Saturday, May 23, 2020

Negritude Positive - 1108 Words

Name: Ginea Dean Lecturer: Dr. Ada McKenzie Section: 20 Due Date: February 14th, 2013 Informal Text-Based Argumentative Essay Negritude’s positive? Yes the ideology is, but why must we waste our time searching for our racial identity, heritage, and culture? Why waste our precious time searching for racial identity, when we could use that time to fight for equality between the races? You tell us, when we find our racial identity what then must we do with it? Continue to be restricted from doing certain things and going certain places because of our racial line? I agree with Du Bois’s argument, that racial identification is a hindrance and that it distracts us from the more important goal of fighting for equality between the races.†¦show more content†¦It takes away discrimination, it allows everyone to realize that we are all equal no matter what racial group we belong to or what shade of color our skin is, but to remind us that we are all one. Caste system in The Concept of Race was described to as a dark cave and prison by Du Bois. Displaying how entombed souls are hindered in their development, expression, and natural movement. That racial identity acted as shackles around his feet, what is so funny is that in Leopold Sedar Senghor Negritude: A Humanism of the Twentieth Century negritude was described as being an instrument of freedom. Negritude is not an instrument of liberation, but an ideology that allows us to be aware of our racial identity, heritage and culture. Therefore negritude is just an idea that makes us aware of our race, nothing more nothing less. To destroy the caste system we need equality to release entombed souls so they don’t be hindered from development, expression, and natural movement as well as to break the shackle from around our feet so that we can be truly free. Negritude: A Humanism of the Twentieth Century was challenged by The concept of Race. I say this because in A Humanism of the Twentieth Century negritude was said to be an instrument of liberation but in The Concept of Race it acted as chains around Du Bois feet. The Concept of Race challenges Negritude by stating that you suppose to be an instrument of freedom, butShow MoreRelatedIntellectual Of Electrical Engineering : The Negritude1305 Words   |  6 PagesIntellectual to electrical engineering The Negritude By the end of the 19th century, most of Africans were living under some form of European colonial domination. The history of Africa and its Diaspora was dismissed as insignificant at best, inexistent at worse. Black cultures were ridiculed, stereotyped, and scorned. So the concept of Negritude emerged as the expression of a revolt against the historical situation of French colonialism and racism. Negritude was both a literary and ideological movementRead MoreHistory And Culture Of The Negritude Movement1658 Words   |  7 PagesNegritude refers to a cultural movement that was launched by French-speaking black graduate students back in the 1930s in Paris from Africa and the Caribbean territories of France s colonies. These black intellectuals gathered around issues of black internationalist and race identity initiatives to fight the imperialism by the French government. They found strength in their mutual idea of affirming pride in their shared African heritage and black identity and reclaiming self-respect, self-relianceRead MoreThe Pan Africanism For Beginners1823 Words   |  8 Pagesideals. One instance that stood out to me was the change from The Harlem Renaissance and Negritude. The Harlem Renaissance section ended by listing the names of influential people during the twenties and thirties. There then was a swift change into the next topic of Negritude. Without notici ng the change in the heading at the top of the page, a reader could easily believe that the definition of negritude was associated with the Harlem Renaissance. This may have been on purpose, but a reader whoRead MoreThe Pan Africanism For Beginners1829 Words   |  8 Pagesideals. One instance that stood out to me was the change from The Harlem Renaissance and Negritude. The Harlem Renaissance section ended by listing the names of influential people during the twenties and thirties. There then was a swift change into the next topic of Negritude. Without noticing the change in the heading at the top of the page, a reader could easily believe that the definition of negritude was associated with the Harlem Renaissance. A transition that either showed the linkage betweenRead MoreIn What Ways Does Mariama Ba Use the Male Characters in Scarlet Song as an Influence on Ousmane‚Äà ´s Relationship with Mireille?1120 Words   |  5 Pagescouple are able to make sacrifices and com promises for each other. While it is apparent that Mireille really wants the marriage to work, as she has made a sacrifice by moving to Senegal, Ousmane still keeps the same mindset towards embracing his negritude where no room is left for considering Mireille’s feelings. Lamine tells him that he â€Å"wants happiness without making any sacrifices.† (98), but this will not work in a marriage where it is â€Å"based on tolerance and a human approach.† (99). Lamine isRead MoreThe Literary Representation Of History1982 Words   |  8 Pagesinsertion of ‘l’homme africain’ into history (Sarkozy, 2007). In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Europeans similarly believed that Africa lacked a collective historical consciousness (Parker and Rathbone, 2007: 3). However since the negritude movement and the emergence of a vast library of African literature, Africa has firmly established itself in history. It is important that we appreciat e both translations of ‘histoire’ in the context of African literature. Whether we consider it toRead MoreRace, Hegemony, and Cultural Participation1699 Words   |  7 Pagesshe made to participate in the culture of and graduate from Princeton motivates her to support her own community with diligent and sincere efforts for positive change. If Michelle Obama had attended a school in France when she wrote her thesis, the stance she took regarding the Ivy League culture would have been regarded as an expression of Negritude, which is a rejection of Anglo-French colonialism and hegemony, as well as an expression of connection to all individuals with heritage in the AfricanRead More African Diaspora Essay2370 Words   |  10 Pagespre-colonial global dispersion and resettlement of Africans. These communities of relocated Africans identified and maintained a connection with Africa, while still maintaining a Loyalty to their adopted country and making valid and positive contributions. This brings us to a new question, what exactly then are the identities of the African Diaspora and how was that identity forged under (in and after) slavery? Avatar Brah best illuminates the journey of identity Read MoreThe Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka2243 Words   |  9 PagesThe Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka The Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka (born 1935) was one of the few African writers to denounce the slogan of Negritude as a tool of autocracy. He also was the first black African to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Wole Soyinka was born July 13, 1934 in Abeokuta a village on the banks of the River Ogun in the western area of Nigeria. His mother was a Christian convert so devout that he nicknamed her Wild Christian and he father was the scholarlyRead MoreRole of African Elites in Dismantling Decolonization5146 Words   |  21 Pagessmashed with big books. (P Bitek: 1985: 117) In Decolonizing the Mind, Ngugi observes that the lack of congruency between colonial education and Africa s reality created people abstracted from their reality. Little wonder, therefore that the negritude poets try to achieve disalienation through identification with Africa, African values and African origins. They yearn for their lost identity and the lost African heritage. Leon Dumas writes that th e whites have stolen the space that was mine.

Monday, May 18, 2020

Middle East Essay - 1502 Words

The Middle Eastern culture has many different nationalities within their population including Arabians, Iranians, Iraqis, Pakistanians, Egyptians, Saudi Arabians, and many more. The most common religion found in the Middle East is Muslim. However not every Middle Easterner is Muslim, there are also other religions just as in any country such as Christian and Jewish. There are more than seven million Muslims living in America and over 1.5 billion worldwide. Many Middle Eastern Muslims who are conservative with their religion do not eat pork or drink alcohol. Some eat only Halal meat, which is meat that is slaughtered according to Islamic tradition. Muslims pray five times a day facing Mecca, and also observe a holiday called Ramadan.†¦show more content†¦It is believed that on this night Muhammad first received the revelation of the Holy Quran, and according to the Quran, this is when God determines the course of the world for the following year. When the fast ends (the first day of the month of Shawwal) it is celebrated for three days in a holiday called Id-al-Fitr (the Feast of Fast Breaking). Gifts are exchanged, friends and family gather to pray in congregation and for large meals. In some cities fairs are held to celebrate the end of the Fast of Ramadan. The whole point of fasting is to achieve good, and the good that is acquired through the fast can be destroyed by five things. These five things include the telling of a lie, slander, denouncing someone behind their back, false oath, and greed. Muslim women are required to wear long dresses and scarves to cover their body. They also wear amulets for protection from the evil eye. Muslim people also burn incense to keep the evil eye away and to keep the evil eye away from the sick. Health is an important issue in the Muslim community. Muslims believe that the key to good health is good hygiene and diet. They place a high value in modern Western medicine and have confidence in the medical profession. Muslim families do not wait long to seek professional help and are usually anxious to receive medicine as soon as possible. They also listen carefully to what the health care provider is saying andShow MoreRelatedThe Middle East821 Words   |  4 Pagesorientalist idea of the Middle East. It represented the faulty equation of Islam= Muslim= Arab= terrorist or religious fanatics. From the image of the magazine cover, a man dressed in the Middle-East attire can be seen standing on what looks like a balcony with the landscape of the Middle-East in the background. The image in the background presented the Middle East as underdeveloped in an effective manner. The image in the foreground by the top right corner signified the Middle East as an oil-hoardingRead MoreThe Middle East2106 Words   |  9 Pagesbeen more relevant than in the Middle East. Understanding the Middle East as it was and currently is requires an in depth analysis of the events that have so shaped the region. By peering into the premodern, early-modern, modern, and contemporary periods, a comprehension of the Middle East and how it is situated within the global framework will be realized. The premodern period, which ran until 1450, contained two events fundamental to the history of the Middle East, the Birth of Islam, and the splitRead MoreThe Middle East1118 Words   |  5 PagesBahauddin Foizee :The Middle East, especially the West Asian region, is the most volatile region in the world. The major reason of such regional instability is the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. One of these two rivals, Iran, has been suffering from a weak economy for decades because of the economic sanctions that are imposed on it by the International community for quite a long now. However, on 14th July, 2015, a deal was signed between Iran and the UNSC 5 plus 1 (Britain, China, FranceRead MoreThe Middle East871 Words   |  4 Pagesarticle discusses the evolution of the Middle East and how much of the Middle East is currently coming out of, and in some cases still going through difficult revolutions. The article points to three, possibly four, defining stages in the Middle East. The first is the stage of the Cold War, the second is that of the Old Order, the third is the end to the Old Order, and the fourth is the current stage that they are in now. The point was made that much of the Middle East’s resentment to the West originatedRead MoreThe Middle East1661 Words   |  7 Pages18th centuries in the Middle East were periods marked by severe financial crisis, increased decentralization, and stronger external control by western nations. It was clear that members of Ottoman and Persian military and bureaucratic organizations needed to prove themselves worthy in comparison to the European nations in order to shift the global balance of power back towards the East. As a result, drastic political, economic, and social reforms were implemented in the Middle East throughout the 19thRead MoreThe Involvement Of The Middle East1598 Words   |  7 Pagesincluding innocent civilians, opposing forces, and U.S. troops and its allies. Trillions of dollars have been spent on the involvement in the Middle East for decades by the United States government, which orchestrated these results. The burden financially, has been measured in trillions of dollars, on multiple expenses, all relating to the involvement in the Middle East. Not only have these events impacted the U.S. financially, but many people have had to pay the ultimate price, with millions of peopleRead MoreThe Impact On The Middle East1430 Words   |  6 PagesAll throughout history from the from the pre-modern period all the way to the contemporary period, there have been major events both inside and outside of the middle east that have had an impact on the middle eastern communities. While some were more drastic than others, they all had an impact one way or another that helped shape the society we know of today. Starting with the pre-modern period, in 1095, the pope had called for a crusade which was in fact the only successful crusade. In this situationRead MoreCulture Of The Middle East4300 Words   |  18 Pagesexplored the culture of the Middle East because I find it very interesting and different from my own. I feel as if many people hold a strong negative feeling against people from the Middle East because of terrorist attacks in the past. Middle Eastern culture is different from American culture and some people are not culturally aware so they do not understand Middle Eastern culture, therefore, people judge off of what they know. After visiting and researching the Middle East I have came to change myRead MoreWomen Of The Middle East937 Words   |  4 PagesThe women in the Middle East is less fortunate than any other women around the world. They was not giving the fair opportunity to develop their rights in the home, workplace or even have the opportunity to voice their opinion in politics (Elizabeth, 2010). Being a woman in the Middle East has always been one of the hardest things to endure starting as a child from punishment all the way down to adultery. There laws are one of a kind that has a wide range from the Islamic laws also known as the ShariaRead MoreWater in the Middle East944 Words   |  4 Pages The edition of the U.S. Defense Department â€Å"Lebanon : a review of the country† ( 1989 ) also states that â€Å" in the late 1970’s - early 1980’s Lebanese reported a plea of derivation of water from the small tributaries of the Hasbani to Israel† (Middle East International, â„â€" 458, 10 September 1993). Western and Arab media published an information that the scale of water derivation to Israel were much more, only from the Litani – up to 55 % of the annual discharge . Among all the details in particular

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Organizational Culture of Virgin Group - 1474 Words

1. Describe the culture of Virgin group by seven dimension of organization culture. Organizational culture has been described as the shared values, principles, traditions, and ways of doing things that influence the way organizational members act. Actually, it can divided seven dimension of organizational culture which are attention to detail, outcome orientation, people orientation, team orientation, aggressiveness, stability and innovation and risk taking, and now I will use these seven dimensions to describe the culture of virgin. The first dimension used in this culture of virgin is attention to detail. It is the degree to which employees are expected to exhibit precision, analysis, and attention to detail. It is such a culture gives†¦show more content†¦The fourth dimension in this culture is innovation and risk taking. It is the degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative and take risk. Through this article, Brett Godfrey showed his business plan to the author, which outlining the start-up of a low-cost carrier in Australia to take on Qantas and Ansett in their domestic market. He has expanded Blue and its sister airline to the United States, New Zealand, Thailand and South Africa. The company give them brand support and the space to go build the new business themselves like Virgin Active. Also, Matthew Bucknall and Frank Reed had bought out some innovative idea like the idea of a family-friendly health and fitness club in 1999. These planning and ideas are innovative, but at the same time they need to take the risk on running the ideas and planning. In this article, we can find out four dimension of organizational culture. A top company must have strong organizational culture that employees are more loyal than weak organizational culture, creates a stronger employee commitment to the organization, and the strong organizational culture is associated with high organizational performance. Also, if the value of the culture is clear and widely accepted, employees can know what they are supposed to do and what expected to them, so they can act quickly to take care of problem. 2. How culture affect the manager? A cultureShow MoreRelatedOrganization Culture - Virgin Group1202 Words   |  5 Pages1. Describe the culture of Virgin group by seven dimensions of organization culture? Every company and organization whatever government or non-government are having their unique organization culture. So what is organization culture? ‘Organization culture has been described as the shared values, principles, traditions, and ways of doing things that influence the way organizational members act, and there are seven dimensions – attention to detail, outcome orientation, people orientation, teamRead MoreStrategic Management - Virgin Group1014 Words   |  5 PagesBackground of VIRGIN In 1968 a guy named Richard Branson started the Student magazine and that was the starting of his revolutionary business career and from that time Branson did not have to look back ever. Now today Branson has the huge size of his business which is VIRGIN BUSINESS GROUP. This group owns more than 200 companies. â€Å"Branson† and â€Å"VIRGIN† is now a symbol of a famous brand all over the world. VIRGIN group holds a pretty number of companies. Most popular VIRGIN companies are VIRGIN MoneyRead MoreEssay on Longitudinal Strategic Development Study1281 Words   |  6 Pages RECENT PAST INTRODUCTION Virgin Group limited is a venture capital conglomerate founded in 1970 by Sir Richard Branson with interest in transportation, travel, mobile, financial services, media, music and fitness. It employs about 50,000 people in more than 30 countries, comprising of 300 companies and brand, with 11.5 billion pounds in revenue as at 2009, (Virgin website). Read MoreSir Richard Branson Case Study1743 Words   |  7 Pagescreativity. Lack of success in a venture is not a deterrent, rather a motivator as this produces opportunity. His personality and style of management combine to form a very formidable opponent in each business venture explored within his company, Virgin Group. Sir Richard Branson – Case # 1 Background Sir Richard Branson learned, from an early age, not to let adversity stand in the way of accomplishing a goal. As a pioneering thinker, he has transformed many entrenched industry practices by turningRead MoreVirgin Group Ltd : A British Venture Capital Conglomerate1614 Words   |  7 PagesVirgin Group LTD is a British venture capital conglomerate that has been around since 1970. Virgin encompasses over 400 different companies located in many industries such as: financial services, transport, food and drink, media and telecommunications. Headquartered in London, this British corporation has come a very long way since it’s birth in 1970. One of the main reasons for the companies success is because of its founder; Sir Richard Branson. Branson, born July 18th, 1950 in LondonRead MoreThe Success Of Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson Essay1289 Words   |  6 Pagesinvestor and philanthropist he is President of the Virgin Group brand that is estimated as owning more than four hundred companies. â€Å"The Virgin Group s core businesses include retail operations (a chain of megastores in Australia, Britain and Ireland, continental Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, North America, and South Korea), hotels, communications (video games, book publishing, radio and television production), and an airline. His flagship company, Virgin Atlantic Airways, has regular flights to New YorkRead MoreBusiness Policy Developments And Implementation918 Words   |  4 Pagesfinancial stability. Richard Branson is considered as the transformational leader, as Branson emphasize on the informal style of leadership and flat form of organizational hierarchy (Dudovskiy, 2012). The business strategy which Branson follows is emergent in nat ure, as he is a serial entrepreneur. Branson as a strategic leader of Virgin Group, shares the strategic vision should be. This sharing of the vision significantly helps in the execution of day-to-day decision making process. Branson, by followingRead MoreRichard Branson and the Virgin Group of Companies in 20071099 Words   |  5 Pagesheadmaster of Stowe, a private boarding school Branson dropped out at 17. His success started by publishing a magazine called Student, then he moved on to mail order records. This is where the Virgin Group started. Richard Branson has developed his brand in a large variety of markets. The over-familiarity of the Virgin brand has caused the consumers to not take the brand in a serious manner. One might argue that he stretched his brand too thin. This lack of focus and over-diversification could result inRead MoreLeadership Styles1063 Words   |  5 PagesLeaders and their Management have direct implications on their organization, even though both the Companies discussed in the case study are in similar industries. The Companies Discussed in the Case Study is Virgin Atlantic and Ryanair, Sir Richard Branson Being the Leader and Founder for Virgin and Michael O’Leary for Ryan Air. This Essay would look at how different Leadership, Management and Motivation style and theories they can adopted for their respected companies. The second part of this essayRead MoreCase Study the Virgin Group Essays1446 Words   |  6 PagesTHE VIRGIN GROUP PROBLEM: * The Virgin Group is so unrelated diversified that it has been criticized by some commentators because it has become an endorsement brand that could not always offer real expertise to the businesses which it is associated. So the real question is Can The Virgin Group be good/successful in every business it gets into? Are they really adding a real value to each business/customer? * What will happen if a customer has a bad experience with any of the product

Differences in Cultural Perspective Free Essays

Almost every individual tend to be fascinated with beliefs or things that are different from what he or she normally sees in his or her every day life. These variations usually arises the interests of the person in knowing and understanding the things that are not familiar to him or her. However, there are also instances wherein these differences could make people pose their judgment or prejudices upon others that do not practice or adhere their beliefs. We will write a custom essay sample on Differences in Cultural Perspective or any similar topic only for you Order Now This kind of thinking is applicable in the cultural differences that most countries have. The movie Forbidden Kingdom could greatly exemplified the importance of understanding various cultures. This motion picture feature two of the biggest stars in the martial arts film genre namely Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Other actors also supported them most specially Michael Angarano, which plays Jason Tripitikas that represent the western part of the world in the story. The plot of the movie paved the way for the exploration of the western and eastern cultures. It enables its viewers to see the differences that these different parts of the world have. Nevertheless, it also paved the way for people coming from these two cultures to increase their tolerance for each other’s difference even to the point of appreciating it. The movie revolves around a teenage boy name Jason Tripitikas. He is an avid fan of Chinese martial arts. He frequently goes to China town in order to buy some DVDs about martial arts movie. During one of the normal days that he went there, he pass by a pawnshop where he saw a staff. The owner of the establishment, an old Chinese guy named Hop informed him that the staff should be given back to its rightful owner. On his way back home, Jason encountered the local bully, Lupo. He violently forced him to go to the pawnshop at night so that Hop would open it, which will allow them to rob the shop and took Hop’s money. As the robbery happened, Lupo shot Hop but before he died, he instructed Jason to bring the staff back to its owner. Jason ran away from Lupo and his gang. However, Lupo was able to get a hold of him but before they could hurt him the staff transported him into ancient China where his adventure began. Jason interacted with the Chinese community back then and learned the true value of their culture especially that of martial arts (The Internet Movie Database). The American teenager’s perception of the eastern culture specifically of the Chinese started with only the idea of martial arts. Every time he would heard about their culture it is not surprising that the first thing that came into his mind is martial arts or Chinese food. This is not unexpected especially for a western teenager since most of his knowledge about the Chinese culture is influence by the media. However, when Jason was able to really partake in the real culture of ancient China he was able to understand their way of life. In doing so, he was able to adhere to some of their beliefs and practices. In line with this, Homi Bhabha’s arguments in â€Å"Culture’s In-Between† tend to explain the cultural differences that happened in the movie. The first thing that Jason experienced was a sense of identity that is only based upon the western culture that he has. His view of other culture is also based upon the beliefs that his western roots reinforced. Nevertheless, this changed when he experienced the ancient culture of the Chinese. He was able to understand the variation and even follow some of the Chinese way of life. In this situation, Jason’s identity became multicultural because he does not only follow one particular belief or practice but he tend to be tolerant of others as well (Bhabha, 54). Moreover, based on Randall Raus’ â€Å"The American Perspective of: What is Culture? † he asserted that America is actually very tolerant of other nations’ culture. He asserted that there is no other country that is culturally diversified as the United States due to the presence of numerous people coming from various states that have their respective ways of life (Raus). Being the case, this caused the establishment of different cultural practices in the country that is observable in varying communities there like the Latino, Chinese, Filipino, and others. Early on in the story, the western teenager already has his fascination with martial arts. Due to the influence of media, he thought that martial arts were a â€Å"cool thing. † He perceived it as some sort of trend that if he could be able to perform such kind of stunts he would instantly gain popularity. The teenager also has this thinking that learning martial arts would demand respect from other people and this would also boost his reputation in the community. This kind of adage is greatly influence by the media. Communication technology like the television, Internet, advertisements, commercials, and others has a huge impact in the way of thinking of people especially of young adults nowadays (Rayuso). Martial arts are usually portrayed in movies or television shows as something that is merely fascinating rather than its true purpose of self-defense. In this sense, media tend to modify the view of the people with regards to other culture. This eventually impedes the proper understanding of other nations’ beliefs and practices. The manipulation of the media regarding people’s perspective about a certain group or nationality is widely observable at the present time. A good example is the issue of terrorism wherein some irresponsible media reporting tend to always put Arabs and Muslims in a bad light as they pertain to them as the one responsible in terrorist attacks (Hamza, et. al). Citizens of various nations either get interested with the culture of other countries or they would immediately disregard it especially if it is not similar or near the practices that they have. Nevertheless, the knowledge of other nations culture is very essential in order for people to properly understand each other and learn to accept the differences that exists among them. It also aid in clarifying wrong notions that people have regarding their counterparts in other states. The correct knowledge of other cultures could foster greater understanding and acceptance among the people all over the world. How to cite Differences in Cultural Perspective, Papers

Controversial Questions in Phonological Theory

Question: Discuss about the Controversial Questions in Phonological Theory. Answer: Introduction: Being a social animal, human being needed a means of communication through which his interactions within the group moves beyond the basic sound patterns that animals make to communicate with each other. Over the course of human development and the fight to evolve from animal into human beings, somewhere along the way humans acquired the intelligence to formulate and retain a set pattern of sounds that were passed on through the generations and became the basis for the modern languages that we see prevalent today. Language became this means of communication which helped humans in all spheres of life right from keeping them safe to helping mingling with each other. It is a complex system, highly governed by rules (Brown , 2000). A definition of language as defined by Chomsky is: Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the manner in which the principles of generation are used is free and infinitely varied. Even the interpretation and use of words involves a process of free creation. In 1960s, Noam Chomsky gave a theory on First Language Acquisition which stated that the first language that a person learns is inherently stored in him and is innate to his nature. This involves an inherent knowledge of grammar also which later forms a basis for further language acquisition (Lenneberg, Chomsky Marx, 1967). Views of Noam Chomsky on language acquisition were something of a revolution in a stream of thinking which always believed that language learning is an acquired process and a child learns all the language he knows from the culture and environment in which he grows up. First Language Acquisition The learning of sounds, and words, meanings and constructions by children starting right after their birth (Clark, 2009). A number of theories have been proposed to explain this phenomenon most well-read and accepted of which are Behaviourist theory, Mentalist theory (Innatism). Innatism refers to the theory proposed by Chomsky. Behaviourist theory is a theory of native language learning that is more of a psychological theory stating that imitations, rewards and practice is the process by which infants learn language from human role models (Cooter Reutzel, 2004). E.L.T. Thorndike was the first behaviourist to explore the fact that learning is the process establishing associations with a particular behaviour and the consequences of that behaviour. Second Language Acquisition Second Language Acquisition (SLA) refers to the process of learning a foreign, non-native language by a child after he has learnt his own mother tongue. The process of SLA is fraught with rules and restrictions and is believed to be more difficult than first language acquisition. SLA is a conscious effort made by an individual while FLA happens without much effort (Klein, 1986). Being a conscious learning effort, SLA is influenced by personality as well as the motivation of the learner. There involves a great role of surroundings also to support that learning process and comes as a part of conscious effort on the part of learner as well as his peers. On the other hand, first language acquisition is more rapid, complete, natural and effortless. Non-practice of FLA for an extended period of time might lead to a diminished remembrance of it however it will not be wiped out from the memory completely as opposed to SLA (Hickey R., n.d.). Profuse literature exists on Second Language Acquisition. For instance, Lightbown and Spada wrote How Languages are Learned to demonstrate the research findings and theoretical concepts about SLA (Lightbown, Spada, Ranta, Rand, 1993). Different theories that explain second language acquisition include: Krashens Monitor theory, Cummins second language framework, McLaughlins attention processing model, Automaticity Model, Selinkers Interlanguage theory. The following diagram depicts the second language acquisition process as explained by Krashens Monitor theory. It shows how an adult graduates from an acquired system of language to learned form and finally converts it into uttered form of language. Harris, a well-known US linguist, in 1982 proposed that a majority of language learning happens through structured relation of a word to other word and the social learning also plays a significant role in this (Harris, 1982, 1991). However, his student Chomsky in 1960s abandoned this structuralist approach towards language learning and brought in a new thought process that developed principles and parameters for the learning of grammar. Grammar as well as language development was no longer a learning based emergent system but rather became a rule-governed, top down system. (Gass Mackey, 2013). Chomsky likened language learning to walking. According to him, as a child has all the inherent mechanism required to walk, similar is the case with language which a child has basic mechanism to understand and only requires proper guidance and training to master. To corroborate his theory and to give further proof to the fact that language learning is inherent in an individual, Chomsky gave the concept of Universal Grammar as well as Critical Period Hypothesis. A glimpse of Chomskys views on Universal Grammar is seen in the following quote by him: It's perfectly obvious that there is some genetic factor that distinguishes humans from other animals and that it is language-specific. The theory of that genetic component, whatever it turns out to be, is what is called universal grammar. Universal Grammar Chomsky noted that majority of human beings follow similar patterns while and rules when it comes to grammar. Based on this and the observation that there is a rapid pace of language and grammar learning by humans, Chomsky postulated that language is hard-wired into human brains (Tool Module, n.d.). Universal grammar is an extension of the concept of Language Acquisition Device (LAD) that Chomsky proposed was present in human brain. This is the basic device that stores the universal grammar in itself and helps children learn and excel sentence formations and syntaxes. Universal grammar defines how certain grammatical rules and parameters are same in case of all the languages and new language acquisition thus becomes easier because the governing rules are more or less set and only the specifics of a new language have to be learnt (Chomsky, 1965). The concept of universal grammar is also seen in the following statement made by Chomsky. The most striking aspect of linguistic competence is what we may call the 'creativity of language,' that is, the speaker's ability to produce new sentences, sentences that are immediately UNDERSTOOD by other speakers although they bear no physical resemblance to sentences which are 'familiar. Here, Chomsky explains how even if a language is unfamiliar, due to universality of grammatical rules, it is not too difficult to understand these sentences. Critical Period Hypothesis According to this hypothesis, the first few years of an individuals life are the most essential ones for him to learn a new language and if presented with adequate stimuli, the person can learn the given language very fast. It also states that the level of competence one acquires with a second language often depends upon the time period at which the learning is begun rather than the amount of time spent learning that language. Recent experiments have found that Chomskys theory might have been factual and has truth to it. According to researcher Dr. David Poeppel, their experiments proved crucial aspects of Chomskys theory as unpopular as it might be (Ding, Melloni, Zhang, Tian Poeppel, 2015). As popular as Chomskys theories are, they are equally strongly and widely disputed also. It is difficult to accept that a child at the time of being born has certain concepts and understanding of language inherent in him. In contrast to what Chomsky believed, it is necessary to understand that language is something that a child learns through his surroundings and environment. An Australian child born and brought up in China will be able to speak Chinese more fluently than Australian English even though his genetic makeup is more inclined towards Australian environment. Conclusion Chomsky claimed that the language is an inherent quality in a child and the further learning of language happens based on the innate knowledge (LAD) that the child has of language and its rules. The process of learning language is a process of repetitive learning and reinforcement of certain set parameters and rules through rewarding, punishment and frequent usage. Practice makes one of the most important part of learning anything and the same stands true for language also. Especially in the case of Second Language Acquisition, practice plays a major role in a person learning the language. Language learning theories try to explain the process of both First Language learning as well as Second Language learning. A majority of these theories before Chomsky, believed in the learned nature of language and that language is an experiential effect learnt only after coming in contact with it. However, all these beliefs were challenged by Chomsky who challenged the philosophy followed by his tutor Harris and brought in the concept of parametric nature of language. He called it being hard-wired into human brain just like the knowledge of walking is. Chomsky also gave the concepts of Universal grammar which says that the linguistic grammar in usage across different cultures is fundamentally similar and is pre-coded in human brain in the form of a Language Acquisition Device (LAD). Another concept that Chomsky talked about was the Critical Period Hypothesis which states that the best period to learn any language is in the early childhood and the ease with which a language can be le arned in ones formative years cannot be repeated anytime else. Chomsky might have affected the study and learning of linguistics and created a ripple in the complete system of learning language through his theories but he has had an equal number of dissenters too. The knowledge inherent in a child comes from his genetic makeup and for language there have not been any proven genes affecting it. Also, as mentioned earlier, a greater effect on the language learning is of the environment in which the child is growing rather than the type of language he has been programmed to learn. References Brown, H. D., . (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching. Chomsky, N., Halle, M. (1965). Some controversial questions in phonological theory. Journal of Linguistics, 1(02), 97-138. Clark, E. V. (2009). First language acquisition. Cambridge University Press. Ding, N., Melloni, L., Zhang, H., Tian, X., Poeppel, D. (2016). Cortical tracking of hierarchical linguistic structures in connected speech. Nature Neuroscience, 19(1), 158-164. Gass, S. M., Mackey, A. (2013). The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition. Routledge. Harris, Z. S. (1982). A grammar of English on mathematical principles. John Wiley Sons Inc. Harris, Z. (1991). Theory of language and information: a mathematical approach. Hickey, R. (n.d.) First and second language acquisition: A brief comparison. English Linguistics. Campus Essen. Klein, W. (1986). Second language acquisition. Cambridge University Press. Krashen, S. (1981). Second language acquisition. Second Language Learning, 19-39. Lenneberg, E. H., Chomsky, N., Marx, O. (1967). Biological foundations of language (Vol. 68). New York: Wiley. Lightbown, P. M., Spada, N., Ranta, L., Rand, J. (1993). How languages are learned (Vol. 998). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Reutzel, D. R., Cooter, R. B. (2004). The essentials of teaching children to read: What every teacher needs to know. Prentice Hall. Tool Module: Chomskys universal Grammar (n.d.). Retrieved from https://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/capsules/outil_rouge06.html.

Friday, May 1, 2020

Board Matters-Free-Samples for Students-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Write a report advising a newly established board on what measures it needs to Implement to ensure appropriate conduct by the Board of Directors. Answer: Introduction Board in general refers to a board of directors or a group of individuals who are responsible for monitoring activities of a profit; no-profit organization or government agencies. Therefore, boards are for monitoring or overseeing whether an organization is abiding its fundamental constitutions as well as government legislations in a systematic way or not. The concern of the following report is to advise varied measures to a newly established board so that the board can properly ensure appropriate conduct by the recruited board of directors. The report will therefore identify the fundamental roles and responsibilities of a board and the possible risks associated with the responsibilities. In order to recognize the responsibilities as well as the frequent risks associated with them, it is essential at the very first to have a clear overview of the particular board that has been newly established. Overview of the newly established board As mentioned above, prior to give fruitful advises for ensuring appropriate conduct, it is essential to know the fundamental purpose and concerns of the newly established board. As the same time, it is essential to identify the key members of the board and their inclusive criterion. It has been identified that a Cape-town based start-up financial organization has established new board of ten respective members. The board size of the considered organization is ten and each of the respected members of the board has Finance degrees from top Universities of South Africa and it has been also found out that each of the recruited members of the newly established board have an impressive extent of experience from several reputed financial organizations previously. Thus, it is understandable that the concerned organization has not compromised in selecting the responsible individuals for the board of committee. In this context, it is essential to mention that the organizational aim of the financial enterprise, which has established the new board of directors, is to help customers with innovative investment schemes as well as help with external auditing. Hence, it is understandable enough that the organization deserves efficient individuals, who have not only financial degrees but also a fair amount of experiences in the particular field. It is essential to mention here that according to the concerned financial organization, they have established the new board of members, so that the authority always stays informed about the availability of adequate amount of the financial resources. It has been known that the organization has been facing some difficulties at their initial phase due to lack of financial resources and inappropriate management of t he existing financial resources. Hence, the organization decided to establish a new board of directors as the organization is expanding its grandeur lately due to getting satisfactory customer feedback and brand reputation. Roles and responsibilities of a board Prior to advise fruitful measures or initiatives to the newly established board, so that it can function properly, it is essential to look at the fundamental roles and responsibilities of the board members. A board of directors of a financial organization is accountable to hold the following responsibilities Establishing controls on financial activities Accounting as well as taking financial decisions is primarily the responsibility of the management of a financial organization. However, a management cannot accomplish the aforementioned responsibility if there is no convenient framework (Bai, 2013). A board of directors of a financial organization likes the concerned one, is responsible for creating the particular framework. Moreover, it is the mandatory responsibility of the board of directors of a financial enterprise to create policies so that any kind of fraud and error can be prevented timely. A board of directors of ever established and reputed financial organization is supposed to design policies for separation of duties, signature and authorization and good-governance policies. Under the name of good-governance, policies of an organization include conflict-of-interest policy, policy for document retention and whistleblower policy (Berger et al., 2016). Ensuring compliance with the fundamental policies After establishing financial policies and procedures, it is necessary to verify whether the employees, volunteers and other internal stakeholders are systematically complying with the established policies and fundamental procedures or not (Blowfield Murray, 2014). In this context, it is essential to mention that the internal stakeholders of an organization are supposed to comply with the policies made by the board of directors by reviewing reports and reading the annual letters of the auditors. Budget approval and reviewing financial reports Although the fact that an organizations management is accountable for creating annual budgets and maintain it accordingly to serve for the administrative decisions, the board of directors is responsible for first reviewing and thereafter approving the budget. It is therefore the duty of the board of directors to ensure that the budget is comprehensive as well as realistic according to the performance capability of the organization. At the same time, boards of a financial organization is responsible for reviewing financial reports on half-yearly, quarterly or in annual basis (Boulouta, 2013). For the small and medium-sized organizations like the one that has been considered, financial reports are required to be reviewed quarterly. Ensuring financial sustainability, creating audit committee and compensating management Every business organization necessarily requires an audit committee, whose responsibility is to review the financial disclosure of an organization. For financial organizations who themselves provide the service of auditing, it is essential initially to build an audit committee who will look after the financial performance as well as the activities of auditing of the employees. Additionally, it is the responsibility of the board to see whether the organization is acquiring financial sustainability or not (Frias?Aceituno et al., 2013). In order to do that it is necessary compare the current financial performance with the performance of the previous years. The board is also responsible for creating compensations for the senior management as well as for the CEO of an organization. Maintaining adequate financial reserves and risk management Board or a board of directors of an organization should look after the existing financial reserves of an organization and is responsible for establishing procedures in order to determine when and for which reasons the financial reserves will be utilized. At the same time, a board of directors is responsible in identifying risks, assessing them and establish strategies to mitigate them, so that an organization does not has to face any difficulties. Possible risks and issues After having an in-depth idea about the fundamental roles and responsibilities of a board, it is required to see what can be the possible risks as well as issues related with the roles and responsibilities of the board of directors. In order to ensure appropriate conduct, dysfunctional board of directors is required to be prevented at the first place. Some of the frequent risks, which are associated with accomplishing the roles and responsibilities of a board, are Due to lack of preparation and activeness, several times board of directors fails to conduct risk identification and risk assessment properly. Consequently, an organization suffers from unexpected outcomes and disappointing revenue margin (Knepper et al., 2016). It is a board of directors one of the essential duties to supervise and control the activities of the management. Several times, due to biasness, boards of directors overlook the faults of the senior management and the issues between the management and the employees. Consequently, the particular organization suffers from employee attrition and low standard performances from the workforce (Leipziger,). For example, Woolworths eventually encounter biggest employee riot for giving inappropriate treatment and low salary. Subsequently, Woolworths reputation was harmed and the CEO resigned. Several times due to autocratic mentality, boards of directors ignored to receive feedbacks from the management, which subsequently decrease the communicational bond and for the directors, it becomes hard to get proper information from the internal stakeholders. On the other hand, several times, the directors of a board or organizational lacks adequate effective skills. Various times, it has been also identified that instead of giving worthwhile contribution to an organization, skills of some directors becomes less relevant with the present strategies and market demands. In such case, an organization can face marketing challenges (Van Grembergen De Haes, 2017). It is one of the potential duties of the board of directors to vote members and include new individuals in the board. Most of the time organizations face lack of integrity and agreeable approach among the directors. Due to such conditions, it becomes difficult to select an appropriate member for the board as well as reach to a proper decision. Among most of the South African organization, it has been identified that directors are facing personal liability issues, which is considered as the problem occurred by the pressure of corporate governance (Ferrell Fraedrich, 2015). Organizations like Marsh, Norton Rose South Africa and Chartis South Africa are facing such issues. Measures to ensure appropriate conduct The above sections have given a clear understanding about which frequent issues can harm the functioning of a board of directors. It has been understood that the concerned organization may face lack of integrity and biasness are the two main constraints for effective functioning of the board. Therefore, the considered organization should adopt the following measures Carefully choose and employ an inside director and an outside director In order to ensure effective functioning of a board, the organization at the very first should select experienced as well as efficient inside directors. At the same time, the outside directors, who are generally the president or the owner of the organization should have an accompanying approach to the inside director. In order to do such, frequent meetings between the inside and outside directors are essential. Face-to-face talking helps in sorting out issues as well as convincing each other in an impressive way (Alliance, 2015). The particular procedure will help the organization in avoiding the issue of lack of integrity or less agreeable approach to each other. With the help of the particular measure, the organization can successfully reach to suitable decisions. Judging the skills of individuals prior to implement them As it has been identified that lack of effective skills has several times created problems for varied organizations like Marsh and Chartis. Thus, prior to employ the members, it will be convenient to test the skills of the director (Ittner Keusch, 2015). It will help in future to avoid any kind of inappropriate behaviors performance of the directors. Avoiding personal liability risks and implementing performance evaluation procedures As the personal liability issue is one of the potential issues, faced by the South African companies, to have a flawless functioning of the board of directors, it will be important to look after whether any of the directors are having liability risks or not. At the same time, yearly performance evaluation will be also required. A performance evaluation on yearly basis will help the directors to see their own faults as well as it will help them to improvise the same (Roman County, 2013). On the other hand, if the directors will not have to face any liability risks, they could work with motivation and can give their complete dedication. Conclusion The report has indicated that the considered organization should adopt the measures, which will help the board of directors in avoiding personal liability risks and can have the opportunity to identify individual faults. At the same time, the report has also advised that the organization should make a cooperative relationship between the inside director and the outside directors of the organization References Alliance, T. B. (2015). Board of Directors.AGENDA. Bai, G. (2013). How do board size and occupational background of directors influence social performance in for-profit and non-profit organizations? Evidence from California hospitals.Journal of business ethics,118(1), 171-187. Berger, A. N., Imbierowicz, B., Rauch, C. (2016). The roles of corporate governance in bank failures during the recent financial crisis.Journal of Money, Credit and Banking,48(4), 729-770. Blowfield, M., Murray, A. (2014).Corporate responsibility. Oxford University Press. Boulouta, I. (2013). Hidden connections: The link between board gender diversity and corporate social performance.Journal of Business Ethics,113(2), 185-197. Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J. (2015).Business ethics: Ethical decision making cases. Nelson Education. Frias?Aceituno, J. V., Rodriguez?Ariza, L., Garcia?Sanchez, I. M. (2013). The role of the board in the dissemination of integrated corporate social reporting.Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management,20(4), 219-233. Ittner, C. D., Keusch, T. (2015). The Influence of Board of Directors Risk Oversight on Risk Management Maturity and Firm Risk-Taking. Knepper, W. E., Bailey, D. A., Bowman, K. B., Eblin, R. L., Lane, R. S. (2016).Duty of Loyalty(Vol. 1). Liability of Corporate Officers and Directors. Leipziger, D. (2015).The corporate responsibility code book. Greenleaf Publishing. Roman, J., County, O. M. (2013). Board of Directors. Van Grembergen, W., De Haes, S. (2017, January). Introduction to IT Governance and Its Mechanisms Minitrack. InProceedings of the 50th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.