Will Essay Example For Students

Will Essay About a Boy by Nick HornbyWill Freeman is the main character of About a Boy, even though he isalready far from being a boy. In fact, he is 38-year-old single Londoner. Will lives in his own world which appropriately refers to as anisland where owning an expensive car and designer clothes fulfill hissatisfaction. He is ecstatically childfree and against marriage, heactually feels sorry for married people with children. He wants to live hisown life and does not want to think of other peoples problems or beresponsible for them. His philosophy is to mean nothing, about anything toanyone and he thinks this will guarantee him a long, depression-free life. We will write a custom essay on Will specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now His nights, whenever possible, are devoted to beautiful women, withwhom he deliberately never starts a serious relationship. He likes the ideaof having a girlfriend, but plots his escape from them as soon as thingsget too serious or complicated. He is very proud of his way of life and of what he is doing. He ishandsome, self-observed, rich, yet shallow and women find his appearanceirresistible. Will spends his days buying new CDs, shopping for designerclothes and worrying about his up-to-the-second hairstyle on which hespends a fortune. How he finds time for all that is simply due to his lack of aprofessional life. Thanks to a ubiquitous Christmas song written by hisfather and recorded by everyone from Elvis to the Muppets, Will does nothave to work like the rest of the world. The royalties rolling in haveenabled him to make a profession an art, really out of avoidingresponsibility and filling his days with tasks of ease and fundamentallyunproductive actions. Nevertheless, he occasionally volunteers toparticipate in minor jobs such as work in soup kitchens, volunteer work,for which he fills in forms yet never reports for duty. A brief encounter with a single mother sets Will off on his newcareer, that of serial nice guy. As far as he is concerned, he is theperfect catch for the young mother on the go. After an interlude of sexualbliss, she will realize that her child is not ready for a man in theirlife. Will, having searched for a way out of the relationship with his lastvictim, happily rides off to the sunset where more single mothersapparently await. The only catch is that the best way to meet these womenis at single-parent get-togethers. That is when the lies begin. He joinsSPAT Single Parents Alone Together and all of a sudden, he is a singlefather of an imaginary child among many single mothers who all feel sorryfor him because the mother of his son took off and left him with all theresponsibility. As Will feels comfortable with telling lies, he createsthe illusion of his son by buying all sorts of child accessories to accountfor his always-absent child. What interferes with Wills well thought-through strategy, of course,is reality in the shape of a 12-year-old boy who is in many ways hispolar opposite. Having to put up with this child, who happens to beannoying, weird and entirely unaccustomed to fashion, for a long time findsa new view to life and himself. He even falls in love, which is a firsttime ever for him. In just a few weeks, he turns his philosophy from beingselfish and egocentric to being somewhat responsible and even caring. Tiina Thnas

Free Essays on A Sorrowful Woman

used to describe them are very pleasant, and yet the sight of them makes her sick. The overall tone of the piece is ... Free Essays on A Sorrowful Woman Free Essays on A Sorrowful Woman Explication of a Passage from Gail Godwin’s â€Å"A Sorrowful Woman† One winter evening she looked at them: the husband durable, receptive, gentle; the child a tender golden three. The sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to see them ever again. She told the husband these thoughts. He was attuned to her; he understood such things. He said he understood. What would she like him to do? â€Å"If you could put the boy to bed and read him the story about the monkey who ate too many bananas, I would be grateful.† â€Å"Of course,† he said. †Why, that’s a pleasure.† And he sent her off to bed. The next night it happened again. Putting the warm dishes away in the cupboard, she turned and saw the child’s gray eyes approving her movements. In the next room was the man, his chin sunk in the open collar of his favorite wool shirt. He was dozing after her good supper. The shirt was the gray of the child’s trusting gaze. She began yelping without tears, retching in between. The man woke in alarm and carried her in his arms to bed. The boy followed them up the stairs, saying, â€Å"It’s all right, Mommy,† but this made her scream. â€Å"Mommy is sick,† the father said, â€Å"go wait for me in your room.† The first three paragraphs of â€Å"A Sorrowful Woman† by Gail Godwin are a precursor of the tone and overall plot development of the rest of the story. The tone put forth in this passage is continued throughout the progression of the piece. Godwin also uses certain words and setting that lend to developing this tone of dreariness and sadness. The events that take place here foreshadow very similar ones later on in the story. The first paragraph also sets up the rest of the story. Now the reader knows the main conflict. The woman seems to love the husband and boy as the words used to describe them are very pleasant, and yet the sight of them makes her sick. The overall tone of the piece is ... Free Essays on A Sorrowful Woman The Sorrow of a Family: Selfishness and Lack of Communication Destroys Family Thesis: A deeper look into the story reveals that her selfishness and pity for her life is fueling her sorrow and along with their lack of communication causes the demise of this family.Neva Pittman February 27, 2003 A Sorrowful Woman Gail Godwin’s â€Å"A Sorrowful Woman† leads one to believe that the wife is maybe overwhelmed, possibly just having a bad day. The belief is that with her husband’s understanding she and her family will get through this. Everyone has a bad day and people sometimes get on each other’s nerves. A shocking revelation comes to the reader that this isn’t just a bad day. A deeper look into the story reveals that her selfishness and pity for her life is fueling her sorrow and along with their lack of communication causes the demise of this family. In reading this story we find a woman tired of being a mother, a wife and of her life in general. â€Å"The sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to ever see them again† (35). Do you not see what she is thinking? They are sucking the life out of me. Why did I choose to get married? I could have been anything, instead I am the mother of this child and the wife of this man and am here to take care of their needs. Who will take care of my needs? She feels that she is some how letting herself ease away and needs to regain her identity. She soon isolates herself even more by moving into another room maybe thinking she will be able to find the part of herself she has lost. â€Å"She was a young queen, a virgin in a tower, she was the previous inhabitant, the girl with all the energies. She tried these personalities on like costumes† (38). Her husband’s constant saying he understands such things only seems to enable her to isolate herself more and ignore her responsibilities as a mother. If the tending to the child is such a pleasure why hasn...

Strategy analysis Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Strategy analysis - Case Study Example The company has a low cost approach, despite being the standard price of the market. The company aims at giving the customers value for their money, while ensuring that the employee welfare is taken into concern. Besides having fair prices, the company has extremely good customer relations. Cliff Bowman argues that there are five routes in defining companies’ strategies (Bowman and Faulkner, 1997). The low price or value strategy involves companies selling on the price factor alone given the little differentiation of the products offered. The low price and the differentiation strategy are similar to the arguments explained by Porter. The focused differentiation aims at offering highly valued products at a substantial premium price. The hybrid approach, on the other hand is the best-cost provider strategy that combines a low cost approach with an emphasis on differentiation. The hybrid approach, according to Bowman, suits the strategy implemented by Southwest

Economics term papaer Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Economics papaer - Term Paper Example It would help in tightening the liquidity of the economy. It can be depicted that when such reserves are made by the commercial banks with the Central Bank then it has an impact upon the balance sheet of both the banks i.e. the Central Bank and the commercial bank. At the outset, there will be rise in the Central Bank’s liabilities since the quantity of deposits that the commercial bank is supposed to keep with the Central Bank is rising by 0.5%. Conversely, the assets side of the commercial bank will be impacted. There will be rise in the assets side of the commercial banks. It can be treated as deposits at other banks, so in the balance sheet there will be rise in the deposits at other banks too. Question Two It can be stated that there are four basic components of the GDP. They are consumption, investment, government spending and value of exports and imports. The GDP of an economy is calculated by adding up the value of expenditures on the consumption, value of the expendit ures in investments, rate of the government procurement of goods and/or services, value of exports of the goods and the services minus the value of the imports of the goods and the services. ... All the three components of the GDP will be impacted. The reason behind this is that when the inflation is controlled then the rate of consumption will increase and thus the economy will be able to invest more. Thus, there will be rise in the consumption, along with rise in the investment and government spending. There will be rise in the exports as well. Effects on the Equilibrium and Aggregate Expenses It can be demonstrated that since the consumption will rise, it is quite obvious that there will be rise in the production as well. Therefore, the equilibrium real GDP will increase. Question Three The term ‘money multiplier’ can be figured out as the volume of money supply in relation to the volume of the base money. It is worthwhile mentioning that when the reserve deposit ratio or the cash deposit ratio is lower then, the money multiplier tends to be higher. The case of China is just the opposite. It can be demonstrated that when the economy plans to raise the reserve ratio requirement for the banks the money multiplier tends to shrink. Investment Multiplier It has been noticed that Central Bank planned to augment the rate of interest. If the rate of interest augments then more and more investors get attracted towards the bank. Although paying up of augmented interest rate is an increased cost for the Central Bank, but on the flip side, it can be viewed that the rise in the interest rate may tend to make it quite attractive for the international investors to purchase Renminbi and thus invest those Renminbi in China. With the rise in the interest rates, the income tends to rise thus forcing the consumers to invest in other sectors of the economy as well leading to growth in the overall economy (Bradsher, â€Å"China Move Could

Jobs Philosophies, Styles and Achievement Essay - 9

Jobs Philosophies, Styles and Achievement - Essay Example   Perhaps one of the remarkable well-known managers in today’s modern time was the late Steve Job from Apple Incorporated. We know him as a person who did not consider making money as the most important factor in his success, but the actual process of creation (Biddle, 2011). As a person who believed the potential power of innovation, Job eventually achieved a competitive advantage as he tried to produce highly differentiated product offerings. He became one of the market leaders in his industry as he developed product offerings that are something new and successfully created need for them. Job, therefore, was a process-oriented man, accepting ideas that he truly understood that became the reason for his potential success in his field of expertise (Biddle, 2011). He therefore just went for innovation without understanding the associated process in it. In fact, the reason why most of his created products obtained remarkable market share and customer acceptance was due to his ability to know a lot about the creation of his product offerings and understanding customers’ behaviors towards innovation. Including in this process of creation was Job’s ability to provide strong leadership. A job was a remarkable leader in his time, as he successfully imparted the vision to his followers. According to Biddle (2011), organizational and cultural change leads to successful management. Kotter (1998) remarkably points out that leadership is about coping with change, and this includes setting direction, aligning and motivating people. In other words, combining these two ideas leads us to identify leadership, as integrated into the management process requires the achievement of actual change. Almost in all areas, Apple needs to embrace change and this is one remarkable point why Job needs to specify and allows the whole process of creation to be fully grasped by his team. After understanding the whole process of creation, it would be now easy to embrace a ny remarkable change after the human resource has fully mastered the actual process of creation involved. For this reason, Job was successfully able to promote an organizational culture that would not be susceptible to react with various changes. In doing so, Job was able to run the vision and acquire elemental results leading to the popularity of Apple in its industry. It is part of Job’s achievement to set a remarkable culture for his organization. This culture has a potential impact on its future growth (Schein, 2010, p.336). Today, we see Apple as one of the giants in its industry because of what Job initiated from the start, cultivating its culture for easy adaptation of some future changes. Contrary to what others might believe, as he embraced the process of creation and objective understanding of things, Steve Job was not an Objectivist.

Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis

Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis The chapter is a theoretical examination of the discipline of contrastive analysis. Its main aim is to provide a literature review of contrastive analysis. In pursuit of this aim, the chapter first sheds the light on the history of the discipline of contrastive analysis by providing a definition and a sketch of its origin. Then, an account of the stages involved in the comparison and contrastive process is provided. After that a classification of the contrastive studies is introduced. Additionally, a brief review of the contrastive analysis hypothesis is presented as well as CAs applications and contributions to other fields like language teaching, language universals, etc. Finally, the criticism directed towards CA is identified along with the recent developments originating from the discipline itself. Definition and Origin There are three types of comparative studies. They are comparative historical linguistics, comparative typological linguistics, and contrastive linguistics. Comparative historical linguistics developed in the 19th century, it aims to find the common genetic relatedness between groups of languages. Comparative typological linguistics classify languages according to the characteristics and features they share. Note that languages which belong to a given typological group do not need to be genetically related, i.e., two languages can be closely related in their typological classification regardless their genetic distance. Contrastive linguistics/analysis is a sub discipline in linguistics which is concerned with another kind of comparison. It is concerned neither with historical development nor with the problems of describing genetic relationships. Contrastive analysis is purely synchronic in its orientation. It differs in its scope from comparative historical linguistics, since it is t ypically concerned with a comparison of corresponding subsystems in only two languages. To put it differently, Contrastive analysis studies the language items used in the same period, not those items which exist in different periods. It involves comparing and contrasting languages or subsystems of languages in order to identify their similarities and differences. Accordingly, contrastive analysis is based on theoretical linguistics as well as descriptive linguistics. It is based on the former since the success or failure of these comparisons depends on the theory applied; and it is based on the latter since no comparison is to take place without a prior description of the languages under study. Contrastive analysis had a long history. As early as 1000 A.D, the English abbot Aelfric of Eynsham (c. 955 c. 1010) wrote his Grammatica: a grammar of Latin and English, based on the assumption that the knowledge of grammar of one language facilitates the learning of the other. Additionally, in the 17th century, the grammarian John Hewes expresses the view that the knowledge of the native grammar cannot only facilitate learning a foreign language but also interface (the idea of interference) with it. Hewes in his (1624) A Perfect Survey of the English Tongue taken according to the USA and analogie of the Latine, presented the fundamentals of English in order to provide the learner with a Right knowledge censure of their owne mother tongue, in regard it holden a great difference in it selfe from the dialect of the Latine (as cited in Krzeszowski, Tomasz, 1990, p. 02). Other grammarians like Howel (1662), Coles (1675), and Lewis (1670?) applied the idea of facilitation (positive transfer) through adapting the grammars of English or of Latin to the needs of speakers of various native languages. Note that those early contrastive studies were motivated in almost the same way as modern contraceptive studies in the USA. As early as 1670, Mark Lewis stated the following: The most facil (sic!) way of introducing any in a Tongue unknown is to show what Grammar it hath beyond, or short of his Mother tongue; following that Maxime, to proceed a noto ad ignotum, making what we know, a step to what we are to lean (sic!) (as cited in Krzeszowski, Tomasz, 1990, p. 02). Nearly three centuries later, Charles Fries wrote the following: The most efficient materials are those that are based upon a scientific description of the languages to be learned, carefully compared with a parallel description of the native language of the learner (Fries, 1945, p. 9) Although the word contrast did not appear until the end of the 18th century, the idea of comparing languages for pedagogical reasons is not a new one, as it goes back to the beginning of the foreign language teaching tradition. Nevertheless, written records of such kind of procedures went back to the 15th century. It should be mentioned that earlier contrastivists were not concerned with methodological problems, though they did develop a method of comparison know as The Sign Theory, the first method in contrastive studies. The sign theory is an approach introduced by Krzeszowski (1985) and was designed for teaching Latin in England; it involved adjusting the grammatical descriptions of both English and Latin. For many years, contrastive studies were practiced in the classroom intuitively. However, modern linguistic theories which flourished in the 20th century did affect the state of contrastive studies and hence, interests in methodology and theory of contrastive analysis began to grow. Contrastive analysis usually involves two languages and it is based on the assumption that languages have enough in common to be compared, as stated by James (1980, p. 3): CA is a linguistic enterprise aimed at producing inverted (i.e. contrastive, not comparative) two-valued typologies (a CA is always concerned with a pair of languages), and founded on the assumption that languages can be compared. Among the prominent objectives of contrastive analysis are: supplying insights into the convergences and divergences existing among languages, predicting problematic areas in L2 learning and contributing to the development of language teaching materials. A quick glance at the history of the discipline of CA will manifest that it has been assigned different labels by different European and American scholars. It was referred to as parallel description (Fries 1945), analytical comparison (Mathesius, 1964), comparative descriptive linguistics (Halliday-McIntosh-Stevens 1964), differential description (Mackey 1965), descriptive comparison (Catford 1968), dialinguistic analysis (Nemser 1971), analytical description (Ibid), differential studies (Lee 1974), interlingual comparison (Fillipovic 1975c). However, the widely used term contrastive linguistics has been coined by the American linguist and anthropologist Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897-1941) in his 1941 article Languages and logic. In the aforementioned article, Whorf distinguished between comparative and contrastive linguistics. He claimed that contrastive linguistics is of even greater importance for the future technology of thought (1967, p. 240); and he defines it as a discipline which plots the outstanding differences among tongues in grammar, logic, and general analysis of experience. Contrastive analysis first appeared in Central Europe before the Second World War and spread afterwards in North America. It was Lados Linguistics Across Cultures (1957) which sets the corner stone of contrastive analysis, specifically the idea that the degree of differences between the two languages correlates with that of difficulty. In its early days in the forties (1940s) and fifties (1950s), CA was seen as a pedagogical tool, through which problematic areas in language teaching and learning can be predicted. Accordingly, CA relies very much on psychology as it is concerned with the prediction of learning difficulties which crop up from learners NL and TL; hence it needs a psychological component. It should be mentioned that CA is more powerful in the prediction of pronunciation difficulties, however, when it comes to grammar, it is not so powerful since most of grammatical errors in second language learning occur in areas where CA cannot predict. It is important to realize that there are three phases of Contrastive Analysis; each having its own characteristics: the (1) traditional, (2) classical and (3) modern phase. Traditional contrastive studies which marked the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century were horizontal in dimension in the sense that an element(s) in language A is compared with an equivalent element(s) in language B. They proceed from the description of the same features in the two languages to their juxtaposition on the basis of translation equivalence as assessed by a bilingual informant. Normally, a point of reference, often called tertium comparationis, is required outside the languages to be contrasted. The period between the end of the Second World War and 1965 was recognized as the classical period of contrastive studies. In this period, CA has been credited its status as a scientific, pragmatic as well as academic discipline. The most prominent figures of that period are Charles Fries, Robert Lado, Kenneth Pike, Ureil Weinreich among many others. The modern period of contrastive studies has been marked by the numerous contrastive projects carried out all over the world. However, it should be emphasized that theoretical issues of previous periods came under severe criticism. We will return to this presently, for the time being, it is sufficient to see that a problem exists. Despite the criticism of the previous periods, this phase marked the establishment of CA as an academic discipline throughout the world. It should be emphasized that modern linguistic approaches and technology have opened new horizons for CA. Notably, cognitive linguistics, pragmatics and corpus linguistics have all offered new theoretical frameworks and methodology. Stages of Contrastive Analysis Contrastive Analysis involves three stages, description, juxtaposition, and comparison. Lets consider each stage separately. The descriptive stage In this stage, the contrastive analyst provides an exhaustive description of the languages under study. Note that each language should be described individually apart from the other. Furthermore, the two languages should be described using the same model or framework, because if it happens that the two languages were described using different models, certain features may be described successfully than others. The juxtaposition stage In this stage, the contrastive analyst should respond to the following question: what is to be compared with what? In classical contrastive studies, the decision was based on intuitive judgments of competent bilingual informants. It was thought that competent bilinguals are able to decide about whether an element X in language A is equivalent to element Y in language B or is not. However, these intuitive judgments proved to be very weak as there are no clear principles underlying these decisions and as they were based on formal resemblances only which are not enough. As a consequence, the contrastive analyst faced the problem of establishing the criteria of comparison, also referred to as the tertium comparationis. It should be mentioned that the tertium comparationis is a kind of constant against which differences are measured, as stated by James (1980): The first thing we do is make sure that we are comparing like with like: this means that the two (or more) entities to be compared, while differing in some respect, must share certain attributes. This requirement is especially strong when we are contrasting, i.e., looking for differences-since it is only against a background of sameness that differences are significant. We shall call this sameness the constant and the differences variables. (p. 169) The notions of the equivalence and the tertium comparationis were presented graphically in Djordjevi (1987). In traditional contrastive studies, the TC was defined as the common platform of reference (Krzeszowski, 1990, p. 15). During the classical period, however, the TC was either formally or semantically based (James, 1980). Note that in phonological CA, the tertium comparationis is the IPA chart and the vowel diagram; in Lexis, it is the set of semantic components. However, contrastivists failed to establish a clear TC for grammatical CA. Because of this failure, three candidates have been proposed: surface structure TC, deep structure TC, and translation equivalence TC. The comparative stage In this stage, the contrastive analyst identifies the similarities and differences existing among the two languages. Note that the comparison involves types and not tokens (i.e. the contrastive analyst compares structures rather than strings of sound or graphic substance). Another issue related to the comparison stage is the fact that one does not compare languages in toto, instead a specifying process is usually under way, like for example the area of grammar, phonology or lexicology; which result in a variety of contrastive studies such as grammatical CA, phonological CA, and lexical CA. According to Krzeszowski (1990), there are three distinguished areas in this stage: Comparisons of various equivalent systems across languages, such as pronouns, articles, verbs, and in phonology consonants, vowels, as well as sub-systems, such as nasals, laterals, etc., depending on the degree of delicacy of the grammar. Comparisons of equivalent constructions, for example, interrogative, relative, negative, nominal phrase, etc., And in phonology clusters, syllables, diphthongs, and various distributions of sounds. Comparisons of equivalent rules (in those models where the concept of the rule appears), for example, subject raising from the embedded sentence, adjective placement, interrogative inversion, passivization, etc., and in phonology assimilation, dissimilation, metathesis, etc. In each area of comparison, one of three possible situations may arise: XLi = XLj When item X in Li may be identical in some respects with an equivalent item in Lj. XLi à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   XLj When item X in Li may be different in some respects from an equivalent item in Lj. XLi = ØLj When item X in Li has no equivalent in Lj. (Krzeszowski, 1976, p. 90) (as cited in Krzeszowski, Tomasz, 1990, p. 39). Levels of Analysis Contrastive analysis can be conducted at different levels of language, for example it can be carried out at the phonological level, grammatical level, as well as the lexical level. Phonological CA When comparing the sound system of two languages, the contrastive analyst has to go through four basic steps. Firstly, he should draw up the phonemic inventory (describe and compare vowels and consonants) of the two languages under study. Secondly, the contrastive analyst should compare the phonemes in the two languages interlingually. At this stage, the contrastive analyst should apply the minimal pair test. Here is an example of the minimal pair test between the phonemes /k/ and /g/ in English and Arabic: English: came /Keim/ vs. game /geim/ Arabic: /kelb/ dog vs. /gelb/ heart In Algerian Arabic /q/ and /g/ are phonemes and allophones: /gern/ horn vs. /qern/ century à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ phonemes /gma::r/ moon vs. /qma:r/ moon à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ allophones Thirdly, the contrastive analyst should state the allophones of each phoneme of the two languages being compared. And fourthly, he should state the distribution restrictions of the phonemes and allophones of both languages. Grammatical CA In a grammatical contrastive analysis, the contrastive analyst compares and contrasts between the grammatical systems of two languages. The comparison may take different forms, for example, in English; word order is used to differentiate between an affirmative sentence and an interrogative one: you are a teacher/are you a teacher? In Spanish, however, the same distinction is indicated via the use of intonation; while in Arabic, the same distinction is expressed through the addition of functional words like Ù†¡Ãƒâ„¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ at the beginning of sentences. Another kind of grammatical contrastive analysis may investigate how a given linguistic category functions in two different languages, such as the case of adjectives in English and French. In English, adjectives tend to be pronominal, however, in French; they tend to be post nominal, for example: The narrow door La porte etroite. Lexical CA Contrastive lexicology is carried out between the vocabulary system(s) of two languages. It is concerned with the way lexical items in one language are expressed in another language. This can be done through identifying both the semantic fields and the semantic properties in order to specify the divisions and sub-divisions of the lexicon. Lexical CA may result in complete, partial, or nil equivalence between languages. Towards the Classification of Contrastive Studies Contrastive studies can be divided into various subdivisions according to many criteria. Jacek Fisiak distinguished between theoretical contrastive studies and applied contrastive studies as stated in the following quote: Theoretical CS give an exhaustive account of the differences and similarities between two or more languages provide an adequate model for their comparison, determine how and which elements are comparable, thus defining such notions as congruence, equivalence, correspondence, etc. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Applied CS is part of applied linguistics. Drawing on the findings of theoretical contrastive studies they provide a framework for the comparison of languages, selecting whatever information is necessary for a specific purpose, e.g. teaching, bilingual analysis, translating, etc. (Fisiak, 1981, p. 9) He claims that theoretical contrastive studies do not investigate how a given category present in language A is represented in language B. Instead they look for the realization of a universal category X in both A and B (Fisiak et al. 1978: 10). Whereas, applied contrastive studies are preoccupied with the problem of how a universal category X, realized in language A as y, is rendered in language B. (Fisiak et al., 1978, p. 10), as illustrated below: X X A B A(y) B(?) Figure 2. a) Theoretical CAs b) Applied CAs Hence, a theoretical contrastive study provides us with exhaustive descriptions of the languages being compared and contrasted. Also, it highlights the main points of convergences and divergences between the languages in question. A worth emphasizing point is that there are no claims to be made as to whether the results are applicable for other purposes or not. An advantage of theoretical contrastive analyses is that they make reference to the universal tertium comparationis X; whereas applied contrastive analyses do not make such a reference. Additionally, theoretical contrastive studies contribute to the establishment of language universals. Also, they are language independent and non-directional. It should be mentioned that theoretical contrastive studies insist on the descriptive neutrality between the two languages under study, which is why attention should be drawn to some problems of terminology. In contrastive studies, terms like SL vs. TL, L1 vs. L2, and NL vs. FL occur and re-occur. However, the avoidance of these terms is highly required in theoretical contrastive studies, simply because the languages under study have an equal status. Applied contrastive studies draw on the findings of theoretical contrastive studies. Their aim is not merely linguistic but also applicable to other domains like: language teaching, translation, bilingual education, etc. Traditionally speaking, applied contrastive studies have been concerned with setting out the possible problematic areas in the learners target language, i.e., providing reliable prediction of the learners difficulties (James, 1980, p. 181-7). It should be mentioned that Applied contrastive studies devote more attention to surface representations since these are what the learners/translators have a more immediate access to and what language teaching has always been concerned with. Despite the fact that applied contrastive studies draw on the findings of theoretical contrastive studies, still they do not deal only with differences but also they give importance to the similarities. Hence, the teacher should point out the similar forms, so that learners will not guess them, because very often, an element of a foreign language is similar to what one has in his own language. Notice that the first contrastive studies were predominantly theoretical (Grandgent, 1982; Vietor, 1894; Passy, 1912; J Baudouin de Courtenay, 1912; Bogorodickij, 1915). Still, the applied part of CA was not completely neglected (e.g. Vietor, 1903), but it was of little importance. Also, the aim of developing pedagogical materials was more visible in the US, while Europe was more interested in the theoretical dimension. The other classification of contrastive studies is based on the linguistic model applied when describing the languages involved. Since contrastive analysis can be carried out in different linguistic frameworks, there are the structural, transformational, stratificational, or systemic contrastive studies. A third taxonomy is the one provided by Di Pietro (1971). He divided contrastive studies into Autonomous vs. Generalized and into Taxonomic vs. Operational. In autonomous contrastive studies, no reference is made to any universal which may be shared between the languages compared. Each language is described independently from the other. However, in generalized contrastive studies, reference is made to the shared features/structures which exist between the compared languages, not only because of their typological or genetic similarities but because of the universal grammar which underlie all human languages. Concerning the Taxonomic vs. Operational contrastive studies, the former states the similarities and differences across languages, the latter seeks to formulate a series of conversions performed on the source language in order to produce the forms of the goal language (Di Pietro 1971, as cited in Krzeszowski, Tomasz, 1990, p. 24). Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) Definition and origin Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis states that the structure of the learners L1 affects the acquisition (the two terms acquisition/learning interchangeably) of their L2, in the sense that whenever there are similarities the L2 learning is facilitated, and whenever there are differences the learning process is difficult. The term Contrastive Hypothesis implies the theory itself, while the term Contrastive Analysis implies the methodology. Hence, the term Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis implies both theory and methodology. CAH came into existence in the 1960s. It originated from Lados Linguistics across Cultures: The plan of the book rests on the assumption that we can predict and describe the patterns that will cause difficulty in learning, and those that will not cause difficulty, by comparing systematically the language and the culture to be learned with the native language and culture of the student (1957, p. VII). CAH is based on the assumption that second language learners tend to transfer L1 features to L2 utterances as stated by Lado (1957): Individuals tend to transfer the forms and meanings, and the distribution of forms and meanings of their native language and culture to the foreign language and culture (p. 2). Accordingly, Ellis (1965) suggested that the psychological foundation of CAH is transfer theory. In fact, CAs assumption that L1 interferes with the learners L2 acquisition/Learning leads us to the notion of transfer; be it positive or negative. Transfer refers to the application of native language knowledge when trying to speak the target language. Positive Transfer (facilitation) occurs when the structure of the two languages is the same; hence no errors will crop up. However, negative transfer (interference) occurs when the structure of the languages is different, and here errors will crop up and so the difficulties in tackling the target language. All in all, the more the similarities the more the learning process is facilitated, and the more the differences the more the learning process will be difficult. The aforementioned statement reflects linguists belief that a comparison of learners L1 and L2 will reveal problematic areas for L2 students, as stated by Lado (1957): In the comparison between native and foreign language lies the key to ease or difficulty in foreing language learningà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Those elements that are similar to (the learners) native language will be simple for him, and those elements that are different will be difficult. (p. 1-2) The linguistic framework of the CAH is structuralism which assumes that language is a finite structure which can be compared with structures of other languages. Additionally, Skinners behavioural psychology is the basis of the CAH, specifically, the idea that learning is a habit formation process that takes place by reinforcement. Language acquisition consists of the acquisition of a set of habits; errors in second language were seen as the result of the first language habits interfering with the acquisition of the habits of the second. Procedures of the contrastive analysis hypothesis CAH applies the following procedure when attempting to predict areas of difficulty, as illustrated or stated by Whitman (1970): A contrastive analysis must proceed through four steps; description, selection, contrast, and prediction. Unfortunately, most analyses are weakened by insufficient care or attention at one or more of these steps, each of which is beset with a host of problems. (p. 191) In the Description stage, the contrastive analyst provides a formal description of the learners L1 and L2. In the selection stage, he selects specific forms (linguistic items, or rules, or structures, etc.) for contrast, as it is impossible to contrast every single facet of two languages. In the contrast stage, he carries out the contrastive process which will result in highlighting the similarities and differences existing among the two languages. Finally, come the stage of prediction in which the contrastive analyst predicts the problematic issues and difficulties, which the learner may or may not face while learning the target language. In order to describe the stage of prediction, Stockwell et al. (1965) proposed a hierarchy of difficulty based on the notion of transfer, be it positive transfer, negative transfer or zero transfer. When the forms of the two languages are similar, positive transfer will occur and hence the facilitation of the learning process; however, when the forms of the two languages are different, negative transfer will occur and hence difficulty in learning; when there is no relation at all between the forms of the two languages, here no transfer is to take place, i.e., zero transfer. Versions of the CAH It is important to realize that there are different versions of the CAH. These are the strong and weak versions of Wardhaugh (1970) and the moderate version of Oller and Ziahosseiny (1970). Wardhaugh (1970) suggested that the strong version predicts areas of difficulty via providing a systematic and scientific analysis of the learners L1 and L2. However, the weak version requires of the linguist only that he uses the best linguistic knowledge available to account for observed difficulties in second language learning. (Wardhaugh, 1970, p. 129) So, there is a shift in focus from the predictive power of areas of difficulty to the explanatory power of observable errors. In addition, Oller and Ziahosseiny (1970) find the strong version too strong and the weak version too weak, and so they proposed a moderate version of the hypothesis which they summarized as follows: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the categorization of abstract and concrete patterns according to their perceived similarities and differences is the basis for learning; therefore, wherever patterns are minimally distinct in form or meaning in one or more systems, confusion may result (p. 186). To explain their view, they conducted a study based on English spelling errors on the UCLA placement test. In this test, they compared the spelling errors of foreign students whose native language employed/uses a Roman alphabet with foreign students spelling errors whose native language has little or no relation to the Roman alphabet. They arrive to the conclusion that knowledge of one Roman writing system makes it more difficult to learn/acquire another Roman spelling system. Implementations of Contrastive Analysis Be it a very useful tool, CA is applied in many fields of inquiry. It contributes to different areas of study as stated in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Linguistics: CA has been used as a tool in historical linguistics to establish language genealogies, in comparative linguistics to create language taxonomies and in translation theory to investigate problems of equivalence. In language teaching it has been influential through the contrastive analysis hypothesis CAHà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Johnson Johnson, 1998, p. 85) Contrastive analysis and language teaching In the field of language teaching, CA has been influential through the Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis, as Fries point out: The most efficient materials are those that are based upon a scientific description of the languages to be learned, carefully compared with a parallel description of the native language of the learner (1945, p. 9) As a matter of fact, the contributions of contrastive analysis to the field of language teaching are numerous and remarkable. First, a contrastive analysis of the learners L1 and L2 helps syllabus designers to prepare effective teaching materials taking into consideration students difficulties. As stated by Lado in his (1957) Linguistics across Cultures: The results of such comparisons have proven of fundamental value for the preparation of teaching materials, test and language teaching experiments. Foreign language teachers who understand this field will acquire insights and tools for evaluating the language and culture content of the textbooks and tests, supplementing the materials in use, preparing new materials and tests, and diagnosing students difficulties accurately. ( p. I) Secondly, contrastive analysis provides useful insights to the teacher who has performed a contrastive analysis between the students L1 and L2, and makes him/her aware of the real learning problems and the best way(s) to teach them, as stated by Lado (1957): The teacher who has made a comparison of a foreign language with the native language of the student will know better what the real learning problems are and can better provide for teaching them. (p. 2) In addition to Lado, Mackey (1965) illustrates the significance of CA to language teaching in the following quotation: CA is of particular interest to language teaching because many of the difficulties in learning a second language are due to the fact that it differs from the first. So that if we subtract the characteristics of the first language from those of the second; what presumably remains is a list of the learners difficulties. I DID NOT FIND THE PAGE It seems likely then, that the most useful contribution that Contrastive Analysis can make to language teaching lies in predicting learning difficulties and helping syllabus designers to produce the most effective materials. Contrastive analysis and language typology

Kerouac and Barthelmes Rebellion Against Corporate America Essay

Jack Kerouac and Donald Barthelme's Rebellion Against Corporate America      Ã‚  Ã‚   Oh America, home of the red, white, blue, and green. Green as our greenest grass. Green as our forefather George on a one-dollar bill. You too can work your way up our market-economy mountain to your own little green house. Climb the corporate mountain to provide for your wife in her little green dress. With the green beneath your feet, reach for the gold in the sky. Oh America, this mountain is rich. As many Americans eagerly began and continued their climb toward the financial stability the Sixties promised, a counterculture of writers and thinkers emerged seeking to climb their own mountains, to tell their own story of the climb the way they understand it. For Jack Kerouac, the story was The Dharma Bums, where a man discovers himself in the mountains' minimalist, Buddha-like grace. Donald Barthelme borrows America's market-economy mountain of materialism and attempts to reclaim it in his prose poem, "The Glass Mountain." Through their respective mountain narratives, K erouac and Barthelme fight a personal fight against the raging currents of corporate America.    Jack Kerouac's mountain in The Dharma Bums comes to represent what Kerouac, or rather the main character Ray Smith, conceives as the ideal standard of living. During Ray's climb of Matterhorn with Japhy Ryder, Ray looks at Japhy with a particularly illuminating realization,    [W]hat does he care if he hasn't got any money: he doesn't need money, all he needs is his rucksack with those little plastic bags of dried food and a good pair of shoes and off he goes to enjoy the privileges of a millionaire in surroundings like this. (Kerouac 77)    Ray then resolves to beg... ...nt stories, Jack Kerouac and Donald Barthelme both participate in a personal rebellion against corporate America through their writing. Today, it is difficult to determine what the influence of their rebellion was on corporate America. We can be certain, however, that their resistance of corporate America brought them to a greater understanding of themselves and their surroundings. Not only do Kerouac and Barthelme provide an illuminating glimpse at the transformation of corporate America in the twelve years between the dates the writings were published, but they also allow us a unique look at America's mountains through their eyes.    Works Cited Barthelme, Donald. "The Glass Mountain." Taking It to the Streets. Ed. Alexander Bloom. Wini Breines. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Kerouac, Jack. The Dharma Bums. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 1976.

Gender Roles in The Thin Man Essay

The period of the 1930s was an offshoot of the â€Å"roaring twenties† or the â€Å"jazz age†, a time when women gained a heightened sense of prominence in the society after the First World War saw young men leaving their homes and their work in response to the nation’s call to arms (Freedman, 1974, p. 374). Towards the end of the war and at the beginning of the 1930s, women became more in control of their liberty, proof of which is their newly recognized right to suffrage (Murphy, 1996, p. 52). They became regular members of the social workforce, thereby giving them a renewed sense of control over their lives. The â€Å"flapper†Ã¢â‚¬â€young women who defied the norms of what a conservative woman is by engaging in casual sex and wearing short skirts, among others—took the center stage, so to speak. As for men, such circumstances only brought them closer to the temptation of pleasing the opposite sex. This is clearly portrayed in the 1934 film The Thin Man. In the film, Nick Charles and his wife Nora represent the life of married couples whose lives are characterized primarily by the attitudes of the social elites—fun meant enjoying martinis and sleuthing. In a way, the couple captures the gender roles of each partner during the 1930s. Nora was a wealthy heiress who had almost everything at her disposal. She was beautiful and seemed to have a passion for adventure owing largely to her living a life of liberty. She was the 1930s woman who saw life as the ultimate provider of adventure in all its daring forms. Nick was a handsome man and a retired private detective who previously investigated and solved murders. He was the 1930s man who was deeply entrenched with his passion for resolving issues no matter what it takes, much to the amusement of the female partner. In fact, Nora was more than delighted upon knowing that Nick accepted the task of investigating the disappearance of his friend Clyde Wynant and the death of Clyde’s former girlfriend, Julia Wolfe. It leaves little room to speculate that Nora was indeed the typical 1930s woman who seized her liberty as if it would never run out, putting her self to risky situations together with her man. She portrayed the woman who embraced the â€Å"flapper† culture with open arms, spending her time drinking alcohol or romantically engaging her partner. While she remained supportive of Nick like a female partner might usually commit herself into, she was on her own a liberal minded individual. For the most part, Nick played the role of the adventurous husband which perfectly complements Nora’s interest in the same. He was someone who lived every danger with such boldness. He was someone who sought the pleasure of his spouse—from accepting her request for him to take the case to completely allowing her to partake in his drinking sessions—no matter what the cost may be. It goes to show that Nick was a man who shared entirely similar interests with his spouse and will gladly fulfill whatever it is that will make his woman happy. It was his role to please his woman. On the other hand, it was the woman’s role to act is if she was herself a man, fully absorbed in exactly the same interests as the husband’s. Here we see the approximate gender roles prevalent during the 1930s. Men and women had more similarities than differences as far as their inclinations are concerned. To a certain degree, there was no â€Å"woman†. Woman drank, dressed and acted in an unconventional so that they may be desired by the opposite sex, and actively participated in fairly dangerous tasks. Her liberty stood at the very core of her character and this made her more appealing to every man. Towards the end of the film, Nick gives in to the implied gesture of Nora to spend the night together in the same bed. The scene is revealing insofar as it gives rise to the idea that women exerted a certain influence or power over men especially when it comes to passionate affairs. The 1930s woman had too much liberty, in fact, that she can do anything she pleases and become pleased in the end. Nevertheless, the 1930s man still had a lot to do with her sources of pleasure. References Dyke, W. S. V. (Director). (1934). The Thin Man. United States: MGM. Freedman, E. B. (1974). The New Woman: Changing Views of Women in the 1920s. The Journal of American History, 61(2), 372-393. Murphy, M. (1996). ‘†¦ And All That Jazz’: Changing Manners and Morals after World War I. Montana: The Magazine of Western History, 46(4), 50-63.

Skill and Nigerian Tertiary Institutions Essay Example

Skill and Nigerian Tertiary Institutions Essay Example Skill and Nigerian Tertiary Institutions Essay Skill and Nigerian Tertiary Institutions Essay The provision of decree 47 of 8th October, 1971 empower the industrial training fund (ITF), a human resource development organization to promote and encourage the acquisition of skills and commerce with a view generating the pool of indigenous trained man power sufficient to meet the need of Nigerian economy. To set and control standard of excellence and effectiveness in and offer direct training of professionals, technicians, technologists and entrepreneurs to meet human resource need for industrialization and sustainable economic development of Nigerian relying on a corp of highly motivated and competent professional staffs using best of breed training techniques and modern technology. In view of this, ITF established SIWES in 1973 to solve the problems of lack of adequate practical skills preparatory for employment in industries by Nigerian graduates of tertiary institutions. The skills exposes students to industry based skills necessary for smooth transition from the classroom to the world of work. It offers students of tertiary institutions the opportunity of being exposed familiarized and exposed to the needed experience in the real time job demands. 1. 1 SIWES BY DEFINITION The students industrial work experience scheme(SIWES) is a skill acquisition training programme that forms part of the minimum academic requirement standards in various degree programs of the Nigerian tertiary institutions, it helps students to put what they have learnt theoretically into in class into practice in the real problem world. . 2 AIMS OF SIWES The SIWES scheme is aimed at exposing students to real life working environment, enabling them to put into practice what they have learnt in class, making them understand the technical implication of their profession as well as teaching them competence, standard and professionalism. 1. 3 OBJECTIVES OF SIWES The main objectives of SIWES are to: * Prepare students for the work situation they are likely to meet after graduation. * Crave way for students of Nigerian tertiary institutions to cquire industrial skills and experience in the course of study. * Expose students to industry based skills necessary for a smooth transition from the classroom to the world of work. * Boost students confidence and give them the experience on how to relate with different class of people and make decision in a real working environment. * Strengthens the entire educational process of preparing graduates of Nigerian tertiary institutions for employment in industries.

Conjugate Base - Chemistry Definitions Terms

Conjugate Base - Chemistry Definitions Terms Conjugate Base Definition The Bronsted-Lowry acid-base theory includes the concepts of conjugate acids and conjugate bases. When an acid dissociates into its ions in water, it loses a hydrogen ion. The species that is formed is the acids conjugate base. A more general definition is that a conjugate base is the base member, X-, of a pair of compounds that transform into each other by gaining or losing a proton. The conjugate base is able to gain or absorb a proton in a chemical reaction. The conjugate acid donates the proton or hydrogen in the reaction. In an acid-base reaction, the chemical reaction is: Acid Base â‡Å' Conjugate Base Conjugate Acid Key Takeaways: Conjugate Base Conjugate acids and bases are part of the Bronsted-Lowry theory of acids and bases.According to this theory, the species that donates a hydrogen cation or proton in a reaction is a conjugate acid, while the remaining portion or the one that accepts a proton or hydrogen is the conjugate base.The conjugate base may be recognized as an anion. Conjugate Base Examples The  general chemical reaction between a conjugate acid and a conjugate base is: HX H2O ↔ X− H3O In an acid-base reaction, you can recognize the conjugate base because it is an anion. For hydrochloric acid (HCl), this reaction becomes: HCl H2O ↔ Cl− H3O Here, the chloride anion, Cl−, is the conjugate base. Sulfuric acid, H2SO4 forms two conjugate bases as hydrogen ions are successively removed from the acid: HSO4- and SO42-.

Career Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Career Development - Essay Example There are numerous causes behind the cognitive development that ultimately affects self-efficacy. A growing body of research has shown that there is a significant positive relationship between the self-efficacy beliefs of students and their academic performance. Self-efficacy influences the activities that students select, the amount of effort they put in, persistence in difficult times as well as difficulty in set goals. Therefore, the goal of this task is to increase own self-efficacy and check the accomplishment after specified period of time. It must be borne in mind that people having low self-efficacy tend to avoid the task while those having high self-efficacy not only attempt the task but work harder and persist longer in times of difficulties. The personal development plan provided above has been constructed in order to enhance own self-efficacy skills. It is required to enhance self-efficacy skills in three areas including academic performance, self-confidence, and employability skills. Certain activities are needed to be performed in order to improve in each of the mentioned areas. For instance, in order to perform better in academics one needs to alleviate the impact of past failures. Past performance has huge impact on the beliefs of getting success or failure in the future. Therefore, the impact of previous failures must be minimized. Also, strategies for achieving good grades must be situational that is, urgent tasks need to be done first. Along with that, learning must be acquired through every possible source. Apart from course books, newspapers, magazines, documentaries, and informational apps contribute a great deal in improving the learning process. In addition, instead of receiving rewards on final success, sm all rewards must be given to own self after accomplishing small goals. Self-confidence has a lot to do with self-efficacy so it is required to enhance self-confidence

Developing Countries Promote Manage Economic Development Essay

Developing Countries Promote Manage Economic Development - Essay Example This case shall be compared to Sub-Saharan Africa since it has a record of failed and poor development of the economy. Governance and democracy are two different aspects in a country3. Governance is the act of leading people in an accountable way. The way leaders conduct their roles, as per their capacity leads to an even economic distribution for all the individuals across a country. The two factors, governance, and democracy, can have a huge implication in political and economic state of a country4. In this case, the political aspect is considered because it is a fundamental element for economic development in any country. From the World Bank point of view, governance is the way power is applied to the social and economic aspects of a country’s affairs, for the purpose of development5. Therefore, governance plays a crucial role in the economic development of a particular country. The development stage in East Asia and Africa is significantly different. The stages of development differ in terms of political, social and economic activities. The difference has been brought about by the governance that is being administered in the two areas. In this paper, The researcher shall take an example of Zimbabwe, where the leaders, in the government, are even unable to enhance the economic performance6. They have also failed to develop economic conditions since there are ever-changing regimes in the country. A good and a strong governance leads to success in the economic performance of the particular country. For instance, from the East Asia, let us take an example of Taiwan. Here there is a strong governance that leads to the creation of a conducive environment, that attracts private and even foreign investment, thus leading to successful economic development7. Therefore, governance in any developing country plays a crucial role in the economic achievement of the state . Most developing countries