An Opinion towards the Ideal Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

An Opinion towards the Ideal Government - Essay Example The essay "An Opinion towards the Ideal Government" describes what the ideal government could be since the success or the defeat of a nation depends on how it is being governed. Though there is no specific pattern or a proven theory as to what political structure is the skeleton of an ideal government. An ideal government would somewhat be patterned to the Democratic Socialism political structure. It would be more of getting the better aspects of the 2 political structures with the aim that the principles of the 2 would be intertwined to attain the success of one. The people in the community will have their share of freedom and restrictions. As justified by the golden rule, it is only the means which is good and therefore virtuous. If a particular community will be given too much freedom, there are tendencies that the government will be exploited and mocked. On the contrary, when a government becomes too authoritarian, it will lose the respect of the community because of the restrict ions that are being imposed. State and economy are entities perceived to be better off separated. Monopoly in the government should be avoided. This will ensure not just the stability of the state and the economy as different entities but of the government as a whole. Friedman and Friedman expressed that, â€Å"The relation between political and economic freedom is complex and by no means unilateral†. If both divisions are being governed by one branch of governance, there is a great possibility that monopoly will occur.

Flowers for Algernon - Qualities That Surpass Intelligence Essay Example for Free

Flowers for Algernon Qualities That Surpass Intelligence Essay Flowers for Algernon, is a classic novel written by Daniel Keyes a young mentally challenged man named Charlie Gordon. This book chronicles, from a first person point of view, Charlie’s mental and physical struggles and achievements after undergoing a breakthrough procedure that is hoped to render him intelligent. Throughout the book, much of the focus is on Charlie’s academic progress while his emotional and personal development is not much of a concern. This becomes a problem because Charlie realizes that it is important to demonstrate qualities other than intelligence to lead a life that is oth happy and successful. Qualities shown to be more important than intelligence in Flowers for Algernon are: patience, kindness and respect. Throughout Flowers for Algernon, patience is often shown to be a more important quality in character than intelligence. Starting from the beginning when Charlie was still mentally challenged, people never seemed to be patient with him. If they had taken the time to get to know and understand him they would have seen that he had a good heart and genuine personality. This also applies to our everyday life. We must be patient and try to understand others before we begin to judge them. Charlie also demonstrated the negative consequences of a lack of patience when his intelligence began to surpass that of those around him, â€Å"I was afraid it would come to this, but I have no patience with her now. I’m jealous of every moment away from the work- impatient with anyone†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Keyes 295). You can clearly see that due to his lack of patience with anyone around him, he is in a state of upset and distress. That is how patience is shown to be more important than ntelligence in this novel. Kindness is another quality shown to surpass intelligence in order of importance in Flowers for Algernon. Simply being kind to others can get you far in life and change others views and opinions of you in a positive way. This is shown when Alice tells Charlie what made him such a great person before he had the operation, â€Å"There was something in you before. I don’t know†¦ a warmth, an openness, a kindness that made everyone like you and like to have you around. † (Keyes 122). Being kind makes both yourself and others feels good. While everyone may not be able to solve an algebraic equation or understand Shakespeare, we can all interpret, accept and appreciate kindness in all its forms. This is why kindness is shown to be a more valuable quality than intelligence in Flowers for Algernon. A third quality shown to be more important than intelligence in Flowers for Algernon is respect. Everyone wants to be valued and respected and when you behave in this way towards others, it is often reciprocated. Everyone should learn to respect each other for who they are and not try to change them. Each person is an individual with their own thoughts and feelings and we can not change them. In the novel, a bakery employee stresses the importance of respect when the other workers make fun of Charlie, â€Å"He can’t help what he is†¦ but for God’s sake, have some respect! He’s a human being! † (Keyes 199). Charlie also often feels that he is not being respected as a human being and that he is just being treated as an experiment. This has a negative impact on him and also demonstrates the importance of respect. Those are the ways that respect is shown to be a ore valuable quality than intelligence in this novel. If one looks between the lines in the novel Flowers for Algernon, they will interpret many messages and take away valuable lessons from it. One of which is that there are qualities that are much more valuable and important than intelligence. The qualities that are shown to be more important than intelligence in Flowers for Algernon are patience, kindness and respect. By possessing and utilizing these qualities a person can lead both a happy and successful life and better the lives of those around them.

Impact of Ebusiness on an Organisation

Impact of Ebusiness on an Organisation 1.1 Introduction: The purpose of this project is to provide research findings of the impact of e-business on a particular organisation. The research carried out in this project was based on the performance of Ocado an online grocery company and being online business how this company differentiate itself from other companies in the same industry and get advantages of e-business in this modern era of technology. 1.2 Why e-business: Businesses that are run on the internet or uses information and communication technology to improve efficiency and profitability are known as e-businesses. The impact of e-business on an organisation is seems to me different and logical topic. It is different because it changes the living styles of people and effects the social lives of people. Going through research on this topic I can learn a lot of new things on the infrastructure of e-business and way of doing e-business. Due to technological boom e-business is the future of businesses. It would let me figure out the competitive advantage of e-business on traditional one and potential of change in social behaviour of people. The choice of this topic helps me to apply my academic knowledge and improve my communication and analytical skills and helps me to improve professional career. This topic not only provide me impact on one organisation but will also tell me how global businesses change due to technological revolutions. 1.3 Company Profile: Ocado is a British online retailer specialising groceries. Ocado is partly owned by John Lewis partnership pension fund. Ocado is a limited company was founded in 2002 by Jonathan Faiman, Jason Gissing and Tim Steiner, former Goldman Sachs merchant bankers. Ocado has a number of own brand products from Waitrose supermarket chain and also name brand groceries and items like toys, flowers and magazines. Since 2002 Ocado has been making losses even though it has won customer service awards in the UK. Ocado was listed on London Stock Exchange on July 2010 and is member of FTSE 250 Index. The company is operating on a warehouse model deprived of physical stores and operating as an online business. Ocado operates in Englands South East, South Coast, Midlands, North West and most of the Yorkshire. (http://www.ocadogroup.com/about-us/history.aspx) To revolutionise the way people shop forever, by giving them a uniquely innovative and greener alternative to traditional grocery shopping. (http://www.ocadogroup.com/en/about-us/mission-statement.aspx) Ocado is an online business; it has also launched iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android device applications which are most convenient way to shop for groceries. People do not require desktop PCs or laptops to shop online; they can use their phones to shop for groceries. Ocado allows its customers to price match with other main grocery stores in the UK. Ocado has launched online price match with its competitor store Tesco. Ocado is one of the rapidly growing online businesses in the UK with delivery area expanded to cover over 10m households. 1.4 Industry Profile: Online grocery retailing remains in its infancy with both demand and the proposition often limited in many countries. In the UK, online represents just 2.6% of the total UK grocery market. Nevertheless, with increasing broadband penetration and shopper lifestyles continuing to change, the internet looks set to become more important as a grocery retail channel in 2010. (http://www.igd.com/index.asp?id=1fid=1sid=8tid=30cid=1499) The value of the UK online grocery market to have grown by 85% from  £2bn in 2006 to  £3.7bn in 2009. Online is set to play a greater role in future grocery shopping patterns. We predict that the value of the online grocery market will nearly double in size to  £7.2bn by 2014, with a forecast annual growth rate more than three times faster than that of the wider grocery sector. Many online shoppers pick from a shortlist of favourites although more than nine in ten can be swayed to try something new. More than six in ten (62%) online shoppers mentioned that they would try something new if they could select a free sample. Other preferred tactics include better or more offers listed at the top of the page, offers on linked products and more prominent displays and descriptions of new products. However, although shopping online for groceries has become increasingly popular over the last few years, this section of shoppers represents less than one in four of those who buy goods and services online. This means there is a significant opportunity for grocery retailers to expand their online sales. (http://www.igd.com/index.asp?id=1fid=6sid=25tid=90cid=1409) 1.5 Aims and Objectives of the Report: To analyse the impact of e-business on Ocado and how the online business approach change the behaviour and motivation of people. One of the main aims of this report is to evaluate and compare the growth and financial performance of Ocado with other traditional grocery shopping organisations. Following are objectives of this report: To understand how Ocados online business approach progresses in order to achieve the revenue and market share. To analyse the financial performance of the Ocado and compare it with other supermarket retail industry. What are the potentials and limitations to the future growth of the online shopping businesses? Part 2: Information gathering and accounting/business techniques Sources Used: Primary data is original data that has been collected by a researcher by whatever means appropriate in the answer of a specific research question. i.e. it has been collected specifically for the Research Report.  Examples of primary data include questionnaires, interviews, e-mail contacts and surveys. (http://www.accaglobal.com/students/bsc/rap/gathering) Due to immediate surge in information technology industry, there is sufficient amount of secondary data available which has been used in this report. This data suffices all aspects of this report. Therefore most of my research is based on secondary data. Secondary data is data which has been collected by other people or organisations for their own purposes and researcher has used this data for different purposes. My secondary data consists of two main sources of collection: Library research: I went to local and college library and searched for several types of books and extract my project related material and used it in my report. BPPs Success in your research and analysis project provided the platform to sketch out broad counters of this research. The study text materials of ACCA (published by both BPP and Kaplan) has helped me to apply analytical techniques and also taught me how to evaluate my research findings. I also used articles published in ACCA student accountant relating my project which also helped me in meeting the goals of the project. Online research: Major parts of my research are based on material available online. This also shows impact of online on our research and daily use of communication. I find it quite credible to find online research material for a web based company. Following are the websites and search engines used to collect the information; Ocado limited website; this site provide the useful and more reliable information necessary for my project. This site provide me the audited annual reports of the company, company profile, history, investor information and other important information required. Competitors websites used for same purposes as mentioned above. ACCA website provide the help to find out the relative articles which I used to analyse the information. The food and grocery experts igd.com provides the statistical data about industry, surveys about trends in industry and its future. London Stock Exchange and NASDAQ websites provide the news about the industry, historic share performance competitors and surveys. Google, Yahoo and Bing are search engines used to find information about Ocado, retail industry and e-business techniques. Other websites used to find the news about Ocado , online grocery businesses, surveys and competitors are: Financial Times The Guardian BBC news 2.2 Methods of Analysis: To emphasize the impact of e-business on Ocado and to make comparison of its results in all business and financial aspects, results of Waitrose plc will be used. The objectives of the project are based on Ocados business approach and what make in it differentiate from other businesses, thus the report is based on the following aspects: Porters Generic Strategies. Consisting of three types of strategies to maintained and achieved competitive advantage by the businesses. Two strategies lie in the strategic strength, is a supply side dimension and focus on product differentiation and product cost. Third strategy lies in the strategic scope in the demand side dimension concentrate on the particular size and composition of the market. SWOT Analysis. It is strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats involved in an organisation. It analyse the external and internal factors of the organization that are favourable or unfavourable to achieve that organizations objectives. PEST Analysis. It is tool of environmental analysis, especially concentrates on macro environment which includes Political, Economic, Social culture and Technological factors. Trend Analysis. Using the past data to predict the future outcomes in the industry. B2C and B2B. Business 2 Customer includes customer service and interface design while Business 2 Business includes channel partner and system integration. Sales Growth. This will analysis the trend of sale over the past years and comparison with competitors. Profitability. The comparison of the profitability to past years and competitors and ability to generate profits. ROCE (Return on Capital Employed). Use to analysis the organization return on long term investment. Gross/Net Profit Margin. These ratios analyse the organizations operational efficiency, its costing policy and ability to control cost. Capital Gearing Ratios. Analyse the capital structure of the organization and reveal how much an organization relies on debt financing. Investor outlook. The return to shareholders compare with other organizations. Earnings per Share. This ratio shows the profit attributable to each individual share. 2.3 Limitations of Analysis: In order to analyse impact of e-business on an organisation, it is critical to make sure the sustainability of information technology remains constant in the industry. In todays environment as every organisation and governments are dependent on information technology, it is inevitable to some human error. From internet perspective selling online is quite new business as it only has 2.6% share in the whole retail industry. This information could change as new competitors introduce new business techniques which could impact this particular organisation. Some of the information taken from surveys has limitations as buying online grocery is quite newly introduced phenomena for British people and the information is not quite mature. Financial information use in this analysis has inherent limitations which include estimates and figures that are highly influenced by personal decisions. Financial statements are prejudiced by the choice of accounting policy e.g. a company seeking to improve its ROCE may choose not to revalue its assets. Financial statements have past data; it is not feasible to predict future on the basis of this data. In SWOT analysis there is problem for companies to identify the elements of their own organization e.g. strengths appears to one person can have different meaning for other. Ratios we used in our analysis also have inherent limitations. Firstly ratios are derived from financial statements that also have several limitations. Ratios are only useful when compared with the past results of the business and judge the performance of the business but the future forecast may not correct because several other factors also involved like market condition, etc. also the ratios have to be interpreted and different people may interpret differently. 2.4 Methodology used: Data collection is an important part of the project that should be planned and carried out and is completed in a well way for consideration. We have access to a lot of reliable and relevant information both online with easy access to internet and offline. Planning is completed and appropriate extraction of data provides help to develop good content of the reports. The method of search used is the Google search engine. By writing some key words in the search bar and clicking the entre it provides me the so many links of the websites that match with the key words. Most of the links are relevant to my search and contains a lot of information but some links are irrelevant to my research. However I am able to extract the relevant information suitable in the preparation of my project. Offline search include reading the books and journals and see if some information suitable for my report, make a note of it and use it later in my report. I done research thoroughly in advanced and bookmarks the relevant articles and websites using the web browsers because it could be needed to me for the citation of information if chosen to be quoted in my report. Using the study text materials (both Kaplan and BPP) to calculate the financial ratios and in their interpretation. Financial Statements of Ocado and Waitrose are downloaded from their respective websites. MS Excel was used for the graphical explanation of the ratio and trend analysis. Part 3: Analysis and Presentation 3.1 SWOT Analysis: Strengths: Broad range of products Contract with Waitrose Customer proposition Weaknesses: Dependence on UK market Loss making Opportunities: UK online retail industry Non food Threats: Future acquisitions Competitors Fraud STRENGHTS Broad range of products: In addition to its current area of strategic focus, the company intends to investigate growth opportunities by improving the customer offering continually through maintaining and improving the customer experience; increasing its core product range; and continuing to offer value to customers (Annual Report 2009, Ocado limited). Ocado sells more than 20,000 different products, the vast majority of which are sourced through Waitrose, a leading high quality UK supermarket. Approximately 4,300 of the products sold by Ocado are Waitrose-branded products. Ocados product range includes a small but expanding range of Ocado branded products (Ocadogroup.com, Strategic Overview). Choices of the different range of products enable the customers to buy the products that match their lifestyles and are within their budget. Also the availability of every type of product on one channel increases the chances of sale because customer did not want to go elsewhere if he find everything on one place. It helped consumers to spend less without compromising on choice or quality. Contract with Waitrose: The Companys reputation is based at least in part on its relationship with Waitrose and its ability to supply Waitrose branded products. If Waitrose ceased to supply the Company with products or if Waitrose were to suffer reputational damage which impacted on the Waitrose brand there could be an adverse effect on the Companys financial position and future prospects. The Company has a successful symbiotic relationship evolved over 10 years and has recently agreed a new branding and sourcing agreement until 2020. The Company is not dependant on the Waitrose supply chain as 85% of items sold are now sourced directly from suppliers. In May 2010, a new 10 years deal was signed with Waitrose (Annual Report 2009, Ocado Ltd). There were some rumours about Ocado and its 10 years contract with Waitrose. Previous contract signed for 10 years were with Waitrose was about to end and if this contract will not renewed it can cause big problems for Ocado because in 2010 Ocado is going to listed on London Stock Exchange. But in May 2010 deal with Waitrose was signed for 10 years in which there is a non-competition agreement with Waitrose and with Waitrose likely to extend its delivery services to highly lucrative M25 region. Customer proposition: Ocado offers delivery of grocery products to customers centrally picked from a single, state-of-the-art, highly automated warehouse (the customer fulfilment centre or CFC) (Ocadogroup.com, Strategic Overview). Customer satisfaction is part of every business, Ocado uses its unique strategy the customer fulfilment centre (CFC) in which Ocado make sure the availability of products, freshness of products and wide range of products. Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference Europe 2010 Presentation, Ocado Ltd, shows; 99.4% fulfilment accuracy and product availability given structural advantages. 97.6% of orders delivered on time or early. Structural advantages allow Ocado to guarantee freshness and use-by dates. WEAKNESSES Dependence on UK market: Although Ocado is still expanding its business to the other parts of the country and it is probable that Ocado will make profit in near future. But the company is fully reliant on the UK retail industry, any changes in the UK retail industry or changes in UK economic conditions like recessions can affect the Ocados growth. Increased competition also affects the sale growth of the company. Loss making: Ocado is making losses since it was corporate. However, the last three year results shows that it is improving towards profits like in 2007 Ocado incurred the loss of  £40m, in 2008  £33m and in 2009 Ocado incurred the loss of  £23m, the reason for this losses is the expansion of Ocados operations around the UK. Due to large investment in expansion of operations, Ocado loses the confidence of investors and its share price decreases dramatically. The company and its advisers have been promoting the impression that the company will be valued at around  £1 billion after raising some  £200 million in the planned float, but many analysts, of course not those closely involved with the offer, are highly critical of this valuation (http://www.moneyobserver.com/news/10-07-01/ocado-and-fairfield-energy-ipos-under-spotlight). OPPORTUNITIES UK Online retail industry: UK grocery retail industry is largest industry with the sales revenue of  £146bn, while the online grocery business has only 2% of the total sales revenue. UK Online grocery sales (2007-14),  £bn (Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference Europe 2010 Presentation, Ocado Ltd) These figures show the opportunities for Ocado in online retail industry to grab the sales because online retail industry looks highly opportunistic. Non-food: Extended the business in non-grocery products are part of the Ocados future developments. The potential of growth in non-grocery products is much more than grocery items, so there is an opportunity for Ocado to increase its sales revenue by extending the business in non-grocery items. As Ocado is online grocery business, only 2% of total retail shopping comprises of grocery, while 98% consist of other non-grocery items. THREATS Future acquisition: Ocado plans to expand its business all over the UK. It has many opportunities for the business but along this it also has the threats to business. Ocado is making losses since it is incorporate this is because of its acquisition strategy but if it still applied same strategy, Ocado will be in great trouble. It loses investors confidence due to high level of borrowings. If Ocado uses same strategy, it will be run out of cash for their operations. Competitors: The retail grocery industry is highly competitive and the online market place is no different. Ocado has an established business model and superior customer proposition. The proprietary IP and experience gives Ocado a competitive advantage. A clear strategy is in place to widen the customer base by improving online experience, customer service, product range and pricing, and reducing environmental impact (Annual Report 2009, Ocado Ltd). Ocado operates in a highly competitive retail market. With other supermarkets struggling for position in the UK retail market, Ocado invested in price cuts and discount promotions in order to stay competitive. This will affect the Ocados sales revenue and profits. Especially in recession, when customers are looking for low price products, price cuts could result in the decline of industry profitability. Price cuts also have an adverse effect on the perception of customers for the quality of products; this can damage the brand image of Ocado. Fraud: The risk of fraud from staff is less due to the nature of the business; IT procedures are in place to reduce this risk to further. Whatever the precautions are put in place to avoid the fraud but the we cannot reduce it to zero. There are potential threats of security breakdowns on their websites for online businesses. For Ocado major threat is the loss of sales due to credit card frauds. 3.2 PEST Analysis: Political: Ocado operate in United Kingdom, it provide it the stable political environment. Ocado can make long term decisions and this also guarantees Ocado a large range of economic actions. Political stability and strong economy provides the Ocado to get customer confidence and improve its operations. Economic: Economy plays a vital part in the operations of the Ocado. Economic conditions of the country influence the supply, demand, costs, prices and profits of the company. Due to recession in the world, UK along with other countries face the unemployment, this affects the demand and profit levels of the company. Sales growth decreases due to global recession, especially the sales of non food items are highly affected by this recession as people avoid the purchase of non essential items. Social: The social influence on the business of Ocado has been more important over the past few years. This is because the behaviour of people is changing towards grocery shopping. Due to lack of time and busy life, customers prefer to purchases in bulks and on one shop. Trend of online shopping has also been increased and this is beneficial for the Ocado. Ocado has different timing slots for deliveries suitable for customers according to their routine. Technological: Due to the nature of the business, technological factors have significantly influenced the Ocado. Recent technological advancements has revolutionised the organisations and changes the way of doing businesses. Online shopping saves the time of the busy people. Through introduction of technology it eliminates the need for paperwork and reduces the cost of administration work. 3.3 Porters Generic Strategies: Ocado aims to have a market leading customer proposition. Ocado introduced branded product to lower the prices of own label products sold (customer proposition, Ocado Ltd). Porter identified three generic strategies to take the advantage of competitive forces like cost leadership, differentiation and focus strategies. According to porters generic strategies Ocado comes under the cost leadership, where it is trying to compete with the market by lowering the cost. It launches Tesco price match for customers to compare prices with Tesco before purchase. However Ocado is not wholly dependent on one strategy because customer often seeks more than price satisfaction. They look for product quality, style and timely deliveries. Ocado competed his competitors by providing the customers high quality of products, availability of products and delivering the products to customers on time. We use smart thinking and cutting-edge technology to keep honing our uniquely efficient delivery model. This helps us to drive down prices and guarantee exceptional value for money. We have a passion for delivering quality groceries in perfect condition and on time, while treating our customers with care and honesty. This helps us to share our vision of a different way of shopping: a better, greener and more convenient one (Mission Statement, Ocado Ltd). PIMS (Profit impact of marketing strategy) data and other surveys show, that the intermediary positions are indeed profitable and therefore successfully exploited by many firms. (Michael Cronshaw, Evan Davis and John Kay (1994), pp. 19-33) 3.4 B2B and B2C: Both terms are used with reference to the internet technology and commonly applied in e-businesses. Business 2 Business largely concern itself with supply chain management and allows the business to directly contact with the suppliers and distributors. While business 2 consumer concern the relationship between the customer and the supplier. It primarily concern to sell goods to end consumers. All such businesses are online businesses and Ocado is the best example for such type of relationships. In business 2 business Ocado use the internet for searching products catalogues, ordering from suppliers, making invoices and making online payments. In business 2 consumer Ocado uses its website to offer customers a wide range of products, providing information about prices of the products, delivery timing and everything they want to know about the products, offers and Ocado. 3.5 Trend Analysis: [The entire figures used below are taken from the annual reports of Ocado Ltd, Tesco and Waitrose (johnlewis partnership) 2007-2009 unless otherwise stated.] Purchase frequency: The online market is dominated by those buying on a relatively infrequent basis. On average online grocery shoppers use the channel twice per month Three in ten (30%) only shopped online on a very occasional basis e.g. in an emergency or for special occasions such as Christmas Only one in six (15%) online grocery shoppers had a heavy reliance on online and shopped once a week or more frequently Most online shoppers fall into the regular/top-up group A third (34%) buy food and groceries online every 3-4 weeks One in five (21%) purchased slightly more frequently, once every 1-2 weeks (Online grocery shopping, igd.com) Key Financial Performance Indicators: Average order size ( £): The average size of the order was increased in 2008 from  £112.17 to  £116.3 which indicated the attraction of consumers toward the online shopping. In 2009 the average order size is slightly low than the previous years but this did not mean the reduction of people trends towards online shopping because if order size decreases in this year on one hand on the other side the sales growth increases by 25% in this year. Average number of orders/week: The increase in number of orders in 2008 is 12% higher than the previous one while in 2009 the increase is 25% per week. This shows the sales of the Ocado increases and Ocado has the potential the to expand his business in the growing market of online shopping business. Average % product wastage: The average percentage of product wastage of Ocado decreases continuously from 2007 to 2009. This is because of the increased efficiency of the operations of the Ocado and handling its products more effectively. Another reason for low wastage is the usage of the new technologies and less involvement of manual handlings. CO2 Emission: Ocado has taken actions to lower its carbon footprint and reduce its environmental impact include: closed-loop grocery bag recycling, whereby when making a delivery, drivers offer to collect used bags from customers which are recycled within the UK to make new Ocado grocery bags; wasting significantly less food as a percentage of gross sales than any of its competitors; and signing up to the Climate Change Agreement (with the Carbon Trust), which places certain obligations on management to monitor and lower carbon usage. Ocado has co-developed two prototype electric powered vans, which are currently completing testing before being introduced into Ocados delivery fleet. (Environmental awareness, Ocado Ltd) CFC Efficiency: The customers fulfilment centre (CFC) efficiency increases over the period of time. This efficiency has been achieved by the introduction of highly automated warehouses and less involvement of manual work. The company is willing to expand the CFC capacity by building the second CFC and the spoke network in the near future. Green business: Being green is part of Ocados business model. This has been recognised in various awards.Ocado was voted Green Retailer of the Year 2009 in The Grocer Gold Awards, Large Retailer of the Year 2008 in the Online Green Awards and won Ethical/Green Practice 2009 at the IMRG E-Commerce Awards for Excellence. A traditional supermarket requires deliveries first to be made to a regional distribution centre and then to the supermarket itself. Customers then often drive to the supermarket in order to shop, and the supermarkets themselves require energy to be lit and heated and tend to have open fridges and freezers in an otherwise ambient environment.   Ocado delivers straight from the CFC to a customers kitchen, which eliminates much of the carbon emissions generated by traditional supermarkets and their stores, and also reduces the number of cars on the road. Each Ocado delivery van replaces a significant number of car journeys every day. (Environmental awareness, Ocado Ltd) 3.6 Ratio Analysis: Sales Growth: The sales revenue of the Ocado has been increasing since 2007. The sales revenue in 2007 was  £273m while in 2008 it was  £321m an increase of 15% was being recorded. Not only this also in 2009 the sales revenue of Ocado was  £402m with an increase of 25% than the previous one. When we compare the sales growth of Ocado with its competitor Waitrose, the sales growth is 7% and 5% in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Waitrose sales growth percentage is not even half of the Ocados percentage and we can analyse that people purchase the same products online rather than going to stores for it. The increase in the sales revenue of Ocado has been seen since it was incorporate this is because the behaviour of people towards the online shopping is being changed with the passage of time and as the grocery industry hides in itself a lot of potential to make profit. Ocado achieved this by using its long term strategies and by introducing customer fulfilment centre in which Ocado emphases on the ne eds of the customers. (Annual reports 2007-2009,Ocado Ltd) Gross profit margin: The gross profits of Ocado seem to be remaining same over the past few years although the sales revenue of the company increases over the period. This is because the company keep its prices same to keep its customers to pay less in the period of recession. In 2009 the gross profit margin of the Ocado decreases from 32% to the 30.6%, the reason for this is further decrease in the selling price without any decrease in costs of the products. It happened because Ocado launches its price match campaign with Tesco and Sainsbury. It is also due to the reason

Failure of the Legal System in Atonement, Wonder Boys and The Round Hou

The code of Hammurabi, dating back to 1772 BC, is one of the oldest recorded legal codes and reflects the early Babylonians’ views of justice. The code is best known for â€Å"an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.† By enumerating punishments for certain crimes the code removes ambiguity and combined with its relatively harsh penalties, especially on lower class citizens, served as an effective deterrent. More profoundly however, Hammurabi’s code formally shifted justice-seeking responsibilities from the individual to the state. Today, most modern legal systems are structured similarly to Hammurabi’s code with their own codified laws and listed punishments. Capital punishment and the idea that â€Å"the punishment should fit he crime† are derivatives from the ancient text that are widespread in the world today. Hammurabi’s code however was not without fault. Pervasive throughout the archetype of modern law are inequitable punishments determined by one’s social standing. For example, the 8th law of Hammurabi’s code states, â€Å"If any one steel cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a goat, if it belong to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirtyfold therefore; if they belonged to a freed man of the king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death† (King). Both the social standing of the violator and the victim of the crime played a large role in determining what the penalty would be. Today, our view of justice has ostensibly metamorphosed, to the extent that most people today would recognize that the 8th law from Hammurabi’s code was prejudiced and wrong. Although some may wish to remove themselves from such an unjust system, the reality is that we are not far from it. The mode... ...sity, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. . Lee, Jaeah, and Brett Bownell. "Charts: Why You're in Deep Trouble If You Can't Afford a Lawyer." Mother Jones. Mother Jones, 1 July 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. . McEwan, Ian. Atonement: A Novel. New York: N.A. Talese/Doubleday, 2002. Print. Stevenson, Bryan. "We Need to Talk about an Injustice." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. TED Talks, Mar. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. Wright, Paul. "Prison Legal News - Legal Articles, Cases and Court Decisions." Prison Legal News. Prison Legal News, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. .

Exercise and Healthy Diet for Obesity

Exercise and Healthy Diet for Obesity Obesity is a medical condition that requires long term treatment and intervention in which a regular exercise and healthy diet are probably the most believable two important treatments that could help altering the clinical course of obesity. First of all, exercising on a regular basis is believed to be one of the two most essential factors helping you to get a better health condition. This is because exercising is a process of using the amount of energy from the fat stored in your body.There are many types of exercise in which different modes of exercise produce different physiological responses. However, in my opinion, I think that the most effective type of exercise would be aerobic exercise such as jogging, running, cycling, and swimming. Aerobic exercise most requires you to extensively work out on your large muscles group which particularly includes your leg and core muscles. Moreover, this mode of exercise should take between 30 to 60 minut es and 3 to 5 days per week.As you are exercising, your maximum heart rate intensity should be between 55 to 65 percent of your maximum heart rate, recommended for weight loss. Nonetheless, all beginners should initially start their exercise with a low intensity as the beginners are easily at high risk of joints injury, if you do not begin at the low intensity. In addition to aerobic exercise, there is also another effective mode of exercise which is known as anaerobic exercise whereby weight training is the most common activity for anaerobic exercise.Weight training activity allows your particular muscles to work more and therefore gains more muscle mass. As your muscle mass increases, the rate of metabolism in your body increases as well. Therefore, it is better for you to work on both types of exercise including aerobic and anaerobic exercises as these two modes of exercise would give you a better result in losing your weight. Next, another powerful factor for weight loss besides a regular exercise is ‘a healthy diet’ in which this would effectively help you to lose weight as well.Healthy diet means low calories, low fat, high protein, and carbohydrate restriction in your daily food consumptions. Moreover, this simply means that to eat healthy is to pick fruits or vegetables for the week, plan a meatless day, prefer beans for protein, reduce fat from meats, eat more home cooking and snack with fruits. The power of healthy diet can help you to decrease your body fat more constantly and that would help you to better achieve weight loss.Hence, it is very important that you should refrain from eating sweets and fried food if it is not necessary and instead focusing more on the food with high protein and fibre. However, ‘fasting’ is strictly prohibited for healthy diet as each particular meal should include an adequate five food categories; which are carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamin, and fibre. Fasting or dieting could cause you to b e starved and that would lead you to malnutrition, which is harmful to your health as your rate of metabolic and muscle mass would reduce rapidly.Metabolic rate of the body is reduced due to fasting or dieting is when your digestive system of your body does not work as well as it does and if when you return to your normal eating, there is a high of possibility for you to get Yo-Yo Effect that might cause you to even gain more weight in a short time. Last but not least, either regular exercise or healthy diet could essentially help you to alter the clinical course of obesity.As regular exercise would decrease your heart rate, blood pressure, cholesterol, body fat and also improve your muscle functions, which these can help the obesity to alter their clinical course. Hence, healthy diet also helps you to decrease your unwanted body fat and increase your rate of metabolism as well. Therefore, it is recommended for the obesity that you should both work on your regular exercise and eat h ealthy food as if you do them together, the more faster the more healthy of your body will become.

Critical Analysis of Edgar Allen Poes The Raven The WritePass Journal

Critical Analysis of Edgar Allen Poes The Raven Introduction Critical Analysis of Edgar Allen Poes The Raven IntroductionReferencesRelated Introduction Edgar Allen Poe, when people see his name many think of scary or melancholy.   He has written many literary works that have traveled through the ages and become classics studied everywhere.   The Raven published in January of 1845 by The Evening Mirror was the poem that escalated Poe into poet status. Originally it is said that Poe went to his former employer a man named Rex Graham and tried to sell the poem to him but was politely declined but given 15 dollars as a simple charity.1 He later sold the poem to The American Review which gave him 9 dollars for it but published under a pseudonym of Quarles which was an English poet at the time.   It was not until January 29, 1845 that The Evening Mirror gave Poe his fame and published The Raven under his actual name.   The poem was an instant success and set his writing career soaring.   There was much debate and discussion about the meaning and the symbolism of this poem once published.   It caused quite a stir in the literary community.   Critical opinion was divided as to this poems status but it has remained one of the most famous poems ever written. Because of the poems great success Poe wrote a follow up essay called The Philosophy of Composition which described the working of The Raven.   He stated that the poem was written as if it was a mathematical problem.   He stressed that the reader must be able to read the poem in its entirety in just one sitting.   He believed you lost the meaning of the poem and the reader if they had to come back to it.   They should be able to take it all in one read.   Poe stated that a poem should stay somewhere around a hundred lines.   The Raven has exactly 108 lines.   This poem was actually written backwards.   He wrote the 3rd to the last stanza first and then wrote backwards from there.   He stated that the effect was determined first then the whole plot so the web will grow backwards from there for a single effect.   Poe was a great believer that to truly write anything one must first have a truly great plot. The symbolism in The Raven has been the most debated. Poes use of a raven in his poem has always been of great interest.   Many believe he drew from many references.   In Norse mythology Odin had two ravens Huginn and Muninn which represented though and memory. The book of Genesis makes the raven out to be a bird of ill omen.   According to Hebrew folklore, Noah sends a white raven out to check conditions while on the ark.   It learns that the flood waters are receding, but doesnt come immediately back with the news.   It is punished by being turned black and forced to feed on carrion forever.2 According to Adams in Ovidss Metamorphoses, a raven also begins as white before Apollo punishes it by turning it black for delivering a message of a lovers unfaithfulness.3  Ã‚   A lot of his critics believe this is some of the history he may have pulled upon when deciding about what type of bird to use.   By choosing the raven it made the poem more dark and supernatural , especially when Poe is describing the environment the young lover is sitting in while pining over his lost Lenore.   In The Philosophy of Composition Poe stated that he had actually considered using a parrot for the bird but it did not give the supernatural and foreboding feeling that the raven would. The ravens only spoken word through the whole poem is nevermore.   To give this more power in the poem he has the bird come in an perch on the bust of Pallus.   This represents the goddess of wisdom.   He chose this so that when the raven speaks the words nevermore it will possibly give him an air of wisdom instead stock and store being the only word he knows and just speaks it randomly.   He believed by using the raven and having it speak this one word throughout the whole poem it made the nevermores much more powerful when spoken in response to the narrator or young mans questions.   Each time the narrator would ask a question the raven simply answered nevermore.   He wanted to use something that would be utterly non-reasoning so it would have a powerful meaning when speaking, thus the use of the bird. The poem is about an allegedly young man who is sitting alone on a dark and very bleak December night pining over the loss of his one true love Lenore.   He is reading books of lore to help ease the pain of his loss.   It is then that he hears the tapping on the chamber door and opens it to find only emptiness. One can almost feel the bleakness and the loneness he must have felt being alone in his study with barely a fire left and everything dark around him.   It almost is letting you think he is completely lost in his own misery from his loss.   Everything is bleak and dark.   When the raven comes a tapping he at first is startled and then starts questioning that maybe it is something else.   He believes it could be the devil come to torture him over his loss.   He says the raven is from the nights plutonian shore or a messenger for the afterlife.   When after each inquiry he gives the bird it only responds as nevermore.   At first the nevermore response is taken as a silly bird that has only learned only one word and has accidentally flown from his master place, but when the bird actually makes his appearance and sits upon the bust of Pallus the young narrator starts to think maybe there is more to this raven than meets the eye. When the bird has perched upon the bust the young man is mesmerized by his presence and pulls up a chair.   He is now cast in the shadow of this mysterious bird and cannot leave his spot.   He believes many different things of this bird always inquiring about his lost Lenore.   The bird simply answers nevermore.   This at first agitates the man but as the poem continues towards the end he simply admits that his soul is trapped forever under the ravens shadow not to be lifted nevermore.   Here is when one could believe that this is the turning point where the young narrator has finally given in to his sadness and simply doesnt want to go on anymore without his beloved Lenore. The poem is actually sad.   A young man has lost the love of his life and is simply alone in this world and is having trouble entertaining the thought of going on without his missed and mourned love. The whole mood of this poem is very Poe.   Its dark and melancholy and scary no wonder so many have reprinted it.   Another thing this poem is noted for is its poetic structure.   This poem was made up of 18 stanzas with 6 lines each.   According to Richard Kopely the meter is trochaic octameter-eight trochaic feet per line, with each foot having one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable.4  Ã‚  Ã‚   Poe claims that the poem is a combination of octameter acatalectic, heptameter catalectic and tetrameter catalectic.   The rhyme scheme is ABCBBB or AA,B,CC,CB,B,B when accounting for the internal rhyme.5 Another structure that this poem uses heavily is alliteration.   Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in a series of words.   An example would be such as doubting, dreaming dreams.   Edgar Allen Poe was also reported as having a very extensive vocabulary. He would many times use words that were not commonly used.   In The Raven Poe used ancient and poetic language together because he thought it was appropriate because of the meaning of the poem,   A young lover who spends most of his time with books of forgotten Lore.   Examples of words he used in this poem are Seraphim which is a six winged angel standing in the presence of God. Another is Nepenthe which is a potion used by ancients to induce forgetfulness or sorrow.   Balm of Gilead is a soothing ointment made in Palestine. Plutonian the God of the underworld in Roman mythology. Poe believed the use of these words only enhanced the meaning he wanted to achieve in writing The Raven.  Ã‚   The internal words of rapping and tapping and napping create an internal rhyme that is said to be almost musical and combined with the alliteration it becomes hypnotic.   Onomatopoeia is also used throughout this poem.   This is words that sound like what they describe.   An example would be in lines 13-18 where rustling is used. As mentioned earlier the publication of the The Raven made Edgar Allen Poe and instant success.   Not only was it printed for its large demand but also parodied.   These showed up all over the North.   There were some downfalls to this publication.   Although loved and adored there were some who simply did not believe he actually wrote it.   Some believed he stole it from a Charles Dickens Story titled Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty.   The ravens in both stories are said to bear a great resemblance.   An anonymous writer is said to have written in to The Evening Mirror the publication who printed The Raven and suggested that it was plagiarized from a poem called The Bird of the Dream by an unnamed author.   They stated that 18 similarities between the poems existed.   At Poes death his friend Thomas Chivers claimed that Poes Raven was plagiarized from one of his poems and also claimed he was the inspiration for the meter of the poem.   Whatever the case Edgar Allen Poe will always be the one credited for the great masterpiece.   Many speculate that he wrote this poem in either 10 days or maybe 10 years one will never know.   This poem did not bring him much financial success but did make him a literary success.   His friend Elizabeth Barett wrote and told Poe that his raven had created a big sensation over in England.   Many of her friends are overtaken with fear while others are by the music the lyrics seem to display as you read.   Poe received many invitations public and private to recite this poem.   Many thought just to hear him recite this poem was an event in ones life.   Poe would come in and turn the lamp light low until the entire room was almost dark.   He would then stand near the center of the room and start to recite his poem in a very commanding voice.   It was state that the chosen he read this poem to were so mesmerized that they would almost not draw a breathe out of fright until he was done reading this poem.   It takes quite a literary genius to illicit this kind of resonse from an audience listening to something you wrote.   One can only imagine what the mood of the room must have been like, the room dark and foreboding and then one lone voice speaking of a lone young man who is lost and lonely and mourning the loss of his love.   It takes a gifted writer to bring these kinds of emotions to a reader.   Not many have come down in our literary history, especially one who can bring so many emotions to the table when reading one of his poems.   All of his works seem to bring signs of foreboding or gloom around the corner.   Edgar Allen Poe is renowned with this reputation.   If it is dark and melancholy then it has to be Poe. References 1. Silverman, Kenneth, Edgar A Poe: Mournful and never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Perennial. Pg 237 2.   Hirsch, David H. The Raven and the Nightingale .pg 195 3.   Adams, John.Classical Raven Lore and Poes Raven in Poe Studies. Vol. V, no. 2, December 1972. Pg 53 4. Kopley, Richard and Kevin J. Hayes. Two verse masterworks: The Raven and Ulalume, collected in The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allen Poe, edited by Kevin J. Hayes. New York: Cambridge University press, 2002. Pg 192-193 5. Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allen Poe: A to Z. New York City: Checkmark Books, 2001. Pg 208

Parallel Structure with Prepositions

Parallel Structure with Prepositions Parallel Structure with Prepositions Parallel Structure with Prepositions By Mark Nichol Writers often mistakenly withhold repetition of prepositions with corresponding sentence elements in the erroneous belief that those elements can share a single preposition. In each of the following sentences, a repeated preposition is missing, and a discussion after each example explains the problem and a revision resolves it. 1. These developments are significant as the cost and influence of regulation on business models remain high in many industries. This sentence’s construction implies that cost can share the preposition of with influence, but it requires its own, because cost is parallel not to influence but to â€Å"influence of regulation on†: â€Å"These developments are significant as the cost of, and influence of regulation on, business models remain high in many industries.† 2. Such dysfunction can arise from incentives that do not encourage resiliency and management being out of touch with the customer. Similar to the problem in the previous sentence, from should be repeated before management so that the reader is not led to believe that management corresponds to resiliency rather than to incentives: â€Å"Such dysfunction can arise from incentives that do not encourage resiliency and from management being out of touch with the customer.† 3. They are designing preventive and detective control activities that are effective in the new environment, both from a risk-management and operational-scalability perspective. For the phrasal adjectives â€Å"risk management† and â€Å"operational scalability† to be fully parallel, legitimately sharing the noun perspective, the second phrase must, like the first phrase, be preceded by an article: â€Å"They are designing preventive and detective control activities that are effective in the new environment, both from a risk-management and an operational-scalability perspective.† (Better yet, do so and transpose both and from and repeat perspective after each phrasal adjective: â€Å"They are designing preventive and detective control activities that are effective in the new environment, from both a risk-management perspective and an operational-scalability perspective.†) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Types of Rhyme50 Idioms About Roads and Paths6 Foreign Expressions You Should Know

A Beginners Guide to Statistics

A Beginners Guide to Statistics How many calories did each of us eat for breakfast? How far from home did everyone travel today? How big is the place that we call home? How many other people call it home? To make sense of all of this information, certain tools and ways of thinking are necessary. The mathematical science called statistics is what helps us to deal with this information overload. Statistics is the study of numerical information, called data. Statisticians acquire, organize, and analyze data. Each part of this process is also scrutinized. The techniques of statistics are applied to a multitude of other areas of knowledge. Below is an introduction to some of the main topics throughout statistics. Populations and Samples One of the recurring themes of statistics is that we are able to say something about a large group based on the study of a relatively small portion of that group. The group as a whole is known as the population. The portion of the group that we study is the sample. As an example of this, suppose we wanted to know the average height of people living in the United States. We could try to measure over 300 million people, but this would be infeasible. It would be a logistical nightmare conduct the measurements in such a way that no one was missed and no one was counted twice. Due to the impossible nature of measuring everyone in the United States, we could instead use statistics. Rather than finding the heights of everyone in the population, we take a statistical sample of a few thousand. If we have sampled the population correctly, then the average height of the sample will be very close to the average height of the population. Acquiring Data To draw good conclusions, we need good data to work with. The way that we sample a population to obtain this data should always be scrutinized. Which kind of sample we use depends on what question we’re asking about the population. The most commonly used samples are: Simple RandomStratifiedClustered It’s equally important to know how the measurement of the sample is conducted. To go back to the above example, how do we acquire the heights of those in our sample? Do we let people report their own height on a questionnaire?Do several researchers throughout the country measure different people and report their results?Does a single researcher measure everyone in the sample with the same tape measure? Each of these ways of obtaining the data has its advantages and drawbacks. Anyone using the data from this study would want to know how it was obtained. Organizing the Data Sometimes there is a multitude of data, and we can literally get lost in all of the details. It’s hard to see the forest for the trees. That’s why it’s important to keep our data well organized. Careful organization and graphical displays of the data help us to spot patterns and trends before we actually do any calculations. Since the way that we graphically present our data depends upon a variety of factors. Common graphs are: Pie charts or circle graphsBar or pareto graphsScatterplotsTime plotsStem and leaf plotsBox and whisker graphs In addition to these well-known graphs, there are others that are used in specialized situations. Descriptive Statistics One way to analyze data is called descriptive statistics. Here the goal is to calculate quantities that describe our data. Numbers called the mean, median and mode are all used to indicate the average or center of the data. The range and standard deviation are used to say how spread out the data is. More complicated techniques, such as correlation and regression describe data that is paired. Inferential Statistics When we begin with a sample and then try to infer something about the population, we are using inferential statistics. In working with this area of statistics, the topic of hypothesis testing arises. Here we see the scientific nature of the subject of statistics, as we state a hypothesis, then use statistical tools with our sample to determine the likelihood that we need to reject the hypothesis or not. This explanation is really just scratching the surface of this very useful part of statistics. Applications of Statistics It is no exaggeration to say that the tools of statistics are used by nearly every field of scientific research. Here are a few areas that rely heavily on statistics: PsychologyEconomicsMedicineAdvertisingDemography The Foundations of Statistics Although some think of statistics as a branch of mathematics, it is better to think of it as a discipline that is founded upon mathematics. Specifically, statistics is built up from the field of mathematics known as probability. Probability gives us a way to determine how likely an event is to occur. It also gives us a way to talk about randomness. This is key to statistics because the typical sample needs to be randomly selected from the population. Probability was first studied in the 1700s by mathematicians such as Pascal and Fermat. The 1700s also marked the beginning of statistics. Statistics continued to grow from its probability roots and really took off in the 1800s. Today, it’s theoretical scope continues to be enlarged in what is known as mathematical statistics.

Why Islamic Financial Institutions in Need for Corporate Governance Essay

Why Islamic Financial Institutions in Need for Corporate Governance Legal Framework - Essay Example Islamic finanical systems were particularly sucessful in the pre-colonial era but were methodologicaly replaced by conventional financial institutions during the colonial era. However over the last thirty or so years, Islamic financial institutions have been making a formidible comeback. Today Islamic financial systems have not only been established in Islamic states, but also internationally. Moreover, a number of conventional banks are also offering Islamic financial services evidencing the global acceptance of Islamic financial institutions. According to the World Bank, Islamic fiancial services are offered globally via 284 financial institutions in 38 countries which are Islamic and non-Islamic states. Like any financial institution, good and effective corporate governance is necessary for the effective and efficient functioning of the institution and for the protection of stakeholder interests. The stakeholder insterest are not always monetary in nature and can include ethics, values and/or religion. For Islamic financial institution, the amin interests of stakeholders is that the institution offering Islamic financial services comply with Shariah principles. Thus Shariah-compliant functioning in an Islamic financial insitution is the key component of corporate governance in Islamic financial institutions. ... However over the last thirty or so years, Islamic financial institutions have been making a formidible comeback. Today Islamic financial systems have not only been established in Islamic states, but also internationally. Moreover, a number of conventional banks are also offering Islamic financial services evidencing the global acceptance of Islamic financial institutions.1 According to the World Bank, Islamic fiancial services are offered globally via 284 financial institutions in 38 countries which are Islamic and non-Islamic states.2 Like any financial institution, good and effective corporate governance is necessary for the effective and efficient functioning of the institution and for the protection of stakeholder interests. The stakeholder insterest are not always monetary in nature and can include ethics, values and/or religion. For Islamic financial institution, the amin interests of stakeholders is that the institution offering Islamic financial services comply with Shariah p rinciples. Thus Shariah-compliant functioning in an Islamic financial insitution is the key component of corporate governance in Islamic financial institutions.3 The challenge for Islamic financial institutions in formulating good and effective corporate governance constructs is reconciling Shariah-compliant principles with the interests of all stakeholders.4 The stakeholder relationship in Islamic financial institutions is different from conventional financial institutions because profit and risk sharing principles change the nature of the stakeholder relationship.5 Moreover, the definition of property also changes the Islamic financial institution’s perspective on corporate

Fundatn Stage Currculum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Fundatn Stage Currculum - Essay Example wll further dscuss the ssues cncernng the Fundatn Stage n educatn whch are the ssues f prmary currculum where the chldren f 4-6 years ld are educated. The fundatn stage was ntrduced as a dstnct phase f educatn fr chldren aged 3-5 n September 2000. n preparatn, Currculum gudance fr the fundatn stage was dstrbuted n May 2000 t all schls wth nursery and receptn classes, and t early years settngs recevng nursery educatn grant fundng. Ths gudance sets ut sx areas f learnng whch frm the bass f the fundatn stage currculum. These areas are: The sx areas f learnng cverng chldren's physcal, ntellectual, emtnal and scal develpment were gruped nt 13 categres. They shwed gaps f 12 r 13 percentage pnts between grls and bys n the persnal, scal and emtnal develpment categres, and a 12-pnt dfference n ther wrtng ablty. Each area f learnng has a set f related early learnng gals. Currculum gudance fr the fundatn stage s ntended t help practtners plan t meet the dverse needs f all chldren s that mst wll acheve and sme, where apprprate, wll g beynd the early learnng gals by the end f the fundatn stage. The Educatn Act 2002 extended the Natnal Currculum t nclude the fundatn stage. The sx areas f learnng became statutry, and the Act als specfed that there shuld be early learnng gals fr each f the areas. A natnal cnsultatn n the cntent f the early learnng gals as set ut n Currculum gudance fr the fundatn stage was carred ut n autumn 2002. Fllwng ths cnsultatn the early learnng gals, and use f the Currculum gudance as a gude, became statutry n March 2002.The data, based n receptn class teachers' assessments f fur and fve-year-lds n 2003, was publshed at the end f June 2004 by the Department fr Educatn and Sklls. t shwed that grls were ahead f bys verall, n that grls were ether meetng r wrkng beynd the Early Learnng Gals, whle mre bys were wrkng twards the gals.The Act als establshed a sngle natnal assessment system fr the fundatn stage, replacng baselne assessment schemes. The Fundatn stage prfle was ntrduced nt schls and settngs n 2002-3. TheFundatn stage prflehas 13 summary scales c verng the sx areas f learnng, whch need t be cmpleted fr each chld recevng gvernment-funded educatn by the end f hs r her tme n the fundatn stage. Legslatn relatng t the currculum and assessment n the fundatn stage s set ut n the fllwng Statutry nstruments, bth f whch are avalable frm HMS: The Educatn (Natnal Currculum) (Fundatn Stage Early Learnng Gals) (England) rder 2003 (Statutry nstrument 2003 N.391) The Educatn (Natnal Currculum) (Fundatn Stage Prfle Assessment Arrangements) (England) rder 2003 (Statutry nstrument 2003 N.1327) The fundatn stage s the frst part f the Natnal Currculum, fcusng n the dstnct needs f chldren aged three t the end f the receptn year (age fve). The fundatn stage s delvered n a range f settngs ncludng pre-schl grups, early years centres, nursery and receptn classes. Early years settngs n recept f

Make one up Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Make one up - Essay Example Particularly, the soul is immoral in the aspect that people represent the wholeness of all the others in the entire world. In simple terms, take for example the analogy of an ocean. The ocean comprises of many drops of water; every drop is a single entity and at the same time, forms at least a part of the entire ocean. Thus, in this ocean filled with life, human beings are little drops. This doctrine indicates that every person must identify himself with life for in everything that lives, the majesty of life in God’s presence perpetuates. Scholars point out that blood and flesh do not have the power to inherit God’s Kingdom. Additionally, they go ahead to state that the perishable cannot inherit the imperishable. For instance, many Greeks rejected Pluto’s argument towards death. To those who opposed, death’s prospect caused a sense of terror, thus clarifying the mystery (96).This means that our mortal bodies do not have the ability to inherit the Kingdom o f God as well as that which is perishable cannot what is imperishable. This shows that the soul is imperishable and immoral in that, when people talk of inheriting the kingdom of God, they do not exactly mean they will go physically to claim it. However, their souls will claim God’s kingdom. Agreeably, people die after serving their life existence in this world (86). Therefore, for them to inherit God’s kingdom, their souls need to remain in existence in order to fulfill this quest. Ideally, the need to inherit the kingdom of God makes the soul remain immoral and imperishable. The argument of life after death is not something new but existed anciently. This was a common perception with Greeks. Nevertheless, Stewards argues that the doctrine was not hopeful. This doctrine was objected by some of the Greeks despite the fact that a reasonable number followed the soul’s immortality doctrine. In addition, it is undoubtedly unwise to question the will power of Almight y God. When people talk of resurrection during the end days, they refer to resurrection of the soul. According to scriptures, the soul will come back to life as opposed to our physical bodies. As noted, our bodies are subject to sickness, diseases, and decay and thus cannot inherit the kingdom of God, as they are perishable. Nevertheless, our spiritual bodies shall rise again gloriously and dwell afterwards in the kingdom of God. In simpler terms, that who neglects the life present in the soul simply casts away the present good. This highlights that this kind of person refuses to live for God and squanders all that he has. Under this spectrum, the soul is immoral and imperishable in the way that those who neglect the life in it squander the life in their bodies and bodies do not last forever. In conclusion, noting that the souls that sin shall die is imperative. It is arguable that righteousness shall be upon those who do right and wickedness shall be upon those who do wickedness (8 8). Likely, Go manifests his presence in innumerable states in the universe. Every manifestation commands people’s spontaneous reverence. In the same way God is everlasting, the soul that inhabits and manifests its presence is indeed imperishable. David Stewart asserts that this world of sense is perpetually changing and every moment is coming to a state of flux hence indicating that it is immoral (96). The way in which this happens is another way in which the soul is immor

Case studies and letter to the Editor Assignment - 1

Case studies and letter to the Editor - Assignment Example I will let them be aware that their misunderstanding is also affecting their work and eventually will affect our section’s productivity. I will ask them if they can commit to work with each other without fighting. I will tell them that I will observe them and see if there is any improvement. I have to tell them what the consequences will be if the disagreement persists. I will impose a policy of zero tolerance for office fighting. Emphasizing to them the importance of team work will also help. If after doing all these, the fighting continues, I will already refer it to higher management to assist me in resolving the problem. I will also suggest the possibility of assigning one of them to another section with the least communication with my section. But if this is done, it must be made clear to the employees that if they still ignore the office policy on fighting, it may already be a ground for their termination. Yes there is something George can do about Charlie’s behavior and for the company’s sake, he should. The change in his attitude towards staff meetings is a concern and a sign of demoralization. This justifies the need for him to take action on this matter. First, he should consult with the other old-time supervisors about how they feel about going to the meetings ever since Charlie came in. This is to verify if his sentiments are shared by the others or is it just him. If it is just him, then he should learn to change his attitude towards Charlie. However, if the others feel the same way, I think they have a valid reason to bring up their concerns over the behavior of Charlie to their manager. Tell their boss Charlie’s negative effects on morale and how the atmosphere during meetings has changed from positive collaboration to negative criticisms. After going to the boss, then George together with the others should invite Charlie in an informal get together, mayb e over a cup of coffee, and let him know how his

THE LOTTERY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

THE LOTTERY - Essay Example The purpose of the lottery is not explicitly stated in the story though a more detailed analysis of the story would reveal that the lottery is done to ensure a good harvest the next year. The villagers believed that they have to sacrifice one of their members to ensure enough rain: thus, a good corn crop next June (Tibbett, par.2). In the beginning of the story, there seems to be a very festive mood. It was a sunny day when the lottery was held. Again, Jackson makes use of irony here. A sunny day implies something happy will happen but readers are again misled into believing so (Cummings, par.11). Community members, the old and the young ones all gather together in the town square. The reader gets the impression that this is a grand town activity that is being looked forward to every year. All family members need to be present that the reader begins to wonder what is so special about this event. The kids are innocently gathering stones and having the time of their lives. Who would ha ve thought that the stones gathered by the kids would play an important part in the gruesome ending of the story? The black box used in the lottery is full of symbolism. Jackson could have chosen another color to describe the box, but why black? Black is symbolic of death. It is a premonition of the horrible event that will befall on one of the community members. â€Å"The black box grew shabbier each year †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Again, Jackson uses the box to represent the community’s adherence to tradition. The lottery began seventy-seven years ago and it became a tradition passed on to several generations. Though the tradition is outdated, the community did not want to make any changes symbolized by their refusal to change the box no matter how deteriorated it is (Blaylock, 2003). Although Mr. Summers talk of changing the box every year, no one really took it seriously. Here we can see that Mr. Summers is caught between tradition and the changing times. The readers may perceive hi m as someone with a weak personality. He represents people who are afraid to break tradition for fear of being criticized and unacceptable to the community members. Since he has no family to be proud of, he values his reputation in the community as shown in his dedication to civic activities. This lottery is of utmost importance to him as it shows his authority over the other members of the town. The name of Mr. Summers implies something sunny or cheerful but is actually the exact opposite of his being evil, him being the leader in this horrible tradition. Another character in the story which shows how the elderly are reluctant to change is Old Man Warner (Byemonday, 1). He even calls the young as a â€Å"pack of crazy fools†. Jackson uses the name â€Å"Warner† to depict someone who â€Å"warns† others not to change, to stick to tradition (Cummings, par. 12). Aside from the black box, another character which foretells of things to come is the postmaster, Mr. Gr aves. The name â€Å"Graves† shows how Jackson puts importance even in the names of the characters that she uses in her stories. The postmaster is a person in-charge of delivering mails. Mr. Graves is portrayed as someone who together with Mr. Summers is part of this conspiracy of â€Å"delivering† someone to his grave. He is the one who prepares the slips of paper and he also brings the stool where the black box is placed. Another symbolic character in the

The Saxophone in Jazz Music Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Saxophone in Jazz Music - Research Paper Example The invention of the saxophone is credited to a Belgian by the name, Antoine-Joseph Sax. Adolphe was born on 6th November 1814 and gained interest in musical interest from his father Charles. Adolphe’s father was a professional craftsman of musical instruments. To this end, Adolphe became an expert craftsman of musical instruments when he was just six years old. Some of his notable specimens included clarinets and flutes. Moreover, he devoted more time to studying these two instruments at the Brussels Conservatory. As a result, Adolphe noticed that there was a difference in tone between woodwinds and brasses. Evidently, he discovered that woodwinds were being overpowered by the brasses. Moreover, he equally noted tonal differences between the winds and strings whereby the latter was overpowered by the former. Consequently, Sax identified the need to invent a new instrument that achieved some semblance of balance between the strings, brass, and woodwinds. He envisioned a sound that combined the brass tone from the trumpet and the woodwind sound from the clarinet. As a result, Adolphe innovatively incorporated the mouthpiece from the woodwind and the structural form of the brass instrument. The end product was the saxophone.To this end, the pioneer saxophone was a C bass which Sax displayed to the prominently renowned composer, Hector Berlioz in 1841. Berlioz was mesmerized by the versatility, dynamic control and unique tone of the saxophone. As a result, in 1842, Adolphe migrated to Paris to publicize his saxophone.... Consequently, Sax identified the need to invent a new instrument that achieved some semblance of balance between the strings, brass and woodwinds. He envisioned a sound that combined the brass tone from the trumpet and the woodwind sound from the clarinet. As a result, Adolphe innovatively incorporated the mouth piece from the woodwind and the structural form of the brass instrument. The end product was the saxophone. To this end, the pioneer saxophone was a C bass which Sax displayed to the prominently renowned composer, Hector Belioz in 1841(Koenig 295). Belioz was mesmerized by the versatility, dynamic control and unique tone of the saxophone. As a result, in 1842, Adolphe migrated to Paris to publicize his saxophone. At around the same time, an article entitled ‘Journal des Debats’ was published by Hector Belioz. The article described Adolf’s innovative saxophone in depth. Consequently, by 1846 Adolphe Sax was officially recognized as the owner of the saxophon e when it was exhibited in public during the Paris Industrial Exhibition. Moreover, in 1844 a concert organized by Hector Belioz and known as the Chante Sacre featured the saxophone for the first time. However, it was the opera of the ‘Last King of Juda’ that marked the orchestral debut of the saxophone. Apparently, Adolphe proposed a contest between bands. The contest pitted his army band composed of saxophones against another one that was composed of traditional instruments. Evidently, Adolphe’s band carried the day and hence proved that saxophones had the capacity to improve the quality of tone in all the bands. By 1845, the B and E flat saxophones replaced the French horns, oboes and bassoons that were used in French military

Case studies and letter to the Editor Assignment - 1

Case studies and letter to the Editor - Assignment Example I will let them be aware that their misunderstanding is also affecting their work and eventually will affect our section’s productivity. I will ask them if they can commit to work with each other without fighting. I will tell them that I will observe them and see if there is any improvement. I have to tell them what the consequences will be if the disagreement persists. I will impose a policy of zero tolerance for office fighting. Emphasizing to them the importance of team work will also help. If after doing all these, the fighting continues, I will already refer it to higher management to assist me in resolving the problem. I will also suggest the possibility of assigning one of them to another section with the least communication with my section. But if this is done, it must be made clear to the employees that if they still ignore the office policy on fighting, it may already be a ground for their termination. Yes there is something George can do about Charlie’s behavior and for the company’s sake, he should. The change in his attitude towards staff meetings is a concern and a sign of demoralization. This justifies the need for him to take action on this matter. First, he should consult with the other old-time supervisors about how they feel about going to the meetings ever since Charlie came in. This is to verify if his sentiments are shared by the others or is it just him. If it is just him, then he should learn to change his attitude towards Charlie. However, if the others feel the same way, I think they have a valid reason to bring up their concerns over the behavior of Charlie to their manager. Tell their boss Charlie’s negative effects on morale and how the atmosphere during meetings has changed from positive collaboration to negative criticisms. After going to the boss, then George together with the others should invite Charlie in an informal get together, mayb e over a cup of coffee, and let him know how his

The Saxophone in Jazz Music Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Saxophone in Jazz Music - Research Paper Example The invention of the saxophone is credited to a Belgian by the name, Antoine-Joseph Sax. Adolphe was born on 6th November 1814 and gained interest in musical interest from his father Charles. Adolphe’s father was a professional craftsman of musical instruments. To this end, Adolphe became an expert craftsman of musical instruments when he was just six years old. Some of his notable specimens included clarinets and flutes. Moreover, he devoted more time to studying these two instruments at the Brussels Conservatory. As a result, Adolphe noticed that there was a difference in tone between woodwinds and brasses. Evidently, he discovered that woodwinds were being overpowered by the brasses. Moreover, he equally noted tonal differences between the winds and strings whereby the latter was overpowered by the former. Consequently, Sax identified the need to invent a new instrument that achieved some semblance of balance between the strings, brass, and woodwinds. He envisioned a sound that combined the brass tone from the trumpet and the woodwind sound from the clarinet. As a result, Adolphe innovatively incorporated the mouthpiece from the woodwind and the structural form of the brass instrument. The end product was the saxophone.To this end, the pioneer saxophone was a C bass which Sax displayed to the prominently renowned composer, Hector Berlioz in 1841. Berlioz was mesmerized by the versatility, dynamic control and unique tone of the saxophone. As a result, in 1842, Adolphe migrated to Paris to publicize his saxophone.... Consequently, Sax identified the need to invent a new instrument that achieved some semblance of balance between the strings, brass and woodwinds. He envisioned a sound that combined the brass tone from the trumpet and the woodwind sound from the clarinet. As a result, Adolphe innovatively incorporated the mouth piece from the woodwind and the structural form of the brass instrument. The end product was the saxophone. To this end, the pioneer saxophone was a C bass which Sax displayed to the prominently renowned composer, Hector Belioz in 1841(Koenig 295). Belioz was mesmerized by the versatility, dynamic control and unique tone of the saxophone. As a result, in 1842, Adolphe migrated to Paris to publicize his saxophone. At around the same time, an article entitled ‘Journal des Debats’ was published by Hector Belioz. The article described Adolf’s innovative saxophone in depth. Consequently, by 1846 Adolphe Sax was officially recognized as the owner of the saxophon e when it was exhibited in public during the Paris Industrial Exhibition. Moreover, in 1844 a concert organized by Hector Belioz and known as the Chante Sacre featured the saxophone for the first time. However, it was the opera of the ‘Last King of Juda’ that marked the orchestral debut of the saxophone. Apparently, Adolphe proposed a contest between bands. The contest pitted his army band composed of saxophones against another one that was composed of traditional instruments. Evidently, Adolphe’s band carried the day and hence proved that saxophones had the capacity to improve the quality of tone in all the bands. By 1845, the B and E flat saxophones replaced the French horns, oboes and bassoons that were used in French military

Hemophilia Summary Essay Example for Free

Hemophilia Summary Essay Background -Hemophilia A is an inherited disorder in which one of the proteins needed to form blood clots is missing or reduced. This lacking protein is known as blood clotting factor 8. Without F8, the blood cannot clot properly to stop bleeding and can result in excessive bleeding or disabilities. Hemophilia A -When blood is not able to clot and allow wounds to heal, this is a result of Hemophilia A Symptoms Include: -Prolonged bleeding from cuts -Excessive nose bleeds -Many large bruisings -1 in 5,000 males are affected Blood Coagulation -Blood coagulation is the defensive process that causes blood to clot and helps prevent excessive blood loss when blood vessels are injured. -Coagulation is a complex process that involves 20 to 30 components, called blood coagulation factors, and a series of complex chemical reactions. -When a blood vessel is injured, platelets in the area of the damage clump together and stick to the edges of the cut to begin the coagulation process. -Platelets are fragments of cells containing clotting factors and play a major role in blood clotting. -These clotting factors help platelets stick together and activate fibrin. (These clotting factors combine with a protein called prothrombin in a reaction that converts prothrombin to thrombin. Thrombin then converts fibrinogen (a protein present in plasma) into long, sticky threads of another protein called fibrin) -The fibrin forms a mesh-like net over the opening and traps red blood cells as they try to leak out of the cut. -As the clot hardens, it forms a protective seal over the cut so that the injury can heal and the vessel wall can be restored. Factor 8 -One specific intrinsic clotting cofactor that stabilizes the fibrin clot is Factor 8. -F8 is activated by thrombin in the presence and is a cofactor in the activation of factor X (WHAT DOES X DO) -Ultimately Factor F8 cross-links fibrin polymers solidifying the clot. -Without this coagulation factor, vessels are not able to heal and therefore result in excessive bleeding (also known as Hemophilia A) Causes of F8 deficiency -Numerous mutations in the gene structure have been discovered. -Genetic abnormalities include genetic deletions of variable size, abnormalities with stop codons, and frame-shift defects. -Data suggest that 45% of severe hemophilia A cases result from an inversion mutation. F8 Gene -the F8 gene is located in the proximal part of chromosome X and is expressed in human liver, spleen, lymph nodes, and a variety of other tissues, -It’s one of the largest genes; it is 186 kilobases (kb) long and has a 9-kb coding region that contains 26 exons and 25 introns. -The shaded green region to a full blue and incomplete red displays that the gene gets transcribed into mRNA but not translated into proteins. Shaded green is the 5 and 3 untranslated regions that are able to bind to something else. -variant (1) consists of 26 exons and encodes the full-length isoform (a) -variant (2) contains an unique 5 exon located within intron 22 of transcript variant 1 Crystal Structure Is composed of a Ca Ion, Cu Ion, Alpha-D-Mannose N-Acetyl-D-Glucoamine. (Find out the importance/functions of these..?) Arrows = beta sheets Coils = alpha helix -how the F8 factor is incorporated / works in the overall protein. -responsible for generating the larger amounts of Xa and thrombin required for clot formation. -Covalent cross-linking of fibrin polymers by activated factor XIII (XIIIa) is required for adequate clot strength and normal wound healing. -How it works: catalyzes a transglutamination reaction that initially cross-links the C-terminal ends of the g chains on adjacent fibrin monomers. Intrinsic / Extrinsic It turns out that you actually need both the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways in your body. In a test tube, you can form fibrin along either pathway. But in the body, the pathways are intertwined in such a way that if you’re missing something on either the extrinsic or intrinsic side, you won’t be able to clot properly. In our bodies, the thing that kicks off the clotting cascade is tissue factor â€Å"exposure.† Tissue factor is not floating around in the blood normally – or at least, it isn’t normally â€Å"visible† to the blood (it might be in little membrane fragments, but it’s not active until it’s needed). When you need to form a clot, tissue factor appears, and together with factor VIIa (which happens to be just floating around in the blood) it converts factor X to Xa (which then converts prothrombin to thrombin, which converts fibrinogen to fibrin). So: clotting initially begins along the extrinsic pathway. The weird thing, though, is that as soon as we make a little Xa, that Xa (along with the aptly-named tissue factor pathway inhibitor) turns off the extrinsic pathway! A little thrombin is formed, though, before the pathway gets turned off – and that thrombin kicks off the intrinsic pathway (the other side of the cascade, with factors VIII and IX). Fibrin formation then proceeds along this pathway until it’s no longer needed. The bottom line is: you need both the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways to form fibrin in vivo. If you don’t have factors VIII or IX, you can’t utilize the intrinsic pathway – and you’ll have a very hard time forming fibrin! Intrinsic / Extrinsic Include the two different pathways that lead to the formation of a fibrin clot: the intrinsic and extrinsic pathway. Although they are initiated by distinct mechanisms, the two converge on a common pathway that leads to clot formation. Both pathways are complex and involve numerous different proteins termed clotting factors.

Using Roleplay To Help Students Learn English

Using Roleplay To Help Students Learn English 1. INTRODUCTION The more students talk, the better they learn; Speaking skill is not given special significance in the teaching of English in Vietnamese universities. Traditional English education in Vietnam focuses heavily on reading skill. Also, many Vietnamese students and even teachers have examination-orientation. In the first semester, students start the elementary level with the textbooks Lifeline set (Hutchinson, 2001). The textbook cover four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. The assessment at the end of each semester is based on a written test involving reading and writing skills only. As a result, pre intermediate students spend more time improving reading and writing skills and mostly ignoring listening and speaking skills. This fact happens at not a single university in Vietnam but across the country. In the first semester, pre intermediate students do not have many chances to communicate in English; therefore, their speaking skill is restricted with lack of naturalness, reaction and pronunciation. Many are shy to speak out in English as they are afraid that listeners cant understand well what they say. Role play is considered one teaching method which motivates pre intermediate students to get involved in speaking lessons. In opinion of James G. Clawson (1997, p.2), role play is a superb vehicle for bringing the distiction between concept and reality to the fore. During role play, students are motivated to perform and act and speak in English class. They are challenged to use their English words in mind to apply into simple conversation in daily life. This indeed enables them to get familiar with normal conversation in their real life. Also, motivation influences how and why people learn as well as how they perform (Chin Chun Shih, 2001). While role play contributes to affect students attitudes positively and improve their English speaking skills, there is little research examining its effectiveness towards pre intermediate students in universities. In Vietnam, much of the research focuses on role play aiming at junior high schools students in foreign countries like Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. There is little research that indicates how role-play could influence students learning attitudes directly. Scarcella Oxford (1992, p.54) also pointed out that most researchers talk about using cooperative learning activities or student-centered learning in order not to put too much pressure on an individual student in front of the class. Therefore, this particular research is intended to focus on the effectiveness of role play in teaching speaking skills for pre intermediate students. Based on the above rationale, this research tends to seek answers to two below research questions: What are pre-intermediate students attitudes toward the role-play activity? In what way does role play improve pre-intermediate students speaking skills? Generally, this research aims at making clear two important aspects of role play: affecting attitudes positively and improving speaking skills properly. Firstly, this research shows how role -play has a direct effect on learners attitudes. Secondly, this research intends to point out how role play help improve their speaking skills in particular. The structure of this research includes the context and methodology as the qualitative method. Data will be collected via oral test, interview and observation, which will then described and analyzed in item data analysis. Next, the content of reflection shows what is gained and which possibly further research questions are. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Definitions of terms Role-play can be divided into role and play. Gillian (2002, p.7) refers role as to play a part (either their own or somebody elses) in a specific situation. He also indicates that Play represents the role is taken on in a safe environment in which students are as inventive and playful as possible (p.5). This teaching method enables students to enjoy the experience of having conversations with people in real life so as to develop their social communication. The function of role-play in language learning Teaching English in Vietnam mostly concentrates on grammar translation methods and is examination oriented. Adian Doff and Maxwell (2002, 1997) pointed out the problems of those English teaching methods, and argued that there is a need to develop more diverse English teaching methods or activities. Vietnamese students have common weakness reportedly as their speaking ability. They have little chance to practice conversation, even in the second language classrooms. In order to encourage students to speak in public, role -play is often used by teachers as one of the teaching methods. Maxwell (1997) holds the opinion that the purpose of role-play is to improve students verbal and nonverbal communication skills and to link and use previously built schemas, in both structured and improvised situations (p.1). This viewpoint shows that role -play could improve students in verbal or nonverbal communication while they are performing the roles in the dialogue. James G. Clawson (1997, p. 4) pointed that A common theme in the benefits of using role play is that the techninque can bring abstract discussions alive, make them live, and in so doing, open up students willingness to learn When taking part in the dialogues created by teachers or extracted from the text books, students will be required to act as the characters in the dialogues, therefore, they will find it easier to use the conversation in daily lives. Daily conversation will create lots of unpredictable situations that make students confused how to deal with. As noted by Salies (1995, p.6), role-play helps learn ers to deal with unpredictability, motivating them by adding emotion and increase the awareness of the listeners. Accordingly, role-play helps create a safe environment for students to practice their language skills. The influence of role play on attitudes Attitude plays an important role in learning English speaking skill. Without adequate and appropriate attitudes, pre-intermediate students are usually unwilling to learn what their teachers try to teach them. To make a change about students learning attitudes, teachers can use role play to increase their confidence because role-play proves to be a good choice for them to understand and handle the learning content. James G. Clawson (1997, p4) indicated that role play helps improve learners abilities to communicate their thoughts and feelings in effective and productive ways among peers. They will find themselves better motivated to learn if they are recognized as a part of the class. Motivation is important because it helps create good start. Role-play can also help reinforce students knowledge gained through constant practice and acting. Also, students learn to how to cooperate well with each other through working and discussing English together, which will lead to mutual affection. He pointed that emotional climate is a good motivation during learning process (Ray, 1992, p.9). Students can gain more confidence in a safe environment brought by role play method. The learning environment ha s become particularly important for students. Ray (1992) also agreed that students prefer a consistent learning environment with good order at which they feel safe. (p.5). In other words, students can learn better in a little pressure environment. Furthermore, role-play helps create peer relationships which have become very important in improving attitudes. Ray said that the main motivational factor for pre intermediate students is the social incentives reflected in peer relationships (1992, p.13). The speaking and practicing subjects would be their classmates, who are familiar to the students and cause them less pressure and nervousness. Students work in small or big groups and there is a competitiveness among these groups. By this kind of stimulus, students are able to increase their learning attitudes, and to learn the second language further. Therefore, in the context of this research study, the findings above show that role-play could affect students attitudes positively in four aspects: improving students confidence, motivating their participation, creating interest in speaking lessons, and improving peer relationships through moderate competition. In conclusion, the literature above may lead to the fact that the main function of role-play is to help students improve speaking skills. Below context will indicate that there is a need to examine how role-play can facilitate students speaking ability in Vietnams education environment. 3. CONTEXT In Vietnam, the teaching of English has been criticized with lack of practice and heavy focus on written examination. In most universities in Vietnam, students are tested in written form, meanwhile, oral tests are ignored since they are time consuming and too difficult for students. Many pre- intermediate students are reported with lack of English communicative ability due to their emphasis on the written exam in previous grades. Adian Doff (2002) stated that teachers would look at prior tests to assure that they covered the subject matter of the test or test objectives (p.2). The Entrance Exam is the main examination for high school students to enter university. There are two parts of questions. The first part include multiple choice grammar questions for each of which students must choose the best answer. The second part is a reading comprehension assessment that includes cloze tests (Ministry of Education and Training, 1999). Thus, students focus on writing and reading rather than speaking skills. Also, starting their learning in universities, pre-intermediate students are lack of chance to improve their speaking skills. They feel shy and can hardly speak and listen to English in their daily lives. Although they are taught the curriculum Lifeline set (Hutchinson, 2001) with four skills, the speaking skills are often ignored due to limited time in one period. Grammar or reading exercises are taken greater priority. Besides, teaching speaking seems to put a lot of effort into and not every teacher will be successful in a speaking lesson. As a matter of fact, so many teachers of English in Vietnam universities are trained with grammar translation method. That is the reason why they will face a big challenge to create an environment in which students are given more opportunities to use English as a means of communication. It has become more and more difficult for Vietnamese teachers when they have to work with large classes which are more suitable to give lectures instead of asking students to work in small groups. Teachers of English make it impossible to control such large classes if they have intention of teaching English in communicative way. A serious problem teachers in Vietnam have to tackle is that although there is a number of a method of teaching speaking skill, it is not easy at all to find out appropriate methods which help Vietnamese students, especially those at pre-intermediate leve l make some improvements in speaking skill. Researchers argue that role-play can help learners improve it. Firstly, role-play helps improve students listening ability. In viewpoint of Salies (1995, p.8), role-play makes students aware of the listener. Therefore, listening ability is as important as speaking ability and role-play might help to improve this skill. Secondly, role -play contributes to improve speaking ability. In order to speak well in a daily conversation, one should take consideration about the pronunciation as well because clear pronunciation helps speaking become two-way communication. In this case, while students are performing in speaking lessons, teachers will be able to listen to each students pronunciation and correct him/her individually during speaking sessions. In conclusion, the context above is critical because it indicates that there is a need to examine how role-play can facilitate pre intermediate students speaking ability in Vietnams universities. 4. METHODOLOGY According to C. Pope and N. Mays (1995), the goal of qualitative research is the development of concepts which help us to understand social phenomena in natural (rather than experimental) settings, giving due emphasis to the meanings, experiences, and views of all the participants. In the researchers viewpoint, qualitative method is proper to discover pre-students attitudes towards role play and how role play motivates them in speaking lessons. This part presents subjects, data collection instruments consisting of oral tests, interview and observation via two role play activities. 4.1. Subjects Participants Six students are randomly chosen. All are between the age of 19 and 20 and study English at pre-intermediate level. Students at pre-intermediate level but not other levels are chosen as they have more chance to take part in communication activities. In order to get an exact result, the participants English speaking ability is different. The backgrounds of participants are stated below. Name Sex Background English Level Nam Male He is quite good at English. He performs enthusiastically and confidently in English class. Good Mai Female Her English is at medium. However, she is willing to learn and perform in class. Medium Trung Male He is a person who is enthusiastic in English lesson even though his English is not as good as others. Medium Hoa Female Her English level is medium. She is very shy. She likes English, especially English speaking skill. But she is too shy to perform in class. Medium Sy Male He likes taking part in all games in class. Although his English is not good, he is not afraid to speak English. Not good Phuong Female She likes to talk loud in class, but not in English. Due to her weakness at English she seems to be very quiet in English lessons. Not good Teaching materials The main pilot teaching material is The New Headway Pre-intermediate textbook compiled by Liz John Soars. There are two dialogues used in this research. The researcher asked the informants to play the roles of the dialogues. Students are voluntarily encouraged to contribute their own ideas to make the play role activities more creative and interesting. 4.2. Instruments of data collection 4.2.1. Oral tests and Interviews Two oral tests and interviews were conducted for this study with the participation of six students. The first oral test was done before the two-week experiment, and the second oral test was held after the experiment of the two-week experiment. Moreover, during the interview the researcher asked them related questions to clarify the purpose of the study. Yes-no questions and WH- questions that students have to answer are included in oral test questions. Yes-no questions are for students who can not have long answers, and WH- questions are for students who are at better learners. The questions are displayed in Appendix A. After finishing the pre-oral test, the study proceeded to the main part, which was role-play. During role-play, I interviewed every student individually. The interview questions were based on some basic questions but might be changed to adapt the situations and students reactions (see Appendix C). Moreover, students were interviewed in their mother tongue so that they felt at ease to express their feelings. When the pre-oral test, two role play activities and interview were finished, it was time to examine how students improve their speaking ability. And the post-oral test was done to compare the students performances from the beginning to the end (see Appendix A). 4.2.2. Observation The researcher observed six pre-intermediate students participation during two role play activities. The observation in this study was done via my note-taking or keeping diary, and tape-recording through the pilot teaching. The purpose of this part is to see what pre-intermediate students behaviors are when role play is employed as a speaking activity. Furthermore, during the pilot teaching, tape recording was also carried out to get the data for the research. The students utterances were recorded and analyzed later to find out how the role play was used and how it motivated students. 5. DATA ANALYSIS Descriptive data are analyzed by qualitative method. 5.1. Descriptive data of oral tests The oral tests were arranged and conducted at the participants convenience. The oral tests (see Appendix A) were given before and after the two-week experiment. In order to give descriptive data of oral tests, interviews and observation, I have based on seven criteria to review pre-intermediate students English speaking ability including: 1) the influency of speaking, 2) the frequency of using words that have been taught, 3) the accuracy of grammar application, 4) the listening skills absorption, 5) the anxiety of students, 6) the accuracy of pronunciation, 7) the pause while interviewing. The oral tests showed that students speaking ability did improve after the use of role-play. Specifically, three fourth of the participants spoke more fluently. While doing the oral test, I also felt that students would try hard to answer in English. They might not give complete sentences, but they would manage to use the words they had learned. They also tried to use correct grammar when giving answers. However, some students who were not good at English such as Sy and Phuong sometimes produced wrong grammar sentences. Moreover, students not only understood what I asked during the oral tests, but also tried hard to listen to whole sentences and digested them. I, myself, had a strong feeling that students tried very hard to pay attention to the post-oral test, because most students had enthusiastic responses with me. Moreover, students anxiety had been decreased during the second oral test. One of the reasons that the researcher postulated was that students were familiar with the res earcher, and might not be afraid to speak English. They also learned how to pay due attention to their pronunciation while performing in front of their classmates. This also made them have better pronunciation during the oral tests. Some of them even tried to improve their pronunciation by making repetition of what they spoke. The pause frequency of interviewees was really high during the first oral tests, but it seemed lower during the second. Some students said I dont know or I have no idea when they could not find the answers to the questions. In general, the oral-tests showed that role-play had a positive influence on pre-elementary students speaking skill. Most students might not have the ability to answer in complete sentences, but they showed positive attitudes during the oral tests. They paid due attention to the questions, and answered the questions using the vocabulary they had learnt, which showed their willingness to attempt to learn English in general and speak English in particular. Therefore, I can conclude that role-play not only stimulated students when they learned English in speaking lessons, but also made them eager to learn more. 5.2. Descriptive data of observation In order to assess the participation and effectiveness of using role-play in speaking lessons, I based on four levels: 1-3 (bad), 4-6 (medium), 7-9 (good), 10 (excellent). In this part, I would like to use two dialogues and asked participants to play role (see appendix B). For the first role play activity, the researcher used the telephone conversation between the receptionist and client in book New Headway Pre-intermediate by Liz and John Soars (p.77, unit 9). I asked the participants to work in pairs which mean three couples did the same role play. In order to make the role play more effective and to have an exact observation, I asked Nam to work with Mai, Trung with Phuong, and Sy with Hoa. Nam, Trung, Sy played the role of the receptionist whereas Mai, Phuong, Hoa played the role of the client. The researcher instructed first and three pairs presented in turn. During the role play activity, I would observe, take notes, and record. The first role play is easy and simple so that students can feel comfortable and confident to take part in. The results of observation basing on the four levels are presented as below. For the second role play activity, the researcher used a more difficult role play activity which was extracted from the book New Headway Pre-intermediate by Liz and John Soars (p.57, unit 7). This role play was an interview with the band Style. Participants had to play the role of an interviewer a journalist and the role of two interviewees Suzie and Guy. In this part, students worked in group of three. Nam, Mai, Sy were the first group. Trung, Hoa, Phuong were the second group. Nam, Hoa who are better at English were the interviewers. The rest were the interviewees in which Mai, Phuong played the role of Suzie, and Sy, Trung played the role of Guy. Similar to the first role play, the researcher instructed first, and the two groups presented in turn. The results of observation from the second role play activity basing on the four levels are stated as below. The second role play After experiencing the two role-play activities, the researcher found that the pre-elementary students English speaking ability has been improved. Specifically, four out of six participants made a clear progress in the influence of speaking ability, and the ability of expressing him/her self. Moreover, half of participants used grammar more correctly. Also, half of participants became more confident such as Mai, Trung, Sy. In addition, Nam the best participant at English speaking improved his vocabulary. Thus, the observations results show that pre-students English speaking skill has been improved when the researcher uses the role play in speaking lessons. 5.3. Descriptive data of interview The interview was conducted during and after role play. All the students were interviewed once. Additionally, the interviews were conducted in Vietnamese. During the interviews, the whole procedure was recorded and taken notes. The questions of interview are available in Appendix C When being asked to compare the traditional teaching method most of the students answered that they really like the role-play teaching method. They explained that role-play gave them a joyful feeling and avoid being sleepy in class. In general, most students feel that role play is an interesting teaching activity and they really like it. In other words, their feeling of this teaching method is positive. For example, one of the interviewees, Hoa, expressed that: Well, I extremely like this teaching activity. It helps me be more confident in speaking English. Especially, it makes me more interested in lesson instead of being sleepy. I always feel bored and sleepy in lessons which are given in a traditional way. Another participant Nam said that: I think using role play in speaking lessons is good because we get more confident when playing role and speaking in front of other friends. I like this teaching method than the traditional method. For the second question Do you think that your speaking skill has been improved after doing role-play in class? all participants answer Yes. For example, Sy pointed out that role-play can help him improve his speaking skill: I thinkà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ my speaking is better after doing role-play several times. My speaking ability seems to be more fluent. Andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.I feel more confident. When replying this question, Trung also determined that his speaking English skill had been improved. He said Ummà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.You know that now I can speak English a little bit fluently. I feel more confident to speak in front of other students. Does it mean that my English speaking skill has been improved? Furthermore, I asked the participants whether there are any negative sides when applying role-play in class. And most of them answered that the problem is the class order was not very good in that case. Sometimes, there was too much noise for students to act in class. Participants, however, still show a positive attitude. Mai said: I think noise is unavoidable when we learn speaking skill. I really like this kind of teaching activity. It is fun. It makes me want to study English and want to speak English in class. However, in order to add to the negative sides of using role play in class, Hoa stated that Sometimes role play takes much time. In my opinion, it is a negative side of role play. I asked the students if it was tiring or stressful for them to plan the dialogues beforehand. As a result, most students showed a positive response to the preparation. Phuong who is not good at English expressed that I feel difficult to have a good preparation at first. My English is not very good. I can not study it at home without teachers instruction. However, after preparing for the class for several times, I start to feel that preview is really important. I know the lesson prior to class and I can understand what the teacher talks about in class. Furthermore, as I have had preparation before class, I become less nervous and shy when speaking on the stage in English. Similarly, Trung said eagerly: Well, my teacher also asked us to prepare in advance. For the first time I felt quiet tired because I didnt get familiar with this learning method. But for the third time, everything seemed to be better. And now I have no problem with preparation in advance. When observing participants doing the first role-play, the researcher recognized that some of the students were very extroverted. However when they were asked to perform the role play in class, they started to keep avoiding from this opportunity. I wanted to know what resulted in such a reaction. Some students told me that they were really shy; some of them could not find out the proper way to act. However, after doing the second role-play the participants responses seemed to be more positive. They participated to the activity more enthusiastically. They did not appear to be shy any more. For example, Trung said that I am an extroverted person. However, I dont feel confident when speaking English in class because I know that my English is not good and as a result, I dont want to speak English in class. But now I feel better. After doing the first and the second role-play activities I recognize that theres no reason to be shyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦please take part in the activity, please spea k. Wellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it is really good. In short, most of the participants hold the positive attitudes to the role-play teaching activity in speaking lessons. For example, students showed more interest in learning speaking English with the role -play activity, students agreed that role-play helped improve their speaking skills, and they showed higher willingness to perform in public. 6. REFLECTION This study was designed to research the effectiveness of using the role-play to motivate pre-intermediate students in speaking lessons. There were six participants in the research. Also, the researcher used qualitative method to do the research in which oral tests, interviews, and observation are used to collect data. Based on the results of the study, the findings have been drawn. These findings are: (1) participants have a positive attitude to role-play in speaking lessons. (2) Role-play motivates pre-intermediate students in learning speaking. Moreover, the findings of this study may offer three practical implications for English teachers in Vietnam to help students develop speaking ability. The first implication for English teachers is that they should apply a communicative teaching technique in English speaking classes such as role play. However, role play should be merged with the traditional English teaching. The second implication is that teachers can affect students learning attitudes/motivation positively by lively activities. The last implication is to provide a safe environment with tender discipline in class because this will make student feel more comfortable and eager to learn, especially to speak English in class. In other words, English teaching in Vietnam should be added lively and interesting communicative teaching methods in class, especially in English speaking class. I believe that the study is successful. Also, it is proper to use the qualitative method for this study. However, there is one limitation which may influence the outcome of the study. The limitation referred in this study is time limitation. Because of limited time, I can only give two role-play activities to experience and test the effectiveness of role-play on pre-intermediate students. Suggestions for further research In order to have a more accurate and complete result, further study can be done with the cooperation of the involved students English teacher. Working with the English teacher is advantageous as he/she might help me understand every students English level in a short time. Moreover, it would be better to have two instructors to review students during oral tests and performances. Besides role-play, I would like to add some other activities to class and think of some interesting topics for students to act in role-play. It would be boring if the whole period of class was proceeding in the role-play teaching activity only, thus, added activities may help students concentrate in class more effectively. The dialogues in students textbooks did not really attract them. Students already had those contents in their regular English classes. It would affect students attitudes/motivation positively if there were more interesting topics for students to discuss and act. Last but not least, in a future research, I may have more chances to videotape the whole process of the experiment which includes the oral tests, interviews and performances. Students gestures, facial expressions or body languages could serve as the sources to interpret their intentions as well. Besides, some non-verbal languages could appear beyond expectation, so those expressions are also important for descriptive data. 7. CONCLUSION I would like to conclude my research in two aspects. Firstly, role play is not beneficial only for the pre intermediate students but even students of upper levels as well as lower levels. Role play proves to be a good way to motivate English learners to speak out what they want to say. In fact, students have to experience different situations in real life. The final and the most important goal of teaching English is none other than helping students use English in those situations. Role-play creates many daily situations for students to practice their English. In addition, it really creates a safe environment and productive learning environment in language class which would be interesting to absorb knowledge. Secondly, although role play works well in speaking lessons as well as with pre-intermediate university students, it is not the only method for teachers to apply in every lesson. In other words, there are numerous different ways Vietnamese teachers are offered to apply to motivate students communicate in English naturally and effectively, to affect their attitudes positively and to increase s