds in her activities, and the choir becomes really popular because of Deloris’s focus on the show. The events of the story are reflected in the songs which can be described as belonging to funk, soul, and disco music styles. As a result, the leading singers change their singing styles according to the concrete song, contributing to the music’s variety. The use of the chorus performing soul songs is necessary to accentuate the significant and solemn events demonstrated in the musical. The used music is different in relation to genres and their combination because it is necessary to represent the nature and mood of the discussed moment. Thus, disco emphasizes funny moments, when soul is used to depict the characters’ feelings. The songs are performed in English, and the audience has the opportunity to understand the great lyrics by Glenn Slater. This musical can exist without the music, but only in the form of a movie.Ad vertising Looking for critical writing on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is also necessary to describe the lighting, sets, and acting. The show is organized carefully, and the lighting is used to emphasize the leading singers whose acting is rather perfect because they reflect the characters’ emotions through music and singing styles. Thus, musical can be discussed as more interesting than the movie because the mix of dancing and singing provides the necessary focus on the characters’ emotions to produce the definite atmosphere rather than on the aspects of acting, as it is in movies. Performance The leading singers perform such beautiful songs as â€Å"Take Me to Heaven†, â€Å"Sunday Morning Fever†, and â€Å"Raise Your Voice† among the others. The fact that the actors represented all the emotions hidden in the songs perfectly supports the idea that the singers were prepared carefully. The music was rather balanced in relation to loudness or softness in order to emphasize the definite moments in the songs. Furthermore, it is important to pay attention to the vocal quality of singers who demonstrated the impressing easiness while shifting from one genre to another or one singing style to another to address the character of the songs. The audience reacted to the performers positively because this musical can be discussed as unusual in relation to all its elements. The focus on the soft narration is changed with the vivid show, and these extremes are rather pleasant for the public because they are reflected in the music’s variety. Thus, the funky music with the elements of disco and soul based on the vivid show was the strongest feature of the musical. Moreover, the musical is effective because the audience can enjoy switching moods and tempos in the songs in order to accentuate the characters’ emotions. General Reactions Seein g Sister Act can add to the audience’s understanding of the genre of musical because this comedy reflects many typical features characteristic for musicals. However, this experience can be rather unique because this musical exaggerates the element of comedy in it and combines comedy with the vivid show. Thus, it is possible to recommend attending Sister Act because the variety of songs and actions can contribute to the person’s understanding of the musical genre and to raising the moods significantly. Sister Act supports the idea that musicals are often vivid shows.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Sister Act: Critical Review specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More

6 top retail jobs this holiday season and how to get them

6 top retail jobs this holiday season and how to get them As the weather gets colder, that means two things: the holidays are coming, and there will be a lot of seasonal retail jobs opening up. Whether you’re looking for a side gig to make extra money or a right-now job to get you through the holidays, retail is the place to be from October until January. The seasonal holiday job is a perennial classic opportunity for temporary work, or an experience-building job that can be your entry point to a longer career working in retail. Let’s look at six of the top retail job opportunities available this holiday season.Retail Sales AssociateThis is kind of the classic seasonal job. Brick and mortar stores are busier than ever around the holidays, and they need the kind of all-hands-on-deck staffs that will let them boost those crucial holiday sales while keeping the store running smoothly. Retail sales associates may be responsible for stocking shelves, merchandising, cashier-ing, or working directly with customers. They may also be b ehind the scenes, assisting with incoming shipments and helping to manage inventory.Holiday sales associates are usually expected to work long or late shifts to accommodate for expanded store hours, and potentially on holidays (especially as more and more stores creep their Black Friday specials into Thanksgiving Day). It’s a hectic pace and you may be expected to be on your feet for most of it, so it’s important to have the physical stamina to withstand the holiday rush. This job may also involved a certain amount of heavy lifting and reaching.To get started as a retail sales associate, the bigger retailers (think Target, WalMart, Kohl’s, Toys ‘R Us, etc.) are almost always hiring seasonal help, but also be sure to check out smaller stores, who may also need holiday associates.What you’ll need: A solid retail resume, for starters, and also a strong set of customer service skills. You’ll also need general retail skills like good organization, time management, the ability to work independently without constant oversight, and math skills. You’ll also need to be flexible on your availability to work.Customer Service RepresentativeMore customers means more customer needs, and many stores and companies bulk up their customer service departments for the holidays. In retail, that often means manning the phones, internet chat programs, or social media platforms to make sure that customer issues and complaints are being handled quickly and appropriately. Customer service representatives may also be tasked with giving information to customers, processing returns or refunds, escalating customer issues appropriately, and troubleshooting specific issues. Because customer service doesn’t necessarily coincide with a store’s hours (and even less so if a store does a brisk holiday business online), the shifts may be overnight, over weekends, or over holidays. This can be a good job for night owls, or someone who has daytime obligations.What you’ll need: A solid customer service resume. You’ll need customer service skills first and foremost, as well as tech skills like handling multi-line phones, recordkeeping software, and internet chat programs. You’ll also need strong problem solving skills, as much of your time may be spent helping to diagnose and resolve problems for customers.Holiday ActorMany malls and stores (especially department stores) have a holiday display with some kind of interactive component (like Santa visits and photos). If you resemble the jolly old head elf himself, all the better. But people of all shapes and sizes are often needed to help out with these displays, shepherding kids through, or acting as elves/reindeer/other holiday characters. You don’t need to have an Academy Award-winning resume, but if you’re interested in working in a retail store without being an associate on the floor, this can be an option. You may be assisting with photo setup, or working on crowd/line management. The name of this position may vary by store. For example, Macy’s calls their fleet of seasonal Santas and elves â€Å"Santaland Sales Associates.†What you’ll need: Great people skills, especially kid-friendly ones. If you’re interested in being Santa himself, there are actually schools for that. Otherwise, skills like organization and time management also serve you well, as stores are just as interested in having these customers spend money in the store as waiting in line to see the holiday display.Retail Housekeeping Associate/JanitorWith all of the holiday shopping chaos, stores can get cluttered and disorganized. Enter the housekeeping staff. Like just about every other retail department, stores often need extra help in the cleaning department as well. These associates may be responsible for cleaning the store before or after hours, maintaining clean public areas during business hours, restocking thing s like boxes and bags in checkout areas, and generally cleaning up messes that occur in all the holiday hubbub. The housekeeping staff helps the operations of a store run more smoothly.What you’ll need: Good time management and organizational skills, and the ability to work independently to do what needs to be done.Warehouse/Shipping AssociateWarehouse staff are more important than ever in the ecommerce boom, and are essential to more traditional retail stores as well. These associates keep products on shelves and arriving at customers’ doors, and during the holidays, companies hire more staff to accommodate the higher volume of orders. Warehouse associates may be responsible for assembling shipments, preparing shipments, processing outgoing and incoming shipments, tracking inventory, and using heavy equipment (Iike forklifts) to move goods and shipments around. Many companies (like Amazon) hire warehouse staff all around the country to make sure their warehouses and s hipping facilities are operating at peak capacity during the busy holiday season.Most companies hire seasonal warehouse associates on a part-time basis, but there may also be full-time opportunities available through the holiday season.What you’ll need: Good physical stamina, as this is often a very physical and demanding job. You may need to be on your feet for shifts, and may be required to perform heavy lifting or other physical tasks. You will likely also need to be flexible on scheduling, as many warehouse jobs have shifts around the clock to accommodate holiday volume.Loss Prevention/Asset Protection AssociateWith holiday crowds come holiday shoplifters, unfortunately, and stores are aware of the need to bring on more security staff than usual to keep an eye on shoppers. Loss prevention and asset protection associates (perhaps better known as security guards) are responsible for ensuring that employees and customers are stealing, and for ensuring the general safety and security of the store. These associates may be stationed at particular points in a mall or store, or may be tasked with circulating and monitoring potential threats. Security associates may also work behind the scenes, monitoring cameras or other surveillance equipment to maintain order and safety, and catch would-be criminals in the act. You may need to work with police or other law enforcement as necessary, and will likely receive on-the-job training about store safety and security procedures and best practices.What you’ll need: A high school degree or equivalent, and prior security experience is ideal. You may also need to pass a background check. And this job also requires strong people and customer service skills.Retail jobs can be pretty diverse, especially when it’s the holidays and stores need more people to do just about everything you can think of. If you feel at home out on the store floor in the holiday crowds, great- but if your skills lean more toward beh ind the scenes customer service, or maintaining the store’s logistical status quo, there are plenty of opportunities there as well. If you’re interested in finding a holiday retail job, the time to get started is now. Hiring is usually done in a fast and furious way to make sure all the staffing is in place before Black Friday ads start hitting the airwaves, so you need to be able to jump on opportunities as you find them.We’ve got all the tools you need to get started in retail, create your resume, and prep for the interview. Good luck, and happy holiday job hunting!

Summary of a book chapter Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 13

Summary of a book chapter - Assignment Example The terrorists undergo various training that are well discussed in this chapter. They include, disguise techniques, clandestine travels, recruitment, communications, handling of weapons- including bombs and explosives, assassination and ambush techniques and even collection of intelligence and counterintelligence methods. Terrorists go to training camps to acquire particular tactics and gain proficiency in a variety of skills. They are taught how to handle and execute terror plans in target states and nations. Such training is usually of a wider array of tactics than that of the counterterrorism police forces. For example, training on Arson and bombs. Terrorist are taught on how to make and use explosives and incendiary bombs. They are provided with guidelines and instructions on how to operate these explosive devices in training camps. Teachings on the incendiary type of weapons give terrorist insights on how to make simple fire bombs using locally available materials such as bottles and inflammable mixture attached to a fuse. In the latter days though, they are taught how to make plastic bombs from plastique that are sophisticated explosives and not readily detectable by most modern airport security. These training camps equip terrorists with assassination and ambush techniques usually how to penetrate through security systems and kill at close range. Methods of clandestine approach, disguise and escape are incorporated with handling and use of handguns fitted with silencers. Such kind of training enabled the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. Another training is on how to raise money through extortion and kidnapping for ransom from wealthy families and employers. It is usually a little risk, but high-profit operation. These terrorists are also trained in recruitment, counterintelligence, and communication. Such training gives them proficiency in acquiring intelligence on

The federal government and Antiterrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The federal government and Antiterrorism - Essay Example However, the Canadian law has been experiencing difficulties in defining terrorism due to various impediments/factors. Among those impediments include; political factors which fail to define well the beginning and the end of terrorism acts. Secondly, government’s attempt to have a broad definition of terrorism has made the term to become so ambiguous and controversial as it tends to include non terrorism acts (The Government of Canada Ministry of Justice, 2013). The Canadian federal government established Antiterrorism Act, a legal framework that was aimed at establishing measures to deal with terrorism activities. The framework consists of the following elements; penal law for terrorism acts, listing of terrorism groups/entities, definition of terrorism acts/offences, investigation of terrorism acts, recognition of terrorism condition/acts, establishment of tools and equipments for detecting terrorism activities such as surveillance, identification of hate/prejudice crimes, i dentification of ways of terrorism financing, amendment of information security act and finally establishment of various amendments of security intelligence act (The Government of Canada Ministry of Justice, 2013). ... Some of the acts that were amended include; the act of criminal code, official secret Act, the Canadian evidence Act, money laundry Act to mention just but a few. The Anti Terrorism Amendment Act led to the establishment of the major elements of the Canadian government plan. The main objectives of the Canadian Anti-terrorism plan include: securing Canadian territorial boarder against antiterrorist attacks, to collaborate with international community in arresting and prosecuting terrorist, prevent the acts of terrorism in Canada as well as establishing tools for convicting and punishing terrorists (Rollings-Magnusson, 2009). The above mention act may be discussed as follows: The act of criminal code act The criminal code act was the first one to be amended under part one of the Canadian federal government Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).The act was amended to define terrorism in two major ways. The first definition states that terrorism as acts of omission that are committed inside or outsid e Canada that amounts to a criminal offence as defined by the international agreements in respect to the acts of terrorism such as bombing and hijacking. The second definition under the first part of ATA, defines terrorism as acts that are undertaken inside or outside Canada for the purpose of fulfilling individual ideological, religious and political purpose with an aim of threatening public economic peace/security. In addition, other amendments that were made under the Canadian criminal code include but not limited to the definition of terrorist groups, terrorism offences, investigation of terrorism acts, recognition of terrorism acts, establishment of tools and equipments for detecting terrorism activities to mention just but a few

Laws and Regulation for The Protection of Chicken in the United States Research Paper

Laws and Regulation for The Protection of Chicken in the United States - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that chicken has been a favorite food by man for a long time. Some of its significant uses are for food, egg production, and for research. An estimated nine billion chickens go to the marketplace and to the food table of every American yearly. Yet despite its many favorable uses, chicken welfare seems to be forgotten by the government. This animal is often subjected to wanton abuses and indiscriminate slaughters that is done to profit few companies. If proper care for this animal is not observed, the loss is unimaginable, and the spread of disease might contaminate people, like bird-flu. Animals have rights that should be protected. This is the contention of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ( ASPCA), two organizations that argued there is a need to safeguard animals for sustainability purposes and to protect people from contamination of disease caused by these anima ls. PETA believes animals have rights and that they should live free from suffering and exploitation. But because they are animals they cannot represent themselves in reacting against exploitation of humans; and that animals should be given due considerations too, and a change of traditional view that animals exist only for human use. ASPCA ‘s worry is on farm animals that are caged on the modern farming technology. Accordingly, 99% of farm animals are raised in factory farms whose main objective is for profit other than animal welfare.

Teacher Tenure in California Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Teacher Tenure in California - Research Paper Example he teachers become eligible for the tenure they gain security towards their position and can only be dismissed if the school authority is able to put forward a just cause. The state law even proposed that the tenured teachers may be dismissed if they are giving unsatisfactory performance (Jederberg 43). However, as per the policy if the performance of students is low in the state it is not considered to be a condition for dismissal of teachers which in turn has resulted into more number of students exhibiting low performance. The dismissal conditions as highlighted by the court decision states that the school authority needs to give a prior notice to the employee before initiating any form of proceedings regarding dismissal due to unsatisfactory performance of a teacher. The teacher tenure policy majorly focused towards the well being of students and to retain those teachers who performed well and discard those who are not able to meet the standards of the school policy. The ones who supported the policy stated that the policy majorly aimed towards development and growth of students so that they are able to perform well in their career path. The other end of this provision was that it provided the flexibility to the school authority to focus more on performing teachers and reduce the cost by eliminating those teachers who did not perform well. The notice that would be given to the teachers before the dismissal must also include some of the behavioral instances that need to be communicated three months prior to filing charges. The major purpose of the policy was not to hide the underperforming teachers behind the tenure and to facilitate more of academic achievement of the students. There are almost 6 million students who are enrolled in the public s chools of California and thus the law was to support these students so that they are provided with an appropriate guidance. The tenure is always a security provision for teachers but this policy was aligned more towards

ORIENTALISM, PREJUDICE AND DESCRIMINATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

ORIENTALISM, PREJUDICE AND DESCRIMINATION - Essay Example USA policy makers have, declared various Islamic countries as promoters of terrorism and a part of ‘axis of evil’. Indeed, citizens from many Islamic citizens are heavily scrutinized at US airports because of such developments. Consequently, Muslims are ignited from such changes and protest against this maltreatment because they don’t want to be suspected as endorsers of terrorist elements worldwide. The first main characteristic of Orientalism is the ‘categorizations or generalizations’ about a specific religious and / or ethnic group over self-drawn assuptions that later lead to negative interpretations and misconceptions about Muslims and Arabs. The second characteristic is that Orientalism discuss about cultural diversity and differences in values such as those between Eastern and Western society. (Hosking, 2009) All individuals should be provided sufficient knowledge through lectures about followers of some major religions such as Christainity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddihism and Jewism so that they could understand religious differences among people. Indeed, there is dire need to foster mingling among people through joint annual gatherings and corner meetings in towns and residential areas. Next, individuals should also be taught that never support media’s propaganda against any particular ethnic or religious group. Rather, if people have ambiguities, they should better read authentic literature and interact with people of a particular religion to eradicate their

Branding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

Branding - Essay Example jectives to help and innovate and expanded its product lines, which greatly helped the company to expand overseas as people everywhere had the same needs and wants. Presently, Colgate is listed as one of the best-selling brands and operates in over 200 countries with an annual turnover in excess of $9 billion (Kantar, 2014). Colgate’s success shows how important it is for global enterprises to support their values, for example; Colgate’s global values are: caring, continuous improvement, and global teamwork, which enable the company to improve and adapt to the changing customer needs, as well as, global market challenges (Colgate, 2013). The company’s stable global growth also is because of the company’s ability to focus on its four strategic initiatives, such as: engaging to build the brand, innovate for business growth, effectiveness and efficiency, and leading to win (Colgate, 2013). Colgate always carries out environmental scanning that helps the company to identify the external factors that will influence organisational performance (Wood, 2010). Factors that are political, legal or technological may pose different threats to Colgate’s business when entering a new country, or even, when the company has already successfully established its operations. Therefore, the external audits carried out are always considered to be a major focus for any organisation that wants prosperity (Baines, 2011). Furthermore, Colgate-Palmolive concentrates on creating personal care products in areas where the competition in this sector is relatively high. This means that; Colgate has to monitor the situation around its business in order to take the lead among its rivals (Schultz et al., 2006). The first and most important external audit that Colgate needs to constantly monitor is the governmental regulations. This is especially as Colgate is a multinational corporation each political atmosphere in every country that Colgate-Palmolive operates has the same value and

Teacher Tenure in California Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Teacher Tenure in California - Research Paper Example he teachers become eligible for the tenure they gain security towards their position and can only be dismissed if the school authority is able to put forward a just cause. The state law even proposed that the tenured teachers may be dismissed if they are giving unsatisfactory performance (Jederberg 43). However, as per the policy if the performance of students is low in the state it is not considered to be a condition for dismissal of teachers which in turn has resulted into more number of students exhibiting low performance. The dismissal conditions as highlighted by the court decision states that the school authority needs to give a prior notice to the employee before initiating any form of proceedings regarding dismissal due to unsatisfactory performance of a teacher. The teacher tenure policy majorly focused towards the well being of students and to retain those teachers who performed well and discard those who are not able to meet the standards of the school policy. The ones who supported the policy stated that the policy majorly aimed towards development and growth of students so that they are able to perform well in their career path. The other end of this provision was that it provided the flexibility to the school authority to focus more on performing teachers and reduce the cost by eliminating those teachers who did not perform well. The notice that would be given to the teachers before the dismissal must also include some of the behavioral instances that need to be communicated three months prior to filing charges. The major purpose of the policy was not to hide the underperforming teachers behind the tenure and to facilitate more of academic achievement of the students. There are almost 6 million students who are enrolled in the public s chools of California and thus the law was to support these students so that they are provided with an appropriate guidance. The tenure is always a security provision for teachers but this policy was aligned more towards