Written versus Spoken Grammar Free Essays

Abstract Through examination of the expected educational outcomes of TESOL courses, one can begin to have a relevant discussion as to the debate between written and spoken grammar. In general academic consensus it is shown that the inclusion of spoken grammar in English teaching is preferable as it is desired by learners and the outcomes themselves. Thereafter, the challenges facing English teachers in Kuwait will be determined in relation to this debate to assess whether the inclusion of spoken grammar in addition to written grammar will have an overall positive effect on addressing these challenges. We will write a custom essay sample on Written versus Spoken Grammar or any similar topic only for you Order Now It will be argued that the inclusion is highly necessary however not without proper management by the educators as to the types of spoken grammar sources included. Introduction The learning environment that is provided in foreign language adult education is unique in the challenges that it presents to educators and the learning techniques used to affect the various educational outcomes that are expected. The relevance of these techniques is widely applicable to a variety of situations and locations that present these unique challenges based on culture and geography. To this extent there are three competing considerations with regards to the relevance of the debate between written and spoken grammar to the English teachers of Kuwait. The first is the debate between written and spoken grammar – which is largely related to whether spoken grammar should be included in the teaching strategies of English teachers. The second is the learning objectives of TESOL courses and how these relate to teaching strategies generally and expected educational outcomes. The third consideration is whether the debate in light of the learning objectives of TESOL is relevant to teaching of English as a second language in the country of Kuwait. The central hypothesis of this paper will examine the difference between written and spoken grammar to determine the associated educational outcomes that can be expected and how these relate to the particular aims of TESOL type courses. Thereafter, the inclusion of spoken grammar and the debate surrounding its inclusion will be discussed and analyzed. The last consideration will require an in-depth analysis of the particular challenges of the education system in Kuwait and this will then tie into the idea of the relevance of spoken and written grammar debates. The particular relevance of these debates with relation to Kuwait will be discussed in terms of the outcomes and challenges experienced. Thereafter concluding that the particular nuances of the education system in Kuwait make the need for interpersonal and interactive language uses even more pronounced. The infrastructure of the education system in Kuwait is reasonably advanced as there has been a recent push by the government to improve education access and quality, however with the emergence of these institutions and of the economy as a player in the global economy has lead to the need for effective second language learning courses, such as TESOL. Political discussion and economic debate is encouraged in the Kuwait democracy which sets it apart from other main Arab Gulf countries, therefore making the need for effective communication even more pronounced. The major challenges that Kuwait faces in terms of the English language learning as a nation and therefore the problems and challenges faced by English teachers in Kuwait, are related to the overbearing influence of culture in language and the problems of motivation with students. It will be discussed through careful reflection that the inclusion of spoken grammar through certain authentic material uses will help in combating the se challenges faced by educators. Through this inclusion it is also relevant to note that this has led to the evolution of teaching methods and methods of assessment away from exam-based assessment models as this has also been identified as a challenge to learners in Arabic countries. Written versus Spoken Grammar The difference between written and spoken grammar essentially comes down to a debate between formal and informal grammar. It is however important to note that there are arguments made that spoken grammar is inchoate and does not technically exist, and that spoken grammar is essentially the same as written grammar in terms of all belonging to the use of grammar generally rather than a particular system. These different arguments, although noted, do not present difficulty to the most widely acknowledged theory of spoke grammar and therefore shall not be considered within the ambit of this discussion. Suffice to say however that the argument presented for spoken grammar is not a unified position, although supported by the majority of academic writers. The argument for spoken grammar is essentially that it is a distinct approach from that used in written grammar. There is an argument for a linear model of grammar with spoken grammar being separate and distinct, although familiar through the use of written grammar (Brazil, 1995). Over time this model has evolved into a dynamic system of grammar that is easily adaptable and flexible for language use and inclusion (Carter McCarthy, 1997). The distinction is practically important for language use as often the use of written grammar in speech and conversely spoken grammar in writing, can often not be contextually appropriate and can lead to confusion. Simply put, people generally do not speak the way that they write and they certainly do not write the way that they speak. Spoken grammar often includes contractions, such as ‘I’ll’, ‘don’t’ or ‘can’t’ which are strictly speaking not appropriate in written grammar, as well as the inclusion of slang words or colloquialisms. Spoken grammar also includes breaking of strict written grammar rules such as beginning sentences with prepositions. Conversely, there is grammatical syntax that exists almost exclusively in written grammar that is not used in spoken grammar such as the existence of the perfect past tense. Spoken grammar is also more dynamic and immediate, therefore often including many grammatical errors that are unacceptable in written grammar. This is as a productive of rapid speech and thought development. Written grammar is more planned and precise, therefore allowing fewer margins for error and engaging with a more sophisticated vocabulary and format of idea presentation. Spoken grammar is often more communicative as it presents ideas at a lower level of engagement, making it more accessible in a way and therefore communicative. It also is capable of more effectively conveying a tone, furthering the assessment of spoken grammar as communicative. TESOL Aims and Expected Outcomes The mission of TESOL is â€Å"[t]o advance professional expertise in English language teaching and learning for speakers of other languages worldwide† (TESOL, 2007). TESOL generally can be said to be aimed at adult learners that are non-native English speakers. It is aimed at professionally equipping this demographic with competent English skills. Bearing this in mind, it is clear that there is a large element of competency based educational outcomes in TESOL teaching. Competency â€Å"refers to a standard of performance either implicitly or explicitly, the term closely parallels definitions of mastery or criterion levels of performance† (Wong, 2008). This involves a broader inclusion of social, cognitive and communicative skills to allow for effective use of language. Simply stated, competency based outcomes are concentrated on allowing for actual communication in the way that native speakers would use the language, whilst not being overly concerned with the theoretica l knowledge that the students have. The essential difference between the various approaches to teaching can be summarized as different emphasis on ‘real’ English in teaching and this will significantly affect the outcome of the learner’s language skills. Advocates of the use of spoken grammar argue that the use enables learners to have a more real grasp of the language as it is used by native speakers and without this inclusion, the gap between what is learnt and how one must use the language will leave learners unable to communicate in the ‘real world.’ It is evident therefore that the use of spoken grammar may be more aligned to the expected educational outcomes of TESOL as it engages in a competency based approach that will equip students to effectively communicate within their particular needs. The Debate of Spoken Grammar Inclusion in Learning Generally The debate surrounding written and spoken grammar essentially boils down to whether it should be included in teaching English as a second language and if so, how. The inclusion of spoken grammar in English comes down to relevant competing considerations all arguably part of a competency based approach to language learning. There seems to be a significant movement towards expression of language in the way that native speakers use the language rather than conforming to strict grammatical standards. This in itself is aligned with the outcomes of TESOL which aims to equip their students with a professional grasp of the language and general consensus as to the aims of second language teaching generally. If one bears these educational goals in mind when evaluating the merits of spoken grammar material inclusion in teaching methods, one can get an overall view of the advantages afforded by their inclusion. A Lack of Spoken Grammatical Features McCarthy Carter (1997) prove that there is a distinct lack of spoken grammar exposure in teaching materials used to teach English as a second language to adult learners. The way that native speakers communicate with one another and therefore the way that they establish relationships is, to a large extent, reliant on the ability to communicate in a meaningful way. This represents more than just written and articulated English grammar in the form of language use that is symptomatic of way that native English speakers communicate. The intrinsic value of spoken grammar is evident as without equipping students with the ability to grasp language in this way, one is overlooking a fundamental aspect of language education – which is to be interculturally communicative. There is much support for the argument that inclusion of spoken grammatical features in English teaching increases skill levels and natural spoken interaction (McCarthy Carter, 1994). These authors however are quick to point out that there must be a correlation between the use of written grammar resources and those representing spoken grammar uses, as the written grammar will often be a fall-back for students. However, there is a general consensus that in order to allow students to have a natural use of the language taught, there must be introduction of spoken grammar, as there is a distinct lack of these grammatical features in traditional written grammar materials. Research conducted into the usefulness of telephone conversation dialogues in the teaching of English as a second language supported this notion by showing that the interaction that it gave learners with natural spoken grammar was an area that was not covered in any of the traditional textbook materials that learners typically learn from (Wong, 2002). Increasingly there is a move towards a combination of attributes in second language teaching and the use of spoken grammar materials supports the interaction between language, sequence structure and social action in a way that traditional teaching materials do not. This is highly relevant when considering the competency based educational outcomes that are required in second language English teaching. The specific goals of TESOL also support the inclusion of these materials towards effectively equipping the learners with competent and communicative English skills. The Needs of Learners Research conducted (Timmis, 2002) shows that learners and teachers value all aspects of grammar in teaching. That being said, there is a need for learners to be able to communicate in the most appropriate and effective manner in line with their specific educational needs. From the perspective of students involved in this study, there was an expression of the desire to conform to the grammar norms of native-English speakers, which in this case also includes the informal grammatical norms. This concept relates back to the idea of real language use in TESOL teaching environments where there is a need to teach English in relation to a competency based educational outlook. It is necessary therefore from the perspective of the learner to include spoken grammar in English teaching in order to achieve a competent language knowledge. To this extent, the research proved further that there is a general consensus amongst teachers that students should at least be exposed to spoken grammar in the studies (Timmis, 2002). Although this is by no means a conclusive case for inclusion of spoken grammar into language teaching, it is clear that there is a need for this inclusion based on proposed educational outcomes and teaching objectives. This also may encourage motivation and therefore impact the results of students if they feel they are actively engaging in the language in a way that is tangible. It is necessary therefore to examine how one would go about effectively including spoken grammar in teaching without negatively influencing outcomes, such as the development of culturally dependant language and poor grammatical habits. Essentially there are some parallels to be draw between the debate surrounding the use of authentic material in language teaching and the inclusion of spoken grammar in language teaching as essentially they are both incorporating elements of real language use and often the grammar used in authentic materials is informal or akin to spoken grammar. The benefits and disadvantages of authentic materials will not be covered, however there are some relevant considerations that are applicable such as the need to be flexible in their approach to communication which can be best taught through the use of spoken grammar in teaching methods. The Challenges of Kuwait as an Educational System Until 1966 there was no formal university in the country and it has taken many years since then to make access to higher education possible. Education in Kuwait is free and available to all. There have been significant efforts on the part of the government to improve access to education and educational facilitates. Furthermore, there are literacy programs for adult learners, both male and female to improve the literacy rate, which are currently attended by around 2% of the population. In a recent conference, the minister of education of Kuwait reinforced the international commitment of Kuwait to building an advanced and progressive society based on education with the aid of knowledge achievement and modern methods (Al-Haroun, 2011). As a result of a drive towards improving education in Kuwait, the education sector is by and large doing very well. However, this does mean that it is without challenges. For English teachers teaching English as a second language may present significant c hallenges, not least of which are the concerns of cultural education that will accompany English education. In order to successful impart the goals of competency based English outcomes, there has to be a transference of culture to allow Arabic speaking learners, who have been educated in Kuwait to not only speak English effectively, but be culturally appropriate at the same time. With the impact of culture on language use in Kuwait, there are particular challenges faced by English teachers in trying to translate those cultural nuances in English through second language education. An example of how this may be an issue is in business relations traditionally Arabic culture there is a large tradition of respect in greetings and formalities. These well wishes may not be understood or be appropriate in certain Western traditions, therefore in order to be able to communicate effectively in a more global sense there will need to be a cultural education of these appropriate mannerisms in En glish culture. Culture In Kuwait, it is important to note the decisive impact that culture plays in all facets of life. As an Arab nation, Kuwait is very committed to religious based cultural practices and for English teachers in Kuwait, they must be able to convey not only the teaching of English, but the cultural practices as well. It is fundamental for teachers of language to also be able to teach cultural in language studies, and since generally teachers are not trained in social anthropology, they need to adapt their perspectives according to their teaching environment (Byram Morgan, 1995). Traditionally, there is an emphasis on the native speaker in teaching language, in other words identifying the target language and the appropriate uses thereof in the particular context. This is usually done by studying the speech of native speakers of the language and then emphasizing the use of those aspects of the language (Cook, 1999). From this approach it is clear that there would be a significant benefit fo r teachers of English as a second language in Kuwait to make use of both written and spoken grammar in teaching. Spoken grammar would therefore be highly important as many authors have noted that there is a real element in the teaching of this spoken grammar as it is the closest representation to how native speakers actually communicate. However, as Cook goes on to explain, the goal of education of a second language student is not to transform them into a native speaker as for second language speakers this is a theoretical impossibility (1999; 186). The aim therefore is to allow them to effectively communicate with other elements that are incidental to native speakers such as social interaction, language skill transference, identification with the target language community and the ability to produce fluent discourse. Fairly evident in the attainment of these goals is the need for a good practical knowledge of the language being taught, for without this informal communications and id entification in the language community would be nearly impossible. This social and cultural aspect of learning English as a second language in Kuwait is highly relevant as there is a vast social, political and cultural divide between native English speakers and Arabic cultures. In order to have a real appreciation and understanding of building social rapport and a level of social interaction with native English speakers, the cultural aspects of learning English will need to be addressed. As already mentioned, the way that people write and speak as native language users is not necessarily always compatible. The importance therefore in the inclusion of spoken grammar into language teaching becomes highly important. It also allows for a certain flexibility in the teaching as it can stay up to date with current language and vocabulary trends. One such example is the use of the word ‘fit’ in English language. One could conceptualize a situation where a Kuwaiti person uses th is word in the formal sense to describe someone with a certain level of physical fitness, however colloquially to British English speaking individuals this word has a slang meaning of referring to a level of attractiveness of an individual. Whilst this is a simplistic example of such a scenario, it is easy to see how the inclusion of spoken grammar in this way would provide valuable insight into the use of the language by native speakers and in the end would end up highly beneficial for the second language learners. The exploration of culture involves learners evaluating their own culture as well as that of the target language group (Corbett, 2003). The point is essentially to bridge an information gap between the learner and the target language group. Despite the plethora of information highlight the importance of inclusion of culture in language learning, there is still a huge underrate of this inclusion which has been markedly difficult in practice (Stern, 1992). The improvement in this incorporation into the language teaching methodologies can be related back to the emergence of the communicative or competence theory of learning becoming the dominant ideology in teaching theory (Corbett, 2003). A language course that is so influenced is one that attempts to educate the learners in all facets of language education: reading, writing, speaking and listening. In order to gain a deeper understanding of how the target language community functions, the students will need to assess their own languag e and community functions as they relate to language use. Therefore, the inclusion of spoken and written grammar will need to be used in order for the students to have a culturally specific language education where they can interact with the target language group. Byram (1995) argues that the goal of second language English education is not to acquire a native language competence but rather to acquire an intercultural communicative competence. Learning language in a formal vacuum therefore will not be adequate to effectively equip TESOL learners with this intercultural communicative competence without the inclusion of social or cultural content. Therefore, the most effective way of including this content is through the exposure to spoken grammar through authentic material use. This way there is the opportunity for students to engage with the culture of the target language group as well as with their own culture in relation to this target group. Through this interaction there will be the formation of mutual respect and understanding for culture leading to a competent educational outcome. Motivation Student motivation has been identified as a general challenge to English learning in Arab Gulf countries (Syed, 2003). One may argue that this is a by-product of the vast difference in language use and syntactical differences between Arabic and English. The use of spoken grammar in teaching exposes learners to ‘real’ language, which has the effect of motivating them, because there is the opportunity for the students to see their progress tangibly (Hastings Murphy, 2002). Psychologically, this is an important aspect as it increases the confidence of the students. A student that is able to read a newspaper article in a learning environment is far more likely to attempt to read further articles outside of the classroom. As an newspaper article, being authentic material, is use of spoken grammar in teaching, one can see the benefit of using this spoken grammar in teaching. Having exposure to reading these articles will also improve the chance that they will understand these articles as they will be familiar to a certain extent with the grammar and vocabulary used. This is a kind of knock-on effect of using spoken grammar in teaching with vast benefit for listening and speaking language skills of the learners. A key example of this is using television as spoken grammar literature, as the influence of media on learning is undoubtedly strong. By exposing students to television that they can understand, it is more likely that they will seek out further programming in English, because they will be confident that they will be able to understand it to a certain extent and as these programs are meant for native English speakers, the vocabulary and grammar used will be varied and therefore challenging, increasing the learning potential. It is therefore highly beneficial to learner motivation and confidence to use authentic materials demonstrating spoken grammar. However teachers must also be aware of the careful selection of these materials as spoken grammar c an be detrimental to learning outcomes if there is little correlation between written and spoken grammar due to an extensive informal nature of the materials provided. An example of this would be the use of comics in learning. These do not have much relation to written grammar due to the short sentence structure and colloquial use grammar and punctuation. Recommendations Conclusion The two major challenges facing English second language teachers in Kuwait are largely confined to the motivation of the learners and the structure of the courses being inclusive of all relevant factors relating to the language. It is clear that there is consensus amongst the teaching community that there should be inclusion of or exposure to spoken grammar in teaching. The effects of this inclusion have had positive effects, not only on the attainment of educational outcomes based on competency, but also on tackling of the challenges faced by teachers in Kuwait. Like with all teaching materials, there are positive and negative elements to this inclusion, however with careful monitoring of the material selection and the kinds of materials that the learners are exposed to, these negative elements may be mitigated. If one takes an outcome based approach to education, competency is the most relevant consideration. The specific needs of a competent learner are to be able to communicate e ffectively across language and cultural barriers. In order to do this, academics have argued that there needs to be an inclusion of real language use in teaching materials as this will be the most effective means of including this kind of socio-cultural content. These materials will make use of spoken grammar as well as written grammar and through careful material selection by educators, the pitfalls of spoken grammar use can be effectively managed if not altogether eliminated. This will have positive effects on learner confidence and motivation leading to a better overall outcome in line with the expected teaching outcomes seeking to be achieved by TESOL language teaching. Bibliography American University of Kuwait College of Business Administration, 2009 The Challenges for Quality in Higher Education in Kuwait Ashley Hastings and Brenda Murphy, 2002. Thoughts on the Use of Authentic Materials [ejournals] Available at http://www.focalskills.info/articles/authentic.html [Accessed 17 May 2012] Byram Morgan, (1995) Teaching-And-Learning Language-And-Culture Oxford University Press Carter McCarthy (1995), ‘Grammar and the Spoken Language’ Applied Linguistics 16(2), 141-158. Carter McCarthy (1997), Exploring Spoken English Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Carter McCarthy (1995) ‘Spoken Grammar: What it is and how we can teach it’ ELT J, 49(3) Corbett, J., (2003) An Intercultural Approach to English Language Teaching Clevedon: Frankfurt Lodge David Brazil (1995), The Grammar of Speech Oxford: Oxford University Press Eli Hinkel Sandra Fotos (2002), New Perspectives on Grammar Teaching in Second Language Classrooms Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Musaed Rashed Al-Haroun (2011), Minister of Education and Higher Education Kuwait, Education Strategy for Kuwait report prepared for the 46th International Conference on Education Ruth Ming Har Wong, 2008. Competency-based English Teaching and Learning: Investigating Pre-service teachers of Chinese’s Learning Experience Porta Linguarum, 9, pp 179 – 198 Stern, H., (1992) Issues and Options in Language Teaching. Oxford: OUP ESOL Incorporated [online] (cited on 19 May 2012) accessed on www.tesol.org Timmis, I., (2002) ‘Native?speaker norms and International English: a classroom view’ ELT J 56(3): 240-249 Timmis, I., (2004) ’Towards a framework for teaching spoken grammar’ Vivian Cook (1999), ‘Going Beyond the Native Speaker in Language Teaching’ TESOL Quaterly, 33(2), pp 185 – 209 Wong, J., (2002) ‘â€Å"Applying† conversation analysis in applied linguistics: Evaluating dialogue in English as a second language textbooks’ International review of applied linguistics in language teaching, 40(1), pp37 Xuedong Huang , Alex Acero Hsiao-Wuen Hon, (2001) Spoken Language Processing: A Guide to Theory, Algorithm System Development Prentice Hall PTR Zafar Syed (2003), ‘The Sociocultural Context of English Language Teaching in the Gulf’, TESOL Quarterly, 37(2) How to cite Written versus Spoken Grammar, Essay examples

The Soap Opera For Men Essay Research free essay sample

The Soap Opera For Men Essay, Research Paper The Soap Opera for Men Kaaaaplllowww! was the lone sound heard as the Undertaker fell directly to the canvas. While the referee was busy puttering with an exposed, unstained steel turnbuckle on the right side of the ring, little did he recognize what was traveling on in the lucifer. In the few minutes that the referee was preoccupied, Stone Cold Steve Austin managed to obtain a black, metal turn uping chair from the outskirts of the ring and pulverize the Undertaker over the caput with it. The crowd was traveling wholly amuck and there was non a individual individual in the audience that was sitting down any longer. Stone Cold, feeling that the terminal was near, decided that it was clip to complete the lucifer. He lifted the Undertaker up from the canvas and positioned him in the in-between ring. The Undertaker, sill unmindful to anything traveling on around him, stood there impotently beckoning his weaponries in desperation. We will write a custom essay sample on The Soap Opera For Men Essay Research or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Seconds subsequently, Stone Cold crushed his caput with his completing move known as The Stunner. Stone Cold so got onto the canvas with the Undertaker and put his tremendously muscular arm over the Undertaker s thorax signalising a pin. For those of you who are unfamiliar with names such as Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Undertaker, these are two of the most celebrated grapplers in professional wrestle. The World Wrestling Federation is one of the more popular wrestle organisations and is normally referred to as the WWF. A scene such as the one depicted above is a slightly common happening that has kept fans riveted at the border of their seats for old ages and continues to make so. Although non every lucifer follows such a heart-pounding gait or have the most good known grapplers involved ; the WWF itself is a complex organisation with many domains of influence. The narrative lines amidst the blood rushing action are an built-in portion of the WWF. For the interest of simpleness, the WWF can be assumed to be a group of persons ( some belonging to a peculiar group or cabal ) all seeking to win one of six title belts. The changeless rearrangement of intra group confederations is an indispensable constituent to the ever-changing secret plan. An single, who you may presume to be your friend one minute, may turn against you the following second and assistance in your devastation. An illustration of such is apparent when Vince McMahon ( former WWF commissioner ) out of the blue turned on the The Rock in an episode of Monday Night Raw. Vince McMahon, The Rock s presumed ally, was supposed to help The Rock as he went for WWF title belt against Hunter Hearst Helmsly. Nevertheless, merely the opposite of such remained to be true. Vince McMahon aided Hunter Hearst Helmsly and the audience was in a province of utter daze and bewilderment. Plot turns suc h as this keep the narrative line fresh and fans merely hankering for more. Conflict amongst persons besides keeps the narrative line entertaining. Stone Cold Steve Austin and Rikishi have an on-going conflict as we speak and fans ( such as myself ) perfectly love it. Rikishi purportedly was the originator behind Stone Cold s enfeebling leg hurt. Stone Cold has returned to the ring within the past twosome of hebdomads and he s out for blood and retaliation no affair what the effects possibly. What goes about comes about and all Rikishi s got coming his manner is my fist down his pharynx, and that s the bottom line because Stone Cold said so! is a recent quotation mark from Stone Cold in relation to what he plans on making to Rakishi. Plot turns and struggle are built-in constituents to the narrative line and the WWF would non even remotely resemble what it is today without it. An single enjoys the intricate and diverse narrative lines of the WWF for many grounds. An analogy of such can be compared to lather operas for adult females. Millions of adult females tune in every twenty-four hours to see whether John or Michael is the male parent of Melissa s babe or whether Mrs. Jones truly did hold an matter with her foreman. Men enjoy play merely every bit much as adult females do, but how one defines the word play is what separates one gender signifier the other. For coevalss, work forces have enjoyed watching ferocious competition and competition. The WWF encompasses both of those alone qualities and creates a instead interesting play as the characters play out their several functions in attempts to win the desired WWF title belts. The 100s of diverse personalities are another facet of the WWF I love. Ranging from the absurd jokes of Stone Cold Steve Austin to the blazing bumptiousness of The Rock, the WWF has it all. Stone Cold Steve Austin is the American bad buttocks that hides inside all of us. He is the person that represents what all of us may desire to make but make non hold the testicular fortitude to make so. He represents choler, aggression, and non-conformity. The Rock is more of the people s title-holder. Always looking to delight his fans and progress his position among other grapplers. He represents celebrity, luck, and wealths. The Undertaker, on the other manus, is a representative of the dark side. He represents decease and the hereafter. The diverseness of characters in the WWF prevents the action from going synonymous with each other and that is something any full-hearted WWF fan will appreciate. The WWF has at least one character that we can all side with or root for. The ground for such an array of characters can be seen when professional wrestle was non every bit popular as it is today. It the late 1970ss and early 1880ss, there were merely a twelve or so grapplers and people finally got world-weary watching the same people fight repeatedly. Repetitiveness is a neer a good thing in the amusement industry and the WWF discovered that shortly plenty. The coating moves are the most exciting portion of the spectacle of professional wrestle. Once the opposition is tired and weary, a finishing move may be applied to complete the lucifer in manner. Three of the most oculus starting moves are The Stunner, The Rock Bottom, and The Tombstone. The Stunner is attributed to Stone Cold Steve Austin. The first constituent of the move consists of Stone Cold ferociously kicking his opposition in tummy. Then, while confronting the same the manner as his opposition, he grapples his opposition s head while set over and wraps his sweaty arm over it as he falls to the land while keeping his opposition s caput over his shoulder. The force of the autumn causes the opposition to go unconscious and the lucifer is typically over every bit shortly as Stone Cold goes for the pin. The People s Elbow, besides known as the most thrilling move in athletics s history, is attributed to The Rock. This move consists of The Rock puting his opposition in the center of the ring. The Rock so runs from one of the terminal ring to the other and finally workss his cubitus right on his opposition s bosom as his full organic structure dips to the canvas with the work stoppage of decease. Last, The Tombstone is dished out by The Undertaker. This move consists of The Undertaker tossing his opposition upside down while keeping him. The Undertaker so holds his opposition in this unsloped place as the blood thirstily rushes to the caput to increase the magnitude of the approaching blow. The Undertaker so places his opposition s caput ( which is still upside by the manner ) between his thighs and bang his articulatio genuss to the land. Again, the opposition is put to rest and the fan favourite adds another triumph to his repertory. The many constituents to a finishing move are what make them so exciting to watch for people all across America. I d love to see the mean Joe attempt to pick up another adult male who is about three hundred lbs and throw him about like a bag of wash. The grapplers that perform these astonishing stunts put old ages of preparation in their act and that merely is non something that can merely look nightlong. Athleticism and timing are besides indispensable to drawing the move away right. These dedicated jocks put old ages of difficult work in the gym and in the ring to put to death their several moves to flawlessness. True fans of the WWF appreciate what difficult work goes into these singular moves and bask them for these really grounds. The popularity of professional wrestle is at all clip high and the grounds for such an happening are apparent. The WWF is an chance for all of us to loosen up and bask the lives of others, as ours may non be at the optimal province of continuum. The complex narrative line, astonishing array of personalities, and completing moves all attribute to its deathless success. For those of you who someday make make up ones mind to endeavour in the universe of professional wresting, maintain this one spot of advice in head as you progress up the hierarchy to winning the WWF Championship belt. Use a steel chair whenever possible because it would be unfortunate if person like the Rock had to take you to Know Your Roll Boulevard, walk you down Jabroni Drive, and look into you directly into the Smackdown Hotel! 1.2.3 the referee yelled out loud as he pounded his manus on the canvas while numbering each consecutive figure. The lucifer was over and Stone Cold Steve Austin once more left the ring winning.

Prior to the Cuban revolution, Cuba was under the Essays

Prior to the Cuban revolution, Cuba was under the control of Fulgencio Batista, a capitalist dictator. American casinos and occupation caused unrest in Cuba, and the tourism caused a huge disparity within the poor. This sparked the Cuban revolution, whereafter the money earned from the tourism and given to the rich was given to the poor. However, in Cuba following 1959, the Castro regime has infringed upon human rights via unjust arrests, extreme police brutality, the murder of dissenters, and the creation of labor camps for gay men and those who opposed the regime. These occurrences continue in modern day Cuba, with unjust arrests and police brutality persisting in communist Cuba. Coupled with covered up assassinations and death camps disguised as labor camps, the Cuban government has been committing inhumane atrocities since the beginning of the Castro Regime. The earliest form of human rights abuses, is the aforementioned labor camps, known as Military Units to Aid Production, or otherwise as UMAPs. However, they only existed for a short period of time. The Cuban labor camps existed from 1965 to 1968. They primarily targeted political dissenters, though they included gay men and those who's religions went against that of the communist government.( They began as an alternative to those who could not complete their compulsory service in the Cuban military. However, they quickly became an inhumane means of killing off these undesirable' populations. It had been estimated that seventy two men were tortured to death, five hundred and seven were sent to psychiatric wards, and one hundred eighty of them committed suicide. However, these numbers are extremely small, considering the total internee count being up to thirty five thousand. To say nothing of the concerning means that the aforementioned men met their deaths, the conditions of such places were not suitable for any human being to healthily live. Forced to work in farms for up to ten to twelve hours out of the day, men were put in extreme labor conditions, having to work up to seven days out of the week. These inhumane working hours only further showcase the inhumanity of these camps. Not to mention, the poor nutrition, unclean water, poorly prepared food, with even the plates they ate off being unclean. The barracks in these camps were filled to the brim, with men forced to even share beds. Those imprisoned even had no electricity to speak of, the extremity going on to the point that they had no toilets. Castro himself even admitted that the purpose of these labor camps was to punish those who refused to join communist parties while facilitating free labor for the state. Despite the government being open about the existence of these camps, communist supporters try to deny their existence, propagating Cuba as an LGBT friendly country. However, this is simply ignoring the facts. Gay men were punished on account of simply being gay with detention sweeps, which would quickly send them to these labor camps. (Wise, New York Times). Others will say that Castro was not in power', or against it' during the times of these camps' existence. However, that is going against evidence. Fidel Castro was a dictator, who had all the power that came with one, such as controlling the existence of these UMAPs and their execution. The aforementioned labor camps are not the only form of cruelty that the Castro regime has enforced upon the Cuban people. Deliberately small rations quickly caused high death counts, not to mention the democides. No exact amount of deaths from starvation is known, but from primary accounts, the toll is undoubtedly high. Historian from College of Hawaii estimates up to 141,000 deaths while under the Castro regime- not even just from starvation. When considering the death toll in Cuba a small number, be aware that the exact number is unknown due to purposeful, either concealing of records, or simply being willingly ignorant of the death toll and making no such records. Before 1990, the rations would include as two pounds of chicken, six eggs, a pound of picadillo *, and if fish was present, then a pound, for the month. During 1991 in a time commonly known as the special period by people who

Free Structural Theory Economics Essay

Free Structural Theory Economics Essay Structural Theory The structural theory of economic development is based on changing the economic structures of the developing countries from subsistence grounded economy to an industrialized and urban-based one (Bitar 43). The developing countries mostly practice subsistence production for their own consumption. In support of this theory, Sir William Arthur Lewis argues that the traditional agrarian system has a lot of idle labor that can be utilized in the industrial sector and be more productive. If the labor that is idle in the subsistence production sector could be utilized in a more productive manner in the industrial sector, then a country stands a chance of growth and economic development (Coleman, and Nixon 36). Hollis Burnley Chenery, also in support of this model, argues that the route that a state will follow in developing its economy depends on its resources, size, as well as its current income level and virtual advantage proportional to other countries. Hollis advocates that for a country to advance its economy, it must work from its level upwards. This means that a country must work to improve its current economic conditions to record an economic growth in the long run (Kalecki 78). Therefore, since most developing countries have high levels of illiteracy, high levels of mortality rate, and high level of food shortages, they need to work on eradicating these problems. For a country to industrialize it must have enough work force to supply the industries with labor; therefore, the levels of education have to be improved. In the industrialization process, the number of industries to be constructed at a time depends on the country size and its capital capacity. According to the structuralism, economic development is gradual and is achieved through the accomplishment of numerous smaller strategies (Kalecki 78). This theory has faced a lot of criticism because of its incompetence. The theory puts its emphasis on the shift from an agrarian system to an industrialized one. According to the critics, this shift would lead to heavy inequalities between the urban areas and the rural areas (Coleman, and Nixson 38). The urban areas would develop inevitably while the rural areas would be demising down. The assumption that there is a surplus labor in the agrarian sector is criticized since this labor is just seasonal and, if it were transferred to the industrial sector, the agriculture sector would collapse. The critics of this model point out that the model does not have a framework. That is, the model does not outline clearly what should be done to achieve economic development in the developing countries. Theories of Trade The Mercantilism theory argues that a nation may accumulate economic wealth through encouraging exports and dispiriting imports. The reality of this theory was achieved through government intervention, colonization, and trade surpluses. The colonizers are a good example of the reality of this model; they ensured trade surplus through exporting raw materials from the colonies to their home countries. They then exported finished goods to other countries and made it hard and almost impossible to import to their countries. Government intervention is realized through the imposition of tariffs or sanctions on imports and giving subsidies for expanding their exports (Bitar 43). The absolute advantage theory argues that a nation may accumulate economic wealth through producing goods more cheaply than another country, using equal or fewer resources. This theory implies that a country should produce what it can best produce. This model advocates that trade should be allowed to flow freely as driven by the market forces of demand and supply. That is, trade should not be restricted through imposing of tariffs, sanctions, or subsidies. It also points out that the main goal should be making cheap products available to the nationals in abundance, as well as ensuring that the living standards of the nationals are improved (Kalecki 79). Through this model, national wealth is measured by considering the living standards of the people but not the money the country has in store. The Importance of Trade Trade enables countries to learn new ideas from each other. When countries are trading with each other, every country learns from the other and receives mutual benefits. Each country has its field of specialty, different from that of the trading partners one (Coleman, and Nixson 37). There is transfer of economic ideas, which help countries grow and advance economically. For example, developing countries borrow construction ideas from the developed ones. Most developing countries have no infrastructure; therefore, in case of infrastructure construction, they borrow the ideas that were used to construct such a piece of infrastructure in the developed countries (Bitar 43). Secondly, through trade, countries are able to access and consume what it does not produce. Countries need to consume products, which they do not produce, or services not available in their country. In such cases, trade plays a major role in making these products, goods, and services available. For instance, the deve loping countries have shortages of skilled labor force; therefore, they have to import professional labor from the developed countries. Third, trade creates a balance amongst economies and reduces the risk of collapsing. If an economy was independent, and collapsed, it would be hard to revive it (Kalecki 78). With trade, countries are dependent; therefore, even if an economy threatens to collapse, corrective measures are employed early enough to remedy. Trade is important in the world economy since there is no single country that can make the world economy on its own. It is only through trade that any country realizes its economic wealth. Summary Rolls-Royce is a company that specializes on engines and has its branches located in Germany, the US, England, Asia, Singapore, and Alesund. Rolls is a thriving company in its operations and it is making remarkable profits through basing its operations on niche markets. Contrary to the other companies, Rolls is making investments in the high-wage countries. It decided to invest here because, in the high wage countries, it is getting government support and property protection of high intellectual property and information. It is facing stiff competition from renowned companies and governments. For example, as said in the article, China and India are eradicating thousands of engineers to boost their home industries. The major problem that Rolls is facing is the deficiency of skilled labor. The company is lacking technical skills that it is looking for in engineers. As a result, it is suffering from labor shortage. The shortage in staffs has cost the company millions of dollars since the company is forced to decline contracts. Rolls invest in Norway because of the support the government provides As stated in the article, governments support is vital if a company wants to do quality engineering. The government plays a significant role in protecting a companys intellectual property and providing an environment conducive for investment. Another reason for Rolls to move its plant to Norway; is that Norway is leading in improved shipping building in the world. With this withstanding, then it has better workforce skilled in shipbuilding. Although there is a shortage in staffing as compared to other countries, Norway is far much better. The third reason is that there is a great demand for marine engines in Norway because of its operation in the rough Arctic and the North Sea. Because of many breakages in the ocean, there is a great demand for marine engines today. With the increased water travel, there is a rise in demand for more ships and other marines. Therefore, this existed as a market niche, and it was a good opportunity for Rolls to utilize. Norway emphasizes on efficiency and knowhow over labor cost; therefore, the workers need to be skillful and educated. The Western countries seek to produce quality products; thus, they require train workforce that is rich in skills. In addition, the legal requirements for industry laborers demand skilled workers to reduce risks, as well as to produce standard products. In Norway, the wages are high as well as the living standards; for workers to be paid lavishly, they need to be satisfactorily skilled. There is the existence of the security system that is concerned with the welfare of workers, which governs the hiring standards. Through this system, Norway is able to ensure that employees the companies hire are qualified; hence, they can reduce the firing rates. In an attempt to satisfy the regulations of the security system, the companies do not hire employees who are not satisfactorily qualified to avoid the need to fire them soon after the hiring. China, on the other hand emphasizes on labor cost cut down and mass production over efficiency and knowhow. With the increased demand of the China made products both locally and internationally, skills in production have been less a concern. The China government is working towards improving the market of its local products in the local market. To achieve this objective, there has been a loose hand on the production regulations and requirements. Less skilled workers are paid cheaply; thus, the labor cost of production is cutting down greatly. This results in low prices products thus raising their demand internationally, although they are rather substandard one. The production requirements of China are favorable when compared to those of the Western countries; this gives a loophole for producers to be reckless and, eventually, unskilled workers get into the system. Chinas government does not give sufficient support for a business to thrive. Rishton, quoted in the article, asserts that, for a company to do quality engineering, government support is vital. Therefore, being an essential, it becomes hard for a company that deals with fundamental engineering to thrive in China. According to the researches outlined in the critique, most foreign investors in China are complaining of intellectual property security. China does not protect the proprietary information of foreign investors. The researches showed that investors lost millions of money because of leakage of their proprietary information to competitors. In addition, China is committed to training workforce to improve the value of its products; thus, this objective contradicts helping or even safeguarding the welfare of foreign investors. The government cannot protect the foreign investors since it is working towards improving the market of their local products. These intellectual properties are not secondary but basic ones Since these concerns have contributed to Rolls decision of not investing in China, they must have been basic to the companys operations. Having noted that staff shortages are a problem to the company, Chinas objective of training works to help improve its local products will complicate the shortage problem. Finally, leakage of a companys proprietary information to its competitors would cause great damages resulting in huge losses. The information of any company is its power and its advantage over its competitors. The leakage of this information is a huge blow to the company.

7 Things You Should Be Doing For Every Image On Your WordPress Site

7 Things You Should Be Doing For Every Image On Your WordPress Site Adding an image to your website is not as simple as just uploading and clicking the publish button. Of course, that is an option – you can do it the lazy way – but if you want a perfectly optimized website and favored search results, there are a few things you need to do to make sure that the images are optimized before you publish them. You may find it tedious and annoying, and time consuming, but taking the time to do this right will be worth it when you see your A+ grade on Google and Bing Webmaster Tools and are rewarded with stellar search rankings. Editing Your Images: If you don’t own an Adobe Photoshop license, don’t worry, there are plenty of free online photo editing tools that can help you get the job done. Using high quality photos on your website is as important as using proper grammar.  These websites offer free tools that make it easy to crop, resize, and edit your images:  Ã‚  PicMonkey https://www.picmonkey.comFotor http://www.fotor.comPixlr https://pixlr.com Optimise and Compress Your Images: Large image files take up a lot of valuable space on your website and will slow down your site speed and hinder its performance considerably. Before you upload any image to your site, compress it or at as a minimum, make sure you have the Ewww Image Optimizer Plugin installed as advised by Kyle in the lessons.  In Adobe Photoshop, select â€Å"compress for web† before saving the file. You can also achieve similar results using some of the free image compression tools available online. Site speed is a ranking factor so the faster the better.  TinyPNG -https://tinypng.comPNGGaunlet http://pnggauntlet.comPunyPNG http://www.punypng.comResults vary, but in one test, Adobe Photoshop reduced a 236 KB image to 108.1KB, while TinyPNG reduced the same file from 236KB to 110.4KB. So, Adobe Photoshop does perform slightly better, but you can get pretty close using other programs. Consider Your File Names:  Once you have readied the image for uploading, make sure to name it properly. Search engines use file names to identify and index results so this is a really important step. If you name a file with a bunch of letters and numbers that doesn’t give search engines any information about what the image portrays. However, if the file has a specific name such as, â€Å"New York at Dawn† then it can be categorized and indexed, whereas naming the file something like, â€Å"New York† doesn’t describe the image very well. Use keywords in the file name to boost your search results. Be sure to use hyphens in the file name to separate words.    Image URLs: When you upload your edited, compressed, properly named image to your website, WordPress will show the attachment details in a box on the right side of the Insert Media page showing the automatically generated permalink URL based on the file name, this is essentially the web address of the image. You can’t change this once it’s uploaded so if you forgot to change the file name before uploading your file, you’ll have to delete the image and re-upload the newly named image. Image Title Attributes:  The image title box is right below the URL box. Here, you can name the image whatever you like. This title should complement the Alt Text Attribute, but not repeat it. Though, Google primarily uses the Alt Text Attribute to determine information about an image file, it’s helpful to add additional relevant information about the image in the Title box. Something short and specific will do. Your Image Captions:  Ã‚  Adding a caption is not necessary for SEO purposes, but may be helpful for user experience. The content in this box will display on the front end of the site while the Alt and Title Attributes will not.  The Alt Text Attribute  The â€Å"Alt† is short for alternative. Search engines refer to the alt text when trying to determine information about the image – a textual representation of the image content. The best use of an Alt Text box is to provide a word pairing for the image. Specificity helps here, too. This is a very important element for SEO because it provides a description that lends to search results. Don’t use the same content for the Alt Text and Title Text or Description fields. They each need to be unique. This is the content that will appear if a browser is unable to display the image. Your Image Descriptions:  The description information will be displayed on the attachment page of your image. In this field, you can be as descriptive as you like, such as telling the story behind the image or what kind of camera you used to take the photograph. You can add links in the description field. Again, don’t just copy and paste the information from the Title or Alt Attributes. Hopefully this gives you an idea of best practice when adding images to your website.

Self management can enhance life long learning Essay

Self management can enhance life long learning - Essay Example Self management can enhance life long learning The ability for one to be able to manage both social and health matters in an effective way is a necessary thing for development. This essay will discuss how proper management of oneself gives one lifelong lessons. Own current skills and competencies Knowledge is attainable through observation, keen listening, and even different experiences in the day-to-day running. Group work also helps reveal one’s strengths and weaknesses. My skill and competence in management has been enhanced through adequate learning and consultations. The learning process takes time and involves one’s readiness to the activities involved. As such, there is a need for one to research and identify the main aspects they may want to get in management of different factors in the society to use in the life-long run. These aspects give one competence in the times and in their field of management. One acquires the relevant skills and knowledge and therefore their performance gets commendable. To be an e ffective manager, I need to have relevant education skills to make them more competent and professional on the duties they perform. Personal attribute in realizing their capabilities, attributes, and values help determine their effectiveness in handling different issues. This shows that there are different levels that describe how competitive and successful one is.Moreover, how ones competence is applicable in different issues is determined by the skills. Some of the roles interrelate and therefore involve the use of similar values in management. One’s personal behavior and attitudes affect their ability to gain competence and effectively apply it. Learning, a continuous process in life, as we grow old it never stops and helps in advancements of our values and quality of our ability to handle issues. Therefore, since learning is infinite I need to limitlessly learn to perfectly master skills though they keep changing with time (Phillips and Gully, 2012:234). To maintain my pr ofessional standard and organizational objectives, I learn from others despite the profiles or even social status. In learning, one needs to humble and understand that they always have something to learn from anyone no matter how minor they may seem. Humility is also a necessary aspect that they should possess to help them gain an understanding of whatever issue is at hand, and this gives them an advantage to handle most of the challenges in life (Ingleby & Clive, 2012:537). Through lessons acquired, I have significantly advanced in my career and for use in the life long run. Adult education should not be taken lightly; it does not involve so much effort for one to acquire it. In clubs, churches, cinemas, concerts, political societies and even at homes through books, gardens, friends, music, and workshops are some of the ways it is acquired (Lokanadha, 1997: 47). Through self-directing, I am able to acquire lifelong education. People instilling the knowledge and conducting the learn ing activity should be reflective and give relevant examples to enable the learner use the knowledge attained in their daily lives. To acquire the necessary information, I first think on my own learning is made to improve on one's thinking and reasoning ability. Learning strategies and motivations are necessary to give me the morale of

Employment loyalty on rhythm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Employment loyalty on rhythm - Essay Example I am very interested to find out what drives employee loyalty and commitment considering the fact that the company and its sector are at a disadvantage in the areas of stability, resources, among other advantages that bigger companies enjoy. Rabin (2003) extensively discussed loyalty and its effect on organizational behavior. According to him, along with the identification with an organization, employee loyalty represents an individual and psychological bond between an employee and an organization. (p. 867) That is why it is pivotal in overall strategy of companies to produce value for consumers, achieve competitive advantage and, eventually, achieve profitability. Needless to say, such fact has driven numerous studies and research. As a result, the corpus of literature on the subject is quite extensive and comprehensive. Specifically, the subjects include works about how employee loyalty contributes to an organizations’ competitiveness, how it reflects the organization, measurement and evaluation of employee loyalty, among other issues. Some of the studies undertaken in regard to employee loyalty that are relevant in this paper’s objectives are outlined below: 1. Swayne, Duncan and Ginter (2006) explained how employee loyalty could determine the kind of culture and values an organization has. According to him, this aspect helps consumers determine whether the firm has an outstanding quality in service delivery because loyal employees mean companies who know how to value people. (p. 185) Loveman (1998) used the service profit chain framework in his effort to link employee satisfaction and loyalty to customer satisfaction and financial performance. The author underscored that the framework hypothesized relationships between employee, customer and financial outcomes. The emphasis on these three elements makes this framework an interesting resource for