Need For Federal Government Involvement In Education Essays

Need For Federal Government Involvement In Education The Need for Federal Government Involvement in Education Reform by____________ Political Science 2301 Federal and State Government OVERVIEW For centuries, generations of families have congregated in the same community or in the same general region of the country. Children grew up expecting to earn a living much like their fathers and mothers or other adults in their community. Any advanced skills they required beyond the three R's (Readin', Ritin' and Rithmatik) were determined by the local community and incorporated into the curriculum of the local schools. These advanced skills were taught to the up- and-coming generation so they could become a vital part of their community. The last several decades has greatly expanded the bounds of the community to almost anywhere in the country or anywhere in the world for that matter. Advances in transportation and communication has made the world a much smaller place then the world we knew as children. The skills our children need to realize parents' perpetual dream of their children having a better life are no longer limited to those seen in the local area. It is becoming more and more apparent that the education system of yesterday cannot adequately prepare students for life and work in the 21st Century. These concerns have prompted people across the country to take a hard look at our education system and to organize their efforts to chance the education system as we know it. WHAT'S HAPPENING OUT THERE? There are two major movements in recent years whose focus is to enhance the education of future generations. The Standards movement focuses on educational content and raising the standards of traditional teaching and measurement means and methods. The Outcome Based Education (OBE) movement is exploring new ways of designing education and changing the way we measure the effectiveness of education by focusing on results or outcomes. STANDARDS MOVEMENT In September 1989, President Bush and the nation's governors called an Education Summit in Charlottesville, Virginia. At this summit, President Bush and the nation s governors, including then-governor Bill Clinton, agreed on six broad goals for education to be reached by the year 2000. Two of those goals (3 and 4) related specifically to academic achievement: * Goal 3: By the year 2000, American students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having demonstrated competency in challenging subject matter including English, mathematics, science, history, and geography; and every school in America will ensure that all students learn to use their minds well, so they may be prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our modern economy. * Goal 4: By the year 2000, U.S. students will be first in the world in science and mathematics achievement. Soon after the summit, two groups were established to implement the new educational goals: the National Education Goals Panel (NEGP) and the National Council on Education Standards and Testing (NCEST). Together, these two groups were charged with addressing unprecedented questions regarding American education such as: What is the subject matter to be addressed? What types of assessments should be used? What standards of performance should be set? The summit and its aftermath engendered a flurry of activity from national subject matter organizations to establish standards in their respective areas. Many of these groups looked for guidance from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics who publishing the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics in 1989. The NCTM standards redefined the study of math so that topics and concepts would be introduced at an earlier age, and students would view math as a relevant problem-solving discipline rather than as a set of obscure formulas to be memorized. The National Science Teachers Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science quickly launched independent attempts to identify standards in science. Efforts soon followed in the fields of civics, dance, theater, music, art, language arts, history, and social studies, to name a few. OUTCOME BASED EDUCATION MOVEMENT The decade of the 80s brought numerous education reforms, but few of them were a dramatic shift from what has gone on before. Outcome-based education (OBE) is one of those that is new, even revolutionary, and is now being promoted as the panacea for America's educational woes. This reform has been driven by educators in response to demands for greater accountability by taxpayers and as a vehicle for breaking with traditional ideas about how we teach our children. If implemented, this approach to curriculum development could change our schools more than any other reform proposal in the last thirty years. The focus of past and present curriculum has been on content, on the knowledge

Digestive System essays

Digestive System essays The digestive system is the the group of organs that changes food to carbohydrates, fats, and proteins and used by our body. Digestion takes places begins form our mouth and ends with our anus. the function of our digestion system are to ingest food, digest into nutrients, cross our plasma mambranes, absorb nutrients and eliminate indigestible remains. our stomach is our main organ because it mixes the food and breaks down into unis that can be taken into carbohydrates, fats and proteins which can be used by our There are different parts of main organs of our digestive system, esophagus, stomach, large intestines, small intestine, liver, pancrea and finally our anus. As our digestion begins in our mouth, the food is cut an dchopped by our teeth. Our tongue helps mix the food with saliva so it can be swallowed easily. From our mouth, the food is swalllowed into a transportube called esophagus. Esophagus actually carried food to our stomach, through before that there is a flap called epiglottis which is an air passage and the food passage in the pharynx. when you swallow, the air passage will automatically blocked by itself so the food won't enter the esophagus though Our stomach is shaped as a J- shaped organs, when food is present, the stomach will mixing food with gastric juice, after that it will churns food into a liquid called chyme, and it will leaves the stomach enters the small intestine. the small intestine is a longest part of our digestive tract of human. food remains in the small intestine for several hours. Two lasrge galnds are the liver and the pancreas, which connect with the small intestine by ducts or tubes. Fluid from the ancreas is called pancreatic juice. fluid from the liver is called bile. bile is stored in the gallblader helps digest carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Inside the small intestine, there's a lot of fingerlike folds ...

Emergency medical services ambulances issues Research Paper - 1

Emergency medical services ambulances issues - Research Paper Example This technique is costly to apply when selecting EMS technology. Assessment and selection of efficient and cost effective information technology devices have been some of the issues affecting emergency medical services in the recent times. Transmitting medical information directly to a hospital can help save time, money and more importantly save a patient’s life. The advent of onboard mobile gateway (oMG) wireless system from In Motion Technology British Columbia, Canada has made it possible to equip vehicles (ambulances) with computing devices that are able to communicate with each other in and outside the vehicle, using wired and wireless technology (Rich, 2012). The system being a multi purpose built communications processor minimizes proliferation of wireless accounts, radio modems and antennas by enabling local area network (LAN) devices to share assets with wide area network resources. The system is also self regulating thereby reducing the need for dispatchers since it can automatically sense, assess and select the best available network to provide a back up should the primary network fail. The central medical emergency dispatch (CMED) system is mostly suitable for voice communications. oMG has mobile da ta capabilities such as biometrics, LPR, and e-ticketing which provide officers with greater access to information in the field. With such tools and many more, officers do not have to radio a dispatcher to obtain information about vehicles or suspects. Secure, wireless wide area networking transit fleet operations are enhanced by the powerful oMG communications platform. All systems aboard an ambulance i.e. video surveillance, CAD/AVL etc are allowed access to multiple garage area and wide area wireless networks. This platform solves communications problems of health care professionals by providing a multi network environment with full access to

SUMMARY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

SUMMARY - Essay Example author then focuses on the support of the legislation and the author figured out that the legislation had not met with any form of criticism and no criticism is very rare. The author then focuses on the incompleteness of the legislation and states that the legislators have not provided advice regarding where the food waste was supposed to be dumped. He cites an individual belonging to the organization of The National Waste and Recycling association who believes that the food waste can be dumped in anaerobic digesters that churn this kind of waste in the same way food is churned in the stomach of a cow. The author states that the food waste can even be dumped at composite sites where this waste along with other waste is transformed into compost and the compost does not smell as bad as raw waste. The author states that companies that are involved in the production of compost will gain some new business due to this legislation and the author even states that similar legislations are gai ning popularity in other states. NPR.org,. Massachusetts Food Waste Ban Gains Broad Acceptance. N.p., 2014. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.

European Union Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

European Union - Essay Example European Union In this respects, each countries specializes in the production of good or services that are relatively economical and cheaper to produce then exchange their surplus with those of other countries with resources for the production of the alternatives. One of such trade groupings is the European Union (EU). The EU was formed with the aim of coordinating and regulating then economic and trading activities of the main European countries. Through this agency, all the trading and economic activities of the member countries are regulated by this body. This body was formed to oversee the leading economic growth and development of Europe. However, the formation of this body has impacted on the economic and industrial performance of many countries within Europe. Even with the growth and growth potential in Europe, the formation of this trade regulatory body has negatively affected the infant industries of the developing countries in Europe, with no economic bargaining power. This has limited their growth and trade development potential. Free trade refers to a government policy that helps to avoid discrimination against imports or any kind of interference with imports through application of tariffs to (imports) and/or subsidies to (exports). It aims at getting rid of unfair trade barriers in the global market plus aims at helping to raise the economy in both developed and developing countries. Free trade has highly devastated European industries and jobs at large. Free trade leads to adverse working conditions.

Criminal Justice System as a Deterrence

Criminal Justice System as a Deterrence Deterrence is used on individuals who already have a history of offending, but also it prevents potential offenders from committing similar crime. Deterrence is used very often and everyone is aware of it even if they do not they are. People generally known to not commit a crime whether its a serious or less serious one, because they know they will be consequences, which could be a fine or time in jail, depending on what form of offence it was. There are two types of deterrence; specific and general. Specific deterrence is when an offender decides not to commit any future crimes. General deterrence is when a person makes a decision to not commit a crime, because they are familiar with the consequences by observing offenders get punished and they do not want to deal with the same thing if they are caught. However there has been many arguments about what is expected to deter other. Some suggest that the best solution is to be setting penalties to outweigh the benefit of committing a cr ime, but the reality is that people who commit crime are rational thinkers and are responsible for their action. This causes conflict as to whether or not criminals are rational within their actions or whether crime is an act of impulse. The idea of being caught and the idea od spending time in prison should deter potential offenders, therefore prison in some way does deter crime by simply catching offenders, which shows the consequences to those potential ones. One of the reasons why deterrence is more limited is understood by viewing the dynamics of criminal justice system. When any crime is committed there is not a certainty of arresting the criminal, and that has an impact on how effective deterrence is, if it was well known fact that police always apprehend the offender not many people who still want to or try to commit any crimes. However there are cases where crimes also serious crimes are not solved and are not followed up by any arrest and conviction, which is why the deterrent outcome of the certainty of punishment is significantly reduced. Evidently, any improvements on making sure that offenders are being arrested would have huge impact on people who may think they will not be convicted for the crimes they commit. Overall many studies across nations confirm that improving the certainty of sentence provides better deterrent result rather than increasing the harshness of punishment. The Institute of Criminology at Cambridge Univers ity was ordered by the British Home Office to a write a review of research they have done on big studies of deterrence. They have produced a report in 1999 confirming that the studies reviewed do not provide a basis for inferring that increasing the severity of sentences generally is capable of enhancing deterrent effects. Daniel Nagin and Greg Pogarsky, they research concluded that punishment certainty was found to deter crime more than punishment severity. Micro level studies that studied offense rates of particular population, the evidence shows that higher certainty of punishment was linked with decreasing crime. They also have detected that people who know more about crime and punishment are less likely to commit any crime. Different study compared crime and punishment results in the U.S, England and Sweden, however they have failed to discover a consequence for severity. Records of studies shows that certainty of punishment has shown some connection to decreasing of crime stat istics, however other studies argue that growing levels of possibility of arrest for serious and minor offences may result in viewing prison as less labelling institution. Deterrence does not seem to be working as the prison population in England and Wales has almost doubled since 1993. In addition, there is also evidence that most offenders come out of prison and re-offend, however the rates are lower for offenders with long sentences. Statistics published on the Ministry of Justice websites confirm that the proven reoffending rate for adult offenders released from custody between April 2014 and March 2015 was 44.7% and the rate for those released from short sentences has been consistently higher compared to those released from longer sentences. Adults who served sentences of less than 12 months reoffended at a rate of 59.7%, compared to 32.2% for those who served determinate sentences of 12 months or more. The trends for those released from short and long sentences have both remained broadly flat since 2005 and are consistent with the overall trend. Thats form a question in prison really works. Does prison reduce offending? Are re-offending rates worse for prisoners than those who receive community sentences? Does the prison environment improve or hinder the physical, social and emotional well-being of offenders? Does prison prepare prisoners for life on the outside?

College or University Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commence

Hello, good morning and welcome to graduation for the class of 2012. I have waited to hear those words for 5 years - and by the looks on all of my fellow graduates faces, I am not alone. Think with me for a minute about the process we have gone through which has gathered us here today. Our stories of these past years are not much different. Whether you went to a community college, transferred here from another four-year school or started your freshman year in the dorms near the entrance of this campus, we are finally finishing together. My brother asked me how I was able to finish college. I told him it is because I enjoy learning and I always finish. No matter if I unplug my computer and lose all my work, I stay up until I finish. In my opinion the joy of learning and the gift of finishing are not things we learn in college. These are skills we bring with us and apply to our studies. And no matter where or how you learn them, you never forget them. I can credit my mom for giving me the joy of learning. I spent my first five years of life growing up in a small town called Plain. Given the name of Plain I’m sure I don’t have to waste your time explaining the ins and outs of this small community. The one colorful part about Plain was the people who lived there. Being that an elementary school was so far away, the community set up a home school system and my mom was one of the teachers. Having my mom as a teacher in kindergarten was like having recess all day long. However, she could always get me involved using her amazing imagination. When our family had to move to North Fork, Colorado to follow my dad’s job, my mother continued to teach me as well as my brother Andy. Her creativity never stopped... ...sh a job, I am a college graduate and will now work smarter. As a speaker at our graduation I am supposed to represent all of the graduating class from State University but I don’t see the relevancy in that. I am only one story in this diverse group of experiences. However, we were all achievers growing up, we have been a success in college and we will be the difference in the future and that is something I am proud to represent. Allow me to speak for all of us when I say thank you to this school for giving us our college experiences, to the teachers in our departments for opening our minds to the world and to all those who have shaped our lives up until this point giving us the drive to learn and the ability to finish this monumental goal. We will make it up to each and everyone of you in the future with our positive influence on the world. Thank you†¦

Discuss issues of reliability and validity associated

Discuss issues of reliability and validity associated with the classification and diagnosis of phobic disorders. ( 8+16) A phobia Is an irrational fear which Interferes with daily life. For a phobia to be diagnosed It must meet the criterion set by the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Reliability and validity are two Important factors when considering classification of mental disorders; they must be present for an accurate classification to be made. Rellablllty and valldlty are linked because a diagnosis that Is not reliable Is not valid.Rellablllty refers to the consistency, such as questionnaires or scales to assess how fearful a person Is about something. Reliability of questionnaires or scales can be measured In terms of whether the test items are consistent, which Is called test-retest reliability. Another way of assessing reliability is whether two independent assessors give similar scores, which is called interrater reliability. Test re-test refers to how consistent results are when the specific interview/questionnaire is repeated.Brown et al (2001) conducted study which involved interviewing 1400 patients twice, the second interview occurred within 2 weeks of the first one. The interviews were based on criteria for various disorders in DSM -IV. Brown found that reliability in inter-rater agreement was excellent for specific phobia, social phobia and panic disorder wit agoraphobia. Reliability could have been higher for the various phobias than for other mental disorders because all phobias are associated with clear behavioural symptoms (avoidance of feared stimulus) which makes them easy to diagnose.This suggests hat diagnosis of phobic disorders according to the DSM is reliable however largely because phobic disorders are easy to diagnose . Brown et al also examined factors associated with disagreement between 2 interviewers. He found that inter-rater unreliability was caused by interviewers disagreeing whether the fear was causin g sufficient distress/interference to a person's life to warrant a phobia diagnosis. It was also caused by patient's reports of symptoms changing between interviews which could have been genuine.Another cause of difference between the two interviewers as that they made errors, as the same symptoms were presented to interviewers however different diagnosis given however this could be because they missed Important information. Skyre et al (1991) also found high Inter-rater reliability, 3 cllnlclans assessed 54 patients using SCID-I. He found +72 Inter-rater agreement which shows that phobia diagnosis Is reliable. Diagnosis of phobic disorders ld also reliable as Hiller et al (1990) found satisfactory – excellent diagnostic agreement In a test- retest study using MDC.Valldlty Is the extent to which a classification system easures what It claims to measure. We can assess the valldlty associated with phobic disorders by looking at content valldlty. Content validity means how much the diagnostic system addresses all of the symptoms In a given disorder. Seml structured interviews have high content validity because they were made to the classification system is vaild is to look at criterion validity. This looks into if individual receiving a diagnosis e. g. social phobia are any different to the people who have not been given the diagnosis in predictable way .

Hotel and Travel Vocabulary in Spanish

Hotel and Travel Vocabulary in Spanish Hotel reserved? Flights booked? Bags packed? Whats next is learning a few essential words to make your hotel stay a little easier. If youre headed to a Spanish-speaking country, your hotel is as good a place as any to practice Spanish. Your concierge or host will appreciate the effort and can help you with tricky pronunciations along the way. Different Hotel Types When in a country where Spanish is the primary language, travelers spend more time in their lodgings, called hospedajes, than any other place. If you have arrived in a Spanish-speaking  ubicacià ³n, which means location, nail down the type of hotel that you would prefer, also called a  hotel in Spanish, too.   Looking for a spa or resort? Then ask for the nearest balneario.  Want something deluxe, then you want something  de lugo!  Or looking more for a motel or inn, ask for el motel or la posada.  There are unique types of accommodations, or alojamientos, such as a  bed-and-breakfast, which is called a pensià ³n, or bungalows, called a bungalow in Spanish, too. Reservation Desk You have decided on the type of lodging, now you need to make reservations, called ​reservaciones. You will negotiate the costs, or tarifa, with the  hotelero, or hotelkeeper. It is appropriate to ask what the standard tip or propina should be for your bellhop, also called the botones. Upon checkout, you handle the bill, or la cuenta, with the hotelero. All About Your Room What kind of room, or  habitacià ³n, do you want? Want a suite, ask for a ​suite in Spanish, too. Do you need a single room, or  habitacià ³n sencilla?  Do you want a double, a habitacià ³n  doble, or a triple, also called a triple. Want to make sure you have a bathroom in your room, ask if it has a  baà ±o.   How about your bed, called a cama? Do you want a single bed, a cama de monja, or do you want a double bed, called a cama de matriomonio? Does it matter which floor, or piso, you are on? If you want to make sure you are on the ground floor ask for el piso bajo. Need directions to the ice machine? Ask for el hielo. How about a view, or vista, out your window? If you are in a beach locale, then perhaps la vista al mar, or a sea or ocean view, is important to you. Nice amenities to know about your room would be: Is there room service, or  el  servicio  en  cuarto? How about an in-room safe, called la caja de seguridad? Hotel Features The room is booked. You are officially a guest, or huesped. You are ready to explore the hotel amenities. Does it have a bar, also called bar, or a restaurant, called a restaurante? How about coffee in the morning? Where is  el cafà ©? The person who can guide you would be the concierge, or el conserje.   Are you in town for a convention, called la convencià ³n? Need to ask how to get to the convention hall? That would be called el salà ³n de convenciones. How about going out dancing after the convention? Ask about where to find a  discoteca. Other hotel amenities that can boost your vacation experience include free parking, called estacionamiento, a swimming pool, called a piscina, and a workout room, or gimnasio. English Guidance Due  to the widespread adoption of English, particularly at upper-end hotels, it may be more common to find signage for English words used to describe certain facilities or services. Do not be surprised if words like spa,concierge, and room service are used instead of the Spanish equivalent.

Report writing for consultants - Emphasis

Report writing for consultants Report writing for consultants The last few weeks have been a punishing combination of late-night problem solving and early-morning meetings. Finally, the consultation period is over and the moment of truth has arrived: the time has come to write your final report. You have probably spent a lot of time with your client and may have built up a strong relationship – but this does not change the fact that leaving the right impression will depend ultimately on the quality of your report. So, whatever you do, don’t leave the report until the very last minute, without time for enough preparation and planning to do it real justice. But before we look at some guidelines on how to produce a document that will be a glowing testament to your firm’s experience and expertise, it is worth pausing for a minute to put your report in context. Our research has shown that mountains of paperwork stifle most companies: the average manager claims to receive eight reports or other long documents each day. This roughly equates to being asked to wade through War and Peace five times a year – a sobering thought. To put it plainly, your report is going to have to be pretty good to compete with all the other documents that will be vying for your client’s attention. Yes, your client may have made a substantial investment in employing your services, which might push your report further up the queue, but then, of course, the flip side of this will be that their expectations will be so much higher. Your firm might be expert in its area but this expertise will be lost if you fail to communicate it effectively. And you will simply become one of the many thousands of people who regularly spend hours struggling to write a turgid business document that nobody will read. So what can you do to make sure that your report goes to the top of the pile, makes a lasting impression and demonstrates your firm’s proficiency and understanding? What the client wants First things first. Your report should be client-centred, rather than consultant-centred. The chances are that no sooner do you realise that the report deadline is looming, then you immediately fall into the ‘getting it done’ trap. Your focus now is on yourself and ‘getting it done’ rather than on the client and their needs. At this point, it is worth taking a couple of deep breaths and spending a few minutes thinking about what your client actually wants. This may sound obvious. Indeed it should be – and yet so often reports tend to follow a standard template structure that poorly reflects an individual client’s brief. Why not ask the client exactly what they want to see in the report and even how long they would like the report to be? Alternatively, ask yourself a few simple but telling questions. What information does the client expect? With what level of detail? How much knowledge do they already have? What will they use the report for? Who will read it? And it goes without saying that the old copy and paste technique needs to be handled with extreme care. It is all too easy to forget to change the company name or to leave out a vital piece of client-specific information. Key messages And what about the key messages and recommendations that you want to get across? How can you make sure that these really stand out and are not lost among volumes of periphery detail and background? Many consultants use a basic structure in which they start with their findings, then outline their conclusions, and then give their main message – their recommendations – at the end. The effect on the client is to keep them guessing or arguing with every point and perhaps ending with a conclusion that differs from your own. A far more effective structure is to start with your main message and then provide the information that supports it. Avoid jargon and ‘businessese’ Then comes the next common trap: falling into jargon or business speak, or using unnecessarily flowery language. This, many people believe, demonstrates knowledge, intellect and know-how, or even superior industry expertise. But does it really? The truth is that your client has no interest whatsoever in the sophistication of your use of vocabulary. What’s more, the public and private sectors are becoming increasingly cynical about consultants, believing that they produce overlong, overwritten reports on purpose to justify their ‘exorbitant fees’. Whatever you do, avoid providing any additional ammunition to that particular argument. The bottom line is that clients will not appreciate long words, complicated language, management speak and ‘businessese’ jargon, nor will they want to plough through lots of acronyms and abbreviations. They will find them irritating, confusing and time consuming. Take the time to find a more effective way of writing whatever it is you want to say. If using complex technical terms is absolutely unavoidable, make sure you provide a glossary in the appendix. Humans or robots? On the subject of language, remember that when companies and organisations appoint consultants, they hire people, not robots. Language like ‘It is recommended’, ‘It is estimated†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, or ‘It has been proven†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ does not sound more professional; it simply depersonalises your report and makes it less accessible. Your client wants to know that their consultants are real human beings, so be bold and put people at the heart of your writing: ‘We recommend†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, ‘We estimate or ‘We have proven†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. It is far more interesting and meaningful to read about organisations and individuals taking actions than to read about all sorts of actions and events mysteriously occurring. Think ‘Tarvex’s customers are crying out for the new product range’ rather than ‘The new product range has experienced considerable demand’. Or ‘The CEO has transformed the company’s performance in the exports market’ instead of ‘The company’s performance in the exports market has been transformed’. Make your language as lively as you can. If you are trying to ‘sell’ a particular recommendation, paint a vivid picture of the excellent results it will bring; or of the horrendous pitfalls that will befall your poor client as a result of not implementing it. And it goes without saying that you also need to examine all the pros and cons, including the cost implications, of following – or not following – your recommendations. Count your words Generalisations or exaggerations are another characteristic of poor writing to be wary of. Take ‘record levels of profit’, for example. Are they truly record levels – ie. the highest ever – or do you really mean the highest in recent years? And what about ‘a large percentage’? (Is this 51 per cent or 99 per cent? There’s quite a big difference, after all.) Beware of words and expressions such as ‘record’, ‘significant’, ‘considerable’and ‘wide section of the community’ unless you can actually quantify them. Painful punctuation It has been very difficult to escape the recent newspaper headlines about the woeful state of young people’s literacy. School and university leavers are, we are told, virtually incapable of writing a properly constructed sentence or presenting a coherent and logical argument, never mind using the correct punctuation, grammar and spelling. A university degree, it seems, no longer guarantees the kind of literacy that blue chip employers expect. Despite, or perhaps because of, this sorry state of affairs, we are a nation of language aficionados. Countdown attracts millions of viewers every day; we are obsessed with crosswords and wordplay; Eats Shoots and Leaves, a book about punctuation for goodness sake, dominated the bestseller list for months. My point here is this. We notice words and language and how people use them; pulling up people for poor punctuation, dodgy spelling or dubious grammar is almost a national pastime. And the likelihood is that your client will have a similar awareness of language – and irritation with its misuse. So never delude yourself that it is only what you say that counts and not whether you know how to punctuate correctly. It is amazing the bad feeling and ill will that a misplaced comma or a misjudged apostrophe can cause. Navigation tactics Another common error is to try to plan and structure the report simultaneously. It is, in fact, much easier to do these two things separately. Start by ‘brainstorming’ all the information that needs to go into the report. When you are sure you have covered everything, it is time to tackle the issue of what goes where and in what format. The structuring process requires an element of bloody-mindedness. Only information that is essential to your client should go in the main body of the text; any information that is ‘important’ or ‘of interest’ should be relegated to appendices, footnotes or a separate chapter. Additional detail, figures, references or diagrams are all examples of ‘important’ information. Put yourself in your client’s shoes. How would you react to a report if you felt your valuable time was being wasted on nonessential detail? Remember that while your client may be interested in the background to the project and in how you carried out the research and the consultation process, they are actually paying you to identify the cause or causes of a problem or challenge and to tell them how to solve it. If you make them wait until the end of the report to tell them your recommendations, the chances are that their patience will be wearing very thin indeed. This brings us to another tip on helping your client to navigate your report. As you start to structure your report, plan how best to divide it into logical sections and give some thought to your subheadings. Subheadings should be clear and meaningful, rather than generic, so that they act as signposts, guiding your client through the report and showing them where to find specific topics. Executive summary Pay particular attention to your executive summary. As we all know, this may be the only part the real decision-makers read, so make sure it can stand alone and that it contains real information, including hard facts and figures. If your report includes recommendations, the executive summary should make it clear what these are and include their implications, values and costs. What about length? As a general rule, it is advisable to stick to a maximum of two pages, using headings and bullets (but not too many), and perhaps a carefully selected graph or pie chart, to get your main message across. A final word If your report is well-written, it will influence your client’s thinking and decisions and galvanise them into action. It will also act as a first-rate marketing tool for your firm. But if your report is poorly written, it will exasperate your client and jeopardise your reputation and the chances of your recommendations being implemented. It might even lose you the business. The value of a well-written consultant’s report is perhaps best summed up by the MD of one of the UK’s leading radio stations when asked recently about his own personal experience of consultants: ‘One particular US consultant charged a fortune for producing a series of badly presented and poorly written reports critiquing the station and, frankly, stating the obvious,’ he said. ‘But then I hired McKinsey who worked with me to formulate our 10-year strategy and I learned a lot from them, including how to present an argument and rationale on paper, which is key if you want to be successful in influencing people’s thinking.’ Robert Ashton is Chief Executive of Emphasis. Want to improve your teams report writing? See our report-writing course for companies and our business-writing courses for individuals. You can also call us on +44 (0)1273 732  888  for a no-obligation chat with one of our friendly advisors. To learn more about making  report writing a much easier and less painful task, check out our free webinar  recording How to turn your expert analysis into exceptional reports.  Its ideal if you have to write reports to colleagues and clients as part of your day-to-day job – whether thats as a traditional written report or as a slide deck.

Interlanguage and teaching the language system Coursework

Interlanguage and teaching the language system - Coursework Example 3. Vocabulary acquisition in the foreign language is not as fluent or as quick as the native language. There are two primary reasons that can be identified as responsible for this phenomenon. First, the self consciousness of the foreign language learner, which makes him or her anxious about appearing foolish while speaking the second language and thereby restricts rapid learning, Second is the differences in grammatical structures between the two languages, which would make it slower for the foreign language learner to pick up vocabulary in the foreign language. Moreover, the differences in meaning of words in different socio cultural contexts and the need to express meaning correctly may slow down the process of vocabulary acquisition. 4. Pragmatics refers to the social interactions that take place in every language, where words are attributed a meaning that is comprised of not merely the grammatical meaning of a word but also the social context o its expression. 5. I visited a frie nd in Saudi Arabia and expressed admiration for his car. I intended this as a compliment in accordance with English language culture, but as per the Saudi culture, the expression of admiration meant a desire to own the object. As a result, my friend forced me to take his car. 6. Pronunciation depends on auditory discrimination which comes naturally when learning the first language; because of constant exposure to the language in the surrounding environment. Pronunciation patterns in the native language are the most deeply set and this would influence the kind of pronunciation of the second language learner. Native patterns would have a stronger impact because exposure to the second language pronunciation is also limited to classes. Hence, the two most important factors influencing pronunciation would be (a) native language and (b) time available for learning second language. 7. In my view, it is more important for second language learners to strive for intelligibility. Native level pronunciation is likely to take an enormous amount of time, especially as they are bereft of the high level of immersion and the childhood readiness and receptivity to their native language. Although it is beneficial for second language learners to strive for the fluency of native speakers, their communication would be hindered if they focused too much upon this objective, because they would become excessively conscious of errors and this would impede their learning. 8. The correction of pronunciation depends very much upon the context within which such correction occurs. When it is done in a derogatory manner or when carried out in front of other people, it feels humiliating and makes a learner even more hesitant about the learning. When correction of pronunciation is done in a friendly spirit, where it is deemed natural to make mistakes, the learner is more likely to respond positively – hence positive rather than negative criticism is vital. Activity 5: The book titled â⠂¬Å"Cambridge grammar of English† teaches grammar in the traditional way that has been used, i.e, through offering explanations of the rules of grammar. The objective fo the book is the same as that of any foreign language learning course, i.e, to provide for the ultimate end objective for a learner to learn conversation in the language. There is also a CD provided with the book, to enable learners to listen to the sound of the language. The book however works on the principle of providing the general

Reveiew on two journals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reveiew on two journals - Essay Example Late adoption may arise due to various reasons, some schools may lag behind due to various reasons and this will create inequality in the society, according to the BECTA report adult and offender education face required infrastructure problems where they may lack resources to implement these facilities, support services and quality of equipment used by schools will highly depend on the resources. Some institutions may not realize the benefits of adoption of technology in learning and this may lead to late adoption of technology in learning, also in most institutions digital learning is taken as optional and therefore there is need to set standards and requirements across all schools. From the study by BECTA it was evident that despite the flexibility of the system there has been rare adoption of technology. Challenges will also arise where not all learners will have access to sustainable and reliable infrastructure and this will be due to lack of efficient management, lack of technical support, lack of funds and limited value. The learners expectations may not be met whereby the expectations by learners regarding the adoption of technology in learning, some of the equipments may be affordable and their money value will not meet the learners expectations, according to the research undertaken it was evident that learners were not impressed with laptops and preferred smaller equipments and therefore it is evident that there may be problems in adopting this system without considering what the students expect. The study also showed that Games aimed at educating the young did not have much credibility among the learners, this shows that technology may not have much impact on the performance of learners as expected. Technology adoption in learning may lead to inequality, from the journals thre may be the problem of digital divide where some