Hamlet Review Essay Example for Free

Hamlet Review Essay Primary Characters: * Hamlet- indecisive, isolates himself, plans his â€Å"antic disposition† * Claudius- murder of King Hamlet, Hamlet’s uncle and stepfather, guilty * Ophelia- Polonius’s daughter, Hamlet’s love, drowns Secondary Characters: * Horatio- Hamlet’s friend * Polonius- protective of Ophelia, believes Hamlet is affected by Ophelia’s love * Gertrude- Hamlet’s mother and the queen * Laertes- Polonius’s son and Ophelia’s brother, wants to kill Hamlet after Ophelia dies Point of view and other notable techniques: Most people believe that Hamlet was written in the 3rd person point of view. However, some literary critics argue that Shakespeare’s characters possess individuality too great to be bound under a fixed point of view. Like actual people, they act with intentions we cannot completely comprehend. This lack of fixed point of view allows the work to be up to interpretation, as it has been analyzed in a variety of ways. Shakespeare embodies various structural, literary, and stylistic techniques in his play. He often switches between the use of blank verse and prose when dealing with his different characters. He also uses iambic pentameter throughout the play. Examples of this can be most easily found in Hamlet’s â€Å"To be or not to be† monologue in Act III. Favorite stylistic techniques of Shakespeare include soliloquy, particularly those uttered by Hamlet throughout the play (the â€Å"To be or not to be†¦Ã¢â‚¬  soliloquy remains one of the most famous in English literature). He also uses various allusions to both biblical and mythological references throughout Hamlet, including a reference to the Garden of Eden in the Ghost of Hamlet’s father’s graphic description of his murder. Imagery is another favorite technique of Shakespeare, as he uses his words to paint images of violence, chaos, beauty, and darkness. The language of Shakespeare is in a class of its own, as the old English text he employs throughout the play reflect his own unique manner of writing. Major conflicts and resolutions: * Hamlet vs. His inner self- Hamlet struggles between action and inaction throughout the entire play. Is inability to act out what he feels and kill Claudius ultimately leads to his death. * Hamlet vs. Claudius, Polonius, Ophelia Laertes: Hamlet has many external conflicts with the other characters that stem from his internal conflict. The conflict between Claudius and Hamlet leads to both of their deaths. Hamlet kills Polonius out of a fit of insanity. Ophelia and Hamlet seem to have various problems, (as seen by the nunnery scene) and in the end Ophelia ends up going insane and drowning. After Ophelia dies, Laertes wants to seek revenge. He and Hamlet fence and because of a mix up of swords, he is poisoned by his own sword. Key Scenes: * A huge turning point in Hamlet is within rising action. The ghost tells hamlet to revenge his murder. Hamlet finds out that it is Claudius, but Hamlet does not kill Claudius because he is in prayer. * The climax of â€Å"Hamlet† is when Hamlet stabs Polonius through the curtain. (III:v). This is the climax because since he violently killed Polonius, Hamlets gets into conflicts with the king. * The resolution is when Hamlet returns from England, changed. Hamlet eventually has a fencing match with Laertes and then the royal family dies and so does Hamlet. (V.). Key Quotations: * â€Å"Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death/ The memory be green†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (I.ii.1-25) * Claudius addresses his court explaining the death of the King and his marriage to Gertrude. * â€Å"This above all,—to thine own self be true; And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man† (I.iii.78-80) * Polonius speaks these words to Laertes as he gives him final counsel before leaving home. * â€Å"To be or not to be†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (III.i. 58-90) * In this famous soliloquy, Hamlet ponders life and death, suicide and the afterlife, as well as action and inaction. * â€Å"Not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain convocation of politic worms are een at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet. We fat all creatures else to fat  us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service—two dishes, but to one table. That’s the end.† (IV.iii.21) * Hamlet says this to the king. In this humorous scene, he speaks of Polonius’s death. Many think that the manner in which he speaks of the death in these lines prove his insanity. * â€Å"The rest is silence† (V.ii.356) * Hamlet’s last words spoken to Horatio before he dies Theme statements central questions: After losing a loved one unjustifiably, one may seek revenge and in doing so explore the limits of sanity. * Why does Hamlet delay in killing Claudius? * Was the ghost real or imagined? * When is murder justifiable? * Is suicide okay? * How much thought is too much thought and not enough action? Your reactions: * I found the soliloquy in Hamlet the most difficult sections of the play to comprehend, particularly due to the old English style in which they were written in. Shakespeare’s dated language and implementation of iambic pentameter often confused me, as did his various allusions and colloquialisms, among other literary devices throughout these extended monologues. I had to re-read the â€Å"To be or not to be† soliloquy until I was finally able to understand it. Shakespeare reveals of his character’s innermost demons and troubles through his soliloquy, bringing their emotional instability full circle. Realizing this made me strive even harder to understand every aspect of these speeches, every allusion and image and literary device was crucial, even though it appears to be insignificant in the scheme of things. The details truly matter in his works. * Personally, the â€Å"this above all† quote is one of my favorite quotes. Polonius may have been a fool for trying to teach Laertes this lesson at the last possible moment before his departure, but his words are wise ones. Through personal experience I have found truth behind the advice and hold it very close. I’ve discovered that if I remain true to myself and am honest with myself, it is virtually impossible to be false to others.  I’ll always remember these famous words. * One aspect of Hamlet that really stood out to me was the scenes of the ghost. I personally believe that the ghost telling Hamlet to remember him and revenge his father’s death, was actually within the imagination of Hamlet himself. There is no evidence in the play that suggests that the ghost is all in Hamlet’s mind, however, there is no evidence against it, thus making it an effective claim. Notable literary devices: * Shakespeare’s use of tone creates a unique and completely entertaining style of dialogue for the play. The tone uses imagery and diction to add meaning to the text and make the play sad, funny, dark, or even violent at times. * Shakespeare uses poetry in â€Å"Hamlet† and it is written in Iambic Pentameter. â€Å"Hamlet†, having been written in poetry, is portrayed beautifully and because of the meter, is executed properly. * The use of symbols is evident in â€Å"Hamlet†. The skull and the ghost are obvious symbols of death. However, other symbols can be analyzed like Ophelia and flowers, or Ophelia and innocence. Hamlet can be looked at as the â€Å"tragic hero†, and many characters have symbolism behind them. Good for the following prompts: This text would be best implemented in either an analysis or an argument prompt. For the analysis prompt, the student would be presented with a short excerpt from Hamlet and be required to discuss different techniques the author uses throughout the passage, connecting back to the overall meaning of the work as a whole. Any selection from Hamlet highlights Shakespeare’s use of iambic pentameter, as well as his mastery of imagery and allusions. An argument prompt requires the student to analyze a given position in said argument, and either defend, challenge, or qualify the position using their own knowledge of the work. Anything goes with this prompt, so a total understanding of the various interpretations of Hamlet is necessary to succeed. Students must develop their own interpretation of the work and pinpoint elements in the work that contribute to their understanding of it. Hamlet would be an excellent choice when faced with any prompt dealing with revenge, avenging the death of a loved one, insanity, or family values, a few of the central themes of Shakespeare’s work.

Requirements for Human Resource Planning in Healthcare

Requirements for Human Resource Planning in Healthcare PHOEBE COLETO TASK ONE – INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH REPORT Considers the following types of business factors that underpin human resource planning in a healthcare organisation business growth, decline, change, competition; impact of technology and labour market competition and employee development. Planning is one of the important factors in our life. Surely we all practice planning in our daily lives activities, careers, budgets and others. However we do it, planning is one of the important factor in the organization it is step by step to achieve a desirable outcome. This is typically refer to as business planning in corporate environment, accepting the more systematic and disciplined approach. The plan is to reach the achievement, programs and develop new services. The quality of such plans are organisational route maps to get business to some defined point, or points, in the future. Strategic planning is something that has grown steadily and one of the important part of modern business and organisational cycle. Human resources planning is an integration that define the current and future human resources needs for an organization to achieve its goals. Human resources planning should connect the human resources management and the whole strategic plan of an organization. BUSINESS GROWTH Cost has been more important theme in healthcare organizations. Organizations realize that future profitability will not be achieved by simply cutting the cost. Healthcare organization s system are starting to express and implement business growth strategies to implement effective profit and referral opportunities. Enhancing the business approach to working with clients, different organizations are investing in business growth strategies to promote better services, client expectations and gain customer loyalty and trust. Growth of the organization is depend on the ability of your team to develop services that meet client’s expectations; packaging the services for the benefit of the customer. The healthcare systems must differentiate the value and benefits of their services. The staff ability to meet this challenge is rejective to the organization’s to maintain successful growth. Therefore, in order the achieve the highest of success it needs strict implementation of plans. Implementation of training employees and hiring qualified staff will make an additional overall growth of the business. Through aiming for the quality of service and uniqueness of the service will give impression to client that this company is better to the other company. People will begin to be loyal to the services provided and will surely increase the business growth. DECLINE Doubt is ever present on business. Business decline refers to downward trend of business profit or revenue. The reasons of business unstable are generally caused by decline of service value, customer satisfaction, global and local competition, and new regulatory. On the other hand, it may result to business bankruptcy or closure of the company. The human resource management must do steps to prevent the decline or downfall of business. The business that flourishes in the middle of uncertainty times is the one who looks at the situation, change accordingly and define existing sales techniques to face the test of the business. This is the best method of willing to change and responsive. CHANGE â€Å"The ability to find new and non-traditional avenues to apply our strength is fundamental to our ability to remain competitive and responsive† by Stefan Kohn. Changes in the business is always part of the economy. It is an expected part of the business cycle. If there is a change it is important to consider people of the organization. Without the right people being willing, ready for the change, the solutions will never be implemented successfully. Usually changes struggles fail due to absence of attention. As quoted â€Å" The better you know your customer the better you are able to gauge what matters most in defining a positive customer experience† says Michelle Cox, head of contract centres at MBF (part of Bupa Australia). â€Å"Such customer – centricity is core to competitiveness in today’s market, helping to direct innovation, create value, and ensure flexibility and nimbleness in decision-making,† says Ms. Cox. Attending to the people dy namics should be completed as an equate factor of the design and administer of the change. The progression fit the change for success; measure through the designed solutions, implementation, planning, and testing. The key to achieve success is unruly designing the change process to handle all the content and people as one. COMPETITION The healthcare market faces many challenges. The impact increase the competition with quality and cost is not transparent. The relation between quality of healthcare provided to customer and system cost of giving health care is not explained. In every business there is rivalry to sales, profit, market and price, quality and service. In healthcare setting, the quality product or service would be the main reason to be a competitive. The human resource management should know the market or who they competing. It will help the Human resource to produce the quality services, marketing, and unique products. It will also accredit them to set a competitive cost and marketing campaigns. Create marketing strategies to the rivalry weakness and will improved the organization performance. Being a realistic in attaining goals will help aiming the success. IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY The use of technology to help ensure quality and control cost plays important role in every business. Technological advancement are used in healthcare industries to achieve efficiency and effectiveness in care. It is believe that to improve the system is through innovation and entrepreneurism. Client were given information and power, reshaping how care is delivered, and changing the services. It has helped give clear meanings and every record right from the billing to diagnostic and treatment can be maintain through easy access by healthcare providers. Using software and tools, profiles of patients can be created so doctors can give standardized treatment. This improves the client outcome and reduces cost of health care. This proves that technology touches each and every stages of our lives. Technology has amazingly enhanced of life and boost economy of the world. LABOUR MARKET COMPETITION In New Zealand, healthcare is very competitive market due to shortage of specialised staff. They were facility gives poor services due to fast turnover of staff. The reason behind this is the load of work they have does not compensate with the wages they received. Planning and developing a competitive rate will develop the attitude of competitiveness. Categorize the load of work and compensating it with correct incentive creates satisfaction of employee. Good governance of the manager and good relationship to the staff will also prevent fast turnover. Working together as one unit in this competitive environment and giving importance to staff will give positive outcome. EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT A staff who receives the advance training is better able to perform her job. She becomes more knowledgeable about safety and proper procedures. The training also build the employees confidence because she has now a stronger understanding and the responsibilities of her job. The confidence will push the staff to perform even better and think of new ideas to excel. Continuous training also keeps your employees to retain and attract. Staff who are competent and on top of changing environment will help the company hold a position as a leader and strong competitor. Considers the following types of human resource requirements and factors that underpin human resource planning in a healthcare organisation Identifying internal personnel requirements, internal and external factors in matching personnel to organisational requirements; government policies and labour market competition. Workforce plays vital role in the business. The performance of the employee and the quality of service gives determines the stand of the organisation. The steps of hiring starts with advance planning to detect the needed staff in the organisation. The effective determinant of a management’s ability to respond in time to a changing and unstable business work environment is know how to be flexible and adaptable. The health care system is highly intensive with regards to labour. The effective health care system must have the exact number and mix of health care provider and must be with motivation and skills to perform the job assigned. Other countries are now in crisis for scarcity of qualified health care staff and that involves availability. The three dimension which relate to right health care workers ; distribution of skilful, which relate with the recruitment and retention of health care workers who is most needed; and the performance, which relates to a health care worker productivity and quality of the health care workers provide. IDENTIFYING INTERNAL PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS The organizations may want to fill position or vacancies with their current employees. Usually a company will allow current employees to apply for the vacancies inside the firm. The vacancies are advertised around the organization and can be applied by any employee who they are qualified The intuitions usually needed investigation and assessment if require an additional qualified staff. Performance increase plays important role to assess the performance and quality of work of an employee in a specific duties and responsibilities. This process enhance the employee skills and opportunity for promotion if needed. Also, it gives appropriate experience. Arranging or rearranging the organisation is a hard task. The human resource will retain the staff who is fit to the job, also it another option is hire new skilful employee. It can be done by identifying, assessing and implementing the problem. INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS IN MATCHING PERSONNEL TO ORGANISATIONAL REQUIREMENTS An internal personnel need a specific position that match to the need of specific organisation. The balance in organisation is important that bring the demand and supply, so that the scarcity and over staffing will be solved. Pool of applicants must eliminate and select the right person to occupy the right position or vacancy. An External factor is the people that are needed for the job. It describes the people who will be qualified to the position as internal requirement of the management. Planning gives perspective and make sure the accurate amount of staff that are present to gives the necessary outcome of the organisation. GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND LABOUR MARKET COMPETITION Government policies and guidelines are producing well for promotion of the safety of the staff and management. These legislation will have a big impact with process of hiring, training, compensation and discipline of the people in the organization. Due to the competition of labour market there is a set of specific compensation depending on the level or work. Wages are set for specific positions and jobs, however, in this competitive environment people will look that provides a better salary. Labour market economics involves studying the different dimensions of labour supply and demand, which collaborate with wages, employment and unemployment. It can be understood as process of human labour as bought and also sold, means labour demand is equal to labour supply. Which means it’s the process between the workers and the organisation. This puts pressure to the governments to decrease the regulation of the business pratices, including the people protection legislation, to make sure that the organization are best able to answer to changes in labour market. The governments have responsibility to protect the workers and force to implement balance in the economic interest and employee protection. This is shown in the issues of the right for agency and temporary/contractual staff. The flexible labours market has the ability to accept and fire workers and offer poor compensation and employment conditions. REFERENCES: The Labour Market Context of HRM http://www.sagepub.com/wilton/The%20Labour%20Market%20Context.pdf Internal Control Integrated Framework http://www.coso.org/documents/Internal Control-Integrated Framework.pdf HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS http://www.victoria.ac.nz/st_services/careers/pdf/career-view/career-view-human-resource-management-and-industrial-relations-web.pdf Why do health labour market forces matter? http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/91/11/13-118794/en/ Workplaces that Work http://hrcouncil.ca/hr-toolkit/workplaces-interpersonal.cfm

Demand for communication in english in vietnam

Demand for communication in english in vietnam Introduction 1. Reasons for the research The demand for communication in English has become very urgent in Vietnam since the governments open door policy in late 1980. More and more people, especially working people and students have to learn English to use it at work, in their studies or future jobs. In fact, many adult learners of English who start learning English even from grade one speak English like â€Å"bulls in a China shop†. Therefore, the Communicative Approach, using group work activities, has been predominant and widely applied to improve Vietnamese learners communicative skills of English in Vietnam. Using this learning-centered approach in pedagogy is actually a concern for many English teachers in Vietnam in general and especially for the English teachers at the English Department of my university. Group work has brought innovation in speaking more in terms of theory than in terms of Vietnamese teachers real classroom practices. I am twenty two years old and have been teaching English at my university for two years. I am teaching one section of speaking skill per week in a very diverse class of students with different levels of speaking proficiency. Many of my students are sometimes eager to talk in their groups while others just look bored and keep quiet in these groups. Moreover, my students sometimes use Vietnamese a lot in their speaking English class and one member of the group dominates others. According to Harmer (2007), uncooperative and unmotivated students present a serious problem and can easily disrupt the instructional process while productive activities involving speaking in groups are more demanding and time consuming. Although cooperative learning was originally developed for general education, several researchers have documented its application to second language learning (High, 1993; Holt, 1993; Kessler, 1992; McCafferty, Jacobs DasilvaIddings, 2006). In terms of speaking English, I wante d to investigate the implementation of group activities to understand their effects on the English oral fluency of my first year English major students at a Vietnamese University. I would like to explore how my students speak English with their partners and think of activities. I would like to find whether or not interpreting group work activities in different ways of group work develops the first year English major students oral fluency in my English speaking class. Hopefully, the research findings will be helpful for me to give great perceptions and understandings about implementing group work activities to develop English oral fluency with first year English major students at my university. Therefore, the result will be reflected on my decisions about the organization of effective group work activities in my English speaking classes to develop the quality of teaching. 2. Research questions: How can group work activities be used with first year English major students at a Vietnamese University to develop their English oral fluency? Why do modifying group work activities impact on the English oral fluency of first year English major students at a Vietnamse University? Organization of the research The research is divided into seven main parts under these headings: Introduction, literature review, context, methods and methodology, analysis and findings, reflections, and conclusion. Part one, Introduction includes rationale, the research questions and the overview of the research. Part two, Literature review gives and discusses related theoretical background to the research. Part three, Context describes the context in which the research has taken place. Part four, Methods and methodology includes reasons for the methods chosen, the ethical procedure of my research and the difficulties I faced. Part five, Analysis and findings, tells my story of the research. Part six, Reflections, includes strong and weak points of my research and my experience about doing research. Part seven, Conclusion, finally reviews the outcomes and summarizes the whole research project and provides implication for further research. Literature review 1. Definition of group work Johnson, Johnson and Smith (1991, p 15) defines that: Group work, in language class, is a co-operative activity, during which students share aims and responsibilities to complete a task assigned by the teacher in groups or in pairs. It can be said that in group work, all the members have chances for greater independence in making their own learning decisions without the teacher controlling any more. They learn to negotiate more equally with their friends and in most cases they feel free to express themselves and use the language. In group work, the focus is not on accuracy but on fluency. In speaking class, group work is often conducted in small groups and lasts for about ten minutes to a class period depending on specific tasks. The following part discusses the pros and cons of using group work activities in language classes. 2. Benefits and difficulties of using group work activities in language class Many different kinds of speaking activities such as dialogue, discussion, interview, etc can be performed in groups. In certain types of those activities, group work no doubt offers many advantages. There have been a number of studies reporting the potential benefits of pair and group work activities in language teaching and learning. According to experts in second language acquisition, negotiation of meaning facilitates both learning and acquisition and is defined as: The modification and restructuring of interaction that occurs when learners and their interlocutors anticipate, perceive, or experience difficulties in massage comprehensibility. (Pica, 1994, p. 494) Following is the summary of the most common benefits of using group work in language class. Group work promotes learners responsibility and autonomy. Group work increases students participation, talking time and oral fluency. According to Harmer (1997), group work provides more opportunities for students initiation, practice in negotiation of meaning, extended conversational exchanges, face-to-face give and take and adoption of roles. Vygotsky (1978) also believes that learning is not directed one way between teacher and students but in different ways between students and students and between teacher and students. Ur (1996, p232) also shares the same idea: In group work, learners perform a learning task through small group interaction. It is a form of learner activation that is of particular value in the practice of oral fluency; learners in a class that is divided into five groups get 5 times as many opportunities to talk as in full class organization. Working in groups enables students to produce better decisions to solve a specific task. Group work promotes individuals motivation. Group work enables students to use the language and also motivates them to be more involved and concentrate on the tasks assigned. Richards and Lockhart (1994) believes that through working in groups, students feel relaxed and comfortable to share ideas and play active roles in the learning process without the correcting feedback of teachers. Therefore, they have the benefit of sharing ideas with other group members, learning from other friends mistakes or success and helping others to learn. Because the comprehension of the subject under discussion is often increased in group work, students certainly became more motivated. According to Doff (1988), working in pairs or in groups encourages students to be more involved and to concentrate on the tasks. In the non-threatening performance environment of the collaborative classroom, motivation is often improved as students feel less inhibited and more able to explore possibilities for self expression. The next part will discuss several difficulties which are often believed to affect the successful implementation of the group work activities in language class. Organizational difficulties According to Sheils (1993), in some teaching contexts, the use of group work activities is inappropriate due to the unsuitable physical setting. For instance, my classroom is too big with unmovable desks or there are a large number of students in a class. This also leads to another difficulty relating to the class management. I am afraid of organizing group work because of noise and indiscipline which affect other classes. It is hard for me to provide proper management. If I go and pay attention to one group, the rest of class may forget the task and play about. Students will convert into the mother tongue when they are required to work in groups or they will use class time to chat with each other or become lazier. As such, their speaking skill cannot be improved and their time is wasted. Learner-related difficulties The lack of linguistic knowledge to contribute to group work is the typical difficulty faced by many students. Speaking is one of the most complex linguistic skills because it involves thinking of what is to be said and responding spontaneously to what has been thought. In order to be able to do this, patterns, structures, and words must be chosen to fit the right situation or situation or attitude intended. Byrne (1986) has pointed out that thoughts are controlled to a great extent by vocabulary. We can not talk about something if we have no words for it. The inability to verbalize thought or feeling may distort ones perceptions of objective reality, increase tendency to overact and hinder the likelihood of easy collaboration. Once students do not know enough of the language to express themselves with ease, they often become reluctant to participate in group work. There are also other situations in which the students personality (e.g., shy, passive, reserved, etc) or personality conflict(e.g., incompatible personalities) influence students participation in group work activities. Vygotsky (1986) supposed that relationship of peers has also an influence on interaction in groups. Peers can be proficient learners, learners who are different from teachers (Swain Lapskin, 1998), more or less proficient learners (Ohta, 1995), more or less informed junior students (McDonald, Kidman, Clarke, 1991), and peers as native and non-native speakers in the classroom (Barnard, 2002). Sheils (1993) said that though many students are happy to speak in chorus or under the teachers guidance when doing some kinds of drill, they are inhibited when being asked to express themselves freely in the presence of the whole class. Furthermore, the fear of being corrected in front of the other students may also cause the uneasy collaboration and lead to unproductive groups. In those cases, students may never have been encouraged sufficiently to â€Å"have a go† without worrying about mistakes or they may be accustomed to the traditional teacher- centered class. Learning style preference certainly affects the students performance in group work. In her study, Nguyen (2004) illustrates the influences of students learning style preference on the students performance in group work activities. She mentions that the learning style preference in Eastern countries like China or Vietnam is greatly influenced by the Confucian culture. The students were often familiar with being transmitted knowledge from the teachers rather than from their peers. Therefore, it might be difficult for the teachers to implement group work activities in language classes due to the students negative responses to communicative language teaching and learning. Beside the factors discussed above, there are other situations in which some students, though they do not have problems with the lack of appropriate linguistic competence or personality, have no ideas to contribute or to react to the topic given by the teachers. This may happen when the topic needs too much specialized knowledge to discuss or even when there is nothing interesting to say about it or even when the tasks do not need multiple contributions from all students but can be completed by only one or two individuals. However, there have been a number of researchers who have reported positive effects of group work activities on the development of speaking ability in the language classroom. They are, therefore, worth considering putting into the classroom more regularly. Also, more investigations should be conducted to find out the most appropriate techniques or procedures to implement successful group work activities in speaking class, both teachers and students need to play effective roles. The following part discusses the roles the teachers and the students need to perform in order to implement group work successfully. Concerning the allocation of members into groups, Hurd (2000) says there is no â€Å"one right way† to allocate students into groups. Rather, there are members of practices teachers can use. He also states that most selection methods fall into four categories. These are random appointment, self-selection, selective appointment, task appointment. 3. Group work and speaking fluency Brown (2003) raises a question â€Å"Can we really develop our students fluency?† According to him, in teaching fluency, teachers must be willing to let go of some control in our classroom, let my students have some of the control and let them to do some of the work and set up situations in which fluency can develop, and encourage my students to actually communicate. In fact, I do not need to teach fluency all of the time, but some of the time students need a little guided communication time during which their knowledge of many aspects of the language can develop into fluency. Brown (2003, p.15) also states Teachers set up activities and then get out of the way that many students can be talking at the same time [†¦] However, setting up such activities is exactly what the students need to develop. There is many other research by Ur (1996) and Maurice (1983) noting that the use of group work activities can create many opportunities for students to practice speaking fluency. Context Twenty four of my first year English major students in my class who took part in my study were from eighteen to twenty- two with four males and twenty females. I have taught them spoken English for one term with Communicative Method which does not pay much attention to a fixed curriculum but focus instead on authentic materials. My students had one speaking lesson every week and each lesson lasts for 90 minutes. Therefore, I had time to understand about their English competence very well along with their characteristics, and backgrounds. Before entering the University, one third of them finished 7 years of English at high school. The rest studied English for 3 years only. When entering the University, they already have some basic knowledge of English grammar, but most of them are still weak at speaking, reading, listening, especially, those who come from rural or remote areas where the conditions of learning English are very poor. About 30 % of the students who lived in areas with go od conditions of learning English in secondary schools and high schools are at better level. Nevertheless, in high school, most of them could not use English communicatively, because they had been taught with the Grammar- Translation method with much focus on grammar rules, memorization of vocabulary, translation of texts and doing exercises to enter a university. Another reason was that they had few opportunities to communicate with foreigners or native speakers. I wrote inform consent letters (see appendix 1) and delivered them to all the students of the class to ask them for their permission to participate in my research. I did the research with two female informants. Firstly I chose A because she has studied English for 7 years in the city high school with high level of communicative skills. Secondly I chose B because she has studied English for 3 years in a local school with low level of communicative English skills but she is good at writing and reading English. I saw many times A and B went and chatted with each other inside and outside the class and heard other students say that A and B were close friends. Methods and methodology At the beginning of my project, I explained my intentions to the students and asked them for their permission to conduct the research. I told two informants that I would record their spoken language as part of my research on how to develop their English oral fluency. Luckily, they agreed because A and B had good attitudes to me, to University, especially to learning English to find good jobs. I also gave each student a consent form letter which might be useful in setting out clearly for learners what their participation would involve and how the results of the process would be used. The head of my department was aware of how and why I was conducting my research. Learners interviewed their friends and wrote up friends characteristics, attitudes towards group work and useful strategies of speaking English. The results might help them develop motivation in speaking English. After collecting data I gave back my final draft of report to my students to check whether or not my interpretation of what they said corresponded with their own understanding. I formally thanked everyone who had helped me and sent copies of my findings to anyone who has been of substantial help to me. I combined observational and field note techniques to organize data about behaviors, contexts, group organization and records of interactions between informants. Therefore, using notes to collect research data became more effective than other data collection techniques took over. Besides, I used a small hand-held recorder as a time saving option during group work activities and students interviews. This allowed me to note important data while they were still fresh in my mind. I could also talk into the recorder, listen to the recordings again and start thinking. I organized A to interview B in Vietnamese on their feelings and opinions about group work and learning experience during their break time of 20 minutes. I provided a set of preplanned questions (see appendix 7) in no fixed order and asked the group to audio-record their responses. I did this to in order to increase my own and my learners understanding of students feelings about group work. I used semi structured interviews between learner and learner because they ensured greater consistency, reliability and balance in the research relationship. Two students engaged in their free flowing conversational process in a friendly way to share with each other about their learning experience in speaking English and their perception of group work. I chose this approach to understand deeply about the factors affecting group work to develop English oral fluency. I felt a lack of experience in writing up the final research findings. It worried me whether I was adopting the right approach, and that my data collecting methods became a bit slapdash and less thorough than they should have been. I felt pressured for time during the process and in writing the report because I also taught and did the research at the same time. Chapter five: Analysis and Findings I conducted the research with my students when they had started studying in the second term for two weeks. The first time, I observed speaking in the English class at the first period in the morning. The class had not had any examination of speaking in the second term of the first year. In the first term, A got mark 8 and B got 5 for speaking examination. We had two speaking periods in the same day per week. The second time, I observed the speaking fluency of A and B after one week of the first observation, at the first period in the morning. A sat next to B in the same front table of the classroom. Before conducting the research for a week, I informed them that I would do the research in the class. And I delivered twenty four consent letters to all my students, asked them to tick the box if they agreed to participate, collected all letters after 5 minutes and read at home. During observing, I used highlighter, sticky notes and collected data on set target in the observation sheet. I used themes and codes (see appendix 2) to organize and collect data in field notes when I was observing. I put the recorders in each group of the class. Because desks and chairs were fixed and unmovable I asked my students to work in groups of three with their neighbors at the same desk and imagine a story about the picture (see appendix 3) on the blackboard. A and B were in the same group with C who could speak English very well. At first, they were eager to talk in the group because they thought they had many things to speak about and the picture was very interesting. I just sat at my desk with books, looked and made notes in the observation sheets. When I observed I realized that A and Bs oral English fluency was not interfered by with the noise of other groups. I just required my students to create their own stories about the picture in their groups in 15 minutes and present their stories in front of the class. I saw almost all students looked very excited and smiled when I showed the picture and said: â€Å"The most interesting story would get good marks†. I fixed the picture on the blackboard and explained about characters in the picture. A and B kept quiet for a while in their group and later A asked: â€Å"B, what is your story? And why will we have to do this task?† B was too shy and said nothing while A started speaking English. She had a huge amount of ideas about the picture to share with other members while B just listened to A and nodded her head. Often, B said â€Å"right†, â€Å"ok† and looked at me. After speaking English for 3 minutes, A asked B to take note what she had said. Sometimes, A stopped speaking and asked others to express their ideas. B also spoke some short utterances to support the st ory. A commented on B and Cs opinions. B almost always agreed with A and she just kept silent and looked very nervous to speak English. A and C dominated B while B had no more chance to practice. For example, B almost always asked questions and read sentences which were written and said very short utterances like: â€Å"you should change this word into that word†. Sometimes B suggested new ideas for the story but she was too shy to persuade others to agree therefore B looked unhappy in her group. After they finished the story, A began to chat in Vietnamese with another girl friend at the table behind about a film on TV that night while B turned around and exchanged her stories with other groups in Vietnamese. B wanted to talk but she had no chances in her group so she found another whom she could speak with. When the time was up, I asked each group to tell their story. When other groups were presenting, A did not pay much attention to that. A asked B to present the story in f ront of the class when I called them. B was too shy to speak and did not speak fluently and always looked at her note taking paper. C and A said â€Å"no† and they stood up and continued to present their own ideas. B sat down and felt more comfortable when she did not have to speak. The task was finished on time and almost all A and Bs utterances were in English. After the first class of observation, I asked students to be free for 20 minutes in the next period to interview in pairs. I paired A and B and recorded their conversation to understand about their feelings, difficulties and struggles of working in groups. I concluded that B felt intimidated when working with someone of much better ability although the more fluent students sometimes tried to help their partners. Moreover, B could not talk because she made a lot of mistakes and did not know how to say things in English. Although B wanted to talk she thought her friends would laugh at her when she spoke. My lesson was not interesting enough to encourage all students to engage in speaking although the picture was very good. Because I did not give enough requirements and explanation of the task A and B did not understand what they should do in group work. I did not pay much attention to the group organization, task requirement and students understanding. A and B got good marks but they did not like my lesson. A and B did not feel satisfied with the lesson. A said that the lesson was not interesting enough and should be made clear for all students. Nevertheless, B liked to be in groups with A, and other more fluent students because she had chances to learn from them to broaden her knowledge and vocabulary. After the first observation, I changed my mind about my teaching. I though about reasons why my students did not engage in their groups and decided that I should require them to produce a story with five or six simple tense and future tense sentences. And I should deliver this picture for all groups as a handout while the blackboard was used to present students results. I should go around and listen to my students and encourage them to speak English. In the next period, I rearranged the desks of the class in a U shaped arrangement of groups to allow an easy transition to plenary mode. Students grouped by themselves with friends who had the same interesting topics after they were provided some background knowledge of each topic. After collecting information of observing, I compared the results of two sessions to find out differences between A and B in oral English fluency in their groups. I would not give each group the same mark because this was unfair and created competitive groups rather than co-operative groups and totally defeats the purpose of grouping at the first time. I wrote the topic â€Å"favorite places† and asked my students for related vocabulary. I made students involved in the task. A and B said aloud their vocabulary about this topic. Lan also mentioned some of her favorite places in Vietnam while Hoa asked me and her friends a lot of clarifying questions like â€Å"how do we say this word mean in English ?† or â€Å"Can you explain again?† After that I let my student read one short passage about a famous place in Vietnam (see appendix 4) without name and asked my students to guess. A and B were very eager to talk because they had been this place. Later, I asked them to choose one picture of famous places (see appendix 5) to create a conversation to introduce this place in groups and used as many comparative adjectives as possible. I delivered chosen pictures for each group and said: â€Å"It is no problem if you make errors because you can learn something through getting it wrong.† I asked all students to stand up and find other two partners to talk with. A and C decided to choose the same picture to discuss and called another Cs friend. B joined in a group of two other friends who also lived in the rural area and had the same level of speaking English as her. Then they discussed to choosing a favorite place to talk about for 15 minutes. A had a lot of ideas to s hare with her partners. A talked loudly and continuously then C and his friend took a turn. A and B felt comfortable to talk with peers whom they wanted to talk with. B felt more confident to share ideas with others who had the same ability level. When other friends commented on B opinions she also looked happy and tried her best to negotiate. She listened to others and took notes on their ideas. When B met with difficulties she asked me for help. And I explained and encouraged her work like: â€Å"that is good†, â€Å"say it again†, â€Å"thank you†, â€Å"well done†, etc. She encouraged others to talk and commented on their ideas. She said: â€Å"good†, â€Å"not suitable†, â€Å"you just think more about this†. She helped others to have chances to talk. When they had time left As group continued to think more about how they might make their stories more interesting. When other groups were presenting, A and B listened carefully to t hem. A and B were almost eager to present their groups conversation. Based on all the data, I found that students changed their feeling and behavior when they worked with different partners. It meant that group organization played an important role in developing students English oral fluency. A and B spoke more fluently when they were in groups of the same ability level. In the second lesson, a safe environment had been achieved where everybody liked to work with each other. In the mixed group, A almost did nothing while B was reluctant to speak English. In the second session, when they were in groups with the partners on the same level they felt more relaxed to talk. I found that B spoke three times more English when working with students of the same ability than when she had more fluent partners. I concluded that the students were motivated to speak English but perhaps felts intimidated when working with someone of much better ability. While listening to the taped conversation of the second observation I observed that members of Bs group generally took turns to speak, that no individual was dominant, and that they helped each other with vocabulary. The conversations were quite fluent and accurate. B leaned on the table to speak with other partners. It was unavoidable for my students to use Vietnamese but it was not much. However, the taped conversation of the first time indicated that, although A was very cooperative and tried to help her partner, she tended to dominate the conversation and overcorrect her partner without giving B much chance to talk. From interviews, I found that my less able students liked to use English with more fluent partners when they had to be self-reliant, when I was not present, when they were not corrected all the time, and when they were not being tested or monitored. Besides, based on the observation and interviews, it could be concluded that the students English oral fluency was also be influenced by the teachers preparation. In the first lesson, I did not provide enough explanations, knowledge and encouragement to help them understand and engage in speaking English. In the second lesson, my students felt very excited in speaking English when they had enough vocabulary and interest in the task. Reflections During this investigation, I learned a lot about my students attitudes towards and abilities in using English. Gathering information from the students about how they use English was important to me. I discovered a way to deal with a class of mixed abilities and found a way to motivate my less able students. This project confirms my beliefs about the value of using group work and has reduced my anxiety about grouping less able students together. I can create different groups for different activities. Depending on the task, I will want to have students of different skill levels working together or students with the same level working together. For example, a harder task might lead me to mix skill levels, however a task where outcome is not an important goal, the instructions are not difficult, and the process easy to follow, could lead to homogeneous grouping. During doing this research, I ha

Technology :: Technology Research

Technology is a broad concept that deals with a species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its environment. In human society, it is a consequence of science and engineering, although several technological advances predate the two concepts. Technology is a term with origins in the Greek "technologia", "Ï„Î µÃâ€¡ÃŽ ½ÃŽ ¿ÃŽ »ÃŽ ¿ÃŽ ³ÃŽ ¯ÃŽ ±" — "techne", "Ï„Î ­Ãâ€¡ÃŽ ½ÃŽ ·" ("craft") and "logia", "ÃŽ »ÃŽ ¿ÃŽ ³ÃŽ ¯ÃŽ ±" ("saying").[1] However, a strict definition is elusive; "technology" can refer to material objects of use to humanity, such as machines, hardware or utensils, but can also encompass broader themes, including systems, methods of organization, and techniques. The term can either be applied generally or to specific areas: examples include "construction technology", "medical technology", or "state-of-the-art technology". The human race's use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools. The prehistorical discovery of the ability to control fire increased the available sources of food and the invention of the wheel helped humans in travelling in and controlling their environment. Recent technological developments, including the printing press, the telephone, and the Internet, have lessened physical barriers to communication and allowed humans to interact on a global scale. However, not all technology has been used for peaceful purposes; the development of weapons of ever-increasing destructive power has progressed throughout history, from clubs to nuclear weapons. Technology has affected society and its surroundings in a number of ways. In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced economies (including today's global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of the Earth and its environment. Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms. Philosophical debates have arisen over the present and future use of technology in society, with disagreements over whether technology improves the human condition or worsens it. Neo-Luddism, anarcho-primitivism, and similar movements criticise the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world, claiming that it harms the environment and alienates people; proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and techno-progressivism view continued technological progress as beneficial to society and the human condition. Indeed, until recently, it was believed that the development of technology was restricted only to human beings, but recent scientific studies indicate that other primates and certain dolphin communities have developed simple tools and learned to pass their knowledge to other generations.

Comparing the Impact of Colonization in A Small Place, A Passage to Ind

Impact of British Colonization Exposed in A Small Place, A Passage to India, and Robinson Crusoe British colonialism began in the early fifteen hundreds and even continues today with the British rule of the British Virgin Islands.   For centuries, literature has served as a type of historical documentation of colonization as many authors wrote about colonization from both a colonized and a colonizer's point of view. During colonization, and post-colonization, the physical environment of each colony was changed. Using references to A Small Place, A Passage to India, and Robinson Crusoe, I will provide examples of the physical changes to the colonized societies made by England and discuss the reactions of the colonized people. Jamaica Kincade is quoted as saying "The English loved England so much they built it everywhere they went."   Kincaid writes about the feelings of the colonized society in A Small Place. While she expresses the feeling of the colonized, contrarily, she explains the ideas of the English colonizer. In this excerpt, she is describing Antigua, the place she grew up, and how the British changed it. She begins by explaining the English love England so much, whenever they went they turned it into England. She supports this idea in several ways. First, she gives examples of the street names in Antigua. On a tropical island in the Caribbean Sea, the streets have names such as Rodney, Hood, Hawkins and Drake Street all names of "English maritime criminals". Secondly, Kincaid continues with her description of High Street. This was the street where all of the colonial government buildings were located. The English had built an entire portion of the city that did not exist before their arrival. High Street consiste... ...his journey. For as long as he has ink he will write and after that, he will be forced to leave off (Defoe 72). Defoe did not give Friday much of a voice. However, I can draw an inference that Friday must have liked Crusoe's "English" house or he would not have stayed. We can make comparisons to Crusoe being the Colonizer and Friday was the colonized. Therefore, we can conclude, that the colonized people did like some aspects of the British colonization. In conclusion, "The English loved England so much they built it everywhere." As shown in A Small Place, A Passage to India, and Robinson Crusoe, the effects that the British had on each of their colonies will certainly last a long time. Colonies will embrace schools, libraries, Governmental buildings, banks, airports and even churches that will remain there for generations after the expiration of British rule.

Jane Eyre Obstacles and Love Essay examples -- English Literature

Jane Eyre Obstacles and love The novel, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte is a story about a young orphaned girl and her quest for love. Jane, the young girl searches for love and acceptance through each setting; Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield, Moor House, and Ferndean. Throughout these points in her life, the maturation and identity recognition of Jane becomes visible. It is only when, Jane flees from Rochester and Thornfield, and spends time at Moor House, that her maturation to womanhood is completed. In this moment, Jane is able to come back to Rochester as an independent woman, knowing that she has a desire to love, and to be loved. If we look at the world, through Jane's eyes we see that she is a strong girl who wants to erase her birth name as an orphan. We see each struggle that Jane tries to beat for an identity and for love. The book opens up with Jane living with her Aunt Reed, who constantly thinks of her as burden, and low life. Jane is forced to live with her Aunt Reed, for her parents die and she came to live with her uncle, who also later dies making his wife promise him that she would take care of Jane. Gateshead is Jane's first home. Here we see that Jane is amazingly self-willed and has a temper. We realize that she has this strong tempered when she steps up to her aunt, exclaiming, " You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness, but I cannon live so: and you have no pity. I shall remember how you thrust me back -- roughly-- and violently thrust me back--into the red room, and locked me up there, to my dying day; thought I was in agony; I cried out, while suffocating with distress, ' Have mercy! Have mercy, aunt Reed!' and that punishment you made me ... ...rn child's face. Jane discovered the maturation and the inner self of her woman hood. She can love, and is capable of being loved. This book, shows us the main obstacles that a woman had during the Victorian times. Many woman did not have it easy, and Jane was one of them. Woman needed a high self confidence. It is hard for one to love, when they themselves, have never felt what it is like to be loved. How are you suppose to trust those around you, when all you have been through is hurt? The main thing, a woman would need is courage. Jane is determined to find a life for herself. She is determined not to give up. She is determined to show everyone that she could be loved. She is determined to show her aunt, that she could be anything that she wanted to be. It just goes to show that no matter how many obstacles come your way, determined minds always win.

Intro to Legal Analysis Writing

The statute on the next page deals with the denial of unemployment benefits in New Mexico. It lists the reasons for which the Division of Unemployment Services can disqualify a person from receiving unemployment benefits. Read the statute, and then answer the questions which follow. QUESTIONS: 1. Who enacted this statute? 2. Is this statutory mandatory or discretionary? Mandatory What causal term in the statute helped you answer this question? Shall 3. According to this statute, what are the three ways that a person can be denied unemployment benefits in New Mexico? . if it is determined by the division that the individual left employment voluntarily without good cause in connection with the employment 2. if it is determined by the division that the individual has been discharged for misconduct connected with the individual's employment 3. if it is determined by the division that the individual has failed without good cause either to apply for available, suitable work when so directe d or referred by the division or to accept suitable work when offered.Must a person do all three things to be disqualified from receiving benefits, or is it enough that they only do one of the listed things? It is enough if the person does only one of the 3 reasons listed What term in the statute helped you answer this question? Shall 4. Are there any exceptions to this statute? Yes there are exceptions If so, which of the three ways of being denied unemployment compensation do the exceptions apply to? The exceptions apply the first reason of denial of benefits. 5. Provide the Bluebook citation for this statute. N. M. STAT. ANN. Â § 51-1-7