Terrorism and Homeland Security Essay Example for Free

Terrorism and Homeland Security Essay Left-wing extremists are highly idealistic. Their primary objective is to reform or destroy an existing system and replace it with a new and just society. Left-wing extremists possess a belief system that is often interpreted as a fanatical devotion to Marxist ideology. As a result, they use the doctrines of class warfare or national liberation as a justification for political violence. For left-wing extremists, taking up arms is a form of struggle against a despotic system, class or government. In addition, they view themselves as the messianic saviors of the poor and the oppressed. Studies of Marxist movements in the 21st century has revealed that in order to bring about their desired social change, left-wing extremists adopt a â€Å"vanguard strategy† (p. 223). This approach operates on the premise that revolutionary conditions are the results of a generalized climate of change that was developed over time. Revolutionary conditions rarely occur spontaneously – only a committed and disciplined revolutionary movement has the capacity to come up with it. The revolutionary movement (usually composed of disaffected young educated elite) creates revolutionary conditions by raising the political consciousness of the exploited class or group. In the context of leftist extremism, â€Å"political consciousness† refers to the belief that revolution is the best alternative to the corrupt status quo. As soon as the desired revolutionary conditions are attained, the revolutionary movement sees to it that these are maintained. In the process, the revolutionary movement becomes the â€Å"vanguard† of the subjugated class or group. The former â€Å"saves† them from a repressive system, as well as â€Å"protects† them from it. An example that illustrates the â€Å"vanguard strategy† is the Russian Vanguard of the Proletariat. Lenin and the Bolsheviks required the members of the Russian Communist Party to be the â€Å"vanguard of the proletariat† (p. 234). They were the â€Å"elite† who were expected to transform Russia into a Communist society by bringing about the revolution. They were to free the proletariat from the tyranny of the nobles by educating them on Marxist doctrines. Right-wing extremists, on the other hand, are very nostalgic. They affirm their superiority usually by looking back on past glories. In the process, right-wing extremists use these previous achievements as justifications for violence. For them, carnage is acceptable as long as it is used to maintain the purity of a religion, ethno-national group or an ideology. Right-wing extremists believe that they have the moral obligation to protect an ideal order that was â€Å"violated† or â€Å"destroyed† by â€Å"inferior† religious values or ethno-national interests. For them, the restoration of this ideal order is the only way to lasting peace and prosperity in society. Anyone who opposes must be eliminated through all possible means – even violence. Consequently, right-wing extremism is very prevalent in organizations that represent groups that have a distinctive identity, such as regional minorities and religious fundamentalists. Below are the common characteristics of right-wing organizations: a. Nationalism – The belief that only people of a specific nationality have the right to reside within a given country. Furthermore, these nationals likewise have the right to live in their country’s borders. b. Racism – The misconception that race is the main basis for all human traits and capabilities. c. Xenophobia – In the context of right-wing extremism, xenophobia is the fear of belief systems that deviate from the status quo. d. Antidemocracy – An aversion to the concept of pluralism in society. In order to achieve their goal homogeneity, right-wing extremists shun political activities that foster equality and democratic rule, such as popular elections. e. Strong State – Right-wing extremists advocate militarism under the guise of â€Å"protecting law and order. † For them, militarism is an effective means of eliminating â€Å"dissidents† (groups whom they deem â€Å"inferior†). References Martin, G. (2006). Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives and Issues (2nd ed. ). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

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

Nick Carraway as Narrator of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby Ess

The Role of Nick Carraway as Narrator of The Great Gatsby      Ã‚  In The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald presents a specific portrait of American society during the roaring twenties and tells the story of a man who rises from the gutter to great riches. This man, Jay Gatsby, does not realize that his new wealth cannot give him the privileges of class and status. Nick Carraway who is from a prominent mid-western family tells the story. Nick presents himself as a reliable narrator, when actually several events in the novel prove he is an unreliable narrator. Although Nick Carraway may be an unreliable narrator, he is the best narrator for the novel because he creates the correct effect.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nick Carraway wants the reader to think his upbringing gave him the moral character to observe others and not pass judgment on them. If this were true he would be a reliable narrator. A hint to Nick's true moral character is given on the first page of the novel when he misunderstands his father's advice. His father said, "Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages you've had." Clearly his father was telling him of the importance of not criticizing others, but Nick interprets this as a judgment on others (Donaldson 131). This shows how Nick's upbringing has actually made him a judgmental snob toward others. He is not partial; he judges and condemns nearly every character in the novel. He says Tom Buchanan has "Straw hair, a hard mouth, a supercilious manner, and a cruel body with which he pushes people around." Daisy Buchanan is described as insincere and snobbishly t hinks she "has been everywhere, and seen everything and done everything." Myrtle Wilson is sai... ...ich distorts everything. Nick is partial to Jay Gatsby because Gatsby has the guts to chase after his dreams. Gatsby represents the American dream; he rose up from the gutter to fabulous wealth and gets the chance to pursue the girl he loves.   He will never be able to have her though because he does not have the same class or status as Daisy.    Works Cited Daley, Linda. The Great Gatsby Website. 16 July 2000.  Ã‚   <http://www.geocities.com/andrew_dilling/ Donaldson, Scott. "Fresh Approaches." Critical Essays on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.   New York: G.K. Hall and Co. 1984. 131-32. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby.  Ã‚   New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992. 34. Taylor, Douglas. " Using a Dramatic Narrator to Present a Bifocal View." Readings on The Great Gatsby. Ed. Katie de Koster. San Diego: The Greenhaven Press, 1998. 147 - 51.

Rumors Essay -- essays research papers

Rumor   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rumors can be passed easily and are spread on an everyday basis. A rumor is like gossip; some of it true or untrue, and it is passed around by word of mouth. Most rumors start off being true, then when it is being passed from one person to the other, it starts becoming untrue because some people forget details, add new information in, or just change the whole story around. In the rumor experiment conducted in class, a story was told to one person out of four. The first person had to repeat the same story to the next person who of course was waiting outside of the classroom, until it got to the fourth person. The story that the fourth person ended up with was extremely dissimilar from what was initially told to the first person. This is a prime example of how rumors change while they are being said from one person to the other.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There were two rumors in the experiment conducted for the rumor assignment. Both rumors were very different in context but both proved the same thing in the end. Rumor number one was first told to the first individual who was standing outside of the classroom with three other students. Person one listened as the professor said the rumor, and then they had to remember it, and tell the next person (person two) outside the classroom this rumor. The central theme of rumor one was there were two men on the subway who started arguing while many people watched near by.   Ã‚  Ã‚   ...

acting on the national physical activity guidelines Essay -- essays res

Acting on the National Physical Activity Guidelines Introduction The purpose of this study was to identify if presenting a sedentary individual with the Australian governments National Physical Activity Guidelines (NPAG) would improve their overall physical activity. There was a structured interview which was conducted at 2 week intervals. The interview assessed the subject current physical activity levels and their willingness to be able to incorporate physical activity into there daily lives while following the guidelines suggested. The NPAG guidelines were presented before each interview and explained to the subject. Additional surveys were conducted to evaluate the subject’s anxiety levels and self-efficacy. Throughout the study we could benefit by seeing if presenting a sedentary individual with the NPAG would help improve levels of fitness and see if the governments’ intervention would help the Australian population. Methods This study was conducted on a sedentary 48 year old Canadian woman. The details of the study were presented and an informed consent was gained from the participant. The interviews were conducted over the phone, since the subject is currently living in Canada. The first structured interview (see appendix 1) was conducted and then the physical activity guidelines were presented. Being unable to physically present the pamphlet to the subject the researcher had her access them via the internet (Australian Gouvernment, 1999). As the subject reviewed the guidelines the researcher explained them and ask the subject to choose 1 or more of the guidelines that she felt she could incorporate into her daily life. At this stage a general self-efficacy scale was administered. The survey consists of 10 simple questions aimed at finding if the subject had a high or low self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is described as being ones belief in their ability to organize and execute the sources of action requir ed to manage prospective situations (Albert Bandura, 1986). A third and final survey was administered and measured the subject’s proactive attitude levels, meaning the subjects beliefs about their ability to carry out a course of action through personal motivation. This questionnaire consisted of 8 short questions where the subject had to answer by; 1) not true at all, 2) barely true, 3) moderately true or 4) exactly true. http://www.fuberlin.de/ge... ...bsp;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Retrived March 15th 2005   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From: http://www.healthactive.gov.au Crawford, S., Erklund, R.C., (1994), ‘Social Physique anxiety, reasons for exercise, and attitudes towards exercise settings’, Journal of Sport and exercise psychology, 16, 70-82. Dzewaltowski, D. A., Noble, J. M., & Shaw, J. M. (1990). Physical activity participation: Social cognitive theory versus the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 12, 388-405. Hart, E.A., Leary, M.R., Rejeski, W.J., (1989), â€Å"The measurement of social physique anxiety†, Journal of sport and exercise psychology, 11, 94-104. Ralf Schwarzer, & Matthias Jerusalem (1993), General Self-efficacy scale   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Retrived March 14th 2005 From: http://www.fu-berlin.de/gesund/skalen/Language_Selection/Turkish/General_Perceived_Self-Efficac/general_perceived_self-efficac.htm Ralf Schwarzer (1999), Proactive Attitude Scale   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Retrived March 14th 2005   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From:http://www.fuerlin.de/gesund/skalen/Language_Selection/Turkish/Proactive_Attitude/proactive_attitude.htm

Midterm 2 Essays Essay

1) Ben-Hur is the last great film score in the tradition of the golden age until 1977. Describe the characteristics of the classical film score as exemplified in this film. Include a description of significant themes and scenes. (10 points) William Wyler directed a 1958 American epic historical drama film, Ben-Hur. This film is well known to be one of the greatest film scores reflecting in the classic traditions. The film portrays lives of two men (i.e., Jesus Christ and Judah Beh-Hur), in which the plot illustrates number of parallels and reversals. Rozsa utilizes modal harmonies and parallel chords to deploy the spirit of the Roman era. Throughout the film, he embraces traditional love themes for the three separate love relationships. Rozsa incorporates overall stylistic harmony by applying musical ideas that are associated with Roman, Hebrew, and early Christian. Furthermore, it can be seen that Rozsa chose many of the melodies to be modal. He also used parallel harmonies to maint ain the same pitch correlation from chord to chord and limits any possible sense of harmonic progression. For example, the first three chords of the score move in parallel motion where each pitch moves down a entire step and returns back to the original pitch. Throughout the â€Å"Redemption theme†, the overture plays a melody that implies the Phrygian mode. In the Christ theme and several of the Roman marches, the Western triadic chords can be heard. The score also displays a complex system of leitmotifs. The â€Å"Christ theme† plays an organ with a wavering sound where high strings with harmonics are often added. These combinations create a halo effect around the melody. In addition, the number three is an important symbol for Christianity due to the Trinity where it consists of three-note chords. Moreover, it can be seen through the Redemption theme that the first three pitches played are exactly the same as that of the Christ theme. It is interesting to observe the Friendship theme between Judah Ben-Hur and Messala contained with warmth while he also uses disturbing elements to foreshadow the Hate theme displayed by triton interval. During Ben-Hur’s desert march, chromatic melody strongly correlates to the Hate th eme. These musical melodies support for dramatic moods, settings, characters, and actions, which can be seen  throughout the film. Rozsa also uses significant orchestral medley to establish his principal themes during the overture and the opening credits. Most recognized and impressive is the powerful bass sound playing during the credits. In regards to the climax and resolution, Rozsa composes two musical climaxes (i.e., one for Christ and one for Ben-Hur). The Ben-Hur’s desert march consisted with chromaticism and dissonance underscoring the moment filled with bitterness. When Miriam and Tirzah gets cured after the storm, The Christ theme comes in with full orchestration. Throughout this film, we can see that Rozsa extensively uses music and exploits full range of orchestral colors as seen through general characteristics of the classical film score established during the mid-late 1930’s. 2) Psycho helps usher in the New American Cinema era. Using Psycho as a model, discuss the major changes to film music in the 1960s. (10 points) There were a significant transformation during the 1960s, where decline of Hollywood traditions and the rise of a new style initiated. Europeans influenced the way into the new era for the filmmakers in a global-scale. Innovative plots with uncertain beginnings and endings, unclear moral implication, and unusual plot lines started to emerge. We can clearly see that Alfred Hitchcock chose to shoot the film Psycho in black and white to signify the cold and empty atmospheric moods as well as to lower the production costs, which can be linked with the European imports. Bernard Herrmann supports Hitchcock’s visual and narrative effects where music is written for a string orchestra, where limited orchestral colors are prominent rather than a full symphonic ensemble. He correlated the usage of single tone color with the black and white cinematography. Herrmann utilized a unified score that is constantly dissonant. Although there are variation of mood from loving sound to the terror of the shower, all the cues are observed to be used with minor seconds and major sevenths. He also uses distinct sound using the â€Å"percussive-sounding strings† through deploying microphone close to the instrument to demonstrate the sound to be harsher, which can be seen as some of the new approaches that Herrmann accomplished through this film as the start of â€Å"a New American Era†. In addition, new approach in film scoring can be seen through the lack of contrast in a cue. When a cue starts, it stays consistent and repeats the mood with no varia tion where there are absence of shifts within a cue. Moreover, descending and ascending chords  of the Transition theme have an aloof characteristic with no display of emotions. This in return provides an overall disquieting mood to the story. During the Norman’s story, Hermann employs ostinato to maintain tension and discomforting sound of melody. 3) Discuss the growth of the various types of popular music in films from the late 1940s through the early 1970s. Please mention specific films, styles, and composers when you can. (20 points) Throughout late 1940’s through the early 1970’s, the growth of various types of popular music and trends are historically observed. Starting from postwar trends dating back from the late 1940’s where World War II delivered significant changes in filmmaking, which also had a huge impact on film music. During this time, pessimism and cynicism were two primary themes in films. It is clearly evident that there were three significant developments where music composed for Film Noir, the appearance of several outstanding scores reflecting the American nationalist musical style, and the resurgence of European centers. Film noir gave numerous unique characteristics consisted of one prevailing mood (primarily dark and pessimistic), minimal usage of musical cues, orchestration for small ensembles, predominantly low-pitched instruments (e.g., bass clarinet), focus on the lower registers of the strings, non-traditional orchestral sound, angular melodies, harsh dissonant harmonies, and the usage of jazz. Miklos Rozsa, one of Hollywood’s finest composers, earned much respect for film noir scores including his work through Double Indemnity and The Killers. In the late 1940’s, many of the excellent film scores reflected the musical style of American nationalism. Hugo Friedhofer created one of the most memorable score The Best Years of Our Lives, where he integrated many of the features of Copland’s American nationalist style. As for Aaron Coplan, he composed his last two scores for films The Red Pony and The Heiress. In the 1950’s, the American film industry suffered from decreasing revenues and increasing costs due to major competition from television industry. This in return made American filmmakers to respond with outputs of excellent films, which also had a major influence on the development in film music. The expanding role of popular music began in the early 1950’s. Newer forms of jazz (bebop) followed by its characteristics of hard accents, rapi d notes, and increased volume and intensity. Other trends in popular music in the 1950s are country and western, and rock and roll. Elmer  Berstein employs intense sounds of jazz along with traditional symphonic scoring through one of his first film scores, The Man with the Golden Arm. Dimitri Tiomkin, one of Hollywood’s veteran composers, brought a key innovation to film music when he incorporated a country and western song to High Noon. He also includes Leimotifs for the theme song, colorful orchestrations, and orchestra underscoring tension and action. A film, The Blackboard Jungle, introduced the rock music for the teenagers to rapidly adopt this exciting new kind of music in mid-late 1950’s. The birth of the blockbuster occurred in 1956. In films Around the World in 80 days and The Bridge on the River Kwai were both seen with the application of popular melodies, that is, walz tune and a British march. Adolph Deutsch employs traditional symphonic scoring in the film Something like it Hot. He liberally integrates popular music to underscore the fun where it includes musical, scurrying saxophone line, and use of the tango. In addition, a film Touch of Evil: Beginning in the late 1950’s is described as the last great film noir. Henry Mancini includes the mixture of Mexican and American popular musical styles. Variety of other popular musical styles are heard throughout the score, which includes country and western music, rock music, and intense jazz. Variety of modern styles in the late 1950’s are also seen through films such as Big Country, Vertigo, and North by Northwest. For example, Jerome Moross’s score for Big Country displays an influential new western sound, where he made concrete western sound. New Wave were greatly influential on American films in the early 1960’s. Through music in the New Era, music in from the films in 1960’s tends to create general moods rather than to illustrate specific or varying emotions. While filmmakers were faced with economic challenges, increased reliance on a smaller collaborative performance rather than the standard orchestra provided financial savings. It was also clearly observed that both popular and modern musical styles were well suit ed. These musical styles are demonstrated through three films in the early 1960’s, which are The Hustler, The Pawnbroker, and The Manchurian Candidate. Through the film, The Hustler, musical cues are often scored for jazz ensembles. However, in The Pawnbroker, Quincy Jones gets incorporates a modern style as required. One of the most distinct instruments employed throughout this film was harpsichord, which is a keyboard instrument used to renovate earlier form of  music for a more authentic sound. Furthermore, David Amram, who composed a film score for The Manchurian Candidate, uses various modern styles (e.g., American nationalist style for scenes of the soldiers returning to the US, and avant-garde styles to represent disoriented nightmares that some of the soldiers had. As observed in To Kill a Mockingbird, Elmer Bernstein’s musical score indicates small number of instruments used throughout the film along with general modern style. By 1967, sexuality and graphic violence were prevalent. In the film Bonnie and Clyde composed by Charles Strouse, most feature instruments associated with country music. From 1968 through early 1970’s, American society drew much concerns and frustrations due to many shocking events (e.g., Martin Luther King assassination, Robert Kennedy’s death from shooting, public view on Vietnam War, and war protests). As a result, filmmakers continued to use traditional musical scoring to maintain strong sense of reality. In Planet of the Apes, Jerry Goldsmith’s score consists of avant-garde style. John Barry mixed variety of popular styles with a few passages of modern electronic music through the film Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider. It also included rock style to relate the prominence of drugs in the plot. Finally, during the films of the early 1970’s where tensions were observed throughout America’s society, films often went with modern musical styles to underscore the hindrance of America due to widespread criminal activities and corrupted government officials.

Starbucks Weakness

Starbucks, as we all know, are one of the globally popular companies, but like everything else, it has its own weaknesses. Here I will suggest some solutions to help solve the problems faced in their inventory management processes. Starbucks follows the EOQ model, which involves heavy calculations and predictions. Without the formulas and some basic information about the demands from customers, the cost of placing orders, and other variables, the calculation of the EOQ model will not be able to reach its optimal potential. From this, collecting the accurate information for the calculations is vital, the company has to acquire reliable and timely sources. Conveying surveys, searching data online from sources like Google Analytics about the spending behavior, and carrying out research are among the ways to collect vital info from current and potential customers. By doing this, it can help determine the annual demand of the company, which can help solve or at least ease on the uncertainties of demand. Having skilled or experienced employees/ staff is also crucial as they are considered by some are the most valuable assets of a company, which they experience customer feedback firsthand. These ‘customer feedback’ are useful to further improve the customer of said company. Listening to employee feedbacks can also help to execute certain operations, selling products to customers, and how to do things better (Vos 2013, p. 1). Other than that, having good employees that takes charge of the calculation, for example the calculation of the EOQ model, are vital because they are needed to calculate the best possible figures of ordering. Through this, it can help narrow down the EOQ model predictions. Also, they can help predict through experience without completely relying on the calculations. Calculation based on the EOQ model also requires constant set of data. For example, the demand for the year has to be known (which has been covered on the second paragraph on accurate data collection), the cost of ordering has to be same throughout the year and also the lead time must not fluctuate and remains consistent. Having a good supplier can help solve the consistency of ordering cost and also constant lead time (Ready Ratios, 2013). A good supplier will be able to achieve expected results, offering good quality of products and delivering goods on time are among some of the benefits of having a good supplier. Building a good relationship with the supplier will get you more benefits, such as priority as a valued customer, competitiveness (in terms of pricing, quality, reliability ahead of the competition, in this case, Starbucks, is facing), innovation and also product development (Bob Reiss, 2010). Other than that, having good material handling can also help cope with the unpredictable usages or the uncertainties of demand. By having good material handling, the company can improve the efficiency of the production this will save time and indirectly save labor cost as productions run faster. It can also maximize space utilization by storing materials in the way it should, it also can reduce cost by saving on inventory carrying cost which is not properly handled. All of this are necessary to make sure if something goes wrong in the calculation, the loss can hopefully be covered by the savings in material handling, making the loss easier to swallow. Having good transport of goods is also beneficial by having shorter lead time and at the same time transporting more goods are both time and cost saving. Furthermore, keeping a contingency plan at the ready can also help the company in case of unpredictable situations happening, such as natural disasters, shortage of raw materials usually hits us by surprise. So, to keep the company on their toes, to be ready to face emergencies such as this, the company can either keep additional safety stocks, or have another backup supplier from another region to provide with the supplies just to counter the sudden changes and to prevent stock outs to happen. Other than that, the appropriate application of the contingency plan can showcase how the company can utilize and prove to others that the company can manage themselves well, inviting more investors to join in the company. Moreover, advancement of technology plays a part in the inventory management of Starbucks. They can use it to keep track of their inventory much faster and efficient. This allows them to keep track and keep updated with how many units they have. With this said, they can improve their inventory flow and also quickly order materials that are needed for fear that miscalculation happens in the EOQ model which leads to surplus or shortage of materials, with the help of inventory management system (IMS) that Starbucks uses, they can further improve their services and provide better quality products. To wrap things up, to have a successful company, one needs to have more than a capable workforce, it needs to have a blend of luck and some daring decisions to start up something new. For instance, Starbucks Corp. which was founded by a few teachers and their friends, and with a simple idea of a company selling overpriced coffee with decent atmosphere. Who could’ve thought that it could be this successful? References 1. Bob Reiss. (2010).  Build a Good Relationship With Suppliers.  Available: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/205868. Last accessed 15th June 2013. 2. Readyratios.com. 2013.  Economic Order Quantity Model (EOQ). [online] Available at: http://www.readyratios.com/reference/analysis/economic_order_quantity_model_eoq.html [Accessed: 16 Jun 2013]. 3. Vos, L. 2013.  People: The Most Important Asset of Any Company. [e-book] Georgia: p. 1. Available through: Georgia SBDC http://www.georgiasbdc.org/pdfs/vos09.pdf [Accessed: 16 Jun 2013].