Movie Review: The White Balloon Essay

Jafar Panahi’s movie entitled â€Å"The White Balloon† is a depiction of social reality in these present times within the eyes of a young girl protagonist. The conflict of the story is simple as well as the resolution and its setting. The main problem of the protagonist is her likeness to buy a fish but she does not have any amount of money in her pocket. What she did was she took her mother’s last money and went to the store but while walking to the store, the girl lose her mother’s money that brought fear and anger within her. At the end of the story, there is no concrete solution to the conflict but the protagonist made her own way of obtaining the money to buy the fish.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Like what other critics and analysts said towards this film, there is no need to impose complex conflicts to make each story a good one. As long as there are complete scenarios and interpretations of things, everything would be better than the others. This is what Panahi did in this movie. He only took the courage to discuss and illustrate the life of Iranians in a typical country of Iran. Though it is more on the simple aspects of Iranian tradition, there is a combination of twist and turns that will bring its audience to the mood of waiting for the next situation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In my own perception and point of view regarding the issues and topics that were tackled in the movie is that the director has no direct attack towards the resolution of the conflict. He is already satisfied with the illustrations and discussions of Iranian life but there is no form of resolution to the conflict. The protagonist’s problem was not a personal problem but a social problem that should not be taken for granted. It means that the director itself should not take this for granted if he wanted to analyze the situation of Iranian people especially in the cases like this where the main character is a child who always seeks for answers in every question. Reference Panahi, J. The White Balloon.

Is drug testing an unwarranted invasion of employee privacy Essay

1. Is drug testing an unwarranted invasion of employee privacy? Applying for a job means that you are in conform to the rules and regulation of the company where you are applying. Once you have been accepted, part of that is the medical examination including the drug testing. If you are physically and medically fit, then you are hired. So, the question regarding unwarranted invasion of employee privacy is not relevant in this situation. You need the job so you have to submit yourself to the requirements of the company regarding drug testing. So, it means to say, that the employer has the rights to know the result of the drug testing for them to be able to qualify their employees for any promotion or acceptance to the company. 2. Which is more important—getting drugs out of the workplace or protecting the privacy of the employee? Once the employee is positive on drugs, the best thing is to eliminate or terminate the employee rather than having the employee on the workplace. As the saying goes, once there is a rotten thing in a certain place, in the long run it will make all the things in that place rotten. So, the best thing and the most important are to get the drugs out of the workplace rather than protecting the privacy of the employee. But judging the employee as drug dependent it has to be supported by documents stating that the employee is positive on drugs. 3. What about other health-threatening activities, i. e. smoking outside of working hours, unprotected sex, etc. – With the examples given, it is already outside the working hours of the employee and the company has no more control over those activities. An individual right of the person has to be considered in this matter. It is his/her prerogative to do those activities that will satisfy his/her needs as long as it will not affect his/her performance on his/her job. But once, the work is affected because of those health-threatening activities then I should say that the individual’s attention must be called or the company may give sanction regarding those offenses the employee may commit. The employee has the right to choose between the right and the wrong depends on what is best for him/her. 4. Should employers be allowed to use polygraph tests to â€Å"screen† out potentially costly employees who may engage in any of these activities? For the company’s benefit, the use of polygraph test to screen out potentially costly employee who may engage in those activities can be allowed. Using the polygraph tests will be of great expense on the part of the employer and the employee. Though it may give a great benefit on the part of the employer by screening the employees that they are going to hire and they are sure that the person who passed the polygraph test are people who can be trusted and will be an asset to the company. But the thing is, are the employees willing to submit themselves on the polygraph testing? An individual right again says that an individual has the right to refuse any test that has to be done to them. So, when they refuse, the employer can’t do anything about it but to agree with the employee. But if it is a company’s policy then the employee has to make a choice whether to continue or not to continue in applying in the said company.

College Spotlight Series: Everything You Need to Know About Yale

Yale University stands as one of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in the United States, often mentioned in the same breath with luminaries like Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford. The popular US News and World Report rankings place it in a tie for #3 in the National Universities category, and its alums are well-represented in positions of leadership and excellence in the United States and throughout the world. Given this reputation, it’s unsurprising that Yale is a popular choice for motivated students applying to competitive colleges. However, Yale isn’t just a big name; it’s also a real place where real people live, work, and learn. The school has its own culture, traditions, and particular character that makes it an especially good fit for certain applicants. Likewise, getting accepted to Yale isn’t just about proving your academic aptitude. It’s a competitive and challenging admission process that addresses not only your grades and scores, but the potential and perspective you bring to campus and how well you fit with Yale’s approach to college education. Gathering knowledge is a necessity when you’re crafting a successful application for a college like Yale and deciding whether it’s the right fit for you. Read on for all the basics facts about Yale you’ll need to get started with your research. Current enrollment: 5,472 undergraduates, 12,458 students in total Average financial aid award: $48,294 (2015-16) Average SAT score: 1545 (roughly equivalent to 2265 on the old SAT) Yale is well-known for its culture of academic excellence and intellectual rigor. Its students are people who take their education seriously and intend to prepare themselves for leadership roles in the future, though this doesn’t prevent them from having other interests and goals. Undergraduates make up slightly less than half of Yale’s medium-large student body of over 12,000 students, meaning that graduate and professional students do take up some of the resources on campus. However, you don’t need to worry that undergraduates won’t get their share of attention. Yale takes its commitment to high-quality undergraduate education very seriously, and is ranked in US News and World Report’s top 10 schools for undergraduate teaching. As with most colleges on this tier, Yale is an expensive place to go to school. The most recent figure for tuition places that charge at $51,400 per year, and the total cost of attendance for most students is around $64,275 per year. Yale awards only need-based financial aid , meaning it does not provide athletic, academic, or other merit scholarships . However, this need-based financial aid is very generous for students who qualify, and many students end up paying significantly less than their full cost of attendance. Yale’s aid awards are also entirely composed of grant-based aid, meaning that no student is required to take out student loans. Yale’s main campus is located in the downtown area of New Haven, Connecticut. The university owns various properties, including athletic facilities, that are separate from this main campus, but if you attend Yale, the main campus is where you’ll most likely spend your time. New Haven is not far from the urban center of New York City, making the larger city a popular destination for students on weekends and breaks as well as a resource for academic and career development. The campus itself, however, has plenty of charms. It’s well-known for its architectural and historical significance, and was even named the most beautiful college campus in the United States in 2011 by Town & Country Magazine. The most popular academic majors at Yale fall within the fields of economics, political science and government, history, psychology, and biology. In recent decades, Yale has produced a large number of alums who have become significant figures in government and politics, giving the school a reputation as a place where future political leaders are formed. Of course, these aren’t the only areas of academic excellence you’ll find at Yale; the school’s resources and prestige draw well-known scholars and foster top-tier scholarship in many different areas. One area of special interest is Yale’s drama program, which has trained many of today’s leading actors and other media professionals. Yale students are committed to their studies, but they’re just as eager to pursue challenges and activities outside the classroom. The campus is home to over 380 student groups at present, and new groups and programs are always in the works. If you can’t find your preferred activity, you’ll always have the opportunity to create it for yourself. Competitive and informal athletic teams at Yale include the infamous sport of â€Å"bladderball,† a Yale tradition that has been banned by administrators and revived several times. The well-known a capella group the Whiffenpoofs is only one of many performing arts groups on campus, and other activities include a wide range of cultural groups, political organizations, and the Yale Record, the oldest college humor magazine in the country. Like Harvard, Princeton, and quite a few other top-tier schools, Yale’s student housing is arranged according to a residential college system. Most students live on campus within these smaller residential communities. Residential colleges provide students with a place to live, eat, socialize, and find support within the larger Yale community. Each college has associated faculty members and advisors who mingle with students, provide resources, and help organize community events. Our Early Advising Program helps students in 9th and 10th grade discover their passions and build strong academic and extracurricular profiles to succeed in high school. Yale receives over 30,000 applications every year for a matriculating class that usually ends up numbering around 1,300, so the admissions process is quite competitive. In the past few years, only about 6% of applicants have been accepted, and about 70% of those accepted have chosen to attend Yale. Given the large number of applicants, many of whom have very strong qualifications, Yale should always be considered a reach school when you’re making your college list. There simply isn’t enough room for all qualified applicants, so some impressive high school students will inevitably be turned down. Broadly speaking, successful Yale applicants are students who have demonstrated intellectual promise and an ongoing commitment to academic excellence. Their very high GPAs and standardized test scores reflect this level of achievement. However, especially given the strength of the applicant pool, top grades and scores aren’t enough to get you admitted to Yale. You’ll also have to show that you have the potential and the drive to take full advantage of the opportunities that your time at Yale will offer. Yale is looking for students who will not only excel in the classroom, but also use their talents to make a unique impact on the world. Yale offers applicants a choice between the Early Action timeline and the Regular Decision timeline. Early Action applicants submit applications by November 1st and receive their admissions decisions in mid-December. Regular Decision applicants submit applications by January 2nd and receive responses by late March. Both groups of applicants have until May 1st to decide whether to accept Yale’s offer. If you’re considering the Early Action timeline, you should keep in mind that Yale’s Early Action program is what’s known as a single-choice or restrictive Early Action program. This means that you’re not contractually obligated to attend if you’re accepted, but you won’t be permitted to apply to any other colleges in the Early Action or Early Decision round. For more information, take a look at the blog post 6 Things to Consider Before Early Application Deadlines. Applicants to Yale can choose to use either the Common Application or the Coalition Application . Neither form is preferred, so you can choose whichever suits you best. Along with the main Common or Coalition application form, you’ll need to submit Yale’s application supplement, which will ask you a number of additional questions. Your answers will range from a sentence or two to a full essay, and the number of questions you’ll answer depends upon which application form you choose and which academic subject you list as your prospective major. Yale requires applicants to submit scores from the SAT with essay or the ACT with writing; SAT II subject tests and AP tests are recommended, but not required. You’ll also need to submit two teacher recommendations , your transcript, a counselor recommendation and report from your school, and an $80 application fee or fee waiver. Applying to Yale—or to any similar top-tier school—can be a very challenging process. Expectations are high, competition is stiff, and there’s a lot to do before you submit your application. To give yourself the best chance of getting accepted, it’s necessary that you put in the time to get to know Yale and its expectations. We hope this information puts you on the right track toward making informed college choices! Interested in learning more about applying to Yale and other Ivy League schools? Don’t forget to visit the Yale undergraduate admissions office website . When you’re done, check out these posts from the blog for our best advice. Everybody can use a little help with the college application process, and ’s experienced mentors are here to provide that help. We can assist you in identifying your passions, setting appropriate goals, preparing for college application season, and making the most out of your time in high school. For more information about the services we offer, visit our Student Mentorship Program on our website.

Serial killers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Serial killers - Essay Example This research essay will make an earnest attempt to find out what poignantly contributed to the onset of this intricate distorted personality and their violent demeanour which is far more many-sided. Introduction In the modern forensic psychology, serial murders appear to have assumed a pivotal place. According to Burgess, Douglas & Ressler (1983), a serial murder is one who has killed at least three or more victims with a cooling -off period in-between each murder. A serial killer does not have any past connection with the victim and murder seems to be random or unconnected. Further, the murder is mainly on the psychological background or for sex abuse and not for any monetary benefits. Serial killers’ victims will be adolescents, children, prostitutes and women. Dr.Harold Shipman, a serial killer, killed only elderly women who were his patients whereas young women are the choice for Ted Bundy. On the other hand, there was a female serial killer namely Alieen Wuornos who was a prostitute by profession who killed her male clients. Green River Killer practice was to kill the runaways and prostitutes. There are different motives attached to for the serial killing where some killers do the same for sexual pleasure ,some do it due to hatred, some do it for revenge , some do it because their intuition asked them to do it. (â€Å"Thomas, 2010, p.6†). ... and observed that their killings were done without any plan of action , a discovery that corresponds to the apparently random itinerary of spree killing. Casewell and Hollin (1994) defined serial killing as â€Å"many victims who are killed over the period of hours or days or weeks or months in diversified locations by a vagarious killer who seems to make no effort to escape detection. According to Fox and Levin (1998), multiple killings includes instances in which victims are killed either at over a short period of time (spree) or at once (mass) or over an elongated phase of time (serial) and hence, the time frame of serial killing has been detailed as either long or short duration that somewhere conforms to between serial killing and mass killing. (DeLisi et al, 2008, p40). Beauregard and Proulx (2002) examined the offending courses of 36 Canadian killers who were more often impelled by sexual sadism. According to Hazelwood and Warren (2000), sexually violent criminal killers are either ritualistic or impetuous in nature. They also found that impulsive killers are criminally primitive and mostly reactive in terms of crime scene demeanour and victim selection. Fox & Levin (1998) found that serial killers are those who kill their victim with their bare hands without the help or usage of any weapon or instrument. (DeLisi et al, 2008, p41). â€Å"Kinds of Serial Killers† There is no uniformity in defining a serial killer. This is mainly because due to the absence of typologies established to describe between kinds of serial murders. Based on analysis and interviews of more than 400 cases of serial killers, Holmes and De Burger (1988) have offered a complete definition of a serial killer. According to Wilson (2007), Holmes and De Burger, from their research study, they

Answer one of three Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Answer one of three - Assignment Example The purpose of the present essay is to show how such estrangement, or ‘Othering’, played out in the course of several centuries of history of political, economic and cultural ties between the Christian West and Islamic Orient. For the purposes of present discussion, the terms â€Å"West† and â€Å"Islam† will be used in generalized sense, with the former corresponding to the cultures and nations dominated or influenced by Western (Catholic and later Protestant) Christianity, while the latter encompassing the totality of political and cultural space for which the religion of Islam was the most fundamental unifying factor. The issues of relationship between the cultures influenced by Orthodox (Eastern) Christianity and Islamic civilizations are to be analyzed in this essay to the extent of their impact on the perception of Islam in the West and the attitude of Islamic cultures towards the Christians in general, respectively. The chronological boundaries of the research encompass the historic period ranging from 7 century CE to our times, with special attention being paid to the vicissitudes of change in the models and criteria of ‘Othering’ being employed by both parties. The rise of Islam as a religion of the new mighty world empire, which managed to destroy centuries-old powers of the Middle East, i.e. the East Roman Empire (Byzantium) and the Sassanian kingdom of Persia, from the very outset led to the increasing feelings of insecurity and dismay on the part of Christian scholars and theologians. Having been previously accustomed to the feeling of utter superiority and ultimate triumph of the Christian faith, they were immensely surprised by the fact that an initially ‘insignificant’ religious group from the Arabian Peninsula managed to assert itself as a viable proselytizing alternative to their own creed. At the same time, the direct connection between Islamic

Becoming Influential , Nursing Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Becoming Influential , Nursing Paper - Essay Example Because of this insensitive attitude, the atrocities against nurses in work places are increasing day by day. As a responsible citizen of the state, I feel this issue is to be brought under public scrutiny on a wider extend. Usually we get alerted only when some inhuman incident strikes the headlines. Rather than waiting for casualties let us take vigilant steps to prevent them. Implementing stringent laws, enhancing more efficient surveillance techniques, conducting awareness programs for nurses and policy makers etc has to be given serious thought to avoid such incidents in future. It is my humble request that these heinous acts need to be highlighted in your newspaper. Collaborative effort of the media and public can bring about positive changes I believe. Looking forward to hearing from you, Yours sincerely, (Name) Introduction Nursing is not just taking care of patients but a big social responsibility which most of us fail to realize. Working beyond the hospital conditions, like a poverty stricken area or a war field, a factory etc demonstrates the social commitment shouldered by a nurse which often goes unnoticed. Likewise a nurse has his/her say in every socially relevant issue. In this context, it is relevant to invite public attention to a very serious threat a nurse experience on a day to day basis. It is ‘physical workplace violence’. Why this Topic? In the present scenario, this is a topic that is worth mentioning as there are increasing number of reports of nurses being physically assaulted in and around Canada in the recent times. Because of such dreadful news coming up from every corner of the country the glory of the profession has come down of late. This can be attributed as one reason for the international shortage of nurses. As reported by Duncan, Estabrooks & Reimer (2000), verbal and physical abuse happen on a routine basis and the most unhappy fact is that 70 percent of the cases go unreported. So what we see or hear is just t he tip of the iceberg. Despite zero tolerance policies, violence at work place is not being reported and this leads to the increasing number of such incidents. Most of the time the administration takes up the role of a silent spectator and sometimes they discourage such incidents to be reported. This inadequate and irresponsible attitude of the administration worsens the issue. Nurses should realize the fact that getting assaulted is not a part of their job. They should unite and rise against not only the atrocities against them but also the deaf attitude many hospital managements take on such issues. So it is high time to raise our voice against such an injustice. How I determined the content for the message The alarming rise of atrocities against nurses in work places, both verbal and physical has become a major social menace which has been ignored by authorities. Addressing this problem was the need of the hour. According to the fifth annual report of National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and practice (NACNEP) nurses are the most assaulted workers among America’s workforce. They are exposed to violence not only from patients but from the patient’s family members and visitors. Violence can be in the form of intimidation, bullying, sexual harassment, shooting, stabbing or stalking. The report says that the psychological consequences of such assaults are shocking.

Fountain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Fountain - Essay Example Additionally, the essay examines Marcel Duchamps fountain and Bruce Naumens fountain.† Finally, the essay meditates on the notion ‘aesthetic’. Art in the 19th century was greatly influenced by the surrounding cultural climate. While early in the century neo-classicism and romanticism were the dominant styles, but the 1860s realism had become the most prominent mode of artistic expression (Adams, p. 521). Realism attempted to capture the environment in its most realistic state. Realism defined art as working to capture reality in as accurate a way as possible. In this way artists implemented all the techniques at their disposal, including perspective and careful observation of the surrounding environment, to create works of art that directly reflected the world. Among the prominent realist painters include Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Corot’s works included in-depth portraits, such as ‘Woman with a Pearl’ (Adams, p. 525). Rather than using artistic flourishes, these works explored themes of everyday existence. The 19th century realist movement was not merely restricted to painting, but would also expand into literature (Adams, p. 520). The realist movement can perhaps be regarded as the end of pre-modern art. After the realist movement modernism emerged and redefined the definition of art. Rather than viewing art as an expression of observable reality, modernism styles increasingly viewed the goal of art as capturing the changing nature of human perception. This is a significant development in art as it marked a willingness to break from traditional reflection of the world to a more experimental emphasis. Impressionism is perhaps the first modernist style. While today impressionism appears a highly traditional style, during the late 19th century it was regarded as avant-garde. Undoubtedly the artist that most prominent exemplified the

Factors Affecting Marketing Strategy Term Paper

Factors Affecting Marketing Strategy - Term Paper Example In this sense, Dr. Thunder can be asserted as being a low-involvement brand. There have been no major advertising campaigns run by Wal-Mart to market Dr. Thunder as a brand. For this reason, the recommended marketing strategy is a newly developed. The reason behind developing a new marketing strategy for Dr. Thunder is to highlight the subliminal attraction of the brand, as the brand name is similar to internationally popular Dr. Pepper. Market Size, Performance and Growth From the review of U.S Census on the size of the market segment to which the marketing campaign of Dr. Thunder would target, it has been found that the marketing campaign would target around 3 million Americans. Over the past 10 years, it has been noticed that the target market segment has grown for about 7.7% (United States Census Bureau, 2013). Moreover, the target segment would expand by another 8.9% in the coming ten years. Upon understanding the dynamics of soft drink industry in USA, it is found that the foll owing three factors have an impact on the consumer behavior of this industry: 1. The top most influential factor in this regard is health concerns amongst consumer circles. Consumers perceive that carbonated or fizzy drinks have wrong affects on their health and thus avoid drinking soft drinks at all or usually purchase these drinks. 2. Size and design of the packaging also influences consumer behavior. If a soft drink is offered in a glass bottle, it is not possible for customers to take it home or travel along with a bottled soft drink. On the other hand, a canned or plastic bottled soft drink would be seen as facilitating and thus consumers would prefer to purchase it. 3. Lastly, the soft drink industry in the world is perceived as the most competent and saturated industry. Presence of single handedly market share sweeping companies like Pepsi and Coca Cola makes it difficult for other brands to survive in the market (Mise, Nair, Odera, & Ogutu, 2013). Reference Group and Diffusi on of the Marketing Campaign Soft drink brands are usually more popular amongst younger target audience. For this reason, it can be asserted that the most influential reference group for Dr. Thunder would be the social circle of teenagers. As the majority of the US population is comprised by young generation, and the social circle of young audience is identified as the most influential reference group, it can be suggested that a marketing strategy focused on targeting a younger audience would achieve the quickest diffusion rate. Moreover, adopting a deterministic model would help Wal-Mart to the state of acceptance by a particular segment of buyers of Dr. Thunder and overcome the flaws in production and marketing strategies. The diffusion determinants pertaining to Dr. Thunder are the perceived health advantages to customers, low riskiness in purchase, easy to use packaging of the drink and ability to quench thirst (Saha & Theingi, 2009). Diffusion Enhancement Strategy To enhance th e diffusion rate for Dr. Thunder, the marketing strategy would primarily target college and school students. Moreover, the target audience belonging to the age bracket of 25-30 years would also be focused in the marketing strategy. To attract the attention of the target audienc

US Steel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

US Steel - Essay Example The US steel industry justification for its request for protection is loss of jobs of many workers in the steel industry, as far as the workers unions are concerned, due to closure of business or folding up of some steel producers, due to lower import prices of steel products than those locally produced. As to whether the justification is legitimate should be gauged by a declaration of a body authorized by law to make determination. As far as the Bush administration is concerned, it may have believed that the justification was legitimate when it decided to self initiate Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974. Section 201 is the law for the protection of domestic industry in addition to the antidumping and countervailing duty laws. Said law operates not on proof of unfair trade practices but by ITC determinations that the volume of a particular import constituted a substantial cause of threat of serious injury to a domestic industry. The president can impose a temporary import relief without violating the rules of the World Trade Organization and after initiating, in a give industry, the case will go straight to the ITC, which rules on the case and, if positive, will make recommendation to the President, who then has 60 days to come up with a remedy. The remedy could be no action at al l, a tariff, a quota, a tariff-rate quota or some form of trade adjustment assistance. The legitimacy as believed by the President is questioned by domestic steel consumers and free trade advocates, who claims that the tariffs were blatantly protectionist, and could damage US steel-using industries more than they would help producers, and were adopted for purely political reasons, such a gaining support prior to the November midterm elections, and positioning Bush for the 2004 presidential election [FN3]. Gerald O’ Dricoll, director of the Heritage Foundations’ Center for International Trade and Economic commented on the Bush administration self-initiating Section

The Meaning of the Patriotism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Meaning of the Patriotism - Essay Example There is a close connection of patriotism with nationalism; however, the difference between the two is pretty much clear and open to all. This means that a man’s love and commitment towards a nation is not limited to only the area of land which he calls it his homeland rather the aspect of patriotism is much more than what is imagined. It is certainly a rule which needs to be connected with his thinking and patriotic individual always remains loyal to his country. It is a fact that the aspect of patriotism has remained different in a number of important ways. It is considered in different meanings and tones all over the world but the basic meaning is similar to everything. It is the bond of love or attachment that one has with his own country. Socially this concept has also had different consequences and meanings in the background of various movements, wars and where patriotism could change the way in which these events have been started. Patriotic movements usually last for a longer period of time since these aim to get the rights which have been denied. Thus patriotism is something more of a trend than anything else if seen broadly. The societal connotation of patriotism is somewhat close to what is noticed for nationalism yet the difference as stated above is there. However, the society keeps a strict check on the levels of patriotism which usually do not change every now and then.

Paraphrased Article Essay Example for Free

Paraphrased Article Essay â€Å"The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow. † Bill Gates, Founder of the giant Microsoft Corporations Ltd. Internet has arguably become one of the most indispensible parts of the lives of millions of people around the globe. There are not many laws which regulate the usage of internet for collecting information about the political processes, persona or policies. A common man can readily get involved in the political process by accessing the internet, reading various articles or news on National Politics and give his/her view on the same. The low cost model of the internet is an effective tool to involve millions of global citizens and make them active members in the political systems. The article ‘The Citizen Participation Gap: Can the Internet Help? ’ points out that the Internet is a medium which cuts across barriers and various sections of the society. It leverages from the varied social, political, and educational backgrounds of the users and thus adds multiple dimensions to the process of political participation. It is important to note that the usage of internet and age of the user are inversely proportional. As people grow old their internet usage goes down. For example,, most of the Internet users fall in the age group of 18-29 years. These users are active members of various social networking sites and many of them are online to investigate their political participation opportunities. Thus theoretically it could be claimed that it is the widespread reach and use of the Internet which has made it possible for young people ,to become the largest captive audiences to be involved in the process of political participation. One of the recent examples of this could be seen in the Indian politics wherein the ex foreign minister Mr. Shashi Tharoor garnered massive support from his followers on the social networking site twitter while he was forced to resign after being caught in a controversy with the Indian Premier League. Various online campaigns supporting Shashi Tharoor came up and people expressed their views in the entire process. We are here to say, we support you Shashi Tharoor. Dont let them pull you down for you will take our hopes and dreams for a better and brighter India with you. You bring to India everything we had ever hoped would change, and we stand by you, said a viewer on the Support Shashi Tharoor website. In the past decade the internet usage among people has gone up. More and more people use the Internet,, and it is being regarded as one of the most powerful mediums giving direct access to a citizen in the political process. Muir believes that the Internet participation of people is the cause of powerful influence. People comment on national or international news, spread their views and comments in the form of blogs and to some extent are instrumental in deciding the course of political development of a news. Social networking sites like twitter helps people to be directly in touch with their favorite political leaders and give them their views and opinions. This proposal not only increased the participation of citizens but also improved the quality of the projects. Exploring the past and present trends in the use of internet, Coglianese concludes that the Internet will remain a powerful source of information and participation in the future. In conclusion it could be said that in spite of many view points against the use of the internet, the positive influence of Internet on the participation of citizens cannot be denied. The internet provides a common man a platform and gives them a chance to express their opinion and viewpoints, create their profiles, have a group of online supporters and influence changes in the political scenario. The amount of opportunities that the internet provides and individual to make friends and increase their social networks is massive. No doubt, there are a number of impediments to the efficient application of an Internet based government; nevertheless, these obstructions can be dealt with in the years to come.. By Uma Subramanian

General relativity Essay Example for Free

General relativity Essay For many years time travel was the stuff of science fiction. This was all just part of the worlds imagination until recently. Scientists now believe that the current laws of physics allow us to travel though time. They believe that we can now travel back to see our founding fathers sign the declaration of independence. We could travel to 2999 to witness the birth of the next new millennium. Such travel would require a machine capable of withstanding great pressures and incredible amounts of speed. The act of actually traveling though time is for the most part, agreed upon, but the implications of such travel is not so decided upon. Many different theorists have different views of what could happen and some go, as far as to say that if we did travel to the past, we would end up in a different universe that is a replica of this one. One of the most basic concepts is that of Dilation, a stretching of something. Some scientists believe that the main gateway to the past or future is a wormhole. Einsteins general relativity theory explains about universal constants, this is important to understand the concepts of travel at light speed. Traveling to the past could create problems if someone tried to change something. This is a paradox. A few of these paradoxes are explained through the use of quantum mechanics. Sailing though the cosmos at the speed of light with no time passing us by, moving throughout time to witness the ancient Egyptians create their masterpieces. This is an exciting concept that we could actually formulate and make happen. Before the time of Einstein, Newton and other great investigators thought of space as an infinite expanse in which all things exist (Hewitt 213). We are in space and we live in it along with all of the planets and stars. It was never clear if the universe exists in space or space exists in the universe. Dose space exists outside the universe or only within the bounds of it. The similar question, does the universe exist only in time or does time only exist in the universe? Was there time before the universe, and will there be time after it ceases to exist? Einsteins answer to this is that time and space only exist within the universe. There is no time or space ? outside. (Hewitt 213) Einstein said that space and time are two separate parts of a whole called space-time (Hewitt 213). To understand this, consider our present knowledge. We move though time at the rate of 24 hours per day. This is only half the story though. To get the other half we have to convert our thinking from moving though time to moving though space-time (Hewitt 213). When we move, we not only move through space, we move though time. This is the idea of space-time. If a person were to stand still, they would be moving only though time. If they moved a little bit, they would be moving though space a little bit, but still mostly though time. If one were to travel at the speed of light, what changes would they experience in time? The answer is simple; they would be traveling through space, with no travel though time (Hewitt 214). They would be as ageless as light, for light travels though space only (not time) and is timeless. The frame of reference of a photon, a particle of light, a trip across the universe would take no time at all (Hewitt 214). To understand how traveling though time would work, we must first understand how time and space can be stretched. Motion in space affects motion in time. Whenever we move through space, we to some degree alter our rate of motion in time. This is known as time dilation, a stretching of time that occurs ever so slightly for everyday speeds, but significantly for speeds approaching the speed of light. If we were to attempt to travel to the nearest star, Alpha Centauri, which is 4 light years away, even traveling at the speed of light would take 8 years round trip (Hewitt 228). The center of our galaxies is something like 30000 light years away and at the speed of light would take 30000 years to get there. We could not possibly survive that long. These arguments fail to take in to account of time dilation though. Time for a stationary observer on earth and for an astronaut on a spaceship of high velocity is different. A persons heart beats to the rhythm of the realm it is in. One realm of time seems the same as any other to the person in the realms, but not to an observer outside that realm that can see the difference. As an example, astronauts traveling at 99% the speed of light could make a trip to the star Procyon that is 11. 4 light-years away in 23 earth years round trip (Hewitt 229). Because of time dilation, it would seem that only 3 years passed for the astronauts, there clocks would be 3 years older; they would be biologically only 3 years older (Hewitt 229). It would be the mission control people that would appear to be 23 years older. The question is why dose this happen. Lets say that we are in our hometown, looking at the grandfather clock that is in the center of town. The clock reads 12:00 noon. Light from the sun bounces off the face of the clock and hits our eyes. We then turn our head and the light misses us and travels off into space. In space, there is a space ship that is traveling at the speed of light. An astronaut looks out his passenger-side window and sees the reflection of the clock. It reads 12:00 noon. As he continues to move at the speed of light, he keeps up with the reflected face of the clock. In the space ship time would pass as normal, but time in the universe would have seemed to stop. This might sound like cosmic bologna but the idea has been proven. In 1975 Professor Carl Tllie of the University of Maryland tested this theory using two synchronized atomic clocks (Brian par2). One clock was placed on a plain and flown for several hours while he other clock stayed on the ground. Upon landing, the clock on the plain was a little slower than the one on the ground. This was not due to experimental error, for the same test was done several times and each time yielded the same results. Because of time dilation travel in to the distance future is a definite possibility. The only problem lies in propelling a craft to such speed at which light travels. Carl Sagan wrote a science fiction novel about a fictional device that allowed his character to travel great distances across the universe. Those faster than light speeds are not achievable; he also knew there was a common convention in science fiction that would allow a gimmick of a shortcut through ? Hyper space as a means around this problem( par2 ) . Sagen turned to Kip Thorne for help for hyperspace connections through space-time( par2). A black hole always has two ends, a property ignored by everyone except a few mathematicians until the mid-1980s. Thorne was sufficiently intrigued to set two of his Ph. D. students, Michael Morris and Ulvi Yurtsever, the task of working out some of the details of the physical behavior of what the relativists know aswormholes. By starting out from the mathematical end of the problem, they constructed a space-time geometry that matched Sagans requirement of a wormhole that could be physical traversed by human beings. Sagan was right; hyperspace connections do at least in theory provide a means to travel to far distant regions of the universe without spending thousands of years putting around in an ordinary spacecraft. Since the 30s scientists have speculated that wormholes exist. Einsteins theory combines 3 dimensional space with time to create a 4 dimensional space (Brian par3). Wormholes are gateways between two different parts of the universe made by linking two black holes. Wormholes are in the fabric of 4 dimensional space that are connected, but which originate at different points in space and different times. By connecting the two holes they provide a quick path between two different locations in space and time. Distortions in space cause the point separated by the gap to bulge out and connect. This forms a wormhole through, which something could instantaneously travel to a far away place and time. This is basically the 4dinensial equivalent of a folded sheet of paper, to make contact from one edge of the paper to the other. One could build a craft strong enough to withstand the intense force of the gravity towards the center, and pass right through like opening a door of a house and stepping outside, except the space travelers outside could be light-years away and centuries before the current time. If the traveler enters one side he would exit in the opposite side in a different place and time. The difficulty of doing this is in keeping the hole open till the travel gets through otherwise it would collapse and the traveler would not be seen again. The trip is not impossible just extremely difficult. It is believed to be possible to create our own wormhole. To actually make one, two identical machines consisting of 2 parallel metal plates charged with unbelievable amounts of energy would need to be constructed. When the machines are placed in close proximity of each other the enormous amounts of energy, about that of an exploding star, would rip a hole in the space-time continuum and connect the two machines via a wormhole. This is possible and the beginnings of it have been illustrated in the lab by what is known as the Casimir effect. The next step would be to put one of these machines on a space ship and send it off at near light speed. The ship would take the machine on a journey while being connected to the other on earth via the wormhole. A step in the hole would take us to where the other machine is, but that would be in a different time. Its use would be somewhat limited because we could not travel to a time before the machine was created. However if we were to utilize wormhole technologic we would have to be so advanced that we could master the energy within blockhouse. Space-time consists of portraits or events that represent a particular place at a particular time. Your life forms sort of a worm in space-time. The tip of the tail is your birth and the head is your death. And everything that is the body is your life, otherwise called your world line. In three-dimensional space, a rocket that is not accelerating is stationary, but in four-dimensional space the ship is moving along is world line. Einsteins law states simply that the world line of every object is a geodesic in the continuum. A geodesic is the shortest distance between two points but in curved space is not generally a straight line. If an objects world line were to be distorted, so much of form a loop connected with a part on itself that represented an earlier place in time it would create a corridor to the past. Picture a loop to loop that runs into it as it comes around. This closed loop is called a closed time like curve. These curves could be used to travel into our own history. All the clams made about time travel are consequences of the basic scientific laws and standard Quantum Mechanics. Wormholes and closed time like curves appear to be the main way to travel to the past. The aforementioned theories do fine in expelling how to we would go about traveling through time, but they do little to explain what it would be like traveling through them. Quantum mechanics can be used to model possible scenarios and yields the probability of each possible output. In the context of time travel, it has a so-called many universe interpretation. First pursed by Huge Evertt III in 1957. This means that if something can physically happen it does in some universe. Everett says that our reality is only one of the many equally valid universes. There is a collection of these universes called a multiverse. Every multiverse has copies of every person, structure and atom. For every possible event every possible outcome is said to be played out in a different universe. This interpretation of Quantum Mechanics is quite controversial, but it does suggest that it may be impossible to travel backward in it to our own dimension, but quite possible to travel back in time to an alternate dimension. Such an idea of linking parallel universes has been suggested in science fiction novels and in some television shoes such as Sliders. In the television series Sliders, a sliding machine creates a wormhole that links 2 parallel dimensions. Each week a group of these sliders jump into the wormhole and emerge in the same place and time, but in a different dimension. They can run into there own selves and experience a society vastily different than their own. The stuff of science fiction stems from existing Physical theories. So now that we know travel through time is theoretically possible, what would it be like? What would traveling at light speed be like? It would be similar to driving our car at 60 mph. You could not really tell the difference, Einstein says that you can not tell the difference in uniformly moving vessels. According to Einsteins laws of special relativity sight speed travel is not achievable. For any object to attain light speed, an object must be massless, such as a photon. Any object with mass would require an infinite amount of energy to accelerate to light speed. As we know, everything has mass so it would be impossible for any human to achieve these speeds. Another barrier on our traveling the speed of light, is the fact that light is pure energy, if we were to travel at that speed, we would turn into energy blobs. What happens when we actually travel back in to time? What happens if we change something, or try to commit suicide or to invent something from the future that we take for granted? The future from that point could be drastically changed. This argument is commonly called the Chronology principal. This principal states that the time travel could bring information to the past that could be used to create new ideas or products. If Pablo Picaso, the most influential and successful painter of the 20th century were to travel back in time to meet his younger self, assuming he stayed in his correct universe, he could then give himself a portfolio of all his work. His younger self could reproduce the paintings and profoundly and irrevocably affecting the future of art. This would involve no creative energy by the inventor. The reproductions would exist because they are copies from the original and the originals exist because they are copies of the reproductions. No creative energy would ever have to be put forth to create these masterpieces. Because of the chronology principal time travel, by some, has been ruled out. The cosmos await us, and the history of our world is at our fingertips. Would we use this great power for good, bad, and wealth? All we have to do is get in our spaceship, set sail for the nearest wormhole, and hope for a little luck, and we can witness things only told in stories. Only the traveler can decided what he or she wishes to go back for. The theories today state that traveling through time is possible, however they do not say what could be the repercussions of our actions. This great frontier awaits us; we have the knowledge, and are slowly but surly developing the technology. Only time will tell when time itself no longer rules our lives as one of the chief amendments of the universal constitution.

Human resources practices influence customer satisfaction

Human resources practices influence customer satisfaction The focus of this research is on examining the process through which human resource practices influences customer satisfaction in banking sector of Pakistan. Drawing on literature from strategic human resource management, organizational behavior, and marketing, a model of HRP-CS is proposed with employee commitment as its central plank. It is argued that such commitment is influenced by organizational human resource practices and in turn it influences employee behavior towards organizational customers which is then translated into customer satisfaction. Despite heavily documented performance link between human resource practices and organizational, the term HR practices has rarely been adequately defined in the literature. In fact researchers have tested for link between HR practices and firm performance with different HR practices as input and different performance outcomes as output. Boselie and his colleagues have very rightly noted that, Still no consensus has emerged on what employee management activities should be in a comprehensive HRM checklist, since no widely accepted theoretical rationale exists for selecting practices as definitively essential to HRM. Selection of HR practices for this dissertation is based on the review of relevant studies. Liao and Chuang noted that involvement, training and performance incentives are among the most relevant for employee performance in service settings. Similarly, Boselie and his colleagues have identified training, performance based rewards and performance appraisal as the top three researched human resource practices. They argue that this might be because these practices reflect the main objectives of most conceptualisations of a strategic HRM programme. Result oriented appraisals, employment security, and profit sharing have also been reported to be strongly related to organizational performance . In the light of the above discussion, I selected human resource practices that adequately cover the areas identified by the strategic HR researchers as being important in improving organizational performance. The practices include internal career opportunities, training, result oriented appraisals, employment security, participation, and compensation. All these practices are supposed to enhance organizational human capital which will then serve as a competitive advantage for the firm. Nevertheless, a group of researchers including Jackson and Schuler , Ferris and his colleagues and Uhl- Bien et al called for more focus on social context of the relationships within the organization. These researchers argue that employee interaction within organization comprises social capital, and no firm can effectively achieve its goals until it actively utilizes its social capital along with its human capital. The central proposition of social capital theory is that network of relationships constitute valuable resource for the conduct of social affairs. As supervisor-employee interaction is among the most frequent experiences in organizational life, the importance of this relationship in social capital formation is very much understandable. Additionally, as supervisors are viewed as agents of organization, who are responsible for directing and facilitating employees job responsibilities, their attitude and behavior is viewed as indicative of organizational orientation towards their employees . Although, supervisor support or supervisor behavior may not qualify itself as firms HR practice, I have added it to the list of HR practices in my dissertation due to its importance in eliciting employee responses towards organization and its customers. Thus the list of HR practices which will be the subject of study in this dissertation are as following: Supervisor support (SS) Internal career opportunities (ICO) Training (Trg) Result-oriented appraisal (ROA) Employment security (ES) Participation in Decision Making (Part) Compensation (Comp) 3.2 Human Resource Management Practices and Customer Satisfaction: In one of the early studies on relationship between employees perception of organizational practices and customers perception of service quality, Schneider, Parkington, and Buxton noted that both are significantly correlated. They conducted a study of twenty three bank branches of a full service bank and observed a strong correlation (r = 0.67) between employees perception of branch service and customers perception of quality of service at the branch. Although, this study did not measure the role of organizational human resource practices on customers perception of service quality or customer satisfaction, it laid down the foundation for studying the role of employee attitudes and behavior in connection with customer satisfaction. In order to yield better perceptions of service quality from customers, the study emphasized to focus attention on the role of boundary personnel in retail service organizations like the branch banks . Rogg, Schmidt, Shull, and Schmitt conducted a study of 351 franchise dealerships of an automobile company to examine the impact of human resource practices on customer satisfaction. They found that HR practices effects customer satisfaction through its influence on organizational climate. This is to say that they tested for a mediating role of climate in HR-CS relationship. Their data analysis supported the hypothesis that human resource practices are significantly related to customer satisfaction, though most of the correlations were less than 0.20. While this study adds to our belief that firms human resource practices are related to its customers satisfaction, it is not without its problems. First, the data on HR practices and climate variables were collected using single instrument, thus increasing the chance of same source bias. Secondly, the data on, human resource practices and climate, variables were collected from single respondent in the organization. While the data of huma n resource practices were factual, the data on climate were attitudinal and is highly prone to single rater error. Both these problems (same source bias and single rater error) have been taken care of in this study. In another study of 137 BDG (Branch Director Group) of a full service bank, Gelade and Ivery documented that BDGs HRM practices are positively associated with customer satisfaction. They analyzed the relationship between HRM indicators (staffing level, overtime, and professional development) and organizational performance indicators (sales against targets, customer satisfaction, staff retention, and clerical accuracy) and found that almost all the three HRM indicators are positively associated with organizational performance indicators including customer satisfaction and that such association is moderated by organizational climate. Whereas most of the studies which examined the relationship between human resource practices and customer satisfaction were conducted on organizational or DMU level of analysis , Liao and Chaung investigated the factors influencing customer satisfaction using a multi-level conceptual framework. There data comprised responses of 257 employees, 44 managers, and 1993 customers from 25 franchised restaurants. The human resource practices data were collected from restaurant manager while employee performance and customer satisfaction data were based on self-reports of employees and customers respectively. The data gathered thus gathered from employees and customers were aggregated to restaurant level to analyze the HR practices customer outcome relationship at unit level. The results of the study showed that of the human resource practices only employee involvement was significantly related to the service performance, while other two HR practices (service training, and performance incent ives) did not have any significant relationship with employee performance. The study did not examine the direct effect of human resource practices on customer satisfaction; however the relationship between restaurant-level service performance and customer satisfaction was found significant. Although, this study provided a better understanding of how employees actions and perceptions influences organizational context, still it did not explicitly examines the role of employees perception of human resource practices in eliciting customer perception of service quality and customer satisfaction. While most of studies conducted on human resource management customer satisfaction relationship have focused on organizational climate as mediating variable between the two, Nishii, et al is the first one to examines the role of employees perceptions, attitudes and behaviors as the central plank of such relationship. There sample included 95 stores each with approximately 18 departments. Data was collected from 4208 employees from 362 departments across these 95 stores. Nishii and her colleagues in a multilevel analysis investigated the role of employee perceptions of why organization adopted certain human resource policies (HR attribution) in shaping their work attitudes and behaviors and the relationship between such attitudes/behaviors and customer satisfaction. The data regarding employee HR attributions, commitment and satisfaction were collected from employees at individual level, while data regarding employee behavior and customer satisfaction were collected from store manage rs and customers respectively at store-level. The individual level data were than aggregated to store level in order to analyze the relationship at store level unit of analysis. The results of this study revealed that employees attributions of human resource practices (HR attributions) are positively related to employee attitudes. They further found that unit-level attitudes were positively related to two aspects of employee behavior, measured in terms of OCB (organizational citizenship behavior). One dimension of OCB (OCB-helping) was found significantly associated with customer satisfaction. The most important finding of the study was, that the same set of HR practices may not even exhibit similar effects within a single organization. The implication is that it is not just the HR practices themselves but rather also employees perceptions of those HR practices that are important for achieving desired organizational outcomes. [italics added] . In fact focus on employee (or member) perception is not a new phenomenon in organizational studies. Almost thirty years ago Schneider, et al based on Heider , Miller, Galanter, and Pribram and Bowers noted that, Member perceptions of organizational practices and procedures are the critical data in understanding organizational behavior. No behavior in, or of, organizations occurs in the absence of perceptions. To conceptualize an organization requires a consideration of human behavior, and human behavior does not exist without perception. Similarly, drawing on Endler and Magnusson and Drazin, Glynn, and Kazanjian Bowen and Ostroff argued that individual behavior potential are not based on . . . actual situation per se, rather, the situation individuals see based on their perceptions, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Finally, Nishii and her colleagues emphasized the need for focusing more future SHRM research on the way that HR practices are enacted in organizations, as revealed in human perception à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Though the study undertaken by Nishi and her colleagues is among the first to empirically test the role of employees perception of HR practices in influencing customer satisfaction, it did not actually measured the employees perception of HR practices per se, rather, it took a different approach and examined the employees perception of why particular HR practices exists and the effect of this why on customer satisfaction. Thus, the important and frequently sought after question regarding the role of employees perception of human resource practices in influencing their attitude, behavior and customer satisfaction is still unanswered in the existing literature. Based on past literature, which demonstrates a positive link between organizational HR practices and customer satisfaction, and to answer a very important, but still unanswered, question in strategic human resource management literature, I hypothesized the relationship between employees perception of HR practices and customer satisfaction as follows: H1: There will be a positive relationship between perceptions of Supervisor Support (SS) Internal Career Opportunities (ICO) Organizational Training (Trg) Human Result Oriented Appraisal (ROA) Resource Employment Security (ES) Practices (HRP) Participation in Decision Making (Part), and Compensation and customer satisfaction such that the customers interacting with employees who more positively perceive HR practices will be more satisfied and vice-versa. 3.3 Research Model: The Process through which HR Practices Influences Customer Satisfaction: As earlier noted in the introduction, the primary aim of this research is to investigate the process/path through which human resource practices influence customer satisfaction, as this is the dynamics of such process which is of immense importance to the owners and managers of the organizations. It is only through the clear and proper understanding of mediating mechanisms between HR practices and customer satisfaction that managers can avoid engaging in conflicting, and at time counter-productive, HR policies. The proposed model indicating the mediating process between perceptions of human resource practices and customer satisfaction is shown in figure 3-1. HR Practices Employee Perceptions Employee Outcome Organizational Outcome Internal Career Opportunities Result Oriented Appraisal Participation in Decision Making Employment Security Supervisor Support Training Compensation Perceived Organizational Support Customer Satisfaction Affective Commitment Customer Oriented Behavior Theoretical Framework Research Model Figure 3-1: Research Model The Influence of HR Practices on Employee Commitment and Customer Satisfaction An examination of the figure 3-1 depicts the relationship of various variables in the model. It is proposed that for human resource practices to influence customer satisfaction they are to be first perceived by the organizational employees in favorable or unfavorable manner. The cumulative employee perception about HR practices is then translated into perceived organizational support (POS), a concept which indicates the organizational commitment towards employee wellbeing. It is further proposed that this POS is reciprocated by the employees in the form of their commitment to organization, which then forms the basis for customer-oriented behavior on their part. The final part of the model deals with the boundary spanning role of the employees and hypothesizes that employee behavior influences the customers perception of service quality in organizations which ultimately leads to customer satisfaction with the organization. In what follows each of the relationships proposed in the model is examined in greater detail in the light of relevant literature. Research hypotheses based on such relationships are formulated within each section. 3.4 Human Resource Practices and Perceived Organizational Support: Perceived organizational support is defined as employees perceptions about the degree to which the organization cares about their well-being and values their contribution . Studies have shown that human resource practices signaling investments in employees are positively related to perceived organizational support . Organization support theory argues that employees assign humanlike characteristics to organizations. This tendency to personify organizations is encouraged by the organizational norms, practices and policies that prescribe employee role behaviors . This personification leads employees to believe that treatment met to them by their organizations is its indication of favor or disfavor to them . The treatment met to employees signal organizations readiness to reward increased work performance and to meet its employees needs for approval and recognition. As the organization treat its employees through the implementation of various human resource practices, I argue that the de velopment of employees global belief regarding the extent to which organizations value its members contribution and care about their wellbeing (perceived organizational support) is the reciprocation of such HR practices. Further, Eisenberger and his colleagues noted that perceived organizational support depends on attribution processes and is based on employees judgments, among other things, of organizational sincerity. Similarly, Whitener , while identifying the possible causes of different employee outcomes towards same HR practice, stressed upon the future researchers to . . . measure employees perceptions of the characteristics of human resource practices as an intervening variable between managers descriptions of human resource practices and employees perceptions of support. . In fact more and more researchers today are realizing the important role of employees perceptions in HR practices employee outcomes relationship. In a very recent publication Nishii et al have argued tha t, . . . in order for HR practices to exert their desired effect on employee attitudes and behaviors, they first have to be perceived and interpreted subjectively by employees . . . . Thus I refine my earlier argument regarding the relationship between HR practices and POS by accommodating the role of employees perception in HR-POS relationship; I hypothesize that it is employees perceptions of organizational human resource practices, instead of practices themselves, which leads to development of employees POS. The following sub-sections will review the literature about the relationship between the hypothesized HR practices and POS in detail. 3.4.1 Supervisor Support: Levinson observed that supervisory actions are often viewed as more indicative of organizations intent than solely based on supervisors personal motive. This is in part due to the fact that employees consider organizations to be responsible for legal, moral, and financial actions of its agents actions. Because supervisors act as organizational agents, the employees receipt of favorable treatment from a supervisor should contribute to POS. Additionally employees believe that managers forward their evaluation of subordinates to upper management which considerably influences managements treatment of their employees, thus perceptions of supervisor support should contribute to development of POS . Reciprocity norm dictates that perceived supervisor support should increase employees felt obligation towards supervisor and organization . H2a: There will be a positive relationship between employees perception of supervisor support (SS) and his/her perceived organizational support (POS). 3.4.2 Internal Career Opportunities: The opportunities to grow internally within the organization signals a strong positive message to employees that they are being cared and their work being valued . Such a policy also inculcates a sense of justice and fairness in the employees who feel that their stay and attachment with the organization for longer tenures is valued and rewarded . Thus the perception of availability of internal career opportunities will be linked to employees perception of organizational support. H2b: There will be positive relationship between employees perception of internal career opportunities (ICO) and his/her level of POS. 3.4.3 Training Training may be viewed as a form of capital investment in humans whether such an investment is made by firm or individual . A number of authors including Huselid and MacDuffie have counted organizational training as one of the important high-performance human resource (HR) practices. Employees, just like other human beings, have a desire to enhance their capabilities and learn new skills to improve their survivability in the environment. Training provides opportunities for both, enhancement of existing capabilities and learning of new skills. Thus provision of adequate training facilities by the organization to its employees signals its commitment to them. By providing career development opportunities, the organization conveys its willingness and dedication to the personal growth of its employees. The provision of training opportunities is indicative of the importance which the organization attaches to the contributions of its employees and is a token of its recognition for such contributions . In Pakistan most of the times such trainings and other career development opportunities go beyond any formal union contract and is thus viewed by the employees as out-of-will treatment by the organization. Such discretionary treatment on part of the organization is viewed by its employees as indicative of organizational support for them . Previous studies have found evidence that career development opportunities are positively related to perceptions of organizational support and that training predicts POS . Similarly, a significant relationship between career development opportunities and POS is also been reported by Meyer and Smith . Based on the review of past research, I hypothesize that an employees level of POS will be positively related to his/her belief of the training and career development opportunities provided by the organization. H2c: Employees perceptions about training opportunities (Trg) will be positively related to the level of his/her POS. 3.4.4 Result-Oriented Appraisal: Previous researches has documented a positive relationship between result-oriented appraisal and firm performance . These authors reported a correlation of r = .13 at p H2d: Employees perception of result oriented appraisal (ROA) will be positively related to their perceptions of organizational support (POS). 3.4.5 Employment Security: Delery and Doty in their research on banking sector of US have found a positive relationship between employment security and firm performance. The positive relationship was attributed to increased employee commitment and motivation due to secure jobs in banks. Similarly Fey, Bjorkman, and Pavlovskaya argued that provision of long term job security to employees signal organizational commitment to them. Pfeffer asserts that norm of reciprocity bounds employees to reciprocate such commitment in the form to their support to the organization and its goals. On the other hand organizational commitment of employees working for an employer who treats its employees as unimportant or dispensable tends to be low. Further, in times of economic turbulence when people are finding it increasingly difficult to find jobs, long term job security by the organization to the employees enhance their perceptions of organizational support. In light of the existing theoretical and empirical rationale I predic t about the relationship between employment security and perceived organizational support (POS) as following: H2e: There will be a positive relationship between employees perception of employment security (ES) and his/her perceived organizational support (POS). 3.4.6 Participation in Decision Making: Studies have concluded that organizations will yield better results if they gave their employees participation or voice in decision making activities . Providing opportunities to the employees to participate in decision making should indicate that their contribution is being valued by the organization . Researchers, have previously suggested that having say in decision making and voice in formulating organizational policy should be tested as a precursor of perceived organizational support . Whitener argued the fact that it is not only the existence of participation practice which is enough to elicit positive response from the the employees rather it is the perception regarding the existence and usefulness of such participatory mechanism which enhances employees perception of organizational support. Thus, the following relationship between participation and perceived organizational support is predicted: H2f: Employees perception of participation in organizational decision making (Part) will be positively related to his/her perceptions of organizational support (POS). 3.4.7 Compensation Organizational Support Theory argues that organizational rewards signals the nature of employee concern by the organization. Thus, favorable rewards signal that employee contributions are being valued by organization . More specifically this theory holds that favorable organizational rewards are conceived as organizations recognition and appreciation of employees work, and therefore, a major source of POS development . Organizational rewards may take the form of different variables when it comes to measuring its relationship with POS. In literature variables such as pay itself , distributive justice , procedural justice and general organizational rewards are researched for their relationship with POS. A common theme which emerges out of these studies is that POS is positively influenced by organizational rewards. Perceived organizational support is found to be positively related to employee pay satisfaction in a study conducted by Shore and Tetrick . Another study, which tested the relationship between employees perception about procedural justice and their perception of organizational support, found that both are positively related . Similarly, Wayne et al. noted a positive association between perceptions of procedural justice and POS. One can easily note from the above studies that though different indicators have been used to capture the concept of organizational rewards and then test their relationship with perceived organizational support, these researches converge in their conclusion about positive link between reward and development of POS. As the focus of this dissertation on measuring the influence of organizational human resource practices on employee commitment and customer satisfaction, the issues of relationship between rewards like distributive and procedural justice is somewhat out of scope for this study. Of particular importance to this study is the role of compensation as organizational reward, and the role it plays in development of POS. Willis noted that compensation is the most critical issue when it comes to attracting and keeping talent. Compensation is the cornerstone of the majority employment contracts. As Parker and Wright noted that basic reason for such centrality to the issue of compensation is the assumption that money influences behavior. In 1999 a study conducted by Bassi and Van Buren revealed that firms using high-performance work practices provide compensation based on group-performance and company profit sharing to enhance the employees feeling of organizational support. Especially, profit-sharing mechanism is a clear sign that organization does not only recognize and value its employees efforts in its profit but is ready to share it with them. This line of thinking clearly indicates a positive possibility of relationship between employees compensation and their perceptions of organizational support. Thus based on review of existing literature and logic which dictates a relationship between compensation and POS, I hypothesize as under: H2g: Employees perceptions of compensation (Comp) will be positively related to the level of his/her POS. 3.5 Perceived Organizational Support (POS) and Organizational Commitment (OC) During the last two decades the concept of organizational commitment (OC) remained a major focus of research in organizational studies. One of the reasons for such focus is the assumed relationship between organizational commitment and performance . In the following lines I will first explain the concept of commitment and will then explain the logic of proposing relationship between POS and OC. The term commitment has been widely used in research and is being variedly used to explain the antecedents, consequences and process of being committed to organization . This variety of definitions of commitment led Meyer and Allen to note that OC may be a multidimensional concept that has the potential to be interpreted in variety of ways. Nevertheless, the major definitions of OC appear to be affective or attitudinal , normative , behavioral and calculative . However, as Allen and Grisaffe noted, most researchers would agree that organizational commitment refers to a psychological state that characterizes an employees relationship with the organization for which he or she works and that has implications for whether or not the employee will choose to remain with the organization. Researchers differ in their opinion about why or how commitment occurs. Meyer and Allen conceptualizes that commitment develops as a result of experiences of satisfying employees needs motivational and/or compatible with their values . They further argued that desired commitment profile of employees may be developed by managing the employee work experience. Some researchers have described commitment as a strong belief in and acceptance of the organizations goals and values, a willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization, and a definite desire to maintain organizational membership . This definition highlights the role which commitment plays in enhancing individual performance such that more committed employees are supposed to be exerting more effort in achievement of organizational goals. Another important way of conceptualizing commitment is through individuals attitude towards employer organization. Researchers have noted that virtually all the research conducted on organizational commitment, per se, has used the attitudinal conceptualization. The following description of attitudinal commitment is forwarded by Mowday et al. : Attitudinal commitment focuses on the process by which people come to think about their relationship with the organization. In many ways it can be thought of as a mind set in which individuals consider the extent to which their own values and goals are congruent with those of the organization. Such a description suggests that strongly committed individuals will put in more work required for attainment of desired organizational outcomes as such outcomes are consistent with their personal values and goals. Meyer and Allen noted that organizational commitment is a mind set or psychological state (i.e., feelings and/or beliefs concerning the employees relationship with an organization) They conceptualized commitment through a three component framework. The three components are affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment and has been described by Allen and Meyer as under: . . . employees with strong affective commitment remain with the organization because they

Spain :: essays research papers

Population The Spanish people are essentially a mixture of the indigenous peoples of the Iberian Peninsula with the successive peoples who conquered the peninsula and occupied it for extended periods. These added ethnologic elements include the Romans, a Mediterranean people, and the Suevi, Vandals, and Visigoths (see GOTHS), Teutonic peoples. Semitic elements are also present. Several ethnic groups in Spain have kept a separate identity, culturally and linguistically. These include the Basques (Euskal-dun), who number about 2.5 million and live chiefly around the Bay of Biscay; the Galicians, numbering about 2.5 million, who live in northwestern Spain; and the nomadic Spanish Gypsies (Gitanos; see GYPSIES). Population Characteristics The population of Spain (1991) was 38,872,268. The estimate for 1993 was 39,207,159; the overall density was about 78 people per sq km (about 201 per sq mi). Spain in increasingly urban with more than three-fourths of the population in towns and cities. "Spain," Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1994 Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation. Forestry and Fishing The cork-oak tree is the principal forest resource of Spain, and the annual production of cork, more than 110,000 metric tons in the mid-1980s, is second only to that of Portugal. The yield of Spain's forests is insufficient for the country's wood-pulp and timber needs. The fishing industry is important to the Spanish economy. The annual catch was about 1.5 million metric tons in 1990 and consisted primarily of tuna, squid, octopus, hake, sardines, anchovies, mackerel, blue whiting, and mussels. Mining The mineral wealth of Spain is considerable. In 1990 annual production included about 36 million metric tons of coal and lignite, 1.5 million tons of iron ore, 255,000 tons of zinc concentrates, 58,400 tons of lead, 5 million tons of gypsum, and 795,000 tons of crude petroleum. The principal coal mines are in the northwest, near Oviedo; the chief iron-ore deposits are in the same area, around Santander and Bilbao; large mercury reserves are located in Almadà ©n, in southwestern Spain, and copper and lead are mined in Andalusia. Other minerals produced are potash, manganese, fluorite, tin, tungsten, wolfram, bismuth, antimony, cobalt, and rock salt. Manufacturing Among the leading goods manufactured in Spain are textiles, iron and steel, motor vehicles, chemicals, clothing, footwear, ships, refined petroleum, and cement. Spain is one of the world's leading wine producers, and the annual output in the late 1980s was about 2.3 million metric tons. The iron and steel industry, centered in Bilbao, Santander, Oviedo, and Avilà ©s, produced about 13.

The Open Boat :: essays research papers

The Open Boat is a particularly interesting story because of the great detail that author extends and because of the solitary reflections of the characters in consideration of their demise. The story possesses amazingly vivid description. This attention to detail affords the reader the greatest degree of reading pleasure. Crane paints such glorious images in reader's mind with his eloquence. "The morning appeared finally, in its splendor, with a sky of pure blue, and the sunlight flamed on the tips of waves"(387). Artistic sentences of such caliber are not often found. The reader is left with a terrific vision of the perilous sea maintaining its beauty amongst the violence of the wind. "Their back- bones had become thoroughly used to balancing in the boat and they now rode this wild colt of a dinghy like circus men"(378). Here, again, Crane uses splendid detail to capture the essence of the chaotic situation. Another attribute to the story is the insight which the third person narrator offers to the reader regarding the sailors' state of mind. Particularly interesting, is the reference to the poem "Bingen on the Rhine". Until the correspondent must contemplate his own death on the cold and desolate seas, he does not realize the tragedy of a soldier of the legion dying in Algiers. Also, not only did he not realize the significance, he says that, "it was less to him than the breaking of a pencil's point"(385). Again, towards the end of the story, the narrator describes the bitterness the correspondent feels towards nature when he realizes that after all his efforts he may not live to appreciate his being. Observations such as these are not encountered frequently until confronted with death and the conveyance of these thoughts is insightful and meaningful to the reader. The only depreciative factor in the story is the length.

Ad Reinhardt Abstract Painting 19601965 :: essays papers

Ad Reinhardt Abstract Painting 19601965 Ad Reinhardt's painting, Abstract Painting 1960-65, is at first glance' a black square canvas. The subject matter seems to be just what it is, a black painting. There are no people. No event or action is taken except for the fact that Reinhardt has made the painting. The title only provides us with the information that we are looking at an abstract painting. The only other information that the artist gives you is the time period, in which it was conceived, 1960 to 1965. In the least amount of words possible, we could describe the painting as an abstract color field. It is possible that a narrative is expressed through the piece, although, we can not be certain what it is. There is nothing narrated through conventional means in any way. The composition of the painting takes place with the square of the canvas. The square is approximately 5' x 5'. A black frame surrounding the painting protrudes approximately 4" off the canvas. There is a 1" inlay between the canvas and frame. From this square, Reinhardt breaks the composition into six equal squares in three even rows. Texture is no where to be found in the painting. No visual indication of the artist's brush stroke is present. No varnished glare is given off by the piece. The entire work, including the frame, is completely matte. The squares take up the entire canvas in a checkerboard type arrangement. Each square is a slightly different shade of blue-black. It almost becomes impossible to see the difference between each square. The middle squares in the top and bottom rows shift more towards blue than the rest of the squares. The division of these middle squares become more obvious than the others. When the painting is looked at from a distance, it is almost imposs ible to see any of the squares at all. When looking from a far, all a viewer can see is a blackish blue canvas. As you stare longer into the painting, a halo begins to form around the corners of the canvas, creating a circle inside the square. Once you look away from the canvas, the circle is gone. With this observation in mind, we could say that the painting most definitely relies on the viewer. A viewer is required to look at the piece for its full affect. We could say that the squares in the painting are self-contained.

Language acquisition Essay

Chapter 1 Invitations to Linguistics 1. 1Why study language? 1. Language is very essential to human beings. 2. In language there are many things we should know. 3. For further understanding, we need to study language scientifically. 1. 2What is language? Language is a means of verbal communication. It is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. 1. 3Design features of language The features that define our human languages can be called design features which can distinguish human language from any animal system of communication. 1. 3. 1Arbitrariness Arbitrariness refers to the fact that the forms of linguistic signs bear no natural relationship to their meanings. 1. 3. 2Duality Duality refers to the property of having two levels of structures, such that units of the primary level are composed of elements of the secondary level and each of the two levels has its own principles of organization. 1. 3. 3Creativity Creativity means that language is resourceful because of its duality and its recursiveness. Recursiveness refers to the rule which can be applied repeatedly without any definite limit. The recursive nature of language provides a theoretical basis for the possibility of creating endless sentences. 1. 3. 4Displacement Displacement means that human languages enable their users to symbolize objects, events and concepts which are not present (in time and space) at the moment of conversation. 1. 4Origin of language 1. The bow-wow theory In primitive times people imitated the sounds of the animal calls in the wild environment they lived and speech developed from that. 2. The pooh-pooh theory In the hard life of our primitive ancestors, they utter instinctive sounds of pains, anger and joy which gradually developed into language. 3. The â€Å"yo-he-ho† theory As primitive people worked together, they produced some rhythmic grunts which gradually developed into chants and then into language. 1. 5Functions of language As is proposed by Jacobson, language has six functions: 1. Referential: to convey message and information; 2. Poetic: to indulge in language for its own sake; 3. Emotive: to express attitudes, feelings and emotions; 4. Conative: to persuade and influence others through commands and entreaties; 5. Phatic: to establish communion with others; 6. Metalingual: to clear up intentions, words and meanings. Halliday (1994) proposes a theory of metafunctions of language. It means that language has three metafunctions: 1. Ideational function: to convey new information, to communicate a content that is unknown to the hearer; 2. Interpersonal function: embodying all use of language to express social and personal relationships; 3. Textual function: referring to the fact that language has mechanisms to make any stretch of spoken and written discourse into a coherent and unified text and make a living passage different from a random list of sentences. According to Hu Zhuanglin, language has at least seven functions: 1. 5. 1Informative The informative function means language is the instrument of thought and people often use it to communicate new information. 1. 5. 2Interpersonal function The interpersonal function means people can use language to establish and maintain their status in a society. 1. 5. 3Performative The performative function of language is primarily to change the social status of persons, as in marriage ceremonies, the sentencing of criminals, the blessing of children, the naming of a ship at a launching ceremony, and the cursing of enemies. 1. 5. 4Emotive function The emotive function is one of the most powerful uses of language because it is so crucial in changing the emotional status of an audience for or against someone or something. 1. 5. 5Phatic communion The phatic communion means people always use some small, seemingly meaningless expressions such as Good morning, God bless you, Nice day, etc. , to maintain a comfortable relationship between people without any factual content. 1. 5. 6Recreational function The recreational function means people use language for the sheer joy of using it, such as a baby’s babbling or a chanter’s chanting. 1. 5. 7Metalingual function The metalingual function means people can use language to talk about itself. E. g. I can use the word â€Å"book† to talk about a book, and I can also use the expression â€Å"the word book† to talk about the sign â€Å"b-o-o-k† itself. 1. 6What is linguistics? Linguistics is the scientific study of language. It studies not just one language of any one community, but the language of all human beings. 1. 7Main branches of linguistics 1. 7. 1Phonetics Phonetics is the study of speech sounds, it includes three main areas: articulatory phonetics, acoustic phonetics, and auditory phonetics. 1. 7. 2Phonology Phonology studies the rules governing the structure, distribution, and sequencing of speech sounds and the shape of syllables. 1. 7. 3Morphology Morphology studies the minimal units of meaning – morphemes and word-formation processes. 1. 7. 4Syntax Syntax refers to the rules governing the way words are combined to form sentences in a language, or simply, the study of the formation of sentences. 1. 7. 5Semantics Semantics examines how meaning is encoded in a language. 1. 7. 6Pragmatics Pragmatics is the study of meaning in context. 1.  8Macrolinguistics Macrolinguistics is the study of language in all aspects, distinct from microlinguistics, which dealt solely with the formal aspect of language system. 1. 8. 1Psycholinguistics Psycholinguistics investigates the interrelation of language and mind, in processing and producing utterances and in language acquisition for example. 1. 8. 2Sociolinguistics Sociolinguistics is a term which covers a variety of different interests in language and society, including the language and the social characteristics of its users. 1. 8. 3Anthropological linguistics. Anthropological linguistics studies the relationship between language and culture in a community. 1. 8. 4Computational linguistics Computational linguistics is an interdisciplinary field which centers around the use of computers to process or produce human language. 1. 9Important distinctions in linguistics 1. 9. 1Descriptive vs. prescriptive To say that linguistics is a descriptive science is to say that the linguist tries to discover and record the rules to which the members of a language-community actually conform and does not seek to impose upon them other rules, or norms, of correctness. Prescriptive linguistics aims to lay down rules for the correct use of language and settle the disputes over usage once and for all. For example, â€Å"Don’t say X. † is a prescriptive command; â€Å"People don’t say X. † is a descriptive statement. The distinction lies in prescribing how things ought to be and describing how things are. In the 18th century, all the main European languages were studied prescriptively. However, modern linguistics is mostly descriptive because the nature of linguistics as a science determines its preoccupation with description instead of prescription. 1. 9. 2Synchronic vs. diachronic A synchronic study takes a fixed instant (usually at present) as its point of observation. Saussure’s diachronic description is the study of a language through the course of its history. E. g. a study of the features of the English used in Shakespeare’s time would be synchronic, and a study of the changes English has undergone since then would be a diachronic study. In modern linguistics, synchronic study seems to enjoy priority over diachronic study. The reason is that unless the various state of a language are successfully studied it would be difficult to describe the changes that have taken place in its historical development. 1. 9. 3Langue & parole Saussure distinguished the linguistic competence of the speaker and the actual phenomena or data of linguistics as langue and parole. Langue is relative stable and systematic, parole is subject to personal and situational constraints; langue is not spoken by an individual, parole is always a naturally occurring event. What a linguist should do, according to Saussure, is to draw rules from a mass of confused facts, i. e. to discover the regularities governing all instances of parole and make them the subject of linguistics. 1. 9. 4Competence and performance According to Chomsky, a language user’s underlying knowledge about the system of rules is called the linguistic competence, and the actual use of language in concrete situations is called performance. Competence enables a speaker to produce and understand and indefinite number of sentences and to recognize grammatical mistakes and ambiguities. A speaker’s competence is stable while his performance is often influenced by psychological and social factors. So a speaker’s performance does not always match his supposed competence. Chomsky believes that linguists ought to study competence, rather than performance. Chomsky’s competence-performance distinction is not exactly the same as, though similar to, Saussure’s langue-parole distinction. Langue is a social product and a set of conventions of a community, while competence is deemed as a property of mind of each individual. Saussure looks at language more from a sociological or sociolinguistic point of view than Chomsky since the latter deals with his issues psychologically or psycholinguistically. 1. 9. 5Etic vs. emic Being etic means researchers’ making far too many, as well as behaviorally and inconsequential, differentiations, just as often the case with phonetics vs. phonemics analysis in linguistics proper. An emic set of speech acts and events must be one that is validated as meaningful via final resource to the native members of a speech community rather than via appeal to the investigator’s ingenuity or intuition alone. Following the suffix formations of (phon)etics vs (phon)emics, these terms were introduced into the social sciences by Kenneth Pike (1967) to denote the distinction between the material and functional study of language: phonetics studies the acoustically measurable and articulatorily definable immediate sound utterances, whereas phonemics analyzes the specific selection each language makes from that universal catalogue from a functional aspect. Chapter 2 Speech Sounds 2. 1Speech production and perception Phonetics is the study of speech sounds. It includes three main areas: 1. Articulatory phonetics – the study of the production of speech sounds 2. Acoustic phonetics – the study of the physical properties of the sounds produced in speech 3. Auditory phonetics – the study of perception of speech sounds Most phoneticians are interested in articulatory phonetics. 2. 2Speech organs Speech organs are those parts of the human body involved in the production of speech. The speech organs can be considered as consisting of three parts: the initiator of the air stream, the producer of voice and the resonating cavities. 2. 3Segments, divergences, and phonetic transcription 2. 3. 1Segments and divergences As there are more sounds in English than its letters, each letter must represent more than one sound. 2. 3. 2Phonetic transcription International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA): the system of symbols for representing the pronunciation of words in any language according to the principles of the International Phonetic Association. The symbols consists of letters and diacritics. Some letters are taken from the Roman alphabet, some are special symbols. 2. 4Consonants 2. 4. 1Consonants and vowels A consonant is produced by constricting or obstructing the vocal tract at some places to divert, impede, or completely shut off the flow of air in the oral cavity. A vowel is produced without obstruction so no turbulence or a total stopping of the air can be perceived. 2. 4. 2Consonants The categories of consonant are established on the basis of several factors. The most important of these factors are: 1. the actual relationship between the articulators and thus the way in which the air passes through certain parts of the vocal tract (manner of articulation); 2.where in the vocal tract there is approximation, narrowing, or the obstruction of the air (place of articulation). 2. 4. 3Manners of articulation 1. Stop/plosive: A speech sound which is produced by stopping the air stream from the lungs and then suddenly releasing it. In English, [? , ? , ? , ? , ? , ? ] are stops and [? , ? , ? ] are nasal stops. 2. Fricative: A speech sound which is produced by allowing the air stream from the lungs to escape with friction. This is caused by bringing the two articulators, e. g. the upper teeth and the lower lip, close together but not closes enough to stop the airstreams completely. In English, [?, ? , ? , ? , ? , ? , ? , ? , ? ] are fricatives. 3. (Median) approximant: An articulation in which one articulator is close to another, but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced. In English this class of sounds includes [? , ? , ? ]. 4. Lateral (approximant): A speech sound which is produced by partially blocking the airstream from the lungs, usually by the tongue, but letting it escape at one or both sides of the blockage. [? ] is the only lateral in English. Other consonantal articulations include trill, tap or flap, and affricate. 2. 4. 4Places of articulation 1.Bilabial: A speech sound which is made with the two lips. 2. Labiodental: A speech sound which is made with the lower lip and the upper front teeth. 3. Dental: A speech sound which is made by the tongue tip or blade and the upper front teeth. 4. Alveolar: A speech sound which is made with the tongue tip or blade and the alveolar ridge. 5. Postalveolar: A speech sound which is made with the tongue tip and the back of the alveolar ridge. 6. Retroflex: A speech sound which is made with the tongue tip or blade curled back so that the underside of the tongue tip or blade forms a stricture with the back of the alveolar ridge or the hard palate. 7. Palatal: A speech sound which is made with the front of the tongue and the hard palate. 8. Velar: A speech sound which is made with the back of the tongue and the soft palate. 9. Uvular: A speech sound which is made with the back of the tongue and the uvula, the short projection of the soft tissue and muscle at the posterior end of the velum. 10. Pharyngeal: A speech sound which is made with the root of the tongue and the walls of the pharynx. 11. Glottal: A speech sound which is made with the two pieces of vocal folds pushed towards each other. 2. 4. 5The consonants of English Received Pronunciation (RP): The type of British Standard English pronunciation which has been regarded as the prestige variety and which shows no regional variation. It has often been popularly referred to as â€Å"BBC English† or â€Å"Oxford English† because it is widely used in the private sector of the education system and spoken by most newsreaders of the BBC network. A chart of English consonants |Manner of |Place of articulation | |articulation | | | |Bilabial |Labio- |Dental | | | |dental | | | | | | | | | | | | 2. Its advantages. Through IC analysis, the internal structure of a sentence may be demonstrated clearly, any ambiguities, if any, will be revealed in that IC analysis emphasizes not only the linear structure of the sentence but also the hierarchical structure of the sentence. E. g. the sentence Leave the book on the shelf. is ambiguous. It has two meanings: (1) Put the book on the shelf; (2) Don’t touch the book on the shelf. These two meanings can be shown by the following tree diagrams. (Omitted. See the textbook p125~128. ) 3. Its problems However, IC analysis has three disadvantages. First, at the beginning, some advocator insisted on binary divisions. Any construction, at any level, will be cut into two parts. But this is not possible. E. g. Old men and women is ambiguous in that it may mean old + men and women or old men + and women. It’s impossible to combine with only the preceding part or only the succeeding part. Second, constructions with discontinuous constituents will pose technical problems for tree diagrams in IC analysis. E. g. the phrasal verbs like make up, turn on, or give up will cause problems in that when the object is expressed by a pronoun, it will interrupt the phrasal verb as in make it up. The most serious problem is that there are structural ambiguities which cannot be revealed by IC analysis. E. g. the tree diagram and the labels can only do one analysis for the love of God. 4. 2. 3Endocentric and exocentric constructions An endocentric construction is one whose distribution is functionally equivalent, or approaching equivalence, to one of its constituents, which serves as the center, or head, of the whole. It is also called headed construction. Typical endocentric constructions are noun phrases, verb phrases and adjective phrases. They may be further divided into two subtypes: subordinate and coordinate constructions. Those, in which there is only one head, with the head being dominant and the other constructions dependent, are subordinate constructions. In the coordinate construction, there are more than one head, e. g. boys and girls, in which the two content constituents, boys and girls, are of equal syntactic status, and no one is dependent on the other. The exocentric construction is defined negatively as a construction whose distribution is not functionally equivalent to any of its constituents. There is no noticeable center or head in it. Typical exocentric constructions are prepositional phrases, subordinate clauses, English basic sentences, and the verb plus object constructions. 4. 3The generative approach 4. 3. 1Deep and surface structures In transformational generative grammar (a. k. a. T-G grammar), the deep structure may be defined as the abstract representation of the syntactic properties of a construction, i. e. the underlying level of structural relations between its different constituents, such as the relation between the underlying subject and its verb, or a verb and its object. The surfaces structure is the final stage in the syntactic derivation of a construction, which closely corresponds to the structural organization of a construction people actually produce and receive. The example for the surface structure is The newspaper was not delivered today. The deep structure of the above sentence would be something like: (negative) someone (past tense) deliver the newspaper today (passive). The items in brackets are not lexical items but grammatical concepts which shape the final form of the sentence. Rules which describe deep structure are in the first part of the grammar (base component). Rules which transform these structures into surface structures (transformational rules) are in the second part of the grammar (transformational component). 4. 3. 2The standard theory and after What is the trace theory? [I think this is difficult. It is too abstract for me. – icywarmtea] After the movement of an element in a sentence there will be a trace left in the original position. This is the notion trace in T-G grammar. It’s suggested that if we have the notion trace, all the necessary information for semantic interpretation may come from the surface structure. E. g. The passive Dams are built by beavers. differs from the active Beavers built dams. in implying that all dams are built by beavers. If we add a trace element represented by the letter t after built in the passive as Dams are built t by beavers, then the deep structure information that the word dams was originally the object of built is also captured by the surface structure. Trace theory proves to be not only theoretically significant but also empirically valid. 4. 3. 3Government, binding, etc. 1. Constituent command / C-command: ? c-commands ? if ? does not dominate ? and every ? that dominates ? also dominates ? , as shown in the diagram below: | |?| | | | | | | | | | |? | |? | 2. Binding theory: Part of the government / binding theory. It examines connections between noun phrases in sentences and explores the way they relate and refer to each other. (1)An anaphor is bound in its governing category. (2)A pronominal is free in its governing category. (3)An r-expression is free. 3. Binding: The notion binding is borrowed from logic, which refers to the relation between a quantifier and a variable, that is a variable is bound by a quantifier. In the generative approach, binding refers to the relation between different referring word and the subject of a sentence  containing it. 4. Anaphor: A process where a word or phrase refers back to another word or phrase which was used earlier in a text or conversation. In a narrow sense, it used to include only reflexives like myself and reciprocals like each other. 5. Pronominal: A pronominal refers to pronouns other than reflexives and reciprocals. 6. R-expression: A r-expression, as the abbreviation of a referential-expression, covers all the other r-expressions except anaphors and pronominals, e. g. John, Bill, the man. 7. The D-structure and the S-structure. In Government / Binding theory, the D-structure is an abstract level of sentence representation where semantic roles such as an agent (the doer of an action) and patient (the entity affected by an action) are assigned to the sentence. Agent is sometimes also referred to as the logical subject and patient as the rheme of the sentence. E. g. (in simplified form) Verashootintruders Agent or logical subjectpatient or rheme The next level of sentence representation is the S-structure where syntactic / grammatical cases such as nominative / grammatical subject and accusative / grammatical object are assigned. E. g.(in simplified form)Vera (agent)shootintruders (patient / rheme) Grammatical subjectgrammatical object The phonetic form (PF) component and the logical form (LF) component are then needed to turn the S-structure into a surface sentence. The PF component presents the S-structure as sound, and the LF component gives the syntactic meaning of the sentence. 4. 4The functional approach 4. 4. 1Functional sentence perspective 1. Functional sentence perspective (FSP) The functional sentence perspective (FSP) is a type of linguistic analysis associated with the Prague School which describes how information is distributed in sentences. FSP deals particularly with the effect of the distribution of known information and new information in discourse. The known information (known as theme), refers to information that is not new to the reader or listener. The rheme refers to information that is new. FSP differs from the traditional grammatical analysis of sentences because the distribution between subject-predicate is not always the same as theme-rheme contrast. E. g. (1)Johnsat in the front seat Subjectpredicate Themerheme (2)In the front seat satJohn. Predicatesubject Themerheme John is the grammatical subject in both sentences, but theme in (1) and rheme in (2). 2. Communicative dynamism (CD) By CD Firbas means the extent to which the sentence element contributes to the development of the communication. 4. 4. 2Systemic-functional grammar 1. The material process (a process of doing): the representation of outer experience. 2. The mental process (a process of sensing): the representation of inner experience. 3. The relational process (a process of being): the relation between one experience and another. 4. The behavioral process (a process of behavioring): physiological and psychological behavior. 5. The verbal process (a process of saying): any kinds of symbolic exchange of meaning. 6. The existential process (a process of happening): a representation of something in existence or happening/ These six processes form a circle as follows: (omitted. See textbook, p. 155) Chapter 5 Meaning 5. 1Meanings of â€Å"meaning† 1. Meaning: Meaning refers to what a language expresses about the world we live in or any possible or imaginary world. 2. Connotation: The additional meaning that a word or phrase has beyond its central meaning. 3. Denotation: That part of the meanings of a word or phrase that relates it to phenomena in the real world or in a fictional or possible word. 4. Different types of meaning (Recognized by Leech, 1974) (1)Conceptual meaning: Logical, cognitive, or denotative content. (2)Associative meaning a. Connotative meaning: What is communicated by virtue of what language refers to. b. Social meaning: What is communicated of the social circumstances of language use. c. Affective meaning: What is communicated of the feelings and attitudes of the speaker / writer. d. Reflected meaning: What is communicated through association with another sense of the same expression. e. Collocative meaning: What is communicated through association with words which tend to occur in the environment of another word. (3)Thematic meaning: What is communicated by the way in which the message is organized in terms of order and emphasis. 5. The difference between meaning, concept, connotation, and denotation Meaning refers to the association of language symbols with the real world. There are many types of meaning according to different approaches. Concept is the impression of objects in people’s mind. Connotation is the implied meaning, similar to implication. Denotation, like sense, is not directly related with objects, but makes the abstract assumption of the real world. 5. 2The referential theory 1. The referential theory: The theory of meaning which relates the meaning of a word to the thing it refers to, or stands for, is known as the referential theory. 2. The semantic triangle theory Ogden and Richards presented the classic â€Å"Semantic Triangle† as manifested in the following diagram, in which the â€Å"symbol† refers to the linguist elements (word, sentence, etc. ), the â€Å"referent† refers to the object in the world of experience, and the â€Å"thought† or â€Å"reference† refers to concept or notion. Thus the symbol of a word signifies â€Å"things† by virtue of the â€Å"concept,† associated with the form of the word in the mind of the speaker of the language. The concept thus considered is the meaning of the word. The connection (represented with a dotted line) between symbol and referent is made possible only through â€Å"concept. † Concept / notion Thought / reference [pic] ———————- Symbolobject Wordstands for reality Signifierreferent. Codesignified 5. 3Sense relations 5. 3. 1Synonymy Synonymy is the technical name for the sameness relation. 5. 3. 2Antonymy Antonymy is the name for oppositeness relation. There are three subtypes: gradable, complementary and converse antonymy. 1. Gradable antonymy Gradable antonymy is the commonest type of antonymy. They are mainly adjectives, e. g. good / bad, long / short, big / small, etc. 2. Complementary antonymy The members of a pair in complementary antonymy are complementary to each other. That is, they divide up the whole of a semantic filed completely. Not only the assertion of one means the denial of the other, the denial of one also means the assertion of the other, e. g. alive / dead, hit / miss, male / female, boy / girl, etc. 3. Converse antonymy Converse antonyms are also called relational opposites. This is a special type of antonymy in that the members of a pair do not constitute a positive-negative opposition. They show the reversal of a relationship between two entities, e. g. buy / sell, parent / child, above / below, etc. 5. 3. 3Hyponymy Hyponymy involves us in the notion of meaning inclusion. It is a matter of class membership. That is to say, when x is a kind of y, the lower term x is the hyponym, and the upper term y is the superordinate. Two or more hyponyms of the same one superordinate are called co-hyponyms, e. g. under flower, there are peony, jasmine, tulip, violet, rose, etc. , flower is the superordinate of peony, jasmine, etc. , peony is the hyponym of flower, and peony, jasmine, tulip, violet, rose, etc. are co-hyponyms. 5. 4Componential analysis Componential analysis defines the meaning of a lexical element in terms of semantic components. That is, the meaning of a word is not an unanalyzable whole. It may be seen as a complex of different semantic features. There are semantic units smaller than the meaning of a word. E. g. Boy: [+human][-adult][+male] Girl: [+human][-adult][-male] Son: child (x, y) & male (x) Daughter: child (x, y) & -male (x) Take: cause (x, (have (x, y))) Give: cause (x, (-have (x, y))) 5. 5Sentence meaning 5. 5. 1An integrated theory 1. Compositionality: A principle for sentence analysis, in which the meaning of a sentence depends on the meanings of the constituent words and the way they are combine. 2. Selection restrictions: Restrictions on the choice of individual lexical units in construction with other units. E. g. the word breathe will typically select an animate subject (boy, man, woman, etc. ) not an abstract or an inanimate (table, book, etc. ). The boy was still breathing. The desk was breathing. 5. 5. 2Logical semantics 1. Prepositional logic / prepositional calculus / sentential calculus: Prepositional logic is the study of the truth conditions for propositions: how the truth of a composite proposition is determined by the truth value of its constituent propositions and the connections between them. 2. Predicate logic / predicate calculus: Predicate logic studies the internal structure of simple propositions. Chapter 6 Language Processing in Mind 6. 1Introduction 1. Language is a mirror of the mind in a deep and significant sense. 2. Language is a product of human intelligence, created a new in each individual by operation that lie far beyond the reach of will or consciousness. 3. Psycholinguistics â€Å"proper† can perhaps be glossed as the storage, comprehension, production and acquisition of language in any medium (spoken or written). 4. Psycholinguistics is concerned primarily with investigating the psychological reality of linguistic structures. 5.  The differences between psycholinguistics and psychology of language. Psycholinguistics can be defined as the storage, comprehension, production and acquisition of language in any medium (spoken or written). It is concerned primarily with investigating the psychological reality of linguistic structures. On the other hand, the psychology of language deals with more general topics such as the extent to which language shapes thought, and from the psychology of communication, includes non-verbal communication such as gestures and facial expressions. 6.  Cognitive psycholinguistics: Cognitive psycholinguistics is concerned above all with making inferences about the content of the human mind. 7. Experimental psycholinguistics: Experimental psycholinguistics is mainly concerned with empirical matters, such as speed of response to a particular word. 6. 1. 1Evidence 1. Linguists tend to favor descriptions of spontaneous speech as their main source of evidence, whereas psychologists mostly prefer experimental studies. 2. The subjects of psycholinguistic investigation are normal adults and children on the one hand, and aphasics—-people with speech disorders—–on the other. The primary assumption with regard to aphasic patient that a breakdown in some part of language could lead to an understanding of which components might be independent of others. 6. 1. 2Current issues 1. Modular theory: Modular theory assumes that the mind is structured into separate modules or components, each governed by its own principles and operating independently of others. 2. Cohort theory: The cohort theory hypothesizes that auditory word recognition begins with the formation of a group of words at the perception of the initial sound and proceeds sound by sound with the cohort of words decreasing as more sounds are perceived. This theory can be expanded to deal with written materials as well. Several experiments have supported this view of word recognition. One obvious prediction of this model is that if the beginning sound or letter is missing, recognition will be much more difficult, perhaps even impossible. For example: Gray tie—— great eye; a name—–an aim; an ice man—–a nice man; I scream—–ice cream; See Mable—-seem able; well fare—-welfare; lookout——look out ; decade—–Deck Eight; Layman——laymen; persistent turn——persist and turn 3. Psychological reality: The reality of grammar, etc. as a purported account of structures represented in the mind of a speaker. Often opposed, in discussion of the merits of alternative grammars, to criteria of simplicity, elegance, and internal consistency. 4. The three major strands of psycholinguistic research: (1)Comprehension: How do people use their knowledge of language, and how do they understand what they hear or read? (2)Production: How do they produce messages that others can understand in turn? (3)Acquisition: How language is represented in the mind and how langua.