My Ethical System and Its Justification Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

My Ethical System and Its Justification - Essay Example Faith is good because it serves as an unseen yet strong force that compels me to reject evil and choose good. Prudence is good, because it helps me become wiser. Justice is good, because it brings harmony to society as it ensures fairness. When everything is fair, resentment and retaliation could hardly win, which results to peace and order, thus making people’s lives happy and contented. Compassion is good because it awakens our responsibility to care for others. An act that could also help others becomes better persons. The more this world has better persons, the better place this world will be. Humility is good because it frees me from guilt and makes me feel good. Self-control is good because it restrains me from my ill desires while realigns me to what I ought to be. Fortitude is good because it gives me the strength to stand for what is right, whatever the consequence. And hope is good because it keeps me does what is good even in darkest hours. ... My philosophy resembles that of Aristotle’s Nichomachean ethics, which belief is that man ought to live a virtuous life to achieve genuine happiness (Pakaluk 49). We similarly share this belief added to the fact that we both believe in the four cardinal virtues that define what is good. However, unlike Aristotle’s, I believe that added to the four cardinal virtues, which speaks for intellectual virtue, emotional virtue, volitional virtue, and social virtue, there is a need for spiritual virtue like faith – the strongest weapon man can hold onto. II. Justifying my ethical system My ethical system is grounded on my belief that man’s being – as being the master creation and the highest form of creation – must live a virtuous life. This is what differentiates man from animals; this is the way by which man can achieve the task to which his/her being rests – the steward of creation. In man lies the progress and doom of the world; in man lies the future of humanity. The world can only be a happy place to live in if man truly lives a virtuous life, because by living a virtuous life, as defined above, man is not only able to better his/her self, but is also giving others the opportunity to see the difference between good and evil. Thus they can have an enlightened choice. Moreover, it is only in living a virtuous life that man can bring harmony to society and to humanity, thereby achieving genuine happiness in life. It is no secret that what make life in this world miserable and what makes this world chaotic are man’s evil ways, as most are blinded with power, fame, material gratification and selfishness. Man’s evil ways is also dehumanizing – something that is against man’s

Manifest Destiny & Frederick Jackson Turners frontier thesis Essay

Manifest Destiny & Frederick Jackson Turners frontier thesis - Essay Example On the other hand, the Frontier Thesis as released by Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893 asserted that American development was explicated by the existence of a free land, its constant recession, as well as westward advancement of the American settlement (Turner 56). This concept was said to depend on Darwinism concept of survival for the fittest, where primitive political and economic conditions of the frontier shad to evolve into complex city life. Frederick Turner’s American identity epitomizes Manifest Destiny from the perspective of Anglo-Americans. This is attributed to the fact that Turner describes Americans as strong in individualism and selfishness, with nervous energy, coarseness and strength, and inherent expansive power. In his research, Turner established that the selfish and individual qualities characteristic of Anglo-Americans forced them to push westward; thus, claiming land and expanding democracy. The terms are extremely important in the US history. This is attributed to the fact that they give historians apparatuses that facilitate the using of social history as the basis for all economic, social and economic developments in the American history. Additionally, they give guidelines on the path American democracy has followed in its creation and

Etude House Essay Example for Free

Etude House Essay Introduction Etude House is a Korean cosmetic brand with a particular focus on fun makeup products offers creative and unique products characterized by sensational colours and the up-to-date trends. The brand was founded in 1966 and incorporated by Amore Pacific in 1990. Etude’s name was inspired by Polish Composer Frederic Chopin’s Studies for the piano. Their mission is to beautify young women through lovely products and friendly counseling, therefore, their products are more targeted towards the youth market. Etude House Singapore, had its grand opening in Singapore in June 2009. In recent years, the Korean wave, namely Hallyu, has entered and became rather popular here in Singapore, and Etude house itself being a Korean brand, uses Korean pop stars to market their products, attracting the masses of Hallyu fans. The company utilises on the few factors of Microenvironmental forces and Macroenvironmental forces and uses them to market their products to the market in Singapore. I will be looking into the few forces they are using to do so. Macroenvironmental Forces The macroenvironment consists of larger societal forces that affect the microenvironment. Two of the potential forces that affects the marketing of Etude House would be the market’s Cultural and Demographic forces. Cultural http://www.blackwellreference.com/public/tocnode?id=g9781405131995_yr2012_chunk_g978140513199516_ss5-1 Korean pop culture does not have any religion or race attached to it, therefore, it appeals to most of the Singapore market’s secondary beliefs. Korean Pop culture, or Hallyu, has made its way into Singapore and became rather popular over the past 3 years. Young adults are influenced by Korean culture through Korean dramas and music. With reference to the above source, it cites that the strong Korean culture has made its way through the world, including Singapore, with its blockbuster movies, television programmes, its fashion as well as its music. Therefore, with these influence, Singapore becomes a potential location to market Etude house’s products, using the influence of Korean pop stars like the boy band Shinee, and Sandara Park from the popular girl band 2ne1, attracting the masses of young female adults mainly, to purchase their cosmetics. http://blog.korea.net/?p=10610 The above source describes how the Korean stars look so natural and beautiful onscreen and links it to the usage of products from Etude House, this way, they are able to influence their target market on trying out their products so they can look beautiful and natural too. Demographic As Etude House’s main target audience are female young adults, Singapore would deem to be a good location to market themselves. As the demographics of Singapore suggests, from http://www.indexmundi.com/singapore/demographics_profile.html, there is a large percentage of population aged 15 – 64, and out of these, more than half of them are females. This statistic greatly suits the target market of Etude House, therefore they are able to more effectively market their products to the needs of our population demographics. Microenvironmental Forces The Microenvironment consists of the actors and forces outside the marketing that affect marketing management’s ability to build and maintain successful relationships with target customers. One of the forces that affects Etude House greatly is the customers. Customers Since Etude house originates from Korea and it has branched out into many parts of the world, including Singapore, it greatly relies on the consumer

Implementing Curriculum Changes in the Classroom

Implementing Curriculum Changes in the Classroom Introduction Much research on curriculum development has been done in different fields of education. It has uncovered both successes and failures. Research on educational innovations reveals many problems which result in non-implementation of planned innovations. These include the problems of inadequate knowledge of implementation, and lack of awareness of the limitations of teachers and school administration, etc. (Pink 1989; Fullan 1992; Fullan and Hargreaves 1991). Recently, the literature in the field of ELT has reported innovations in the implementation of new teacher roles, new practices, new materials, etc. Most principles for innovation are derived from English-speaking countries and transferred throughout the world. For instance, the learner-centred, communicative approach which originated in British ELT has been recommended almost everywhere. Although some reports mention the success of such innovations, others have concluded that many problematic implementation issues emerge from a dir ect transfer, after it has been put into use worldwide, such as in China (Burnaby and Son 1989; Anderson 1993; Hui 1997), Indonesia (Tomlinson 1990), Greece (Karavas-Doukas 1995), Hong-Kong (Carless 1998), and Libya (Orafi 2008), etc. However, the knowledge and understanding of what is involved in effecting innovation in many projects has been investigated mostly by their change agents. Many ELT innovation projects reported in the professional literature are designed and examined by their authors as leading change agents, not by end users, i.e. teachers (e.g. Gray 1990; Jarvis 1992; Tomlinson 1990; Barmada 1994; Guariento 1997; Markee 1997, etc.). In those projects, the authors/reporters design, introduce, and monitor the process of implementation. To finding out how best to teach the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing as well as grammar and vocabulary. The development of so many methods has been a response, according to Richards and Rodgers (2001:7-9), to the changes in the kind of proficiency (e.g. oral vs. written) that learners are thought to need. In the 1970s, in particular, there was a major shift to learners need for communicating in a second language away from a focus on grammar and translation. This shift was crucial, especially for foreign language learners who leave school unable to use their foreign language in actual communication. So, FL countries adopted this shift to communication to satisfy their students needs for fluency. As English became a lingua franca by the 1990s it was seen as necessary to teach it for communication as it became the mostly taught foreign language worldwide (Gebhard, 2006; Carrick, 2007). The teaching of English as a second (ESL) or as a foreign language (EFL) started to become important after World War II. A great demand for English courses by immigrants, refugees, and foreign students took place in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, and Australia (Richards, 2001:23). When English was introduced in schools, it was first introduced at the secondary level in 1950s. But, since the application of the Communicative Approach/Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in national curricula after the publication of Wilkinss book Notional Syllabuses (1976) educationalists/researchers in many countries have observed that students can not communicate as well as expected after leaving secondary school, with eight years of English, as they start their university study (e.g. Al-Mutawa, 1994; Tang, 2002). According to Al-Mutawa and Kailani (1998:I) English language has enjoyed a considerable role in the fields of business, industry, technology, politics, education, medicine and many other professional fields. According to Saleh, more attention is required from EFL teachers to students EFL teachers on teaching them how to communicate in the target language effectively. This requires that the traditional methods, the classroom learning activities and the learning environment have to be changed to correspond with the latest developments and changes in views on ELT represented by the communicative approach (2002:1). Because of the above reasons, English language syllabus of Libyan secondary schools has been changed lately as a response to these developments. The new English programme in Libyan secondary education aims to enable students to: i) achieve a reasonable proficiency in listening and speaking English at a sensible speed, reading simple texts with comprehension and writing about a simple subject or incident; ii) develop their interest in learning English so that they can learn effectively by themselves; and iii) improve their knowledge and have access to foreign culture (UNESCO 2002 reported in Al-Buseifi 2003:4). It has been investigated that some classroom teachers who teach EFL at secondary schools in Libya are traditional and not in harmony with the principles and objectives of the communicative approach upon which the new curriculum has been based. Teachers are faced with some difficulties in implementing the new curriculum. Therefore, some problems have been appeared, for example; teachers use their native language extensively and use only very little English during the lesson. Teachers talk a lot whereas students talk very little. Teachers need to be well trained. Class-time and size are not suitable. Appropriate materials and group-work activities are needed. This study aims to investigate some EFL teachers in Libyan secondary schools to determine the extent of their effectiveness in achieving the desirable objectives of the new curriculum. It specifically investigates and describes the following: How far does the new curriculum filter down into EFL classrooms in Libyan secondary schools? What are the methods that Libyan secondary school teachers use in teaching English as a foreign language? How do Libyan teachers implement the new curriculum (CLT) in teaching EFL? What difficulties may face Libyan teachers in implementing the CLT approach? To what extent are Libyan teachers qualified in communicative language teaching? Since the language curriculum of Libyan secondary schools has been changed lately and has been based on the communicative approach. The EFL teachers who teach this new curriculum should be based on the principles and objectives of the communicative approach. In fact, most Libyan EFL teachers got used to apply the Grammar Translation Method (GTM) with its traditional views and objectives, so they may encounter some difficulties when changing their method especially if they have not been previously trained. This topic is important to investigate because I have noted that it is still a controversial issue between researchers and teachers. The main emphasis is to know whether teachers are using the new curriculum in order to enhance the students basic knowledge of English and competence to use English for communication. In other words, it is to investigate EFL teachers at Libyan secondary schools to find out whether they have changed their method in parallel with the change in the curric ulum and how it is implemented. In order to achieve more understanding about these issues, this study attempts to discuss the curriculum innovation in Libya with reference to communicative language teaching which is implemented in the new curriculum. More attention is given to teachers, they are regarded as having the main role in any innovation. This study is divided into five chapters. In the first chapter, there will be the introduction, the research hypothesis, the research question, the purpose and the significance of the research. Chapter two will be focused on the literature review which include; definition of innovation, its theory and its aim. Background of the context, EFL in Libya, CLT, its development, and its principles. Some factors related to the adoption of the new curriculum (CLT), e g; teachers role, teacher student interaction, student-student interaction, teacher training, methods of teaching, materials and testing criteria. Third chapter will be the methodology. The methods of collecting data will be discussed, there will be a review of how data will be collected, who are the participants, how many, where, how, when, all these questions will be answered in this chapter. Chapter four will be about the results. The results will be discussed in chapter five. Conclusion and recommendations will be discussed i n chapter six. This study will provide an opportunity to enrich theory and practice of CLT in a non-native English speaking setting. It deals with an important issue in the field of teaching as a foreign language which is related to the teaching methods that is used by teachers. To achieve this purpose this research has been carried out. Literature Review Curriculum Innovation It has been widely noted over many years that the low degree of success of educational innovations is mainly caused by the failure of the innovators who were unable to make use of the extensive theoretical literature on innovation (Havelock and Huberman 1977; Barmada 1994). They also did not adopt the appropriate innovation strategies (ibid.). Both White (1987) and Barmada (1994) identify two areas of expertise in which all innovators should be equipped: an understanding of innovation issues and expertise in the management of innovation. The Meaning Of Curricular Innovation It has been defined by Markee as following: â€Å"Curricular innovation is a managed process of development whose principal products are teaching and/or testing materials, methodological skills, and pedagogical values that are perceived as new by potential adopters† (1997: 46). According to Hall and Hewings, teachers roles are seen as implementers, and sometimes regarded as adopters, students are clients, and materials designers are suppliers (2001: 119). Curriculum Innovation Versus Theory: Vrooms expectancy theory (1964 in Morrison 1998) from business explains the instant effectiveness of the use of rewards and sanctions. Expectancy theory is based on the assumption that people will involve themselves in change if they expect it to bring about personal benefits (Morrison 1998:132). It is argued that the more benefits people perceive, the greater willingness they will have to be involved in the projects of change (ibid.). These perceived benefits, such as financial benefits, job security, and promotion opportunities, etc. are assumed to be an effective motivator to improve job performance. However, any change often requires additional time, energy, and finance, etc. If the adopters do not think the advantages of an innovation will outweigh its costs, it may not be easy to persuade them to accept it. From management theory point of view, and according to (Everard and Morris 1990), by addressing the â€Å"interrelated sensing systems†, we can understand how educati onal managers effect change. They are; policy making, development, controlling, liaising and doing (Markee 1997:49-51). Teachers do not see themselves having part in curriculum innovation, although the definition given above indicates that teachers have a primary role in innovation. This phenomena has been indicated by many researchers that â€Å"curricular innovation entails a mix of professional, academic, and administrative change† (e. g; Bowers 1983, 1987; Crocker 1984; Lee and VanPatten 1990; Straker-Cooke 1987; White 1988). â€Å"Managers must therefore enhance an organizations capacity to innovate through organization development† (Markee 1997: 51). It seems that teachers have many tasks particularly that related to their classrooms. Thus, all participants in language teaching should given part in innovation to be managed (ibid.). The New Curriculum (Clt) In Efl Countries: Attempts to introduce communicative language teaching (CLT) into EFL contexts on EFL countries own initiatives and through international aid projects have encouraged many innovations in L2 education. In general, such innovations have had a low degree of success (Brindley Hood, 1990), and implementing CLT worldwide has often faced difficulty (Anderson, 1993; Chick, 1996; Ellis, 1994, 1996; Gonzalez, 1985; Kirkpatrick, 1984; Sano, Takahashi, Yoneyama, 1984; Shamin, 1996; Ting, 1987; Valdes Jhones, 1991). Difficult as many EFL countries are still striving to introduce CLT hoping that it will improve their English teaching. Some researchers have strongly advocated the adoption of CLT in EFL countries and recognized the difficulties these countries face in adopting CLT (Li, 1984; Prabhu, 1987). Burnaby and Sun (1989) report that teachers in China found it difficult to use CLT. These difficulties include the context of the wider curriculum, traditional methods, class sizes and schedules, resources and equipment, the low status of teachers who teach communicative rather than analytical skills, and English teachers deficiencies in oral English and sociolinguistic and strategic competence. Andersons (1993) study of CLT in China reported such hurdles as a lack of properly trained teachers, a lack of appropriate texts and materials, students not being acclimatized to CLT, and difficulties in evaluating students taught by way of CLT. Sano et al. (1994) point out that the Japanese students they studied generally did not feel a pushing need to use English, so that the goal of communicative competence seemed too distant for them. All these difficulties seem to apply to Libyan context too. Karavas-Doukas (1995) gives a report in which the curriculum developers in Greece tried to implement the communicative approach to English teaching/learning using textbooks containing communicative components. However, Karavas-Doukas indicated that teachers lack of understanding of the methodological principles underlying the new materials was one of the impeding factors that finally let to the non-implementation of this innovation. The Greek teachers had changed to new materials, but they tended to implement the intended communicative activities as controlled grammar practice exercises and did not create the opportunities of real communication in their classroom. They did not realize the new role of teachers and students associated with the CLT approach, so they still acted as knowledge-transmitters, rather than facilitators (ibid.). Much research has been conducted discussing the communication problems encountered by Arab learners in most of the Arab countries; particularly in Libya. This fact has been clearly explained by many researchers, e. g. Abdul Haq (1982), Harrison, Prator and Tucker (1975), Abbad (1988), Wahba (1998), Saleh (2002) and Orafi (2008). The students in Jordan, for example, learn English in their home country where the native language is Arabic. The only way to learn English in Jordan is through formal instruction, i.e. in the classroom where language teachers are native speakers of Arabic. There are general screams about the extended degeneration of the standards of English proficiency of students among school teachers, university instructors and all who are involved with English language teaching. The results of the studies conducted in Jordan lead to the conclusion that the goals set by the Ministry of Education are desirous and have not yet been reached (Rababah, 2005:181). In Yamen, the situation is almost the same as in the other Arab countries. Abbad (1988) acknowledges the weakness of Yameni learners of English, and adds that â€Å"in spite of the low proficiency level in English of most applicants, they are accepted into the department.† This is what happens in most of the Arab university. English language departments accept high school graduates without understanding their proficiency level and whether or not they will be able to administrate a program of English studies. Therefore, Arab learners of English find it difficult to communicate freely in the target language. This may be due to the learning environment which some umpire to be inappropriate for learning a foreign language. This is obvious in Jordan where the formal language of communication is Arabic (Rababah, 2005:182). What happen with other countries can be applied on Libyan context, because the situation is almost the same. According to Saleh (2002) and Orafi (2008), although the new curriculum is introduced in Libya since 2000, the students in Libya still cannot communicate in English or express themselves. They cannot speak English freely inside and outside schools as well. Therefore, they cannot use English in real life situation. ELT In Libya: In the 1980s the focus of English language teaching in Libya was on grammar and reading comprehension. Lessons were characterized by oral drills, memorization of vocabulary, and reading aloud. Arabic was widely used in English lessons by teachers and students. During the late 1980s, as a result of political tensions between Libya and the West, the teaching of English was banned from schools and universities across the country. In the 1990s, this status changed to the positive and new curriculum was introduced in 2000 (Orafi, 2008: 244). The new curriculum recommends that †³English be used as much as possible by the teacher and students in the classroom, as the aim is for the students to communicate effectively and fluently with each other and to make talking in English a regular activity†³ (ibid:245). It was argued that learners learn a language through the process of communicating in it, and that communication that is meaningful to the learner provides a better opportunity for learning. New classroom techniques and activities were needed, new roles for teachers and learners in the classroom. Instead of making use of activities that demanded accurate repetition and memorization of sentences and grammatical patterns, activities that required learners to negotiate meaning and to interact meaningfully were required. The purpose of education is seen as based on careers, examination passing and recall. Understanding, applying ideas, creativity, questioning is all devalued. The idea of school education as a way to unlock potential seems missing and the students appear to appreciate that (Orafi 2008). The teachers role is largely that of transmitting information in an efficient and effective manner to their students. The teachers have little insight in the role of their subjects in the development of students. They are ruled by the demands of society, with its dependence on examination success for gaining access to over crowed and want more time for students to be able to think. However, they have little clear idea of the nature and role of understanding and the idea of seeing their subject in terms of wider life is largely absent (Al-Buseifi, 2003). Although improving the educational system is a priority for the education authorities in Libya, the educational programmes still suffer from shortages in facilities such as computers, laboratories, and information networks, a lack of qualified teachers, and the use of traditional methods of teaching (Khalifa, 2002). This could be due to the fact that the central focus is on increasing the quantity of schools and institutes rather than improving the quality of teaching and learning outcomes. The Situation In Libyan Secondary Schools According to Orafi (2008), ‘the main problem at present of education in Libya is the quality of education. The need to build so much in order to educate so many in a short time creates the classical dilemma of quality of education versus quantity education. In fact, this problem is not the problem of Libyan education only but is a problem common to many developing countries. Classrooms in Libyan secondary schools are regarded crowed. Most of classes are consisted of at least thirty students. Every student has his own seat from the beginning of the year to the end of it. It is difficult for teachers to go freely through the class. Also it is not easy to work in groups, and to deal with all the students. This problem has been discussed by Richards (1996:146) who states that; †¦the majority of large class teachers created, within their large class, a smaller class of students in the front only. They seemed happy to teach this ‘smaller class of students in the front and ignored the students at the back†¦ There is frequently not enough equipment and facilities at some schools (e.g. computers and laboratories). Classes are often large with an inadequate supply of teachers. ‘The examination system emphasises the rote recall of information and holds great power over the learners at key times of the year (Orafi 2008:243). English Textbooks In Libyan Secondary Schools (3rd Year) The textbook comprises of; subject book, skills book and work book. The materials are organized into two semesters; 12 units per semester, with 22 lessons in each unit. The lessons are divided between the three student books as follows: subject book; 10 lessons per unit, skills book; 9 lessons per unit, and work book; 3 lessons per unit. Subject Book; the main purpose of this book is presenting information and related vocabulary. The main purpose of the reading and listening texts in the Subject Book is to impart knowledge about the subject concerned and present associated vocabulary. The final two lessons in the Subject Book present one or more pieces of writing. Skills Book; the main purpose of the Skills Book is presentation and practice in the four skills. Workbook; its purpose is written consolidation of grammar points from the Skills Book. Students are often referred back to the Skills Book to find examples or to check their answers. Occasionally, vocabulary items are also practiced in the Workbook, and there are sometimes pair work and role-play activities (Phillips et al 2002). Implementing innovation as organizational development: The concept of innovation as organizational development is well described in Markees two-in-one innovation: primary innovation and secondary innovation (1997). Markee relates the dimension of organizational development to ‘secondary innovations in contrast to ‘primary innovations, i.e. changes in teaching (and/or testing materials), methodological skills, and pedagogical vales (ibid: 53). In the dimension of primary innovations, innovation intending to introduce new materials, new teaching procedure, new teaching roles or technology, etc. will also involve changes in skills and values. Markee argues that primary innovations cannot be achieved without the implementation of secondary innovations. Markee exemplifies the notion of two-in-one innovations in a project conducted in an American university. This project not only introduced the task-based syllabus into classroom, but also implemented administrative and academic innovations for organizational development. For instan ce, by means of the development of communication channels (e.g. staff meetings, seminars, and orientations, etc.), participants at all levels obtained a complete understanding of the innovation. By means of the development of the teaching programs, teachers were well trained and became better informed. The outcomes showed that the administrative and academic development not only facilitated the implementation of the new syllabus, but also brought about organizational development. Development of the institutional change capacity is largely neglected due to ‘lack of awareness of the limitations of teacher and school administration or knowledge about how to implement the project (Pink 1989 in Fullan 1992). Through the process of organizational development, the implementers, including the management and teachers, focus on the processes and contents of change, learning to develop the capacity to implement change as organizational development. Only when the management and teachers a re assisted to build up their change capacity, is there an opportunity for ‘change as organizational development (Morrison 1998). 5. The curriculum innovation and the role of the teacher Rodgers in Richards (2001:104-105) discussing implementation of a communicative syllabus in Malaysia points out that: While the curriculum innovation has been failed in some places, it has been succeeded in others (i.e. Malaysia). In Malaysia the situation is different and the new curriculum has been managed to achieve its goal, because in Malaysia all the concern parts are shared in innovation (Richards 2001: 104-105). It is clear that these parts should be included in any decision for innovation. In Libya no one of these has taken part in the innovation, except the decision makers (Orafi 2008 :245). In England according to Woods and Jeffrey (2002:25) teachers have seen their role reduced to a list of â€Å"competencies and performativities†. This has produced teacher uncertainly as their role as professional has been reduced to that of a technician. In Libya, the teacher is often seen in similar terms, teachers in Libya do not usually influence curriculum change; it is the responsibility of the government to do so. Teachers must merely understand the requirement of students, know the syllab us, and be able to use appropriate teaching methods. Another important responsibility of the teacher is to help students to process new material in meaningful ways in order to encourage its storage in long-term memory in such a way that it is understood and is related to previous knowledge. However, the aim is that the learner makes sense of life and can use and apply knowledge in meaningful ways (Hussein, 2006). Orafi (2008) investigated teachers practices and beliefs in relation to curriculum innovations in English language teaching in Libya. The study was conducted with five Libyan secondary school teachers using classroom observation and interviews. He concluded that there was a mismatch between the teachers practice in the classroom and the principles of the curriculum because of the influence of their beliefs. 6. Methods of teaching EFL in Libyan secondary schools English is taught with the sole aim of passing exams and moving to the next stage. The learning process is largely viewed as mechanical habit formation. That is, the teaching process is dominated by teacher questions, the selection of students to respond, and the demonstration of examples on the board for students to imitate and repeat chorally. Some Libyan teachers still doubt the value of communicative activities because they believe that vocabulary and grammar rules must be the starting point in learning any foreign language, unlike when acquiring a first language. They think that students should be provided with large amounts of vocabulary and grammar rules to be memorized, and then they can start thinking of introducing various activities to practice the language (Al-Buseifi, 2003). These beliefs reflect their practice in class, where traditional methods of teaching such as the grammar translation method and the audio-lingual method are dominant (Orafi, 2008). Because the new cu rriculum is based on the CLT, I should turn to give sight on the CLT approach: 7. Communicative Language Teaching Communicative Language Teaching has had a major influence on language curriculum development. First, curriculum development has become much more complex. Whereas twenty or thirty years ago, the point of departure for curriculum development tended to be restricted to the identification of the learners current level of proficiency, with the development of communicative language teaching and the insight that curricula should reflect learners communicative needs and learning preferences. (Nunan 1996:20) Communication between student and student influences many ways. It can enhance or hinder learning. Students learn from communication through discussion or by talking about tasks. Communication can take place between a teacher and students. Therefore, appropriate communication skills are required, by keeping in mind the sensitivity to students, their level of understanding and judgement (Dillon and Maguire in Sussan 2005:105). What Is Communicative Language Teaching? CLT has been defined by Canale and Swain (1980:33) who point that: With respect to teaching methodology, it is crucial that classroom activities reflect, in the most optimally direct manner, those communication activities that the learner is most likely to engage in†¦ Furthermore, communication activities must be as meaningful as possible and be characterized (at increasing levels of difficulty) by aspects of genuine communication such as its basis in social interaction, the relative creativity and unpredictability of utterances, its purposefulness and goal-orientation, and its authenticity. Communicative language teaching (CLT) is typically seen as an approach to language teaching (Richards and Rodgers2001). It is based on the theory that the main purpose of language use is communication. With the aim of developing learners communicative competence (Hymes 1971). In other words, its goal is to make use of real-life situations that requires communication. What Is Communicative Competence? Communicative competence is defined as the capability to discuss and command apposite social behaviours, and it needs the active commitment of the learner in the construction of the target language (Canale and Swain 1980; Celce-Murcia et al 1995; Hymes 1972). Four dimensions of communicative competence are recognized; the knowledge of grammar and vocabulary (Linguistic competence); the capability to say the apposite thing in a confident social situation (sociolinguistic competence); the capability to begin, insert, add to, and extent a conversation, and the capability to do this in a regular and logical manner (discourse competence); the capability to communicate effectively and recover difficulties caused by communication collapse (strategic competence) (Richards and Rodgers 2001:160). Terms usually used to point to aspects of CLT contain ‘process oriented, ‘task-based, ‘group work and discussion and ‘learner-centred teaching. Communicative Language Teaching points to both processes and goals in classroom learning (Savignon, 2002:162). Berns (1990:104) states that in CLT; Language teaching is based on a view of language as communication, that is, language is seen as a social tool which speakers use to make meaning; speakers communicate about something to someone for some purpose, either orally or in writing. Obviously we can notice that CLT can be seen as a way of teaching in which the application of communicative activities and the foreign language attempts to advance students competence of knowing and sharing different knowledge. It centres on the aspect that learning is assisted in a purposeful, real situation where activities are achieved with the teachers directions. The definitions also hint that in order to carry out CLT successfully particularly in the EFL context; we are as EFL teachers need to improve our communicative competence, and need to have knowledge about the culture of the foreign language in order to teach the students. Our English proficiency, beliefs, attitudes will affect the implementation of CLT. Background Of CLT Communicative language teaching came into existence in the 1970s as a result of Hymes (1972), the work of the Council of Europe (Halliday 1975, the writings of Wilkins 1972, 1976, and Van EK Alexander (1980). Wilkinss document (1975) where he defined notions i.e. concepts such as time and place, and communicative functions such as requesting or apologizing, which was developed into the book National Syllabuses (Wilkins, 1976), influenced the development of CLT (see Mitchell, 1994; Richards and Rodgers, 2001; Howatt and Widdowson, 2004). CLTs roots can ultimately be traced back to Chomskys criticism of structural linguistic theory (1966). Chomskys ideas about linguistic competence, the innate knowledge of the linguistic system of the language, called Audio Lingual Method (ALM) into question based on the idea that lea

Case Study for AcuScan, Inc :: Business Management Essays

Case Study for AcuScan, Inc I am the newly hired Vice President of Organizational Development. My responsibilities include creating the Organizational Development Department. I look forward to working with all of you especially with finding a new and improved product based on our already developed retinal scanning system iScanner. First of all I am going to discuss assumptions made by Kelly Thomas, Pat Lambert, Cliff O’Connor and Chris Martinas. After each employee assumptions will be their arguments and my evaluation of whether the argument is sound or unsound and why. Kelly Thomas – Senior Engineer, Product Development 1. Assumed that Pat, Director of Marketing knew nothing about QC (quality control). 2. Assumed that all the features for the retinal scanner could not be developed in the time frame allotted. 3. Assumed that due to lay-offs last year they would not have the staff to develop a new product. 4. Assumed the customer would be â€Å"short changed† because the company may not be able to comply with the customers expectations. 5. Assumed Pat did not have any technology experience because his past experience was with the cereal business. 6. Assumed Pat was going behind his back because Pat spoke to the programmers first without consulting with Kelly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kelly argued that new product was much more complicated to produce than Pat had implied. He also argued that Pat had no understanding as to how the iScanner worked and would have a better understanding if Pat took the time to involve him in other areas of the business not just marketing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kelly’s argument was logical and sound because he based his decision on the time it took the staff to develop the iScanner. Past history of creating a new product can give you an idea of how long it would take to produce a new product. He also did not want to jeopardize his reputation or the company’s by producing and inadequate product. Pat Lambert – Director of Marketing 1. Assumed the new product would be a simple addition to the new product. 2. Assumed programmers had plenty of time to work on new product even though he knew staff was cut last year. 3. Assumed because they were not agreeing with him they were not committed to the new product. 4. Assumed that the job could be done by outside contractors in the specified time frame. Also with money being a problem. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Assumed a meeting would resolve all problems. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Assumed the customer would be happy with whatever product was developed and launched.

Levinas vis-à-vis the Other Essay -- Religion Philosophy

Levinas vis-à  -vis the Other Philosophy, arising from its Greek tradition of a â€Å"love of wisdom†, seeks to critically examine those questions most fundamental to humankind; it is concerned with essential concepts (or rather, questions) of being (metaphysics), rightness and goodness, knowledge, truth and beauty. As a branch of metaphysics, ontology seeks, in particular, to understand the nature of being (or existence) by placing objects within categories and organized totalities, while always assuming God as the first cause (causa sui). (Rebidoux) Yet as most philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle and Descartes each attest to their distinct definition of â€Å"being†, there is an exception to these ontological contenders: Emmanuel Levinas. By avoiding strict classification or definition in his writings (he avoids putting the saying into the said), Levinas seems to desire participation, or an encounter with, his reader. Levinas’ personal history – including an early exposure to the Bible and Jewish philosophy - may explain both his somewhat unorthodox methods and his massive undertaking of transforming Talmudic concepts into Greek philosophy.(Rebidoux, 19 Jan 2004) No doubt influenced by a traumatic experience as a Jew during the Second World War, Levinas also owes much of his ideological foundation to his studies with Heidegger and Husserl, who greatly inspired his awareness of phenomenology. In his writings, he applies Husserlian knowledge of this science of phenomena, i.e. things apprehended by consciousness and concrete experiencei [i] , to his ontological inquiry into the essence of being. Levinas founds these theories primarily on the â€Å"face to face† encounter with â€Å"the Other†. His notion of the Other, borrowed ... ...ylink). 27 February 2004 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t98.e1245 6. Rebidoux, Michelle. Lecture. McGill University, Montreal. 21 January – 9 February 2004. Notes: [1] Left without any proof that the Infinite exists and having only a sense of transcendence and new-found ipseity, one’s experience of a â€Å"trauma of awakening† is no doubt completely and incommunicably personal, and therefore must be difficult for Levinas to convey to his readers, as it is for me to convey within the limits of this paper. [2] One’s own sense of self that arises from this initial inspiration of the Infinite would more aptly be called one’s ipseity, yet to speak of one’s ipseity would be to de-value its utmost personal meaning, and so for the purpose of this paper the ipseity of the Other will be referred to as his or her alterity.

Hispanic Voting Related Literature Essay

The coming of the 2008 US Presidential Elections has made studies on voting behavior a fad in the scholastic community. Everybody wants to know, especially the candidates, how America or segments of its population will vote or the chances that a candidate will win based on some observations on voting patterns. Unfortunately, and not many people know this, studying voting behavior is not as simple as looking at the voting statistics. As one scholar commented, â€Å"voting is among the acts hardest to explain† (Uhlaner, 1989, p. 390). For one, Samuel Eldersveld (1951), defined voting behavior to connote â€Å"more than the examination of voting records†, but also includes â€Å"analyses on individual psychological processes and their relation to the vote-decision, of group structures and functions and their relation to political action, as well as institutional patterns and their impact on elections† (Eldersveld, 1951, p. 71). Thus, studies on voting behavior have also become multi-disciplinary, and were never confined in the field of political science. Still, studying voting behavior holds so much promise as far as theory construction is concerned, because it is viewed to be an area where theory can be systematically and quantitatively measured and tested. Also, this area offers more valid and reliable statements of causal determinants and a wealth of hypotheses, as voting behavior can be studied with respect to several possible variables. (Eldersveld, 1951, pp. 72-73). In her emphasis on the role of groups, Carole Uhlaner hypothesizes that voters act as part of groups with shared interests† (p. 390). Based on a utilitarian model of consumption benefit, she suggests that a group votes for a certain candidate because it would benefit from the policy positions of that candidate. From here, it is not difficult to presume that ethnic groups vote for candidates coming from their own group because they are expected to represent their interests. Though there has been a debate, in the case of Hispanic Elected Officials (HEOs), on whether Hispanic members of the US House of Representatives substantially represent the interests of their Hispanic constituents (Hero and Tolbert, 1995; and Kerr and Miller, 1997), it is useful to start with the assumption that groups, particularly ethnic groups, play an important role in determining voting behavior as identities and affiliations affect voters’ interpretations of the political world, preferences, and actions. (Uhlaner, 1989) Thus, a very interesting, yet under-studied (Antunes and Gaitz, 1975; Hero, 1990; Arvizu and Garcia, 1996), subject of inquiry on voting behavior would be the Hispanics in the United States. Scholars and politicians alike are interested in finding out how Latinos vote because despite the increasing significance of the group, being the fastest growing minority group in the US (Tanneeru, 2007), there seems to be the absence of consistent or predictable patterns on Hispanic voting across areas and through time. It may stem from the fact that the Hispanic community is diverse and voting interests are not homogenous. A Cuban-American may vote for a Republican because of the party’s long-standing policies toward Cuba, while a Hispanic in a border state may be affected by the stringent immigration policies. The culture of a state can also affect a Hispanic voter’s behavior: Texas voters may be more conservative in contrast to more liberal Hispanic voters in California. A study on the impact of religion also revealed that first and third generations placed more importance on religion than the second generation Hispanics in the US (Tanneeru, 2007). Socio-economic factors — such as social class, occupation, poverty indicators, among others — are also seen as significant determinants of voter turnout (Arvizu and Garcia, 1996; Antunes and Gaitz, 1975). In her explanation of the Hispanic low voter turnout, Cassel even suggested that Hispanics vote less than Anglos during presidential elections because they â€Å"tend to be younger, less educated, poorer or less frequently contacted by a political party or candidate† (Cassel, 2002, p. 397-398). In a comparison between the election of Federico Pena as Mayor of Denver, Colorado in 1983 and the bid of Victor Morales from Texas for US Senate in 1996 points to more variables that shaped the two campaigns. These include the size of the constituency, size and demographics of the Hispanic population, ability of the candidates to build coalitions of ethnic groups and sectors, personal qualifications or experience of the candidate, membership in civic organizations, political party support and campaign funds. This also tells us that the mere presence of a large Hispanic population in an electoral district could not ascertain victory for a Hispanic candidate. In a study by Rodney Hero comparing Hispanic political behavior in two Colorado cities – Denver and Pueblo – with other California cities, it appears that the governmental structure plays a significant role in determining different levels of mobilization of Hispanics in the cities. Colorado cities, with their unreformed structure, particularly Denver which has a strong-mayor system, have obtained greater political influence than what can be observed among California cities. This study supports the observation in 1983 in Denver, Colorado wherein Pena was elected into office with the highest Hispanic voter turnout ever recorded in the city. It also proves that it is not always the case that Hispanics are politically â€Å"acquiescent† and politically inactive and/or ineffective. (Hero, 1990) The observed political apathy of Hispanics had been explained by several studies in different ways. A study on voting behavior in Texas from 1960-1970 asserts that discriminatory devices such as the poll tax, the requirement of annual registration, short registration periods, and length of time between the end of registration and general election had restricted qualified electorate in favor of white persons and those with greater education and income (Shinn, 1971). Such means of discrimination, including literacy tests and printing of ballots in English, had also been used by the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), to extend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to include large jurisdictions where large Mexican American populations live. Arguing that Hispanics never really met the level of discrimination suffered by the blacks, for whom the Voting Rights Act was originally intended, Linda Chavez points out that Hispanic votes had been aggressively courted by presidential candidates since 1960s and that hundreds of Mexican Americans had held office since the 1970s. She contends that in places where Hispanics make up a large segment of the constituency, several other factors, not the absence of safe seat for Hispanic representative, explain why no Hispanics hold office (Chavez, 1992). Complementing the initial observation of Chavez, George Antunes and Charels Gaitz found out in 1975 that in their interpretation of ethnic differences in the levels of participation among blacks, Mexican-Americans and whites, ethnic identification process among minority groups only partially account for the higher level of political participation of the discriminated groups. However, they stressed that compared to blacks, Mexican-Americans have lower participation rates for nine of eleven indicators of political participation, including voting. This is basically because of the cultural norms of participation inculcated in black communities owing to their history of discrimination wherein they suffered more than the Mexican-Americans (Antunes and Gaitz, 1975). Political history is also one of the aspects that Carol Cassel examined in her explanation of low Hispanic political participation as evident in their low voter turnout, compared to the African-Americans. Seeing that Hispanics vote at the same rate with other ethnic groups during presidential elections, Cassel suggests that low turnout in low visibility races can also be attributed to the Latinos’ lack of political networks or just because Latino political leaders prefer to mobilize voters in more competitive elections (Cassel, 2002). Mobilization efforts also figured as a very important determinant in the 1996 elections voting turnout in California, Florida and Texas (Shaw, dela Garza and Lee, 2000). Nevertheless, Harry Pachon and Louis De Sipio recognize that the structural changes such as the extension of the Voting Rights, combined with ethnic political mobilization in Latino communities and efforts of groups such as MALDEF, contributed to the increased electoral and political clout of the Hispanics. In their list of HEOs in the 1990s, they have found out that there were 4,004 Hispanics holding publicly-elected offices nationwide – 1% of the national total; nine states accounting for 96% of HEOs in the US; and that Hispanics were represented at all levels of government, except for the Presidency. The only factors that could mitigate the increasing trend of HEOs in the following years would be young Hispanic population and non-citizenship. (Pachon and De Sipio, 1992). Thus far, the numerous and variegated variables and determinants presented above attest that it is not easy to explain Hispanic voting behavior. Thus it is best to start with a single locality to test which of these – or a combination of these — variables could best explain Hispanic voting. (In this case, I have chosen to zero in on Houston, Texas, the fourth largest city in the United States. ) Though in the process, I should be cautious against committing what Eldersveld warned with respect to generalizing from single cases. Nonetheless, I believe that studies such as this could make a good case for comparing with similar political settings, and eventually, in explaining Hispanic political behavior. References: Antunes, G. and Gaitz, C. (1975) Ethnicity and Participation: A Study of Mexican-Americans, Blacks and Whites. The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 80, No. 5, 1192-1211. Arvizu, J. and Garcia, C. (1996) Latino Voting Participation: Explaining and Differentiating Latino Voting Turnout. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 18, No. 2, 104-128. Cassel, C. (2002) Hispanic Turnout: Estimates from Validated Voting Data. Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 55, No. 2, 391-408. Chavez, L. (1992) Hispanics, Affirmative Action and Voting. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 523, 75-87. Dela Garza, R. , Lee, J. and Shaw, D. (2000) Examining Latino Turnout in 1996: A Three-State, Validated Survey Approach. American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 44, No. 2, 338-346. Eldersveld, S. J. (1951) Theory and Method in Voting Behavior Research. The Journal of Politics, Vol. 13, No. 1, 70-87. Hero, R. (1990) Hispanics in Urban Government and Politics: Some Findings, Comparisons and Implications. The Western Political Quarterly, Vol. 43, No. 2, 403-414. Hero, R. and Tolbert, C. (1995) Latinos and Substantive Representation in the US House of Representatives: Direct, Indirect or Nonexistent? American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 39, No. 3, 640-652. Kerr, B. and Miller, W. (1997) Latino Representation, It’s Direct and Indirect. American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 41, No. 3, 1066-1071. Pachon, H. and De Sipio, L. (1992) Latino Elected Officials in the 1990s. PS: Political Science and Politics, Vol. 25, No. 2, 212-217. Shinn, A. (1971) A Note on Voter Registration and Turnout in Texas, 1960-1970. The Journal of Politics, Vol. 33, No. 4, 1120-1129. Southwestern Social Science Association. (1997, March 27) The Victor Morales for US Senate Campaign: Did the Sleeping Giant Notice an Unusual Campaign? Tanneeru, M. (2007, September 28). Inside the Hispanic Vote: Growing in Numbers, Growing in Diversity. Retrieved from : http://www. cnn. com/2007/US/09/28/hispanic. vote/index. html Uhlaner, C. J. (1989) Rational Turnout: The Neglected Role of Groups. American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 33, No. 2, 390-422.