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English progressive form - Free Essay Example
Sample details Pages: 18 Words: 5356 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Does English progressive form denotes subjectivity in written and oral production of the language for Mara College Banting students as English L2 learners; and how does it differs in terms of gender, educational background, and English proficiency level? INTRODUCTION Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "English progressive form" essay for you Create order              In daily conversations and writings, it seemed that English second language (L2) learners have more tendencies to write and speak while considering the grammatical construction and aspectual meaning of verb rather than it attitudinal meaning. However, grammarians have agreed that English progressive form is a genuinely emotive language device[1] where it will denote subjectivity in it usage. Subjective, in this case, means that the language user shows attitudinal meaning and put emotional colouring in the sentence while using the language. There were several studies by universities or institutions on the subjectivity of English progressive form, however, does English progressive form denotes subjectivity among Mara College Banting students as English L2 learners and how it will differ in term of gender, educational background, and English proficiency level? The study on the second language learner seemed to be missed out to formulate whether the English L2 learners view the progressive form as an indication to attitudinal meaning and subjectivity whether in written and oral production of the language.              As grammarians suggested that English progressive form is a genuinely emotive language device, therefore it is an important feature that can be applied in writing newspapersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ report, political speeches, and other writings in which the language feature can be used in order to influence the readers or the listeners more. The progressive form can be used by people in writings or conversations to show more sincerity and true feelings of the person involved. However, to what extent this is expected to be true to the English L2 learners is not proven yet. As most of the study proven to the native speakers, however, there is no study to specify whether the result of the study is similar to those non-native speakers. Therefore, this study is important to suggest whether English progressive form may contain similar feature as an emotive language device to the English L2 learners. If the result is positive, therefore it shows that the usage of English progressive form may have subjective emotional impact on both the users (writers and speakers) and the receivers (readers and listeners), therefore it will make different in emotional value when using it in writings or conversations.    AIM OF THE STUDY.              This essay is based on the study of English progressive form or the so-called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"ing form. Throughout the study, the aim is to identify whether verbs in progressive form will denote subjectivity in the sentence; in which emotion is involved; for Mara College Banting students as English L2 learner. In other mean, the study focuses on the way in which emotion affect the language used; while in this case it will focus on the usage of verbs in progressive. Besides that, the intention of the study is also to investigate whether the subjectivity of the sentence will change when the verb is being written or spoken. Further study will include the discussion on how other factors: gender, educational background, and English proficiency level will affect the hypothesis. The study will seek out the answers of the following research question: 1) Does the usage of verb in progressive form will denote subjectivity in the sentence for English L2 learners? 2) Does the subjectivity of the phrase changes when it is written or spoken? 3) How does the subjectivity differ among students of different gender? 4) How does the subjectivity differ among students of different educational background? 5) How does the subjectivity differ among students of different English proficiency level? METHODOLOGY 1) Questionnaires Questionnaires were distributed to 40 MCB students. In the questionnaires, respondents were determined their gender, educational background, and IELTS[2] result. They were asked to answer several questions to see whether the usage of progressive form has different mean of applications to them. 2) Interviews 15 students who prefer the progressive form the most were interviewed to observe whether there were shifting of preference. Several questions were being asked according to module while some were spontaneous to trigger conversation. The students was also being asked on their views whether they are aware of other mean of applications of the English progressive form in the production of the language Below are the indicator used in determining the studentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ preference: Preference percentage (%) Preference 0à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤x20 Non-progressive 20à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x40 40à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤x60 Mix 60à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤x80 Progressive 80à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤x100 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS              From the research carried out[4] In this case, students were required to make simple decisions whether to apply progressive form or attempting to use non-progressive form.              The questions given could be regarded as emphasising the respondentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ attitude. Therefore, progressive could be seen as expressing the respondentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ feelings about the situation. However, some students may opt for other options depending on the studentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ commitment in producing the language too. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Non-progressive form appeared to be a better option with less personal commitment or less prominence on temporality. The neutral choice by more fact-oriented students would be the non-progressive.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢[5] Thus, it depends on the verb form preference of the students too rather than depending solely on the studentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ implicit and explicit knowledge. The result of the research has proven to be positive on the research question. About 24 students out of 40, which is more than half prefer to use English progressive form in most cases while 10 students are consistently prefer non-progressive form while 6 students mix their preference of using progressive form in their question papers. This not only shows that most MCB students are aware of the subjectivity of English progressive form in its usage, but also prefer to use it in most situations. But, there is also a possibility that the respondents may also not aware of the subjective meaning of progressive form of verb, but rather choose the first thing that came into their mind. Since the students are young, they may be influenced by new or extended use of the progressive. Many learners fail to understand that there are many other possible reasons of using the progressive[7] Short interviews were conducted with some of the respondents to see whether they might shift from using progressive to non-progressive or vice versa while using the language in speaking. However, the result showed that the respondents tend to use non-progressive form rather than the progressive while producing the language orally[8]. Out of 15 respondents, 13 of them prefer the progressive form in most cases than the non-progressive in their English oral production. They tend to use simple tense when speaking or making decision spontaneously at the time of speaking. If they are not sure about something, they also tend to use the phrase à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“I think à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? rather than à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“I am thinking à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. All 15 respondents for the speaking test were taken from those who answered the questions with more than 80% of using the progressive form during the written test. This indicates that most students are likely to shift from using the progressive form in English written production to the non-progressive form in the oral production of the language. It is because they have used to write in English since childhood but not speak and therefore, encounter difficulties in placing emotional colouring or using the progressive form in the orally-produced sentences at instant. These phrases were used the most by the respondents when answering questions orally: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“I think à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“I hopeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“I doà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. In some cases, the students also made mistakes or incorrect usage of grammar while replying to the questions orally. Even though some questions being asked were in the progressive form, the respondents somehow use the simple verb in their replies. While producing the language orally, they tend to make flaws while putting aside grammatical construction in conversation. The translation of words in their mind have been the only priority in time of verbalising an instant reply such as in conversation as English L2 learners rather than undergoing the process of translating from first language, arranging words, and checking grammar, then only producing a reply.Â à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Variability in learner language is determined by a variety of factors such as linguistic context, situational contexts, and the availability of planning time.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?[9] When respondents were being asked about the usage of progressive form, most respondents have a vague idea and mostly claimed that it has something to do with an ongoing event or verb. When being asked about how they choose whether to use the progressive or non-progressive forms to denote subjectivity, they simply cannot explain the reason of why did they use either forms. That means the idea of progressive form as an emotive language device is still not widely recognised by MCB students as English L2 learners. Therefore, it can be deduced that most of Mara College Banting students prefer the usage of the English progressive form to denote subjectivity in English written production. While in the oral production of the language, the students prefer using the non-progressive form the most in which they shift from their preference from the written production. Even though they are not really exposed into the function of progressive form as an emotive language device, however, they made their decision based on how they define the usage of the form itself to denote subjectivity.   EFFECT OF GENDER              Referring the data acquired[10], there is noticeably a marginal difference between the usages of progressive form among students of different gender except from 40% to 60%. It is apparently shows that female students have the higher tendency to use progressive form compared to the male students. However, more female students do not prefer using progressive form than male students and is shown by its preference from 40% and below. It is shown that there is significant difference in the number of students who prefer using progressive form 40% to 60% in their questions. However, there is still lot of male and female students prefer more than 60% of using progressive form in written production.              My early hypothesis is that gender does affect the usage of English progressive form in written production because generally women have a more soft feeling or what is called feminine compared to men. Therefore, I assume feminism may have some effect the subjectivity of the language used. However, the result indicates an opposite outcome. Among both genders, the usage of English progressive form is almost similar. The most probable reason that leads to this outcome is the treatment and gender equality within the education system in Malaysia. Mostly, students in Malaysia were taught according to syllabus regardless of gender. Even though some respondents who previously came from all-female schools or all-male schools, however, most of them were taught using similar syllabus, consistent with any students over the country.              Besides that, it cannot be denied that some students may have used to be using progressive form in their writings and therefore gender factor is irrelevant in affecting the usage of progressive form in written production. The least number of female has the preference in using the progressive form from 40% to 60% compared to the male. This shows that female respondents are interested whether to prefer progressive form consistently or non-progressive form consistently and do not prefer to mix both progressive and non-progressive.              When interviews were conducted[11], there were 13 out of 15 who used more of the progressive form than simple form. And the other 2 students were from the female group in which they tend to use progressive form in oral production. These two students stay firm on using the progressive form to denote subjectivity whether in written or oral production. However, most of the respondents interviewed shifted their preference from progressive form in the written production to non-progressive form while speaking. The possible explanations are due to the reasons that have been explained before and there is nothing to do with gender. This is because most of the respondents shifted their usage preference regardless of gender. Only two female respondents stay on using the progressive form, however, this is too insignificant to develop an inference.              Therefore, it can be deduced that the factor of gender do not affect the usage of the progressive form in denoting subjectivity whether in written or oral production among MCB students. So, gender has no relationship with the frequency of usage of English progressive form among MCB students as English L2 learners. EFFECT OF EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND              Based on Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached. We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation.[12] At first, I assumed that due to different educational background, there should be significant difference on the number of students who prefer progressive form in their sentences due to different study environment.              However, from the result obtained[13], it shows that the students previously studied in daily or boarding schools have no influence on the progressive form usage in denoting subjectivity in English written production. Looking at the percentage of 20%-40% and 60%-80%, there are huge differences between the boarding and daily schools that prefer progressive or non-progressive in their written production. I take this as my limitation due to small sample size for the experiments. The number of students previously from boarding schools is not equal to the number of students from daily schools. However, splitting those as two different results will help to display the distribution of students who prefer the usage of progressive form to denote subjectivity; however, due to marginal difference between the results and also unequal distribution of students studied in boarding and daily schools within the sample space, it is hard to make an inference from the data. But, it can be seen that the number of students previously from boarding or daily schools, both share similar feature in which more number of students prefer in the usage of progressive form in their written production to denote subjectivity. The students from boarding schools who prefer using the progressive form is 13 students which is more than 11 students who prefer using the non-progressive form. For previously daily school students, those who prefer using the progressive form is 5 students which is more than 3 students who prefer using the non-progressive form.              During the interview[14], most students from daily schools can speak English better than those from boarding schools. From my point of view, for English L2 learners to speak very well, they may have been in the environment where most people around them speak in English. Daily schools usually have well-mixed races environment where there are Malay, Chinese, Indian, and the others. From my personal observation, Chinese and Indian students are likely to speak English at home and at school. When more people engage and interact in English, it will develop and improve the speaking skill of the people involved. Students from boarding schools usually live in an environment where all people are interacting by using the first language. Thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s the reason of some boarding schools students cannot engage in English very well. Due to that, even they want to express their emotion or opinion by using the second language, they might have some difficulties in placing certain words to show an attitudinal meaning in what they want to express. Rather than placing emotional colouring in the sentences verbalised, they are more susceptible to deliver it by placing more emphasise on pronunciation and vocabulary of words. This explanation can be also applied to some of the daily school students.              In general, even though daily school students usually engage in English, depend on to whom they speak, however, their case is similar to those studied in boarding schools. It seemed that most of them didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t know the function of the progressive form as an emotive language device and theyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d rather mix the usage of progressive and non-progressive or else constantly use the non-progressive since the construction of the sentences would be easier and simple.              From the experiment conducted, it can be deduced as a general that educational background has nothing to do with the application of English progressive form to denote subjectivity, be it in written or oral production among MCB students. OFICIENCY LEVEL Most MCB students are at intermediate or high level of English proficiency since they have been selected from many students who had going for the sponsorship interview before entering the college. Their English result in the General Certificate Examination is at least 4B. Categorisation is made into 3 groups according to their first IELTS result: Competent, Good, and Very Good.              My early prediction is most students of better English proficiency will prefer the usage of progressive form in the written production while those with intermediate and competent level of English proficiency will prefer either to mix or use the non-progressive form. This is because students with higher English proficiency should have the knowledge and used to using the progressive form to bring attitudinal meaning or emotional emphasis in the language. Good users might rather choose whichever does suit them while competent users had rather to make the sentences using the simple form because they had rather make it simple and very straightforward.              It is clearly shown that students of high level of proficiency mostly prefer the usage of progressive form to denote attitudinal meaning with 10 students chose more than 60% in their written production than 2 students used less than 40% of the progressive form.[15] This might be due to the exposure and recognition of progressive form to denote subjectivity. Analysing the data for Good users of the language, most students have a high preference in using à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"ing form of the verb in their written production to show subjectivity. There are 12 students preferring the usage of progressive form than 2 students mixed the preference of progressive and non-progressive form and 2 other students less prefer the usage of the progressive form. 2 Competent users of the language are in the preference of the progressive form while 6 students preferred the usage of non-pr ogressive in their written production while 4 students mix their preferences.              Therefore, it can be suggested that Good and Competent users of the language do not view the progressive form to denote subjectivity in written production. This is due to the fact that their formal learning in school had never introduced the students on the association of English progressive form with showing attitudinal meaning and emotional value in the utterance of words. As for learning English at secondary schools, some students claimed not to have learnt grammar thoroughly and even so, they do not grasp much of the grammatical rules. The choice of word forms they based on is only the form that they think appropriate.              Even though there are more likely students that possess better command in English to prefer the progressive form in the written production, however, they changed into using more of the non-progressive while speaking[17] According to Elina Ranta: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"attractivenessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ of the progressive resides in the grammatical form itself à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" that L2 speakers have realised its à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"communicativeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ value in interaction. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦adding the ending à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"ing to a verb gives the verb more prominence and salience in the speakerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s utterance. It makes the verb stand out, so to speak, and draws the interlocutorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s attention as a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"heavierà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ periphrastic structure.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?[18] The studentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s preference in using the progressive form might be due to this even if they do not have the knowledge of the subjectivity of the progressive; it is still reasonable to choose à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"ing form as an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"attention-catchingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ form.              Therefore, it can concluded that the English proficiency level do affect the studentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ decision whether English progressive form denotes subjectivity in written and oral production of the language for MCB students. LIMITATIONS              Throughout the study, the biggest limitation is that the sample size (number of respondents) is not large, in which some data might be biased since it does not represent the whole college population. Time is a factor of limitation because the respondents took a longer time to hand in their answers back and interviewing the students would never been easy. Therefore, it is quite hard to obtain more data or to increase the sample size of students due to time limitation. The sample size for the interview and the questions are also quite small; however, due to majority of preference, conclusion can still be made. Increasing the number of respondents and questions would be a great help to develop a more significant conclusion. The number of respondents should be increased more so that the distribution of the data is more towards normal.[19] Other than that, book reference o n subjectivity of English progressive form is hard to find, but previous researches from the internet have helped a lot as academic readings to justify certain things.              Besides that, the respondents might be confused with the rural, developing, and urban areas in which they lived in. Some places have the look of developing areas, but in fact it is not in the process of developing. Furthermore, biasness might happen if the respondents do not answer the questions according to their own judgement, but rather follow friendsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ answers especially for general questions. Hence, future studies should consider these limitations and seek for other better option to categorise the respondents and make effective use of resources and the respondents. CONCLUSION              In general, English progressive form denotes subjectivity in written production for MCB students as English L2 learners; however it does not apply in oral production of the language. This is displayed from their shifting in preference of using more of progressive form in written production while non-progressive in oral production.              It is stated that gender of the students does not affect the view of subjectivity as an indication of subjectivity in written and oral productions among MCB students as English L2 learners. This is displayed from the minor difference in the data between male and female students in the written production while for the oral production; it shows no correlation between gender and the usage of progressive form to denote subjectivity.              Educational background has been also concluded showing no correlation to the indication of English progressive form to denote subjectivity among MCB students. This is displayed from the distribution of the data that is quite similar between previously daily and boarding schools students.              However, English proficiency level does affect the view of English progressive form to denote subjectivity in written and oral production of the language. This is shown by large difference between those who possess better command in English language than those who does not. BIBLIOGRAPHY Catherine J. Doughty and Michael H.Long, 2003: The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition; published by Blackwell Publishing. Rod Ellis, 1997: Oxford Introductions to Language Study: Second Language Acquisition; published by Oxford University Press. Linda Duvsten from LuleÃÆ' ¥ University of Technology, Department of Languages and Culture. Masterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Thesis: The Subjective Progressive in Everyday Written English (A study on Pragmatics) (https://epubl.luth.se/1402-1552/2007/087/index.html 12/11/2009) Margareta Westergren Axelsson and Angela Hahn: The Use of Progressive in Swedish and German Advanced Learner English à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a corpus based study (https://icame.uib.no/ij25/axelsson.pdf 13/11/2009) Elina Ranta from University of Tampere: The à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Attractiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Progressive à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Why Use the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"ing in English as Lingua Franca (https://gupea.ub.gu.se/dspace/bitstream/2077/3150/1/5-2-Ranta.pdf 9/12/2009) Daniel Chadler: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (https://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/whorf.html 17/1/2010) 8.0 APPENDICES 8.1 Appendix 1 Table of the number of students in refer to the percentage usage of progressive form in 20 questions Percentage usage of progressive form Number of students / Frequency 0 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 20 3 20 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 40 7 40 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 60 6 60 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 80 17 80 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 100 7 8.2 Appendix 2 Table of the effect of gender on the number of students in refer to the percentage usage of progressive form in 20 questions. Percentage usage of progressive form Male students Female students 0 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 20 1 2 20 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 40 3 4 40 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 60 5 1 60 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 80 8 9 80 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 100 3 4 8.3 Appendix 3 Table of the effect of educational background on the number of students in refer to the percentage usage of progressive form in 20 questions. Percentage usage of progressive form Boarding schools Daily schools 0 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 20 4 3 20 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 40 7 0 40 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 60 4 4 60 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 80 10 3 80 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 100 3 2 8.4 Appendix 4 Table of the effect of English proficiency level on the number of students in refer to the percentage usage of progressive form in 20 questions. Percentage usage of progressive form Level of English user Number of students / frequency 0 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 20 Very Good 2 Good 1 Competent 0 20 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 40 Very Good 4 Good 1 Competent 2 40 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 60 Very Good 4 Good 2 Competent 0 60 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 80 Very Good 2 Good 7 Competent 8 80 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ x 100 Very Good 0 Good 5 Competent 2 8.5 Appendix 5 Result for interview questions Respondents Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Total 1 ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– 5 2 ÃÆ'– 1 3 ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– 2 4 ÃÆ'– 1 5 ÃÆ'– 1 6 ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– 3 7 ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– 2 8 ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– 2 9 ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– 2 10 ÃÆ'– 1 11 ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– 3 12 ÃÆ'– 1 13 ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– 2 14 ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– ÃÆ'– 6 15 ÃÆ'– 1 Indicator: Total questions involved in progressive form feedback Preference 1 to 3 Non-subjective 4 to 6 Subjective 8.6 Appendix 6 CATEGORISATION OF ENGLISH PROFICIENCY LEVEL BY IELTS              IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System, which is an internationally recognised standardised test of English language proficiency level. IELTS is mainly divided into two categories: the Academic version and the General Training Version. It is generally acknowledged that the reading and writing tests for the Academic Version are more difficult than those for the General Training Version, due to the differences in the level of intellectual and academic rigour between the two versions.[20]              For MCB students, since they are doing preparation programme (International Baccalaureate) before going overseas, it is a must for each students to take the IELTS- Academic version to identify their English proficiency level for university placement requirement. IELTS consists of 4 tests: speaking, writing, listening, and reading and all modules have to be completed before the test report is printed out.              Besides that, each module also has a range of band from 0 to 9 which indicate the English proficiency level of the students for each module. The overall band is the total average band level which places the English proficiency level of the students in average. However, mostly students in Mara College Banting obtain a result ranging from 6.0 to 8.0 only for the overall band while the lowest band for each separate module is 5.5 and the highest is 9.0.              Taking the overall band as the main indicator for the English proficiency level, the range of band is therefore only from 6.0 to 9.0. IELTS has also classified the result into several classes as tabulated in the following page:[21] Band Level Description 9 Expert user Has fully operational command of the language: appropriate, accurate and fluent with complete understanding. 8 Very Good User Has fully operational command of the language with only occasional unsystematic inaccuracies and inappropriacies. Misunderstandings may occur in unfamiliar situations. Handles complex detailed argumentation well. 7 Good User Has operational command of the language, though with occasional inaccuracies, inappropriacies and misunderstandings in some situations. Generally handles complex language well and understands detailed reasoning. 6 Competent User Has generally effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriacies and misunderstandings. Can use and understand fairly complex language, particularly in familiar situations. 5 Modest User has partial command of the language, coping with overall meaning in most situations, though is likely to make many mistakes. Should be able to handle basic communication in own field. 4 Limited User Basic competence is limited to familiar situations. Have frequent problems in using complex language. 3 Extremely Limited User Conveys and understands only general meaning in very familiar situations. Frequent breakdowns in communication occur. 2 Intermittent User No real communication is possible except for the most basic information using isolated words or short formulae in familiar situations and to meet immediate needs. 1 Non User Essentially has no ability to use the language beyond possibly a few isolated words. 0 Did not attempt the test No assessable information provided. 8.7 Appendix 7 Below are the abbreviations used throughout the essay: Abbreviations Meaning L2 second language MCB Mara College Banting IELTS International English Language Testing System Appendix 8 Sample of Questionnaire Part 1 Answer the question with more than 8 words. Make your sentences to be reflective of whatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s happening. 1. You just went back from UK. Express your current feeling when you get back home. 2. Your aunt just died. You pay a visit to her house and express your condolence to her family. 3. Express your feeling of sorry to your friend who got a bad result in SPM. 4. You met your best friend coincidentally at the shopping mall. Express what do you feel after meeting him/her. 5. You felt stressed. How do you say to a friend who annoyed you at that time, threatening with a punch if he/she wonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t stop talking? Part 2 Fill in the blank with any possible answer. The suggested root word given might help. You may have more than one word per entry. 1. The first time I had to sit for an oral examination, I was all tensed up a day before the actual examination. I ___________________ (worry) about how should I they behave in front of the examiners. 2. There is an old Indian couple who lives opposite my house. Both of them are retired and they __________________ (spend) their twilight years pottering around their little garden. 3. I once read somewhere that the present living population on Earth is more than combined population of all the people who had ever lived in history! The population of the human species on Earth that had increased tremendously over the past few decades ___________________ (become) a serious problem. 4. Crime rates have been rising sharply nowadays. If we do/are not ________________ (prevent) this scenario from going on continuously, we have to do something! 5. Communists are still free out there. A Chinese man claimed that they have encountered the communists setting up their camps in the forest. The police speaker said that they are/will _______________(go) to the forest next week to assault the communists. Part 3 Circle the suitable word to be placed in the blank. Consider no wrong answer provided. 1.                           Have you already forgotten                           What are you waiting for 2.                              you should be doing                                       have to do 3.                 Was beginning                                       began 4.                    I am going to punish you now                          I have to punish you now 5.                 was shrinking                                                    shrank 6.                  crowded                                                    were crowding Part 4 Choose the best option that you will use when you are in that situation. There is no wrong answer. 1. What is your back-up plan if the football match is cancelled today? A) If that really happen, I am going to go to Golden Screen Cinema to watch movie. B) If that really happen, I will go to Golden Screen Cinema to watch movie. 2. What time is it now? You always be the last person before I close the door every time. A) Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m sorry to be late today, teacher. B) Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m sorry for being late today, teacher. 3. Darling, what promise do you want to say before our marriage next week? I am kind of nervous. A) Haha donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t worry my dear. I will not call off the wedding. B) Haha donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t worry my dear. I am not going to call off the wedding. 4. How do you feel today? A) Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m feeling very well. B) I feel very well. [1] Masterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Thesis: The Subjective Progressive in Everyday Written English (A study on Pragmatics) by Linda Duvsten from LuleÃÆ' ¥ University of Technology, Department of Languages and Culture. (https://epubl.luth.se/1402-1552/2007/087/index.html 12/11/2009) [2] Refer to Appendix 6 [3] Refer Appendix 1 [4] Catherine J. Doughty and Michael H.Long, 2003. The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, 326; Blackwell Publishing [5] The Use of Progressive in Swedish and German Advanced Learner English à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" a corpus based study; by Margareta Westergren Axelsson and Angela Hahn (https://icame.uib.no/ij25/axelsson.pdf 13/11/2009) [6] ibid [7] The à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Attractiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Progressive à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Why Use the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"ing in English as Lingua Franca; by Elina Ranta from University of Tampere (https://gupea.ub.gu.se/dspace/bitstream/2077/3150/1/5-2-Ranta.pdf 9/12/2009) [8] Refer Appendix 5 [9] Rod Ellis, 1997. Oxford Introduction to Language Study: Second Language Acquisition, page 28; Oxford University Press [10] Refer Appendix 2 [11] Refer to Appendix 5 [12] à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? by Daniel Chadler (https://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/whorf.html 17/1/2010) [13] Refer to Appendix 3 [14] Refer to Appendix 5 [15] Refer to Appendix 4 [16] Refer to Appendix 5 [17] The à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Attractiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Progressive à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Why Use the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"ing in English as Lingua Franca; by Elina Ranta from University of Tampere (https://gupea.ub.gu.se/dspace/bitstream/2077/3150/1/5-2-Ranta.pdf 9/12/2009) [18] ibid [19] Statistical term to describe data that cluster around the mean of data in which it produce data distribution that closer to the population distribution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IELTS 12 January 2010) [21] ibid
Monday, December 23, 2019
Anti-Asian Sentiment in Early 20th Century America
In the wake of the Civil War and the major improvements in the lives of African Americans during Reconstruction that followed, America saw its inequitable treatment of minorities shift from African Americans to Asian immigrants. To clarify, African Americans were still subject to much racial terrorism and many civil rights abuses, but they had recently gained major legislative victories with the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the 14th Amendment in 1868 that had helped to ensure their legal citizenship and equal rights in America. During this same time period, Asian immigration to America had begun to increase. Due to the nativist feelings that still pervaded in post-Civil War America and concerns about the labor market brought about by†¦show more content†¦Its primary legislative objective was to ensure that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 would remain intact and efficient. The Civil Rights Act had ensured that all people born in the United States would be guaranteed â€Å"f ull and equal benefit of all laws.†However, the 14th amendment took this idea much further and stratified the act. Citizenship was reaffirmed for all people born or naturalized in the country, regardless of race; states were given much more limited power in addressing and amending these same laws of equality for all citizens; â€Å"life, liberty, and property†were guaranteed to all as a right with the â€Å"due process of law†as the basis; and no one could be denied â€Å"equal protection of the laws.†The major implication of the amendment with regard to Asian immigration is that African Americans were now (supposedly) guaranteed all of the aforementioned rights of the 14th amendment, but the Asian immigrants that would arrive over the next few decades would not necessarily be able to have the same freedoms since they were not born or naturalized in the U.S. Indirectly, the 14th amendment would make it easier for the United States to employ its dis criminatory practices against immigrants simply because it failed to account for them and only recognized citizens as privileged to the rights the amendment guaranteed. An Era of Migration The mid-19th century saw a tremendous influx of immigration to America fromShow MoreRelated Immigrants and Immigration Movement of the Early 20th Century1077 Words  | 5 PagesImmigration Movement of the Early 20th Century Here is not merely a nation, but a teeming nation of nations. -Walt Whitman People have been immigrating to the United States ever since the European settlers first founded the nation. The first immigrants were white European settlers who came for an assortment of different reasons, such as freedom of religion and employment opportunities. Waves of immigrants poured into the US until restrictions were made in the 1920s, which were largelyRead MoreThe Immigration Act Is A Defining Moment That Changed Us Immigration Policy877 Words  | 4 Pagesdiscriminatory system (Hatton, 2015). Many decades following the enactment of this law saw a dramatic rise in the total number of immigrants, and an equally dramatic switch in the source-country composition away from Europe, towards Asia and Latin America. Contemporary legislators may have anticipated some of these effects, but the changes in the scale and structure of immigration, and the speed with which they took place, were not foreseen. It might be correctly stated that the consequences were largelyRead MoreA merican Racial Stereotyping Hampered Chinese Immigrants Essay1539 Words  | 7 PagesChinese laborers who take away jobs from native-born Americans. Anti-Chinese sentiments greatly proliferated throughout the United States during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Sui Sin Far, the author of the short story â€Å"Her Chinese Husband,†delineates how the prejudice of society against interracial marriage between a white woman and a Chinese man challenges both Minnie Carson and Liu Kanghi as a couple in the late 19th century. On the other hand, Frank Norris, the author of the short storyRead MoreThe Immigration Of The United States Essay2299 Words  | 10 Pagesrigueur throughout colonialism until the mid 20th century, and arguably today. Anti-immigrant sentiment has reigned with each historical immigration wave, intensifying as the demographics shifted from Northern and Western Europeans during Colonialism to more â€Å"unassimilable†races like Southern and Eastern European, Asian, African and Middle Eastern (History of Oppression: Lesson 4- Cultural Imperialism, 2016). Policy is inescapably shaped by public sentiment, and the American white majority believedRead MoreSocial Justice Reformers And The Progressive Era925 Words  | 4 Pagescreate their own prostitution laws, the first being the Progressive movement. The second factor was the highly sensational â€Å"white slave†media scare. The white slave panic originated in Europe and was initially based upon factual events. However in America, it snowballed into an overblown media spectacle that rewarded newspapers handsomely with more sales. William T. Stead, wrote the original series of these types of articles in the 1880s for the Pall Mall Gazette. He arranged an undercover sting operationRead MoreSocial Construction of Race1867 Words  | 8 Pagesdifferences of physical features and skin color (Wiegman 157). Film and television in this century and the twentieth c entury have aided and perpetuated stereotypes of race. These stereotypes have been most associated with minority or non-white groups in particularly, and most discussed pertaining to African-Americans in these mediums. Dating back to the earliest silent films all the way through the 20th century and into the new millennium African-Americans have been consistently been portrayed as theRead MoreThe Rising Threat Of Japan1854 Words  | 8 PagesIn the first century of New Zealand’s existence as a state, its ties to Britain did not leave much room for additional alliances. However, as World War II approached, it became increasingly apparent that while New Zealand was historically and ideologically beside Britain, geographically it was thousands of miles away. It is at this time, therefore, that we begin to see New Zealand considering new friends, specifically the United States. The rising threat of Japan in the pacific created anxietiesRead MoreImmigration Policies Of The 19 20s1831 Words  | 8 Pagesmeasures and committed suicide to end their suffering and broken dreams. From the Pacific Ocean many Chinese and other Asians crossed in search of work and fortune to bring back home to their families. Often these men worked for a year or so and returned home. It first began in 1849 when news spread across the world of a gold rush in California, causing 25,000 Chinese to come in the early 1850s. Many prospected for gold while others opened their own businesses such as restaurants, laundromats, and otherRead MoreTattoos : a Permanent Mark on Pop Culture Essay6526 Words  | 27 Pagestheir style indicating it was learned from the Ainu. In the west, early Britons used tattoos in ceremonies. The Danes, Norse, and Saxons tattooed family crests (a tradition still practiced today). In 787 AD, Pope Hadrian banned tattooing. It still thrived in Britain until the Norman Invasion of 1066. The Normans disdained tattooing. It disappeared from Western culture from the 12th to the 16th centuries. While tattooing diminished in the west, it thrived in Japan. At firstRead More Immigration Discrimination Essay2706 Words  | 11 Pagesimmigrants coming to our country on the gates of Ellis Island. INTRO      America is an idea, a set of beliefs about people and their relationships and the kind of society which holds the best hope of satisfying the needs each of us brings as an individual. For countless immigrants, the struggle to arrive in America was rivaled only by the struggle to gain acceptance among the population. Immigrants say they came to America seeking economic opportunity and freedom for themselves and their children
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Financial Accounting Free Essays
This paper seeks the locate the Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Statement of Cash Flows from the 2007 annual reports of Amazon and Dell respectively and describe the general organization of each of the three sets of financial statements. This will be followed by a determination of whether net income or cash from operating activities which is more useful in the organization for each of the two companies. The last part requires to make one prediction about each company from that company’s financial statements and to reach one additional conclusion about each company from the additional information that may be found in their annual reports. We will write a custom essay sample on Financial Accounting or any similar topic only for you Order Now The required financial statements were indeed found from the two companies. For Amazon, the general organization of each of the three sets of financial statements is as follows: The Statement of Cash Flows was presented first, followed by the Income Statement (or Statement of Operations) and then by the Balance Sheet (Amazon, 2007). Since the Statement of Cash Flows came ahead than the Income Statement, it follows that cash from operating activities is more useful than income for the organization. For Dell, on the other hand, the general organization of each of the three sets of financial statements is as follows: The Balance Sheet was presented first, followed by Income Statement and then by the Statement of the Cash Flows. The more useful for Dell, is the opposite with the case of Amazon, as this time, net income is more important than cash from operating activities because Income Statement came ahead of the Statement of Cash Flows (Dell, 2007). For Amazon, it could be predicted the revenues will grow 39% while total assets to grow by 49% in 2008 based on the Income Statement and Balance Sheet revenues figures for 2007 and 2006. For Dell, it could be predicted the sales will grow by 6% while total assets to grow by 8% based also on historical financial statement figures See Appendix 1. One additional conclusion that could be made for Dell will continue to have higher profitability that Amazon for the year 2008 in terms of return on sales and return on assets in 2007 for both companies. See Appendix 1. How to cite Financial Accounting, Papers Financial Accounting Free Essays Veronica Bradley Financial Accounting August 12, 2012 Internal Controls Case Study 2 Internal Controls LJB Company, a local distributor, has asked your accounting firm to evaluate their system of internal controls because they are planning to go public in the future. The Company has to check the internal controls of a system of checks and balances designed to detect and prevent fraud and errors. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires U. We will write a custom essay sample on Financial Accounting or any similar topic only for you Order Now S. companies to enhance their systems of internal control. The company hired has to detect the internal control system and meet the companies requirements. The internal control standards applicable to Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) apply only to large public companies listed on U. S. exchanges. There is a continuing debate as to whether non-U. S. companies should have to comply with this extra layer of regulation. Debate about international companies (non-U. S. ) adopting SOX-type standards centers on whether the benefits exceed the costs. The concern is that the higher costs of SOX compliance are making the U. S. securities markets less competitive. These activities are the backbone of the company’s efforts to address the risks it faces, such as fraud. The specific control activities used by a company will vary, depending on management’s assessment of the risks faced. This assessment is heavily influenced by the size and nature of the company. The principles of internal control activities are (1) establishment of responsibility, (2) segregation of duties, (3) documentation procedures, (4) physical controls, (5) independent internal verification, and (6) human resource controls. Advise the President of what the company is doing right (they are doing some things well) and also recommend to the President whether or not they should buy the indelible ink machine. When you advise the President, please be sure to reference the applicable internal control principle that applies. The things that the company is doing well are that using the pre- numbered invoices. When the company was not using pre-numbering they violated the documentation procedures. If pre-numbered documents are not used, then it is virtually impossible to account for the documents. This will keep good documentation on some things for future reference to have on hand and things aren’t done more than one time by different people. Pre-numbering helps to prevent a transaction from being recorded more than once, or conversely, from not being recorded at all. Second, the control system should require that employees promptly forward source documents for accounting entries to the accounting department. This control measure helps to ensure timely recording of the transaction and contributes directly to the accuracy and reliability of the accounting records. With the information provided the company should invest in an indelible ink machine. This will put the company in more control of accounting procedures. And with this in hand will help reduce the chance of any fraud going on in the company with the checks being more manageable. Use of physical controls are essential. The accountant’s act of keeping the checks in a safe in his office is in accordance with the physical controls principle. This reflects the safeguarding of assets and enhances the accuracy and reliability of the accounting records. The President should also know what they are doing wrong like the petty cash situation. All employees have access to the petty cash in a desk drawer and are asked to only place a note if they use any of the cash. The company had a hard time getting the employee to admit it was him because the company does not assign individual passwords. The company is violating the establishment of responsibility, and segregation of duties, documentation procedures, independent internal verification and human resource controls. With the petty cash Internal control over a petty cash fund is strengthened by: (1) having a supervisor make surprise counts of the fund to confirm whether the paid petty cash receipts and fund cash equal the fund amount, and (2) canceling or mutilating the paid petty cash receipts so they cannot be resubmitted for reimbursement. With the establishment of responsibility the company is violating that responsibility by not assigning responsibility to specific employees. Control is most effective when only one person is responsible for a given task. Without doing this leave the door open for fraud and other possibilities to of things to occur. With the company hiring convicted felons and sex offenders with them having a human resources department this all would have been avoided. They wouldn’t have to worry about employees using the internet to view porn sites. When the company hires employees they should have an independent verification for each individual employee. This will track all the employees with their computer and signing in and out of the system and all things that require a verification to proceed. An accountant is not certifiable to interview everyone for certain positions unless it is involved with their position. The President of the company needs to do a big evaluation of the system of internal controls to make sure all the standards are being met for planning the future of the company. As discussed earlier in the requirements of the company in order for them to go public in the future. They are going to have to follow all the guidelines for the principles of internal control are: establishment of responsibility; segregation of duties; documentation procedures; physical controls; independent internal verification; and human resource controls. How to cite Financial Accounting, Papers
Saturday, December 7, 2019
International Journal Production Economics -Myassignmenthelp.Com
Question: Discuss About The International Journal Production Economics? Answer: Introduction The report is prepared for demonstrating how quality is managed within the business organisation Woolworths in Australia. Woolworths is one of the leading retail brands that has been using the Metric Stream solutions for maintaining the quality, safety, and audit within the company. But here it is the concept of Quality Management system which is used to improve the business processes, practices of total quality management and enhance the profit level of Woolworths. For the company, QMS sets various policies, procedures and regulations to execute the strategic plans and create a positive impact on the core business area. ISO9001 is an example of the QMS that has integrated the internal operations of the organisation and find ways to improve the control and management of main business processes. This has lead to the enhanced productivity and maintenance of high quality to satisfy the needs of customers (Conti 2012). The QMS has been linked with the organisation strategy for making sur e that the roles and responsibilities of the organisational members are clarified. The TQM including the Six Sigma procedure, benchmarking and ISO 9000 has also facilitated the relationships with employees and customers and ensured proper corporate social responsibility as well. Quality Management Systems and Processes Woolworths being a retail company is more specialised in providing grocery items like vegetables, fruits, meat, packaged food items and other drinks though there are other products as well including health and beauty items, household products, etc. It is one of the largest company within the Australian supermarket and holds 80 percent of the supermarket in Australia. The quality management systems are managed by allowing the vendors to access the Quality assurance standards and other Codes of practices (Benavides-Velasco et al. 2014). They must have a system to obtain information about the food, healthcare and safety issues, rules and regulations along with the production level and sales of products and services. Being one of the most established organisation, the company must maintain quality standards always to keep the customers'' needs and requirements fulfilled and ensure that information is stored properly and secure for further improvements. QMS would include electronic system s that could manage backup of the data and information in case of system failure or data loss (Bon and Mustafa 2013). Link with organisation strategy The quality management policies and strategies must provide the organisational objectives and commitment for the supply of good quality and fresh products to satisfy the demands and preferences of customers. The policies would be linked with the organisational strategy to maintain food safety and prevent quality issues. The organisational strategy should be linked to the quality management policy by the Senior management of Woolworths who has the authority to do so. The Quality Management systems would be linked with the strategies to manage the safety of food items and even maintain the legality and quality of products with ease and effectiveness (Chang 2016). It could be understood that in the ISOP 9000 quality system, the strategies had been implemented to deliver the right quality products and services supported by documented information related to the policies, procedures, forms, rules, and regulations for work. By aligning the strategy with QMS, it would be easy for Woolworths to understand what the customers thactually wanted. The three-year strategic aspect was implemented to focus mostly on the customers' need by focusing on innovation of products, improve the internal processes by following the Lean retail model and finally improve the offers on products, though not compromising on the quality of those (De Mast, J. and Lokkerbol 2012). Another strategy was monitoring of employee performance to identify the areas of weaknesses and improve the level of customers' services, furthermore maintained a steady and loyal relationship with them and influenced their buying behaviors too. The open communication strategy was also lined with the QM systems to encourage new ideas and prevent issues faced by working in coordination. This would not only promote the views and responses of the farmers and manufacturers, but would also conduct the business operations properly to keep the customers satisfied and maintain a sustainable place in the market (Goetsch and Davi s 2014). Clarity roles and responsibilities As the documents and related information should be made accessible to the vendors and employees of the organisation, it is important to provide training to employees during the requirements of quality management system. This would make the staffs of the organisation to understand their roles and responsibilities and establish a good working environment to improve the business processes with ease. To clarify the roles and responsibilities, they must be accessible to the complete ISO 9000 and ISO 9001 Quality management system manual, forms and procedures and gain information about how to implement it step by step. The training would provide more scopes to gain strengths in the areas of internal processes and understand the requirements of ISO 9000 (Heras?Saizarbitoria and Boiral 2013). By following these documents, the individuals working within the organisation have learned the areas where change is needed such as the focus on customer relationship, management of foreign objects, con trol volume and weight, management pest prevention techniques and avoid risks while manufacturing and production of products and services at Woolworths (Woolworthsgroup.com.au 2017). Total Quality Management By implementing the Total Quality Management or TQM, has been able to integrate the management of documents, audits regarding quality of food, sustainability processes and finally reporting all these to the higher authorities in a structured and centralized framework. This allows the users to monitor the quality of food items, measure the safety and even the internal business processes' efficiency is improved. The TQM system has streamlined the business sustainability processes and automated those to derive the optimal level of output. Total Quality management focuses mostly on the business, culture and people working within the organisation, i.e., management of human resources (Nanda 2016). TQM has enabled the organisation to store data and important information in a Web-based repository so that any sort of unauthorized access is prevented and ensure that data is not lost anyhow. This information and data are used to prepare effective reports related to the management of quality and obtain valuable insights and knowledge to make an effective decision in the end. Thus, TQM is one of the most important concept of improving quality and manage sustainability at Woolworths (Oakland 2014). Six Sigma Six Sigma is effective when compared to other quality improvement methods like TQM, because it has allowed Woolworths to focus on managing improvements of quality consistently until all the business processes have been fully optimised. Six Sigma is used during the processes of manufacturing to production at Woolworths to eliminate any defects and reduce changes of quality variation for a product. Six Sigma describes the ways of implementing an effective measurement-based strategy to improving the effectiveness of procedures by following the step-by-step processes including define, measure, analyse, design and lastly verification (Priede 2012). These are the quality levels through which the process of manufacturing products go through by making a decision based on verified data and statistical methods and not by some lame assumptions and future predictions. Six Sigma follows the DMADV project methodology where the business objectives are developed according to the needs of customers a ligned with the organisational strategy, identify the main components for managing quality of products and production process, analyse the alternative approaches, design the most suitable alternative and finally, verify the design by running pilot tests (Pyzdek and Keller 2014). Lean manufacturing The lean manufacturing methods have allowed Woolworths to utilise fewer resources, though delivering the highest value to its customers. As it is a consumer centred company, it understands the value of customers well and thus has focused on the lean manufacturing processes to increase the value offered to the customers and create zero waste. Thus, the main objective of implementing the lean manufacturing methods is to eliminate wastes from the processes of manufacturing and production and improve the effectiveness of business operations, through delivery of more value to customers and gaining better profit in business. Woolworths has used the lean retail operating model to reduce the cost of products and saved an annual cost of $500 million (Rahani and Al-Ashraf 2012). The lean manufacturing aims to manage investments to enhance the experiences of customers by lowering down the products' prices and promoting better innovation and sustainability. This has increased the market share, e nabled the company to hold a good cost position and created satisfied and loyal customers (Woolworthsgroup.com.au 2017). ISO 9000 ISO 9000consists of several international standards related to the management and assurance of quality for the products of a company. It has allowed the organisation to document the quality management system and its components properly and ensure that the safety, health and quality standards are met to keep the customers safe. The quality standards that constitute the ISO 9000 have been designed properly by Woolworths to meet the statutory and regulatory requirements for maintaining the safety and quality requirements and meet the preferences of customers as a whole (Tai and Chuang 2014). Benchmarking Woolworths has benchmarked the Supplier Excellence program for promoting a best retailing practices and maintain the global product safety standards. The benchmarking is applied to all the individuals involved with the operations and supply chain management. The benchmarking has promoted accreditation, managed the checking of certifications of quality and ensured maintenance of quality standards. A currency certification regarding the product and public liability insurance has been accepted as a controlled record by Woolworths, which can be used afterwards to making any necessary changes to the requirements of international vendors (Terziovski and Guerrero 2014). The benchmarking also facilitated vendor's good business relationship with the company. Quality Improvement Process for the 21st Century Organisation Woolworths monitor the performances of employees and encourages them to perform to their potential for delivering excellence in terms of value to the customers. Good relationships with the employees are established by maintaining safety at workplace through mitigation of risks and losses faced due to job related incidents. The employees have been rewarded and have been provided with additional benefits for their performances, which has kept them motivated to work harder. By evaluating the job, labour market conditions, lack of skilled workers and budget limitations, the HR managers have considered the compensations and benefits as effective to manage a motivated workforce and establish a [positive organisational culture too (Usichenko et al. 2012). Training is provided by the organisation to its workers for improving their abilities and enhance the retention of employees too. Therefore, it could be understood that good relationships had been established with the employees of Woolwort hs. Relationship with customers The Quality management systems at Woolworths have enhanced the efficiency of ways by which all the internal business processes are combined together to achieve a desired purpose of delivering products of highest quality. Though it incurs a huge amount of cost, still quality management system encompasses the most effective ways of fulfilling the expectations of customers, which is often considered as a major component of business success. The QMS has enabled the business organisation to focus on the consumer goods and services and furthermore deliver the best value to them through implementation of improvement programs (Crane, Matten and Spence 2013). Wastes have been reduced and resources have been maximised to facilitate clear understanding of the expectations of customers and suppliers. With the implementation of QMS, workers have managed to obtain data and information easily that has supported data-driven decision making and even ensured proper documentation of how the internal pr ocesses will be managed at the retail supermarket (Woolworthsgroup.com.au 2017). By providing good quality products and services to the customers, positive relationships would be built, which could improve the flow of customers and allow the company to achieve the expected level of profit with ease and effectiveness. At Woolworths, various approaches are undertaken for the suppliers to ensure the best quality and safety of food items. With the enforcement of the Consumer Protection Ac, the company has made sure that the quality of products is satisfactory and safe for consumption by the consumers. Any sort of complaints regarding the quality and safety of products could be done by the customers up to 3 years after the happening of any incident. The QM systems enable assessing the feedbacks and responses of customers and make sure that relevant changes are made to improve the quality and prevent any sort of harm that may be experienced due to the poor quality of product delivered by the company (Zhu, Cordeiro and Sarkis 2013). Corporate social responsibility The corporate social responsibility of Woolworths is focused on the achievement of sustainability objectives and commitment towards a better future. by incorporating the CSR strategy, Woolworths has encouraged diversity of people by striving for equality of gender and with that, 40 percent of the senior and executive managerial positions are held by women. The male and female workers are treated equally with no wage gaps while diversity is managed by involving more team members to remain committed to the initiative of Federal Government's Employment Parity (Bon and Mustafa 2013). Business has maintained good relationship with the suppliers and inspired consumers to consume the products in a finance and sustainable way. The palm oil found in food products have become certified palm oil and taxes have been paid properly as well. Sustainable human progress Landfills are managed for wastes by focusing on the development of zero wastes and the carbon emissions have been reduced, which is a good sustainability approach as well. One of the most effective sustainability strategy introduced by Woolworths is "Doing the Right Thing", which allowed the company to put a subsequent amount of time and effort to focus on corporate responsibilities and develop sustainability programs. This has created better ways for consumers to consume products sustainability, manage wastes disposal and create a much lesser harmful impact on the environment for making it a better and safe place for human beings to live in (Chang 2016). Conclusion The topic reported about the development of quality within the business organization named Woolworths in Australia. The Quality management system and Total Quality management were different and it showed that QMS had set various policies and procedures along with codes of practices to ensure maintenance of quality of food items delivered by the company. These were linked with the strategy of the organization to clarify roles and responsibilities and manage easy understanding between individuals within the workplace. ISO 9000, Six Sigma methods were considered as effective quality improvements methods considered as effective by the organization whereas lean manufacturing method helped to utilize fewer resources, though not compromising on the quality of products and services delivered. The ISO 9000 standard was set to ensure that the quality standards had been met and customers would remain safe and healthy. Corporate social responsibility of the organisation was maintained by encoura ging diversity of people and prevented discrimination as well while sustainability practices like waste disposal and less carbon emissions were also considered effective for the company. References Benavides-Velasco, C.A., Quintana-Garca, C. and Marchante-Lara, M., 2014. Total quality management, corporate social responsibility, and performance in the hotel industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management,41, pp.77-87. Bon, A.T. and Mustafa, E.M., 2013. Impact of total quality management on innovation in service organizations: Literature review and new conceptual framework.Procedia Engineering,53, pp.516-529. Chang, J.F., 2016.Business process management systems: strategy and implementation. CRC Press. Conti, T., 2012.Building total quality: a guide for management. Springer Science Business Media. Crane, A., Matten, D. and Spence, L.J., 2013. Corporate social responsibility in a global context. De Mast, J. and Lokkerbol, J., 2012. An analysis of the Six Sigma DMAIC method from the perspective of problem solving.International Journal of Production Economics,139(2), pp.604-614. Goetsch, D.L. and Davis, S.B., 2014.Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson. Heras?Saizarbitoria, I. and Boiral, O., 2013. ISO 9001 and ISO 14001: towards a research agenda on management system standards.International Journal of Management Reviews,15(1), pp.47-65. Nanda, V., 2016.Quality management system handbook for product development companies. CRC Press. Oakland, J.S., 2014.Total quality management and operational excellence: text with cases.. Priede, J., 2012. Implementation of quality management system ISO 9001 in the world and its strategic necessity.Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,58, pp.1466-1475. Pyzdek, T. and Keller, P.A., 2014.The six sigma handbook(p. 25). New York: McGraw-Hill Education. Rahani, A.R. and Al-Ashraf, M., 2012. Production flow analysis through value stream mapping: a lean manufacturing business process case study.Procedia Engineering,41, pp.1727-1734. Tai, F.M. and Chuang, S.H., 2014. Corporate social responsibility.Ibusiness,6(03), p.117. Terziovski, M. and Guerrero, J.L., 2014. ISO 9000 quality system certification and its impact on product and process innovation performance.International Journal of Production Economics,158, pp.197-207. Usichenko, T.I., Rttenbacher, I., Kohlmann, T., Jlich, A., Lange, J., Mustea, A., Engel, G. and Wendt, M., 2012. Implementation of the quality management system improves postoperative pain treatment: a prospective pre-/post-interventional questionnaire study.British journal of anaesthesia,110(1), pp.87-95. Woolworthsgroup.com.au. (2017). Woolworths Group: Quality Brands and Trusted Retailing. [online] Available at: https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/ [Accessed 9 Oct. 2017]. Zhu, Q., Cordeiro, J. and Sarkis, J., 2013. Institutional pressures, dynamic capabilities and environmental management systems: Investigating the ISO 9000Environmental management system implementation linkage.Journal of environmental management,114, pp.232-242.
Friday, November 29, 2019
The Giver by Lois Lowry Essay Example
The Giver by Lois Lowry Essay Lois Lowry depicts an ideal society in her book The Giver. She successfully accomplishes this by conveying a utopian community through the eyes of a young boy named Jonas and she even won the John Newbery Medal for its great success. By following the protagonist, the reader is given the ability to recognize the ways in which the residents of the community have structured their lives over the years in order to live the most desirably. Lowry communicates to the reader the importance of societal relationship connections by implementing central themes including the importance of memory and individualism throughout the community in which Jonas is living. Jonas allows the reader to grasp the ideas and desirable behaviors the entire community shares as he is maturing in life. The community residents have imposed strict rules governing everything in daily life in order to eliminate what are some of the more depressing elements of an ordinary world. These include such things as pain, hunger, hatred, competition, and illness in exchange for happy and peaceful everyday lives. Adherence to the rules and community cooperation is the key to their utopian society. As this sounds like mere fantasy, the community is able to accomplish since no one possesses any memories of such elements. Therefore, the community is able to create and perfect society without disruption since the residents are not aware of the different choices in life that could change their community structure dramatically. With such order, the community is able to ensure the most convenient and pleasant society possible. We will write a custom essay sample on The Giver by Lois Lowry specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Giver by Lois Lowry specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Giver by Lois Lowry specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Within the strict guidelines reserves the right to one specially selected community resident to retain all of the memories for the community as a whole. This selected resident is known as The Receiver of Memory and is highly respected. As the reader learns when Jonas is selected for this duty, that it is extremely important and is the job which is the most honored in the community (61). The retiring Receiver of Memory, The Giver, passes on the memories of the community and of the entire world onto Jonas through senses. All of the memories that passed onto Jonas are new to him and according to the rules must remain mysterious to the rest of the community. Some of the memories passed on include enjoyable ones like snow, sledding, trees, and colors. However, other memories The Giver passes on to Jonas are not so enjoyable such as pain, suffering, and death. The selection of jobs like Jonas is the foundation for the structure of the small community. The community keeps careful order of the residents by grouping them according to similar age groups starting at birth. As each group progresses to an older age group, the community ensures that the most suitable residents fill specific jobs and even families according to their abilities and interests observed and determined by the community residents. The community was so meticulously ordered, the choices were so carefully made (48). The community residents put families together by selection and request from an already selected couple and were assigned exactly two children each. Such structure was important for the community to retain its perfect environment; even the sight of colors and different weather patterns as Jonas learned were not allowed. As The Giver tried to explain the community and Jonas new assignment he stated, they dont want change. Life here is so orderly, so predictable-so painless. Its what theyve chosen (103). As Jonas received more and more of the communitys memories, including death and release, he began to gain an appreciation for each memory individually. He wished that the entire community could share them as well so that they too could have the same appreciation since he was beginning to realize how orderly and empty the lack of memories was keeping the community. He knew they could not understand without the memories since without them they could never experience things like love and pain (135). The community designated The Receiver of Memory to possess all of the memories to ensure that they did not repeat the mistakes of their p ast and to prevent change. The memories transformed Jonas and allowed him to appreciate the importance of the memories for the survival of each resident in the community. The memories gave Jonas his own individualism, something he didnt understand why it was being kept from the entire community. Jonas was determined to change the way the community structured itself forever by giving the citizens their own history. He released himself from the community physically and mentally in a quest to find Elsewhere in order to help The Giver disperse the memories to the entire community. He was awed by the surprise that lay beyond each curve of the road after a life of Sameness and predictability (172). His journey, like the memories, taught him more about the outside world because he experienced the dangers of hunger and exhaustion first hand. Jonas character develops and transforms dramatically as do the central themes throughout the Lowrys book. The transferring of the communitys memories onto Jonas created a sense of individualism for himself as well as his questioning of the current community structure. The memories transformed Jonas as he in turn plans to transform his community. He experiences the importance of individualism and sets out on a life threatening quest in hopes to allow the community as a whole to experience individualism too. However the ending is uncertain, Jonas himself is successful at understanding the importance of societal relationships by staying strong and searching for a change for his entire community.
Monday, November 25, 2019
Mass Incarceration in the United Kingdom The WritePass Journal
Mass Incarceration in the United Kingdom WRITEPASS SOCIAL SCIENCE DISSERTATION CUSTOM ESSAY WRITING Mass Incarceration in the United Kingdom ). The increased need for spaces due to higher rate of imprisonment led to the emergence of the prison-industrial complex, whereby people were incarcerated without a mechanism for reintegrating them back to the society. Prisons became contracted out, and the influence of the government was reduced. As Panchamia (2012) concludes, ten percent of the prisons in the United Kingdom and Wales are currently contracted out. Davis (1998: 3) states: â€Å"while government-run prisons are often in gross violation of international human rights standards, private prisons are even less accountable†. The emergence of these prison-industrial complexes is attributed to the criminological theory, hinged on the conflict theory, arguing that t there is a struggle between different groups (Akers 1979: 527).Crime is perceived as a function of the conflict within any society based on Marxist theory, calming  that social and economic situations facilitate criminal activities. This paper argues that the emergence of the prison-industrial complex in England and Wales was attributed to mass incarceration, the lack of effective social policy, and early interventions. Mass Incarceration Mass incarceration is characterized by the removal of people from communities and taking them to prisons. (Newburn 2002: 165). Sparks and McNeill (2009) define mass incarceration as restricting the freedom of a group of people, subjecting them to surveillance and regulation, while increasing their dependency. According to a recent publication by Wacquant (2001), the plain aim of prison complexes and mass incarceration is to segregate people. The author goes further, and compares prisons with Ghettos. Focusing in the American context, the article highlights the impact of class segregation on the demographics of prison population. The above argument is powerful, as both prisons and ghettos are considered to be places extremely hard to escape from. The main aim of mass incarceration is to remove the criminal from the neighbourhood to ensure that they are detained. Often this priority means that prisoners are denied rehabilitative facilities (Harnett 2011: 7). As an implicati on, prisons become areas for punitive segregation, for the criminals who must be removed from the society. Therefore, most of these prisons are detention centres where people enter a perpetual cycle of incarceration for crimes committed because of their economic need. Davis (1998) states that prisons are not providing adequate solution for crime or social issues. The author goes further, claiming that prisons reflect that racial bias and social injustice of the society. Studying American prison population, the author states that â€Å"the political economy of prisons relies on racialized assumptions of criminality – such as images of black welfare mothers reproducing criminal children and on racist practices in arrest, conviction, and sentencing patterns†(Davis 1998: 2). The defining features of mass incarceration are that it is characterized by comparatively high number of people in prisons. In Reagan’s United States prosecution patterns and conviction rates increased the proportionate representation of African Americans and Hispanics, as well as those from lower socio-economic statuses (Wacquant 2010, p. 74). This was during the New Deal and Great Society, which contributed a lot towards the increasing tren d of mass incarcerations, and the adoption of the prison-industrial complex system that emphasized governance through punitive acts (Downes 2001, p. 62). At the advent of economic reforms introduced by Britain’s Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, the rising rate of unemployment hit the working class the most. With the labour market in crisis,  urban areas had to bear the burden of the high proportion of lower class and unemployed population. As social issues increased, the government resorted to the creation of a prison-industrial complex, to deal with the people that suffered most (Wehr 2015, p. 6). The newly created prison-industrial complex that emphasized mass incarceration was based on cultural bias and social injustice (Sparks and McNeill, 2009). These institutions symbolised thee society’s thoughts and prejudice, suggesting that the degradation of a person may be a way to solve the social conflict. As a result, the British society started to increasingly rely on criminological theories to support mass incarceration of the lower classes, whereby the prison-industrial complexes become a large enterprise for the state. Democracy, Inclusion and Social Policy            It is worth noting that mass incarceration in England and Wales led to the economic and social exclusion of people within the prisons. This segregation and incarceration endangered democracy (Sparks and McNeill, 2009). In line with the conflict criminological theory, mass incarceration of offenders who mostly belong to a particular race or class enhanced the structures of oppression and privilege (Van 2007, p. 189). This occurred when mass incarceration gave undue advantage to one group as opposed to another. Today, both in the United States and the United Kingdom, it is evident that people of colour or lower classes are disproportionally overrepresented within the prison-industrial complex. While the mass prison complex created privilege to higher classes, it created a situation whereby the victims were stigmatized, criminalized, and did not enjoy the privileges of democracy and inclusion. The economic and social drivers of mass i ncarceration are explained by Downes (2006), who confirms that there is an inverse relationship between a state’s spending on welfare and imprisonment rates. Mass incarceration also hindered democracy by preventing means through which people could share ideas or communication (Young 2000, p. 208). An incarcerated person experienced political disempowerment and a lack of influence, power, while he became extremely dependent on the prison complex (Travis 2002, p. 19). Despite several attempts of inclusion, provision for rehabilitation, training, and work opportunities, current social policies have not been successful in reinstating the equal representation of lower classes, and the mass incarceration continues. (Reiman 2004, p. 5). Conclusion            The above review of publications and research studies, it is evident that the conflict theory accurately explains the emergence of mass incarceration during the reign of Thatcher in the United Kingdom, and Reagan in the United States. Historically, the upper class, that was more advantaged socially, economically and politically created laws and policies that increasingly criminalized the less powerful, creating a policy of segregation. Increased incarceration within the prison-industrial complex removed people who were not wanted. Apart from enhancing exclusion and stifling democracy, it helped the powerful class to maintain its influence, wealth and position within the society. Bibliography Akers, R.L., 1979. Theory and ideology in Marxist criminology. Criminology, 16(4), pp.527- Davis, A. (1998). Masked racism: Reflections on the prison industrial complex. Color       Lines, 1(2), 11-13. Downes, D., 2001. The Macho Penal Economy Mass Incarceration in the United States-A European Perspective. Punishment Society, 3(1), pp.61-80. Downes, D. (2006). Welfare and punishment The relationship between welfare spending and    imprisonment. Hartnett, S. J. 2011. Challenging the prison-industrial complex: activism, arts, and educational alternatives. Urbana, University of Illinois Press. Newburn, T. 2002. Atlantic crossings: ‘Policy transfer’ and crime control in the USA and Britain. Punishment Society, 4(2), pp. 165-194. Panchamia, N., 2012. Competition in prisons. Institute for Government,          Instituteforgovernment. org. uk/sites/default/files/publications/Prisons, 2. Reiman, J. H. 2004. The rich get richer and the poor get prison: ideology, class, and criminal  justice. Boston, Pearson/Allyn and Bacon. Sparks, R. and McNeill, F., 2009. Incarceration, social control and human rights. THE      INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY Project on Social     Control and Human Rights Travis, J. 2002. Invisible Punishment: An Instrument of Social Exclusion (From Invisible Punishment: The Collateral Consequences of Mass Imprisonment, P 15-36, 2002, Marc Mauer and Meda Chesney-Lind, eds.). Van der Linden, H. 2007. Democracy, racism and prisons. Charlottesville, Va, Philosophy Documentation Center. Wacquant, L., 2010. Class, race hyperincarceration in revanchist America. Daedalus, 139(3), pp.74-90. Wacquant, L., 2001. Deadly symbiosis: When ghetto and prison meet and mesh. Punishment      Society, 3(1), pp.95-133. Wehr, K. 2015. Beyond the prison industrial complex: crime and incarceration in the 21st century. [Place of publication not identified], Routledge. Young, I. M. 2000. Inclusion and Democracy. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Friday, November 22, 2019
Existentialism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1
Existentialism - Essay Example For that matter, he explored the said journey of every man focusing on the lives of his acquaintance. According to Frankl, people exist sue to different factors regardless of the nature of the said factors. Some people live based on negative or positive reasons yet they still exist and survive. The said view then is referred to as the â€Å"will to meaning.†His followed the inspirations of Freud who proposed the view â€Å"will to pleasure†and Adler’s â€Å"will to power†in his objective to give meaning to human existence (Pytell 285-306; Frankl and Allport 101). The most notable applications of the view of Frankl had been about the experiences in concentrations camps which occurred during the time of Holocaust. During the period of high stress wherein the main objective that consumes a person’s life is survival, thus, even simple things and events can give a person’s life an important meaning. Based on his observations, such situations can be considered as the time wherein the simplest principles of existentialism applies, an event wherein luxuries are deprived and even basic needs are in shortage. He then summarized that even in worst situations, existence will still have meaning. For that matter the will to meaning is an important reason for existence (Frankl and Allport 15-20). Soren Kierkegaard is a Danish proponent of Existentialism and is s theologian. He is against the formalities undertaken by the Danish church. For that matter, he often discussed issues that are related to Christianity, ethics, and the emotions of the people in different situations and decision-making events in life. Basically, Kierkegaard can be considered as a relatively opinionated person who explored challenging issues of his time such as existentialism, philosophy, psychology, literature and a number other fields. For that matter, his critics can be classified in both the fields of science, literature and even
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