Identify the Individual Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Identify the Individual - Assignment Example The chemistry felt surreal. I could instantly feel the attraction which was thick and exciting. After the formal introduction, we parted ways but not for long. After about 2 weeks of passer-by greetings, I decided to ask her for her phone number. This was the beginning of escalating, and intense daily phone conversations which lasted about 1 week. The daily conversations were enduring and after the week session, we had our first dinner date at a nearby restaurant. The date would be the beginning of a more personal relationship that consisted of us frequently visiting each other's homes. The relationship began to become more serious as we spent more time together. After about 3 months of steady dating and meeting each other’s family, we took our relationship to another level. There was no denying that my feelings for Leasa were deep and passionate, so after dating for approximately 3 months, I decided to ask Leasa to be my girl by dating each other exclusively. Leasa stated she felt the same way and hence a monogamous relationship formed. Over the next year, we grew closer and the relationship deepened. We began to spend nights at each other's houses and ceased all phone calls from former lovers. However, one night as Leasa spent the night an old friend of mine called just to check in. Our relationship was never serious but we decided to remain friends. Even though the phone call was one of an innocent nature, Leasa grew jealous and we had our first real argument. We had disagreed before, however, this particular argument went on for hours and we stayed up all night arguing then making up. We grew closer that night and our relationship entered a new phase. Although Leasa seemed to be tailor-made for me, there were some significant differences in some core beliefs. Leasa wanted to get married before moving in together and wanted to start a family immediately.  

PM vs HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PM vs HRM - Essay Example The classical management perspective relied heavily on the placing of tasks and activities on the middle and lower tiers within the organization’s echelon. It focused more on carrying out the tasks at the lower levels and as such there was less accountability and answering when it came to the top management hierarchy present within the organization and indeed running the whole show. The same has changed and that too for the better so to speak. The classical management theory has completely faded out and the contemporary management perspective has superseded it on all counts. At the present, the work is supposed to be carried out by a basis of sharing and caring within the organization’s regimes which was not the case say two decades down the road. The changing market structure might call for changing strategies and lines of action that would all target the people for whom the product is actually designed as well as the competitors with whom the clutter is being broken i n the environs of the marketplace. Thus competition brings in more and more quality at the end of the company with regards to its products as well as more sales in the form of its varied and changed stance on focusing towards the customers rather than the product itself. Every big business or multinational that is existent in present times credits itself on to the vision of an exemplary personality which started it all when the going was tough and when there was a huge competition in the related market. Thus to withstand pressure and competition is the hallmark of any successful and long lasting business, company or enterprise, whichever term we might quote it as. Thus personnel management is more person-centric and focused on the positions that are being filled with employees. These employees have the related strengths and the zest to deliver the goods when it matters the most and hence the reason that they are being given the related opportunities to display their vigor on the

Introduction to Linguistics Essay Example for Free

Introduction to Linguistics Essay What is meant by the field of linguistics? This introductory chapter concerns some dimensions of linguistics, which give us a general idea of what linguistics is, including the history of linguistic, grammar, and other disciplines of linguistics study. What does grammar consist of and what are the relationship between one and another? How many languages do human beings have the capacity to acquire? What other studies are made in recent centuries? Each of these aspects are clearly described, and other chapters will go into further details. While in this chapter we will provide some less detailed information on the various aspects of linguistics mentioned so far. 1. 1 Defining Linguistics There is nothing that can be said by mathematical symbols and relations which cannot also be said by words. The converse, however, is false. Much that can be and is said by words cannot successfully be put into equations, because it is nonsense. C. Truesdell Linguistics is a study to describe and explain the human faculty of language. There is no doubt that linguistics has changed through human development. 1. 1. 1 History of linguistics See more: how to write an introduction The history of linguistics can be divided into three periods: antiquity, middle ages and modern linguistics. 1. 1. 1. 1 Antiquity Dating back to earlier period of linguistics, linguistics is often associated with a need to disambiguate discourse, especially for ritual texts or in arguments. Ancient Indians made a big contribution to linguistics development. Similarly, ancient Chinese played a key role in improving linguistics development. Around the same time as the Indian developed, ancient Greek philosophers were also debating the nature and origins of language. During this period, syntax and the use of particles developed fast. In addition, scholars proposed that word meanings are derived from sentential usage. 1. 1. 1. 2 Middle Ages In Middle East, in terms of expanding Islam in 8th century, a large number of people learn Arabic. Because of this, the earliest grammar came to being gradually. At the same time, Sibawayh, a famous scholar, wrote a book to distinguish phonetics from phonology. In the 13th century, Europeans introduced the notion of universal grammar. 1. 1. 1. 3 Modern Linguistics Modern linguistics beginning can date back to the late 18th century. With time passing by, the study of linguistics contains increasing contents. Meanwhile, it is used in other fields, computer, e. g. , has come to be called computational linguistics. The study of applications (as the recovery of speech ability) is generally known as applied linguistics. But in a narrower sense, applied linguistics refers to the application of linguistic principles and theories of language teaching and learning, especially the teaching of foreign and second language. Other related branches include anthropological linguistics, neurological linguistics, mathematical linguistics, and computational linguistics. However, linguistics is only a part of a much larger academic discipline, semiotics. It is the scientific study of language. It studies not just one single language of any one society, just like Chinese or French, but the language of all human beings. A linguist, though, does not have to know and use a large number of languages, but to investigate how each language is constructed. In short, linguistics studies the general principles whereupon all human languages are constructed and operated as systems of communication in their societies or communities. 1. 1. 2 An Interesting Comparison. Linguistics is a broad field to study, therefore, a linguist sometimes is only able to deal with one aspect of language at a time, and thus various branches arise: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, applied linguistics, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, lexicology, lexicography, etymology and so on. Suppose that the study of linguistics can be considered to be a computer, so linguistics is equal to the CPU, which supports all the other parts. Moreover, sound card would stand for phonetics and phonology, and then morphology and semantics are like the memory of the computer. Whats more, syntax plays as an important role to translate single words to a whole sentence which is full of meaning, just like a graphics card, which uses picture to make sense of the idea of memory stick. Finally, everything is ready, it s time to use computer and the same goes for language acquisition. Very interestingly, the properties of computer are amazingly similar to human language. from www. iflytek. com/english/Research-Introduction%20to%20TTS. htm Above all, linguistics is concerned with the study of verbal language particularly speech and written language. Whats more, language is a system and there is a set of options of which one must be chosen depending on the purpose and context. (Marie E. John P. , 1991, p. 64). 1. 2 The broad study of language Language is a highly complex system of communication, so it sometimes will be called a ‘system of systems’. It is used to construct, exchange, express, and record information and ideas. It performs these functions effectively because it is based upon systems that are understood by those using the language. In this chapter, four topics will be concerned. They are phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. In this section, some overall definitions and interactions among the four parts will be talked about. 1. 2. 1 Phonology In order to assist learners at the early stages of literacy, it is very important to understand the relationship between sounds and letters. The sounds of speech are studied in phonetics and phonology. (Marie E. John P, 1991) 1. 2. 1. 1 Definitions of phonology and phonetics Phonology is the study of sound systems- the invention of distinctive speech sounds that occurs in a language and the patterns wherein they fall. In other words, we study the abstract side of the sounds of language, a related but different subject that we call phonology (Peter, 2000). In short, it is about patterns and roots. On the other hand, it is more strict linguistics. Phonetics is the science which studies the characteristics of human sound-making, especially sounds used in speech, and provides methods for their description, classification and transcription. In common, speech sound is used everywhere, and it can be divided into three parts: articulatory phonetics, auditory phonetics, and acoustic phonetics. 1. 2. 1. 2 The difference between phonology and phonetics It seems that phonology and phonetics are similar. That is why both of them make learners confused. In fact, they have great difference. Phonology pays attention to how speech sounds of a language pattern are put together according to regular rules. On the contrary, phonetics focuses mainly on description of how speech sounds are made. For instance, if someone says â€Å"we should get our two lips close together and then push them open with a strong air†, that means he or she is relevant to phonetics field. Another example is â€Å"no words should begin with the ‘ng’/N/ sound, the sound only occurs at the end of words†, and this concerns phonology area. Plenty of terms are used to describe different patterns of letters and sounds. Some of the common used terms are blend, digraph, schwa, syllable and phonics, which are widely and frequently applied. 1. 2. 2 Morphology Morphology has been regarded as a necessarily synchronic discipline. That means the rules focusing on the study of word structure instead of the development of words (Katamba, 1993, p.3). It is the basic element used in a language, and the concept of morphemes is one of the main aspects in the study of morphology (Yule, 2006, p. 66). Basically, it is the branch of linguistics that studies the internal structure of words. In morphology, morphemes are the minimal units that have semantic meaning. It is the linguistic term for the most elemental units of grammatical form (Fromkin, Rodman, Hyams, 2006, p. 77). 1. 2. 2. 1 The classification of morphemes Morphemes are composed of free and bound morphemes. Free morphemes are the morphemes that can stand by themselves as single words, while bound morphemes are those that can not normally stand alone, but that can be attached to affixes (Yule, 2000, p. 75). Free morphemes contain lexical and functional morphemes. The first category, free morphemes, is the set of ordinary nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs which carry the content of the conveyed messages (Yule, 2000, p. 76), and most English words refer to this category. The functional morphemes consist largely of the functional words, including conjunctions, prepositions, articles and pronouns (Yule, 2000). Bound morphemes can also be divided into two categories. They are derivational and inflectional morphemes. Derivational morphemes are those which make new words in the language and make words of a different grammatical category from the stem (Yule, 2000, p. 76), which means that it can change the meaning or the word class, whereas the inflectional morphemes are used to indicate aspects of the grammatical function of a word (Yule, 2000, p. 77). 1. 2. 2. 2 The interaction with other aspects Morphology has interactions with phonology. The selection of the form that manifests given morpheme may be affected by the sounds that realize neighboring morphemes (Katamba, 1993). For example, prefixes and suffixes will normally affect the stress. Meanwhile, there is interaction between morphology and syntax. The form of words may be influenced by the syntactic construction in which the word is used (Katamba, 1993, p. 13). 1. 2. 3 Syntax So far in our study of language, we have made studies of phonetics, phonology and morphology. We have analyzed the structure of sounds and words. Therefore, we have been concentrated on the level of small units of language. After our analysis of words, we move to the consideration of larger structural units of language: phrases and sentences. If we concentrate on the structure and ordering of components within a sentence, we are studying what is technically known as the syntax of a language (Yule, 2000, p. 100). Syntax can be simply defined as the scientific study of sentence structure. According to Geoffrey (2005), syntax is a term used for the study of the rules governing the way words are combined to form sentences. The origin of this word is from Greek and it means a setting out together or arrangement (Yule, 2000). In the sentence The boy hits the door, we can discover that the words are related to each other in this order that it only has one meaning. If we change the order of the words The door hits the boy, the sentences meaning has totally changed and it is nonsense. The reason is that the parts of the sentence are structurally related to each other, and this structure is reflected in the word order. In English, the word order is very necessary and important for the meaning of the sentence according to linguistic rules. In some languages, word order plays a less important role. The meaning of the sentence depends more on the form of the words themselves. In such cases, it is possible for sentences with totally different word order to have the same meaning. English used to be one of these languages. The following examples are taken from Old English: Se cyning metech thone biscop-The king meets the bishop Thone biscop meteth se cyning-The king meets the bishop Although the words are arranged differently, they still mean the same. However, nowadays, the word order is very crucial for meaning. As a consequence, there is a great need for us to explore syntax. Some important concepts are included in the study of syntax. 1. 2. 3. 1Complex and compound sentence Three sentence types are basic in the syntax. There are simple sentence, compound sentence and complex sentence. A simple sentence includes one word. However, in some situation, the simple sentence contains two words. A compound sentence contains at least two simple sentences. The sentences are linked with a conjunction. A Complex sentence composes of at least one main clause and one subordinate clause. 1. 2. 3. 2 Syntax Analysis The following example is provided for syntax analysis. The football team won the match last year. S NP VP NP Det N Vt Det N Adv Ext(time) The football team won the match last year. The chart above is called tree diagram. The letters above each indicate: S = sentence, NP = noun phrase, VP = verb phrase, N = noun, V = verb, and so on. The syntacticians use this method to analyze the sentences. 1. 2. 3. 3 Basic Syntactic Structure In English, the structure of sentence depends heavily on word order. The four basic structures are listed as follows: SNP + Vc + NP ( NPN, NP Det + N) SNP + VP ( NPN, VPVc + Adj) SNP + VP ( NPN, VPV) SNP + VP (NPN, VPVt + NP, NPDet + N) 1. 2. 3. 4 Basic Syntactic Generative Process. There are four basic syntactic generative processes: substitution, expansion, extension, transformation. Take the following sentence as an example to clarify these three concepts. Ken is a policeman. Substitution: Ken is a policeman. Tom is a policeman. Expansion: Ken is a policeman. Ken is a bad policeman. Extension: Ken is a policeman. Ken is a policeman at that time. Transformation: Ken is a policeman. Is Ken a policeman? 1. 2. 4 Semantics Semantics, a subfield of linguistics, is the study of literal meaning. It is the recent addition to the English language. (Palmer, 1976, p. 1). According to Matthews (2007), during the early years the study of meaning focused on the lexicon alone. The scope of the study has expended since 1960s to include both semantics and pragmatics (analyzed in 1. 3), which come to the main fields of the study of linguistic meaning(Katamba, 2000 Matthews, 1997). Semantic meaning is fixed and abstract. It can be understood by surface. However, it is de-contextualized. In another word, it is easily subverted by different gestures or intonations. Semnatics interacts with other aspects of linguistics. For example, when synonyms are used, they can be understood, so it fits the rule of syntax. However, synonyms are used to describe something similar. In a sentence, a synonym can be substituted by another synonym. However, the meaning of synonyms speaker or writer determines or predicates have different degrees, which indicates the meaning is actually different (Alan, 2004). Thus, it is the interaction between syntax and semantics. As for the interaction with phonology, the term tonic syllable in phonology has three kinds of functions. The first one is the accentual function, which is to indicate the focus of the information. The second one is the attitudinal function that is to indicate the speakers attitude. And the last one is grammatical function. If speakers use these functions, the same sentence will turn out to have various meanings. To conclude, in this section, linguistics is analyzed from the aspects of sounds, word structure, grammatical rules and meaning. Each of them is in charge of a certain system. Thus linguistics can help people to communicate, to express, and to be understood. 1. 3 Other disciplines Apart from the core subparts of linguistics, which we have demonstrated before, for further reading, we introduce some other exciting aspects in the field of linguistics. There are a lot more to discover than those areas. 1. 3. 1 Sociolinguistics People may know something about you through the way you speak, for example, where you come from, where you spend most of your life time, your social identity and so on. Two people growing up in the same geographical area, at the same time, may speak differently owing to a number of social factors (Yule, 2000). Consequently, it’s very important to consider the social aspects of language. It’s because speech is a form of social identity and is used, consciously or unconsciously (Yule, 2000). The study of the social aspect of language is known as sociolinguistic. â€Å"Sociolinguistic is concerned with investigation of the relationship between language and society† (Ronald, 2006, p. 13). It consists of cultural norms, expectations, and context on the way language is used. The first linguists who studied the social aspect of language are Indian and Japanese in the 1930s. Another person called Gauchat who came from Switzerland had a analysis of this in 1900s as well. However, these three people didn’t receive much attention in the West. Until the late 19th century, the study of social aspects of language laid its foundation. Sociolinguistics gradually appeared in the 1960s in the West. Linguistics such as William Labov in the US and Basil Bernstein in the UK first brought out this concept and explored it. (Wikipedia, 2007, para. 1) 1. 3. 2 Neurolinguistics Though the neural structures of most animal species are very distant from man, there are still resemblances between human and animal languages (Marler, 1981; Nottebohm, 1970), since neurons work in both. Human brain contains billions of neural cells, and so far, the exact number of those so-called neurons is still to be defined (Fabbro, 1999, p. 21). These teeny tiny neurons have close link with the production of language. There can be innate or learnt vocal utterances. Oral language can be the innate property of the human brain, written language, however, is an invention of humankind. Dogs can bark, cats can miaow, and man can cry even after the removal of the midbrain, whereas parrots cannot imitate human sounds, and we cannot produce human language (Fabbro, 1999, p. 21). Therefore, the neural center of our brain is playing an irreplaceable role in the production of language. How does the main cerebral structure serve the production of human  vocalizations? The study of neurolinguistic rely on the study of neurology and neurophysiology, and in these fields, all parts of the nervous system, each having different functions in generating language, are discovered. Theories are found based on lots of experiments concerning the removals of different sections of the brain. The destruction of different language areas destroys language distinguishingly. 1. 3. 3 Historical linguistics Historical linguistics definitely is not concerned with the history of linguistics, though historical linguistics has played an important role in the development of linguistics. It is the main kind of linguistics practiced in the 19th century (Campbell, 1998, p. 5). Historical linguistics concerns the investigation and description of how languages change or maintain their structure in the course of time. Language change can be easily proved by documents written in the same language but at different periods of history. The differences of wording and structure of sentences can reflect the historical development of language. From series of datable documents, Lord’s Prayer widely recorded the history of mankind, and different versions help us analyze the language of each period (Bynon, 1978, p. 7). Meanwhile we can also discover that certain structure rules are still used in current language. There are some constructs and rule that link the grammars of two different but related languages, which descend from a single original language, sharing a common ancestor. More accurately, historical linguistics deals with the kinds of changes, and the techniques and methods we have use to discover history, rather than the origin of words themselves (Campbell, 1998, p. 5). 1. 3. 4 Anthropological linguistics Anthropological linguistic is the study of relations between language and culture. It is related to human biology, cognition and language. It belongs to the field of linguistic anthropology, which is a branch of anthropology that studies human-beings through the language they use(Wikipedia, 2007, para. 1). Some Linguists who explore theanthropological linguistics consider these topics such as chimpanzee communication, pidgins and creoles, structural linguistics,total languages, whorf hypothesis, etc. 1. 3. 5 Pragmatics According to Kate (2000), pragmatics is one of the two main fields in the study of linguistic meaning. Pragmatics deals with natural language, while language is always used in context for an intended purpose. The listeners must try to grasp the meaning implied, enrich the ideas, and finally make out the opinion that what the speakers meant when talking about a particular expression (Kate, 2000). According to Yule (1996), ‘pragmatics studies the context in which the utterance is produced as well as the intention of language user. ’ That means pragmatic meaning depends on context or situation. Without context, meanings can be vague and may be misunderstood by people. Two of the branches are: speech acts that cover ‘requesting’, ‘commanding’, ‘questioning’ and ‘informing’, and politeness that shows the awareness of another person’s face. In short, sociolinguistics is the analysis of interrelationship of language and society. Neurolinguistics is the study of the brain and how it functions in language. Historical linguistics is the consideration of language change and how different languages are related to each other. Anthropological linguistics is the study of language and culture. There are some other disciplines in linguistics. Pragmatics deals with the speakers meaning. The five mentioned above are some main disciplines in linguistics. Different disciplines of linguistics enrich the content of linguistic. The study of linguistics tends to be more and more detailed and completed. 1. 4 Language Acquisition This chapter began with a general introduction to language study. It ends with a consideration of the acquisition of language, containing first, second and foreign language, which is affected by the relationship between teacher and learner. Some experienced educators advise that it is only through learning to speak a language that you can fully analyze it (Everett 2001). Acquisition is described as occurring in spontaneous language contexts (Krashen, 1982), is subconscious, and leads to conversational fluency. 1. 4. 1 First language acquisition For a child, learning first language is automatic, not after starting school, not in specific circumstance and not by great efforts (Yule, 2006). It requires only basic physical capability of sending and receiving sounds directly or indirectly, and interaction with others using this language. Children are brought up in particular environments, being affected by different surroundings, especially by those people whom they spend most of their time interacting with. Infants start express themselves through some simple utterance, such as some vowel-like sounds. Children gain increasing abilities at different development stages, from producing single-unit utterance to producing speech by communicating through expressions (Yule, 2006), since they are able to understand what others said. This a big step forward, like quitting toddling and being capable of walking steadily, forwards, or backwards. As children are being increasingly exposed to communication and interaction, their language skills are developing rapidly because of the expansion of vocabulary. They are never forced to speak first language and seldom be corrected by others, but they correct themselves through interactions every day. Then children learn to use verbs in different sentences, and how to use different words to form a sentence (Yule, 2006). They gradually learn to ask questions correctly and how to use the word no in their speeches to express negative meanings. The last stage of first language acquisition is the ability of making meaningful sentence (Yule, 2006). There is massive variation in the rate at which features of ones first language are acquired. 1. 4. 2 Second language acquisition  Being able to speak first language is one of the basic skills of second language acquisition. Except for the minority of people who are bilingual speakers, most of the learners have no access to a second language until our late childhood. Actually most of the Chinese learners are now learning English as a foreign language, because it is immediately back to Chinese speaking time out of the classroom. But later on they may have the chance of learning it as a foreign language in a native speaking environment, during immersion semesters, when they will acquire this second language in circumstances similar to those of Chinese acquisition. There are obviously differences in foreign language achievement, sometimes related to differences in aptitude (Carroll, 1982), sometimes to affective factors (Gardner Lambert, 1972), sometimes to learner strategies (Naiman, Frohlicn, Stern Tedesco, 1978), sometimes to environmental factors such as opportunities for language use or instructional conditions (Long, 1982), and sometimes simply to time (Carroll, 1975). Human beings have the ability to learn more than one language all through ones live. Farwell (1963) (cited in Taylor, 1976) reports that a British explorer in the 19th century claimed to have spoken more than 40 languages and dialects. Usually, however, after the age of 10, the acquisition of second language is very different from the way one acquired his first language, which is relatively slower and cannot achieve native-like proficiency. 1. 4. 3 Educational factors Most of us begin learning second language in teenage years, spending only few hours on it every day and for most of the daily activities we use our mother tongue. Accordingly, we will encounter lots of difficulties in learning second language without enough exposure to it. Therefore, the largely distinguished part of acquiring first and second language should be language teachers. In order to learn a second language, we must learn from a teacher, or at least follow their guidance. The classroom is a very powerful instrument of instruction and it can control language learning in a very direct way (Richard, T. Roger,H. ). As language teachers, we should focus on students requirements and follow learner-centered approaches. We should impart knowledge in a more practical way so the students can receive easily. Keep the class disciplined and orderly so that students can learn most effectively from the lessons. There are often the situations that the students seldom volunteer answers, and the teacher sometimes has to call on someone and wait for a long time before a response is forthcoming. Why not try breaking away from typical Hong Kong classroom practices in class? Like, students do not have to stand up to greet teachers, and they do not have to raise their hands or stand up when they answer questions. In a relaxed classroom atmosphere, students will feel free to interact. They will not fall silent when the teacher enters the room, then stand up and chant a choral greeting. If the pupils are put in this position in the classroom, they can be more effectively kept in their place in social life. During the class, we teachers should never say like this: I am your teacher. By the authority vested in me I have the right to ask you to behave in a certain way, whether you like it or not. And you, in your role have the obligation to obey (Widdowson, H. G. ). Whereas, we should say that in another way: Do this because I am the teacher and I know whats best for you, but not Do this because I am telling you and I am the teacher. This difference has the advantage of largely increasing participation in the use and practice of language. 1. 4. 4 Summary Approaches to the acquisition of language account for different backgrounds of learns first language, and different conditions of exposure. In acquiring language, learners often go through transitional stages of development, which is at distinguished rates. References Cruse, A. (2004). Meaning in language : an introduction to semantics and pragmatics. Oxford, New York, Oxford University Press. Bynon, T. (1983). Historical Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Campbell, L. (1998). Historical Linguistics-An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Dechert, H. W. (1990). Current trends in European second language. Great Britain: WBC Print, Bristol. Fabbro, F. (1999). The Neurolinguistics of Bilingualism. Psychology Press Ltd. Fromkin, V. , Rodman, R. , Hyams, N. (2006). An introduction to language (8th ed. ). Boston, MA: Heinle Heinle. Palmer, F. R. (1976). Semantics: a new outline. Cambridge; New York : Cambridge University Press. Geoffrey, F. (2005). Key Concepts In Language And Linguistics. USA: Palgrave Macmillan. Kate, K. (2000). Semantics. Basingstoke, England, Macmillan. Katamba, F. (2006). Morphology. Basingstoke : Macmillan Press. Marie E. John P. (1991). Language and Learning. Melbourne: Oxford University Press O Mally, J. M. , Chamot, A. U. (1990). Learning strategies in second language acquisition. Cambridge University Press. Matthews, P. H. (1997). Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford. University Press, USA. Peter, R. (2000). English Phonetics and Phonology. Cambridge University Press. Ronald, W. (2006). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. USA: Blackwell Publishing. Widdowson, H. G. (1990). Aspects of Language Teaching. Oxford University Press. Wikepedia: Sociolinguistics (n. d. ). Retrieved 30 October 2007 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Sociolinguistics Wikepedia: Anthropological linguistics (n. d. ). Retrieved 30 October 2007 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Anthropological_linguistics Yule, G. (2006). The study of language (3rd ed. ). Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.

Hazards and Risk in the Workplace

Hazards and Risk in the Workplace Designated substance can be chemical, biological, physical agent or combinations, given as a designated substance where exposure of worker is prohibited, restricted, limited controlled or regulated. Biological Hazards Patients and residents may be carrying germs of which they are unaware. Working in a health care setting or community care, workforce may be exposed to a huge number of biological hazards. Ergonomic Hazards Clients lifting and transferring patients can be very dangerous if the caregiver is not aware of the proper technique and not properly trained and if the lifting devices are not available. Information Risk Guidelines to avoid incidents with regards to information handling are restrict access to patient healthcare information to safeguard integrity of information and diminish the risk of compromising privacy and allow only certified personnel to access patient health information. Healthcare business areas which are high risk is the integration of IT on healthcare systems which are prone to hacks or attacks which includes patient data, equipment and system software issues vulnerabilities on implanted devices Financial risk In Kindly Residential Care Rest Home, the responsibilities for strategic risk management are determined by board of director’s decisions about the goals and direction of the organisation. Board strategic planning and decision-making processes are thorough. Senior leaders of Kindly Residential Care Rest Home are responsible for all aspects of its financial health. They are charged with understandingthe unitsfinancial situation and not allowing unintended deficits to occur. Employment practices In Kindly Residential Care Rest Home, employees and managers are aware and updated in constantly making improved policies, procedures and documentation within the organization. This is important because it will help minimize unwanted risk such as human error. The organisation retains knowledgeable staff and well qualified human resource manager that will recruit and train internal workforce to develop organisation’s competency. One more risk management strategy is the organisation purchased a well-structured and comprehensive employment practices liability insurance policythat helps pay for any settlements or decisions endowed against an employer defense costs.Employment practices liability insurancepolicies not only deliver coverage for accusations of discrimination, but also extend to coverinvasion of privacy ,sexual harassment, wrongful dismissal, constructive dismissal, , breach oforal or writtenemployment contract, employment relatedmisrepresentation, wrongful discipline, , wrongful demotion, defamation, wrongful infliction of emotional distress, wrongful failure to employ or promote wrongful deprivation of a career opportunity and others. Fraud prevention measures The organisation is aligned to commit its preventative strategies to control fraud exposure of the organisation. Customer service, program delivery entity and policy entity are responsible for handling the fraud risk. In Kindly Residential Care Rest Home, code of conduct, fraud awareness training and fraud policy are highly emphasized during employment screening. High level of security clearance for staff and regular supplier reviews are implemented within the organisation. Regular and random audit checks are practiced as well to minimize fraud exposure. The controls recognized and their related costs are considered with respect to the nature and measure of the fraud risks designed to address. Health and safety policy Obligations and responsibilities All the workforce have an obligation to comply with the organisation’s workplace health and safety policies, instructions, procedures and to ensure a safe place of work. This means that workforces are required to take counteractive action to watch against hazards at workplace or report all hazards which cannot be instantly corrected. The board of directors envoys responsibilities for the management team of work health and safety. In implementing the obligations, the organisation conform to the Work Health and Safety Act of New Zealand and as expected the organisation established processes for regular risk assessments and self-audits within workplaces. The Organisation also ensures the workplace health and safety of all staffs under their control by avoiding or minimising their risk exposure. All individuals have a responsibility to guard and protect others against any hazards or events as soon as they are identified. If the incidents or hazards cannot be corrected immediately, the individual must report the hazards to the proper staff for investigation and incident. Protection of physical assets The organisation owns both long and short term assets. Risk management professionals of the organisation are the ones responsible for protecting organisation’s assets. They monitor and consider events that might have an effect on the assets such as floods, fire and natural disaster. Appropriate actions are planned. The organisation allocated reasonable cost for property repair and maintenance. Patients’s data and information that are written on a large volume of papers and in the computer are maintained and secured as well to minimise risk of loss and destruction. CCTV camera are also installed in the organisation for security purposes and to prevent theft allegations among staff in an incident of property loss. The stakeholders in Kindly Residential Care Rest Home established a risk committee to monitor exposure, actions taken and risks that have materialised and Health and Safety Committee implemented policies and procedures to minimize or prevent these injuries. Kindly Residential Care Rest Home is able to work closely with the local District Health Board for disaster management in case of these emergencies and plans for these events have been put into place Impact of crisis assessment includes Key Personnel required for such activity facilities used computer processes or Programs required External Providers Affected Stakeholders/ Reputation In threat assessment, to counteract the threat, the most cost-effective solution must be identified and implemented. The design of the solution is based on the findings of threat assessment and Recovery should start after the immediate threat to the enterprise has been removed. Recovery solution design After an incident, it is very essential that thorough examines are carried out to apprehend lessons learned, issues recognised, recommendations to be executed, and planning assumptions to be revised. Implementation and communication In an actual emergency, the duty manager or the chief warden will take charge of the whole plan and what plan to implement The plan can be activated through three consecutive steps which are Standby, Implementation and Stand Down. To keep up the ever changing environment, Kindly Residential Care Rest Home has an annual maintenance and updating of the Business Continuity Plan

Procrastination :: essays research papers

Procrastination What does procrastination mean? Is it the stereotypical meaning of laziness? And this word, â€Å"procrastinate† has over time become derogatory and insulting. It has also been applied to the newest generation of the world. I have heard many comments from older folks that, â€Å"those teenagers are so lazy, they wait till the last minute to do anything.† But as Dennis Sell comments in the teenager’s defense, â€Å"It isn’t procrastination if you intend to do it.† I hope that this doesn’t become a question on the future resume. â€Å"Do you procrastinate, please check yes or no.† A wonderful lot of people would be out of the job; very talented people that just have a time trying to become â€Å"perfect.† Procrastination is a way of life and a person has to be good at it to play the â€Å"lazy† game.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What does procrastination really mean? I’ve adopted a quote that now guides my everyday life; â€Å"My work is best when I am under pressure.† Most of my better essays are written in the ten minutes I have before my next class period when it’s due. Sorry Mr. Bush and Mrs. Swafford, and any other teacher that have been subjected to my messy rushed handwriting (not that Mr. Bush minds, I’m still failing his class. And his e-mail address is†¦ just kidding). Procrastination is character building. The rare few who can handle the pressure often have rushed lives, or many deadlines, whichever applies, but the point is that they can handle the pressure that procrastination gives and they come on top. My father designs computer boards and his superiors are often changing what they want the board to do, but my dad can handle those people and their strict deadlines that are ludicrous because of the little time given. But because he procrastin ated in high school, he knows what to do and how to control himself in these situations. He hasn’t thrown himself off a cliff yet after about ten years of the strenuous work, that has to count for something.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Procrastination is like many other things. It has its good and bad points, just like eating. A person must eat to live, but it makes people gain weight and there is a surplus of obese people in our nation, yet is also saves many lives a day like in Ethiopia. Procrastination can make or break a person. One can either handle the pressure or the person breaks completely.

The Fallacy of Minority Discrimination in Sports :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

The Fallacy of Minority Discrimination in Sports When someone flips through the channels on a TV and they happen to pause on a sports game, they will most likely see a small number of white athletes. The next thing that they might see is a commercial trying to tell them that minorities in sports are being discriminated. This is not the case. There is no racial discrimination against minorities in sports. There is a much higher percentage of minorities than White-Americans in more than just one professional sport. There are also a number of high-ranking officials in sports that are minorities. Franchises pay money to the athletes that are most qualified to be put on the team; not to athletes that are not minority. It wasn't until 1947, when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier of Major League Baseball (Northeastern...). This marked the introduction of minorities into professional sports. Today, the numbers of minorities in most sports far exceeds the numbers of White-Americans. Yet some minorities feel that they are being discriminated against. Franchises of professional sports teams fork out millions of dollars to minority athletes every year. When dealing with huge amounts of money there is no question about discriminating against minorities. Franchises wouldn't pay out millions of dollars to athletes that aren't qualified. Athletes are constantly being traded and released from teams. These athletes may be of minority gender, but they are definitely not being traded or released because of race. They are most likely going to end up at another team that will pay them a good deal of money. The question of minorities holding head-coaching jobs is often heard in the sports world. As of 1997, there were only three minority head coaches in the National Football League (NFL). All three of these coaches are African- American (New York Amsterdam News). Some people say that there should be more African-American head coaches in sports that are dominated by African-Americans. The three minority head coaches coach one-tenth of the teams that are in the NFL. One-tenth of the general population of theUnited States is made up of native-born African-Americans (Barret). So, one could say that one-tenth of the population is coaching one-tenth of the NFL teams; an equal ratio. Some minorities speak out and ask why there are not more high-ranking offices being held by minorities. There are other high offices that are obtained by minorities.

Creative Thinking and Critical Thinking Essay

Throughout history, people with creative minds have created original ideas which have been useful in the fields of music, art, technology, medicine, and science. Most of these ideas were once branded as impossible and ridiculous, but as of today, their thinkers are considered to as individuals who achieved enormous breakthroughs which helped the world advance (Coon, 2006). Usually, problem-solving is done through mechanical and insightful means which are based on understanding; this kind of problem solving involves either deductive or inductive thinking in order to achieve solutions. Apart from these, problem-solving may also be done logically (based on previous information or rules) or illogically (based on intuition or personal associations and perceptions). However, such is not the way of creative thinking—creative thinking involves all of these different thinking styles, â€Å"plus fluency, flexibility, and originality† (Coon, 2006, p. 360). Fluency can be defined as the number of ideas or suggestions that an individual is able to make for a particular problem. Flexibility, on the other hand can be defined as the number of times an individual shifts from one class or type of possible ideas to another. As for originality, it is pertains to â€Å"how novel or unusual [the] ideas are† (Coon, 2006, p. 360). These can determine an individual’s creativity or his capacity for divergent thinking. Creative thinking or divergent thinking means thinking out of the box and developing possibilities. Usually, people tend to solve problems with tried solutions, but with creative thinking, individuals produce new and different ideas or answers in order to solve problems (Coon, 2006). Creative thinking is often seen in poems, essays, constructed objects, and drawings (Coon, 2006)—however, it can also be seen in everyday life. In fact, creative thinking can come in various forms, one example of creative thinking would be the ever-changing ideas when it comes to the automobile industry. Manufacturers are always developing new features and improving them based on the old ideas, thus, achieving innovation (Harris, 1998). Another example of creative thinking could involve combining two different ideas in order to come up with a new one which is more effective than the separate ideas, like introducing a dinner theater. Since a lot of people usually go on dates by going to dinner, then watching a film, perhaps, it would be creative to fuse these two concepts together to create a much more efficient one where people can eat dinner and attain entertainment at the same time (Harris, 1998). Critical thinking, on the other hand, is an entirely different concept from creative thinking. According to Austin Cline (2010), critical thinking involves developing a form of intellectual and emotional distance between one’s self and one’s ideas in order to be able to evaluate the validity, reasonableness, and truth of such ideas. If an individual engages in critical thinking, he should develop rational and reliable evaluations as to what is rational and logical. This simply means that if one engages in critical thinking, one must value skepticism, and engage in a search for the appropriate solution to problems. Critical thinking also involves open-mindedness, differentiating emotion from reason, arguing with the use of knowledge, being skeptical about probabilities, avoiding linguistic misunderstandings, avoid common fallacies, and most important, avoiding the temptation to jump to conclusions. An example of critical thinking would be carefully assessing situations in order to find the appropriate actions required; a critical thinker, if perhaps stuck in a situation wherein he is faced with numerous tasks at work, plus the obligation to attend his child’s softball game, would carefully evaluate the tasks at hand, produce a schedule by prioritizing and weighing risks and advantages in order to achieve all goals (Jackson, Ignatavivius, Case, ). Another example would be if an individual is part of a jury, and is listening to the witnesses and the defendant’s accounts of a murder; if the individual engages in critical thinking, then it follows that he should not readily believe either accounts just by taking their word for it. Perhaps the lawyer might call a witness which happens to be the child of the murdered person, and if the individual engages in critical thinking, he must not be swayed by the emotions which are shown by those in the stand, and should be critical in analyzing the facts which are presented in the case. Creative and Critical Thinking Using a Common Example Take for example the phrase speed kills; a lot of people have a general idea about this phrase, that which consists of the fact that it is related to motorists, stating that if they over-speed, they could get into an accident and be killed. If one is to use creative thinking in this particular phrase, the result would often involve creating new means to improve the campaign against over-speeding. Creative thinkers are often finding new means to look at things, as well as different means to present such things; therefore, these ideas would then be utilized into the development of a new, effective means to strengthen the campaign against over-speeding. Since creative thinking is all about finding new and different ideas in order to find solutions for different problems,which, in this case, is the supposed problem regarding over-speeding, which, presumably, can kill an individual if he gets in an accident, the creative thinker would perhaps develop innovative means of educating people about this particular statement, such as developing an integration off billboard advertising and traffic warnings. However, if one is to use critical thinking in this phrase, the result would be different. To a critical thinker, it is not possible to just agree with what the phrase implies and just accept it as it is. It is necessary to analyze what it means and analyze as to whether this assumption is valid. A critical thinker would then look into the scientific proof stating that speed, indeed, kills. Apart from this, the critical thinker would look into statistics, and derive from those statistics as to how reliable this particular statement is. While the critical thinker is not aiming to disprove the phrase which states speed kills, what he would be doing involves strengthen it with reliable sources in order to achieve a conclusion that the phrase speed kills is indeed valid and motorists everywhere should heed its implied advice. It is, of course, necessary to state that if the critical thinker does not find the phrase as valid and reliable, the phrase would then be rendered illogical and irrelevant. Summary As seen in the previous discussion, creative and critical thinking differ in many ways. However, while it cannot be denied that both have their differences when it comes to approaching problems, it must be understand that both have their merits and advantages. It is necessary to understand that neither can be considered better when it comes to finding solutions for life’s everyday problems. Instead, an integration of these thinking styles would be far more beneficial, for not all situations call for either creative or critical thinking only. There are those which call for creative thinking, and there are those which call for critical thinking. It is, therefore, necessary to familiarize one’s self with both styles, for being able to adapt one’s thinking style is essential to effective decision-making processes.