Ahmed Sékou Touré Biography

Ahmed Sà ©kou Tourà © Biography Ahmed Sà ©kou Tourà © (born January 9, 1922, died March 26, 1984)  was one of the foremost figures in the struggle for West African independence, the first President of Guinea, and a leading Pan-African. He was initially considered a moderate Islamic African leader  but became one of Africas most oppressive Big Men. Early Life Ahmed Sà ©kou Tourà ©s was born in Faranah, central   Guinà ©e Franà §aise (French Guinea, now the Republic of Guinea), near the source of the River Niger. His parents were poor, uneducated peasant farmers, though he claimed to be a direct descendant of Samory Tourà © (aka Samori Ture), the regions 19th-century anti-colonialist military leader, who had been based in Faranah for a while. Tourà ©s family were Muslim, and he was initially educated at the Koranic School in Faranah, before transferring to a school in Kissidougou. In 1936 he moved on to a French technical college, the Ecole Georges Poiret, in Conakry, but was expelled after less than a year for initiating a food strike. Over the next few years, Sà ©kou Tourà © passed through a series of menial jobs, while attempting to complete his education through correspondence courses. His lack of formal education was an issue throughout his life, and his lack of qualifications left him suspicious of anyone who had attended tertiary education. Entering Politics In 1940 Ahmed Sà ©kou Tourà © obtained a post as a  clerk for the   Compagnie du Niger Franà §ais while also working to complete an examination course which would allow him to join the Post and Telecommunications Department (Postes, Tà ©là ©graphes et Tà ©là ©phones) of colonys French administration. In 1941 he joined the post office and started to take an interest in labor movements, encouraging his fellow workers to hold a successful two-month long strike (the first in French West Africa). In 1945 Sà ©kou Tourà © formed French Guineas first trade union, the Post and Telecommunications Workers Union, becoming its general-secretary the following year. He affiliated the postal workers union to the French labor federation, the Confà ©dà ©ration Gà ©nà ©rale du Travail (CGT, General Confederation of Labor) which was in turn affiliated to the French Communist party. He also set up French Gunieas first trade union center: the Federation of Workers Unions of Guinea. In 1946 Sà ©kou Tourà © attended a CGT congress in Paris, before moving to the Treasury Department, where he became the general-secretary of the Treasury Workers Union. In October that year, he attended a West African congress in Bamako, Mali, where he became one of the founding members of the Rassemblement Dà ©mocratique Africain (RDA, African Democratic Rally) along with Fà ©lix Houphouà «t-Boigny of Cà ´te dIvoire. The RDA was a Pan-Africanist party which looked towards independence for French colonies in West Africa. He founded the Parti Dà ©mocratique de Guinà ©e (PDG, Democratic Party of Guinea), the local affiliate of the RDA in Guinea. Trade Unions in West Africa Ahmed Sà ©kou Tourà © was dismissed from the treasury department for his political activities, and in 1947 was briefly sent to prison by the French colonial administration. He decided to devote his time to developing workers movements in Guinea and to campaign for independence. In 1948 he became the secretary-general of the CGT for French West Africa, and in 1952 Sà ©kou Tourà © became secretary-general of the PDG. In 1953 Sà ©kou Tourà © called a general strike which lasted for two months. The government capitulated. He campaigned during the strike for unity between ethnic groups, opposing the tribalism which the French authorities were promulgating, and was explicitly anti-colonial in his approach. Sà ©kou Tourà © was elected to the territorial assembly in 1953 but failed to win the election for the seat in the Assemblà ©e Constituante, the French National Assembly, after conspicuous vote-tampering by the French administration in Guinea. Two years later he became mayor of Conakry, Guineas capital. With such a high political profile, Sà ©kou Tourà © was finally elected as the Guinean delegate to the French National Assembly in 1956. Furthering his political credentials, Sà ©kou Tourà © led a break by Guineas trade unions from the CGT, and formed the Confà ©dà ©ration Gà ©nà ©rale du Travail Africaine (CGTA, General Confederation of African Labor). A renewed relationship between the leadership of the CGTA and CGT the following year led to the creation of the Union Gà ©nà ©rale des Travailleurs dAfrique Noire (UGTAN, General Union of Black African Laborers), a pan-African movement which became an important player in the struggle for West African independence. Independence and One-Party State The Democratic Party of Guinea won the plebiscite elections in 1958 and rejected membership in the proposed French Community.  Ahmed Sà ©kou Tourà © became the first president of the independent republic of Guinea on October 2, 1958. However, the state was a one-party socialist dictatorship with restrictions on human rights and suppression of political opposition.  Sà ©kou Tourà © promoted mostly his own Malinke ethnic group rather than maintaining his cross-ethnic nationalism ethic. He drove more than a million people into exile to escape his prison camps. An estimated 50,000 people were killed in concentration camps, including the notorious Camp Boiro Guard Barracks. Death and Legacy He died  March 26, 1984, in Cleveland, Ohio, where he had been sent for cardiac treatment after becoming ill in Saudi Arabia. A coup detat by the armed forces on April 5, 1984, installed a military junta that denounced  Sà ©kou Tourà © as a bloody and ruthless dictator. They released about 1,000 political prisoners and installed  Lansana Contà ©Ã‚  as president. The country was not to have a truly free and fair election until 2010, and politics remain troubled.

Introduction to Art Essays

Introduction to Art Essays Introduction to Art Essay Introduction to Art Essay EXPULSION OF ADAM AND EVE FROM EDEN Charisse Drysdale HUM 100 May 16, 2011 The purpose of this essay is to analyze the painting of Masaccio, Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden. Masaccio of the early fourteenth century attempted to observe carefully and to record the variety of his visual experience in a logical and clear manner. Masaccio faced the problem of arranging figures in a mathematically defined space without making the picture appear to be artificially constructed, and thus isolating them from the composition or even sacrificing them to the ideal proportions of the room. Masaccio solved the problem by placing the traditional portraits of his patrons, the figures of God the Father remains unclear, thus softening to some extent the rigors of the mathematical perspective. Masaccios painting is highly dramatic, volumetric, and expansive. The shapes of Masaccios Adam and Eve are constructed not with line but with strongly differentiated areas of light and dark that give them a pronounced three-dimensional sense of relief. The expressive movements and gestures that Masaccio gives to Adam and Eve powerfully convey their anguish at being expelled from the Garden of Eden and adds psychological dimension to the impressive physical realism of these figures. Masaccios harrowing scene of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden shows the expressive force and directness of his style. An angel drives the sinners into the harsh, barren world, where the light mercilessly exposes their guilt and despair. Masaccios composition is beautifully balanced within the narrow format. The forward movement, dictated by the gesture of the angel, is firmly anchored by the strong vertical running from the heads of Adam and Eve to their heels. The muscular tension of Adams body, and the fluidity of Eves, were inspired by a contemporary relief, Masaccio is one of the first artists to use light realistically, rather than using it to highlight his figures. They are drawn nude, with expressions of pure anguish that invite the viewer to oin them in sadness for the sin that we all share. Masaccio uses naturalism to portray one of the most known stories of his time, and this naturalism draws the reader into the emotions of the figures of the story. Because we share the same sin as the figures in the painting, they are depicted in a naturalistic way to make them seem even more like us. Masaccio was concerned with the naturalistic portrayal of human figures, particularly in terms of shadow and light, color, shape, and dimensions in space. These aspects all relate back to perspective: the painter takes pains to represent the size of the figures accurately and they therefore must further resemble Nature in their form, arrangement, and their ability to cast shadows. The figures must also be arranged in appealing positions, and the composition must have â€Å"dignity† in that there are enough characters to interest the viewer but not so many that the work appears crowded. Lastly, he emphasizes the importance of an istoria. That is, the work should contain some kind of narrative or story. The emotions of the figures must be culpable and real for the viewer: the viewer must enter the story. In sum, a painting must become the viewer’s emotional reality, as well as its physical reality (in that the painter attempts to recreate the plane of vision created by the visual pyramid of the eye). The figures must occupy space, capture light, and have mass: they must be a part of the viewer’s world. Scientific perspective also contributes to the viewer’s perception of the painting as reality; the painting is meant to appear as would a real scene in front of a viewer. The painter can use techniques of color, light, and perception to elicit a controlled response from the viewer. The viewer’s eye takes in the painting as seen from life and enters into the emotions portrayed; the istoria is of upmost importance in creating this illusion. Masaccio is using movement and perspective to create an illusion of space that is not actually there, but that would exist if the painting was reality. In this way, the viewer can enter into the istoria. The illusion of perspective reminds the viewer of their distance from God, their own mortality, and also the role of the Church as intercessor. Once again, the naturalist technique used by Masaccio is to elicit a certain response from the viewer and the world of the painting becomes their own reality.

APEC impact on China's economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

APEC impact on China's economy - Essay Example ipation in APEC meetings, China wants to demonstrate its desire for maintaining the regional economic stability that can bring prosperity to the member countries of Asia Pacific region. The resistance to the temptation of Yuan devaluation and announcement of tariff rates reduction by Chinese government at a meeting of APEC in Osaka has confirmed this. Through this action, China perceives the opportunity to deal with United States by joining hands with East Asian countries, which are also members of APEC.(Yang & Huang 70) As APEC was the first international economic conference to member nations, under the Chinese leadership of president Xi Jinping, China has used this platform in an efficient manner, in the direction of seeking bigger economic role, globally. This combined with the fact that Chinese economy is the world second largest gives the required advantage to China for countering US economic domination. In this direction, China has announced the established of US Dollar forty million fund for improving the trade and economic links among Asia-Pacific countries. The emerging image of China being the top trading partner of South Asian countries from South Korea to Australia would definitely help in the erosion of American influence on these countries. (McDonald & Lee) Earlier APEC could not prove to be result-oriented for the members, as it failed to improve the economic relations among the Asia-Pacific nations in a substantial manner. However, when China hosted the APEC conference, it made clear to the member nations that the country was prepared to share the fruits of its economic development with neighbors in the region. For ensuring that APEC remained a successful platform to deliver the results. China made many announcements, which include the commitment from China to donate ten million US Dollars towards supporting the capacity building and institutional activities of APEC, apart from establishment of Silk Road fund for undertaking the infrastructure

A new technology that is revolutionizing the healthcare with examples Essay

A new technology that is revolutionizing the healthcare with examples from journals or magazines - Essay Example Recently, hospitals around the world have escalated the use of 3-D printer technology in medical activities ranging from 3-D printing of an entire skull to rehearsing extremely complex surgeries. With the aid of 3-D printing technology, a group of researchers in US and China has printed various models of tumors which are cancerous to assist in the discovery of anti-cancer drugs. 3-D printing technology has also helped doctors in the understanding of how tumors grow, spread and more importantly, what make the tumors to develop (Ventola, 2014). With 3-D printing, cell analysis is considerably easy. Cell analysis is done by fabricating cells. Cell fabrication involves protecting cells with hydrogel for analysis. Essentially, when cells are in the body, they are never two-dimensional. As a result, they lose a lot of functionalities when they are placed on a flat dish for analysis. To protect cells from losing their functionality, they are put in hydrogel and then the structures of the cell are printed using 3-D technology. With these structures, analysis of cells is considerable accessible which make it easy to diagnose complicated ailments (Ventola, 2014). In conclusion, with this technology, quality health care can be guaranteed. Many medical institutions and governmental agencies today have fully understood the benefits that are derived from the use of this technology. This paper has discussed 3-D printing as the new technology that is revolutionizing health

Businesses Contributing to Living Conditions in an Asian Community Essay

Businesses Contributing to Living Conditions in an Asian Community - Essay Example She wasn’t the only one; there were a large number of individuals living in rural Bangladesh who had managed to bring significant improvements in their living condition with the aid of the microfinance program that was implemented by Grameen Bank. It was because of the Grameen Bank that thousands of poor Bangladeshi women were able to change their lives through the loans extended to them by Grameen Bank and initiate their own enterprises. The contribution of Grameen Bank was so significant that by the year 2003, it had over a 1000 branches all over Bangladesh, and it was reported that the bank had managed to aid about 48% of its borrowers to be able to move above the poverty line (Sarker, 2001). The model of the Grameen Bank due to its success in Bangladesh was replicated in other developing Asian countries. These comprised of countries like India, Pakistan and Vietnam where similar schemes were established in order to improve the living conditions and opportunities for the ur ban poor individuals. The aspect of providing small loans to the deprived can be considered as an economic intervention; however the Grameen Bank loan initiates a profound transformation in the lives of numerous individuals which are a part of its members. The poor women redouble their efforts to be able to bring about positive changes to their existing lives and their economic condition advances. The aspects with which this business touches the lives of the Asian community is the way in which it encompasses the popular issues of poor countries, such as education, eating healthy, consumption of clean water and the environmental issues (Shepard, 2003). Housing and Education Grameen Bank has worked extensively in endorsing its members by focusing specifically in the aspect of housing and education. They recognized quiet early that the poor families in these Asian communities were vulnerable mostly due to the fact that their houses were constructed out of poor and weak materials. This is when they started providing loans specifically for housing in the year 1984. Ever since then GB has aided individuals through housing loans for the construction of over 630,000 houses. They have focused in covering the costs associated with basic but durable building supplies as well as sanitary latrines, for its borrowers. How it contributes to a resource for the improvement of their standard of living is mostly because these homes serve not just as a place to reside in but also as a workplace for these individuals; So when the houses are stronger and better able to withstand the heavy rainstorms it helps these individuals resist the weather from destroying their livelihoods, which in turn has a positive impact on their health and families (Wijnbergen, 2012). Another aspect that the GB touches as far as the improvement of the Asian community is concerned is by supporting education of the families that constitute to that of its members. It was in the year 2000 that GB initiated e ducation loans specifically for higher education of the children of its borrowers. These loans worked on certain conditions and came into play after students reached a tertiary standard of education and were then in need of loans to receive higher education. These loans were very helpful in the way they covered tuition, maintenance costs, and all kinds of other expenses. By February

Multiple Determinants of Health in the Workplace

Multiple Determinants of Health in the Workplace Melissa Evans    Introduction Occupational Health is a two-way relationship between health and work. According to Occupation Health (2007), Occupational Health is as much related to the effects of the working environment on the health of workers as to the influence of the workers state of health on their ability to perform the tasks for which they were employed. Its main aim is to prevent, rather than cure, ill health from wherever it arises in the workplace. A persons health can impact on their work and their work can impact on their health. Approaching the impacts on work health holistically, we can look at the determinants of health within the workplace through the use of various models; however we are going to focus on the Dahlgren-Whitehead Rainbow Model. In essence the Dahlgren-Whitehead model highlights a causal relationship between individual lifestyle choices, social networks, working and living conditions and economic, political and environmental factors, globally, nationally and locally. While the configuration of these different layers and factors can have both positive and protective influences on our lives, they can also undermine health and wellbeing, both for individuals and communities. For example, adverse economic conditions have implications for employment and training opportunities, public services such as health, social care, education, the wide range of services provided by local authorities, as well as the funding they provide to support local voluntary sector services. Where adverse conditions persist, they can have a significant and negative impact on social attitudes, social cohesion and social mobility(NHS Education for Scotland). Developed in 1991 by Goran Dahlgren and Margaret Whitehead the Dahlgren Whitehead Rainbow maps the relationship between the individual, their environment and health. The rainbow looks at five main areas. These areas include: Age, Sex and Constitutional Factors This is the core of the Dahlgren-Whitehead model and it focuses on the key areas of age, sex, ethnicity and genetic/biological constitutional factors. A workers age, sex or constitutional factors can reveal if the worker brings with them a pre-existent health status to the workplace such as inheritance and genetic susceptibility. Other factors in the extended layers can also be influenced by this component of the model. Individual Lifestyle Factors This layer focuses on a persons lifestyle choices. Behaviours such as alcohol and other drug misuse, poor diet, smoking, lack of physical activity, the number of jobs they do or if they play a sport can have an impact on a workers health and in turn could affect their ability to complete certain tasks in the workplace. Injuries caused by lifestyle choices such as sport could impact on a workers ability to carry out certain tasks or could put them at a higher risk of aggravation within the workplace which could lead to more serious injuries. Social and Community Networks This layer focuses on family support, friends and wider social circles. In this layer we can look at things like different cultural backgrounds, communication, community support groups and interpretation services. Quality not quantity should be taken into consideration. Living and Working Conditions This layer focuses on access to opportunities such as work, unemployment, training, health care services, housing, public transport and amenities. It also includes items such as water, sanitation and access to essential items such as food, fuel and clothing. When we focus on work we need to focus on the type of work to see if there is a potential for occupational disease or stress. Financial instability and access to health services could be a result of unemployment. General Socio-Economic, Cultural and Environmental Conditions This layer factors that impact on health and wellbeing such as social, economic, cultural and environmental. Items include availability of work, wages and taxation, prices of essential items such as food, clothing, transport and fuel. Cultural factors could include health being affected by traditions and beliefs of the family community. These conditions get reported on through to the government and in turn can influence the priorities of health policy and spending by the government. Whilst there is extensive documentation and evidence prior to the development of the Dahlgren-Whitehead with respect to Occupational Health, the model has been widely used to assist with research of the vast array of factors that can impact our workers from both a health and work level. The development of the model now allows us to look into reviews and research papers, and including qualitative and quantitative evidence in a more in-depth way. When using this information it should be supplemented with local and expert knowledge, policy information, and proposal specific information. According to the Declaration on Occupational Health for All by the World Health Organisation (1994) by affecting the health of the working population, occupational injuries and diseases have profound effects on work productivity and on economic and social well-being of workers, their families and dependants. Depending on the type of occupational injury or disease its effects can be far reaching. Whilst a majority of occupational injuries and diseases are minor there are also those that are more severe that the outcome could be long term, for example, could result in ongoing hospital treatment for an extended period, may need extended rehabilitation, permanent disability or even death. Lets look at the potential outcome of a worker who sustains a permanent disability and is wheelchair bound for the remainder of their life, it is not just the worker who is effected but their family, friends, their wider community, the costs that it generates, the loss of productivity at the workplace and the impact on social security systems. The World Health Organisation (1994) states that health and safety problems at work are, in principle, preventable and should be prevented by using all available tools legislative, technical, research, training and education, information, and economic instruments. In order to achieve this outline a workplace needs to consult Federal, National and State Legislation such as the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 as well as Australian Standards and Codes of Practice to assist with the development of a Safety and Health Policy in the first instance. From the policy a workplace then needs to delve further and design and implement Safety Management Systems, work instructions, job descriptions, job dictionaries, etc. Once the documentation has been researched, designed and implemented they then need to look at training and education. As part of this phase they need to identify hazards, conduct risk assessments and look at controls and interventions for prevention and control. Reference List Aw, T.C., Gardiner, K. and Harrington, J.M. (2007) Occupational Health. NHS Education for Scotland. Retrieves March 20, 2017 from http://www.bridgingthegap.scot.nhs.uk/understanding-health-inequalities/introducing-the-wider-determinants-of-health.aspx Dahlgren, G. and Whitehead, M. (1991). The Dahlgren Whitehead Rainbow. Retrieved March 18, 2017 from http://www.esrc.ac.uk/about-us/50-years-of-esrc/50-achievements/the-dahlgren-whitehead-rainbow/ World Health Organisation (1994). Declaration on Health for All.

A Depiction of Three Ages in Robert Frosts The Road Not Taken :: Road Not Taken essays

The Road Not Taken: Depiction of Three Ages  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In his Explicator article, â€Å"Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken,’† William George suggests that the poem includes â€Å"three distinct ages† of the narrator and focuses on the choices that this person must make at the different stages of his life (230).   George differentiates the primary speaker of the poem, what he calls the â€Å"middle-aged self,† from the younger and older versions, noting that the middle-aged version mocks the other two by taking a more objective stance towards his decision.   The younger and older versions â€Å"are given to emotion, self-deception, and self-congratulation, and both face a decision which the middle-aged speaker sees with more objective eyes than do his younger and older selves† (230).   George demonstrates that, while the middle-aged self is able to view his other selves objectively without delusion and self-aggrandizement, the younger and older selves are incapable of this kind of objectivity in their decision-making.   George’s analysis is broken into two parts;   the first part is an analysis of the relationship between the middle-aged self and the younger self, while the second part is an analysis of the relationship between the middle-aged self and the older self.   In the first part of the article, George suggests that the younger self is faced with choosing between two roads, paths that the middle-aged self understands are very similar; the younger self, however, refuses to accept their equal value and instead deludes himself with the idea of having chosen a less traveled path (230-31).   In the second part of the article, George describes how the older self is faced with choosing between telling the truth about his decision as a youth or lying about it;   while the middle-aged self fully recognizes that the choice of the past was not grand, the older self chooses to cover over this truth through deception and self-aggrandizement (231).

Language Development Within Infants and Young Children Essay

Language is a systematic means of communicating through the use of sounds or conventional symbols. Without language there would be no way of communicating with others. To allow us to be able to use recognisable sounds and symbols to express ourselves, they first have to be taught before humans can utilize them and are continually built upon through ongoing language development. Currently, language development includes a sizeable amount of theory, research, and debate from a variety of fields which include linguistics, psychology, philosophy, sociology, medicine, computers, biology, neurology, speech and language pathology, and education to name but a few. More recently, due to a sudden occurrence of activity in the aforementioned disciplines, there has been a huge leap as far as what is known about language and as a result of the interdisciplinary sharing of information between these groups the quantity of language development theories has increased tenfold. Read more: Essay explain how children and young people’s development is influenced by a range of personal factors. Theorists and researchers have lined up to either support the more traditional theories or to develop more diverse and unique descriptions of language which may provide insightful clues into answering some of the existing questions. The number of language development theories is extensive in number and range from Chomsky’s nativist theories (universal grammar, principles and parameters, minimalism, etc. , connectionism, optimality theory, Vygotsky’s social interactionism, Piaget’s cognitive constructivism, information processing theory, neural network models, interactionist approaches such as Bruner’s LASS and Bates and MacWhinney’s functionalism, and models that stress pragmatics, such as speech acts theory and Grice’s conversational maxims. There are then the more philosophical models such as structuralism, semiotics, logical positivism, Frege’s direct reference theory, or Wittgenstein’s picture heory, waning models (such as case grammar, pivot grammar, and the semantic relations approach). There are also many, more recent theories being promoted and debated in specific circles which include Ullman’s dual system’s model, Fodor’s language of thought, Tomasello’s usage based grammar, Jackendoff’s conceptual semantics, and Sperber and Wilson’s relevance theory. All these go to make up a fraction of the theorists database available to the average language student. When thinking in a teaching context it is clear that owing to the copious amount of theories available how, when attempting to use current research and theory in functional practice, any language or class teacher could easily become baffled by the intensity and sometimes complexities contained within the above in addition to the obvious drawback of there being just too vast a number from which to make a decision. Moreover, how one then manages to deliver a single, clearly defined system or theory within their classroom is a task that is far beyond the reach of any typical primary school teacher. However, through personal experiences in addition to past and current teaching trends it is possible to see how language development techniques have progressed from the earliest theories to the most popular and productive techniques in use today. The earliest theory concerning language development assumed that children acquired language through imitation alone as stated by Edward Thorndike (1911) in his connectionism theory which was the original stimulus-response-consequence psychology of learning which has influenced so psychologists today. It is also plainly visible within any nursery or early years setting where by children as young as six months begin to vocalization with intonation in addition to responding to their name, other human voices without visual cues by turning their head and eyes and responding appropriately to friendly and angry tones, this has also been noted through personal parental experiences as well as teaching. However, whilst research has shown that children who imitate the actions of those around them during their first year of life are, generally speaking, those who also learn to talk more quickly; there is also evidence that imitation alone cannot explain how children become talkers. An example from the English language is the simple expression of â€Å"We goed to the Shops† – it is evident here that the child is very cleverly inventing the past tense of ‘go’ based on the rules they have absorbed from their surrounding teachers’. B. F Skinner, the Behaviourist theorist argued that adults shape the speech of children by reinforcing the babbling of infants that sound most like words. (Skinner 1957). In other words, when a parent, carer or teacher shows enthusiasm for something a child tries to say, this should encourage the child to repeat the utterance. In spite of this, even though reinforcement may help, this theory cannot account for children’s inventions of language. Some argue that it is not just hearing language around them that is important; it is the kind of language and whether it is used responsively through following a baby’s input, such as making a noise or gesture. Also, it is clear that babies need to hear language to develop these responses. This point is of great importance in relation to young children with impoverished language experience as it can be a contributing factor as to why so many reception year children are entering the schooling system with an inadequate grasp of the English language. Through personal experience it is evident that young children become amazingly proficient communicators during the first three years of life through the use of noises which only their parents can comprehend. This evolves into simple sign language which again only baby and parent understands; whilst all the time parents, siblings, grandparents, carers and any other significant person within an infants’ scope is constantly reinforcing these movements with their verbal equivalents. Once more this is stated within official documentation within schools in the Birth to Three Matters framework which points out, that babies and infants alike use ‘the hundred languages of children’ – body language (including facial expressions and dance); sign language (their own and family inventions as well as an officially recognised sign language); painting, drawing and mark-making; and oral expression. They have been acutely active listeners since their days in the womb, where they learned to recognise the speech patterns, tunes and tones of the languages used in their home contexts. Again, language development research informs us that young children’s language is influenced by many factors, including having sensitive adults and older children around them who will listen and attend to their expressions and who will use and model appropriate language themselves. This has been called Motherese by researchers and theories led by Cathy Snow. The idea of Motherese (Snow and Ferguson 1977; Trevarthen 1995) the accentuated, tuneful speech from mothers o their babies has been used to explain how aspects of a child’s environment can help or hinder them from talking; however it does not explain the underlying causes of language acquisition. Nevertheless, Motherese does play an important part in the development of conversation with infants and young children as it attracts and holds the attention of babies’ as well as allowing them to participate in enjoyable turn taking exchanges – the beginnings of conversation. Nativist theorists such as Chomsky (1965; 1975) argue that humans are born with an inbuilt Language Acquisition Device (LAD) and are biologically programmed to gain knowledge; he goes onto to state that language then simply emerges as a child matures. He goes onto maintain that ‘the LAD contains knowledge of grammatical rules common to all languages’ (Shaffer et al, 2002). He also proposes the LAD allows children to understand the rules of any language which is native to their existence. He also developed the concepts of ‘transformational grammar, surface structure and deep structure (Matlin, 2005) – transformation grammar is grammar which transforms a sentence; surface structure refers to written words; and deep structure is the underlying message or meaning of a particular sentence’. Slobin (Ferguson and Slobin 1973; Slobin 1985) continued this premise, suggesting that just as newborns come into the world ‘programmed’ to look at interesting, especially moving, objects, so babies are pre-programmed to pay attention to language. Nevertheless, this theory has its inadequacies in that children seem to have great proficiency in acquiring whichever language surrounds them and throughout their first year of life they will gradually discard from their repertoire of vocalisations sounds which they do not hear in the speech of those with whom they spend their lives – but of course the pre-programming does not need to be thought of as tied to a specific language. Like Trevarthen and others, Chomsky indicated the centrality of interactions with familiar adults and older children from the earliest days of life. Parents and practitioners needed time to enjoy ‘protoconversations’, supporting research has shown that treating babies as if they understand talk and involving them in conversational exchanges are essential experiences on which later abilities are founded. This ‘in-built’ ability is currently being built upon within the National Curriculum through the introduction of French into earlier key Stages (KS) such as KS1 and KS2. It has been shown that the nativist theory, to some extent, holds true in that children are more capable of acquiring multiple languages in their earlier years compared to when they being to mature. This is not to say that once children reach a particular age however, that humans can no longer learn a language which is non-native, quite the contrary. In contrast, theorists such as Piaget, Nelson and Sinclair focus more on the behaviour surrounding children and the effects of it. When compared to Chomsky, Slobin and Trevarthen; Piaget argued that language was an example of symbolic behaviour and therefore no different to other learning. A colleague of Piaget: Hermine Sinclair (1971) went onto propose that a child’s ability to nest a set of Russian dolls uses the same cognitive processes involved in the understanding of how sentences come to be embedded within one another. Using this cognitive processing explanation, Nelson (1985) produced theories based on the thinking that language is an extension of the child’s existing meaning making capacity. This seems to fit with the notion that children will generally begin to engage in pretend play at about the same time as their first words are expressed, indicating that they are using symbols in the form of words and also symbolic pretend objects; for example using a block as a pretend cake. This type of learning is clearly evident within the primary classroom especially within literacy and in particular reading when children use pictures within their books to decipher difficult words which are maybe too problematical to make out through phonetical sounding. In addition to this powerful alteration from the biologically-based understanding of human behaviour to the social/cultural explanation of human activity is Vygotsky’s social learning tradition which stressed the importance of opportunities for babies and children to interact with, and observe interactions between, others. This idea is supported by research showing that mothers who behave as if their babies and young children understand language right from the start, make eye contact with them and engage in dialogue, responding to their babies’ reactions (kicking, waving arms, smiling, etc) are laying the foundations of conversation. This progresses as children grow to verbal praises, however, it is again evident within the classroom the children who receive positive physical reinforcement for their achievements through embraces, reward charts and even basic reactions such as looking at a piece of work which the child is proud of, questioning them on their days activities and so. Through this continual interaction, parents retain a constant, ever-progressing dialogue with their child; whilst all the time that child is developing their language skills. In spite of this, having such a wide selection of options often obscures the availability of the best option. As well as this, there are so many theories in existence which offer explanations of hidden processes, that they tend to be so general that teaching assumptions cannot apply across categories of language or from individual to individual. Connectionist ideas may inspire treatment relevant to semantics, such as graphs and webs. An instructor could teach implications and sarcasm as implied in pragmatic theories. Or one may use underpinnings from theory of mind explanations to inspire joint attention and reciprocal turn taking. While these explanations apply to specific parts of language, others do not apply to instruction at all. How for example, could one teach optimality theory to a preschooler? And beyond futuristic gene manipulation, improving universal grammar is impossible. The time and resource limitations involved in using evidence based practice in language therapy have been eloquently discussed in Brackenberry, Burroughs, and Hewitt (2008). Compounding difficulties greatly is the predominance of some theories (nativist) that work from the assumption that because grammar is analogous to an organ that grows, it therefore cannot be taught (Chomsky, 1980). That no one language acquisition theory has been settled upon indicates that no one method of language teaching can currently be deemed the best. Despite this and when considering language development within the classroom it is important to consider as many ideas as possible; as researchers and educational theorists alike have still not decided on an unambiguous form of language development that encompasses how humans develop language. Nevertheless, that is not to say that we, as teachers should therefore ignore what is in front of our eyes, but rather embrace what we have and attempt to create a learning environment which stimulates and captivates the children we teach.

creation andverses evolution essays

creation andverses evolution essays Ever since the publication of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species was published, there has been an ongoing debate between science and religion. Scientists have formulated many theories as to the origins of man and to the creation of the earth, whereas religious groups have one main creation theory, based on the "Genesis" story of The Bible. These theories, however, are not the cause of the debate because the different theories are simply myths meant to explain the unknown. The debate is caused by different belief systems. The main difference between creationists and scientists is the way they fight this debate. Creationists have developed their own science: Creation Science. Creation scientists look to prove that creation is right and science is wrong, providing selective interpretations of the fossil record. But their interpretations are exaggerated and foolish. Creationists will pick one scientific theory and do everything they can to point out it's flaws, disregarding what they can't prove wrong. They will often use emotions to control the public to their side. They spend their time trying to discover false evolution rather than teaching their beliefs to the general public. The theory of evolution removes humans from the center of the universe, and religious followers can't believe that their God, who created us in his image (Bible, 2), would allow that. The creationist arguments can be summed up in one example from the Morris -Parker book. They state "Evolution is claimed to be 'scientific,' and still going on, so it seems like it should be observable and measurable. Yet after 150 years of intense study of biological variations, evolutionists are still completely in the dark about the supposed mechanism of evolution. This fact surely is cause for beginning to doubt the validity of the very concept of evolution (303)." The use of words such as 'claimed', 'should be', and 'supposed' all are very powerful words, but they do...

Temperance Movement and Document Essays

Temperance Movement and Document Essays Temperance Movement and Document Paper Temperance Movement and Document Paper The 18th Amendment 1. What is your first reaction to the 18th amendment? My first reaction to the 18th amendment was why do they have this in the first place? Why do they think alcohol is the reason for everything? 2. Do you think this amendment could be passed today? Why or why not? No, because they see what happened before. This time it wouldn’t be better at all. 3. Why do you think some Americans in 1918 might have wanted this amendment? Because they thought alcohol was the cause of the all the problems and corruption. Document A 1. (Sourcing) When was this document written? Was this before or after the passage of the 18th Amendment? This document was written on September 20, 1920. This was after the passage of the 18th Amendments. 2. Why might the National Temperance Council have met in 1920 (after the passage of the 18th Amendment) What do you predict they will say? I think they might talk about why they passed the 18th Amendment. 3. (Close Reading) What does the National Temperance Council claim is caused by alcohol? They claim that everything wrong with someone was caused by the alcohol. 4. (Context)Do you find these claims convincing? Do you think people at the time found these claims convincing? Explain. I don’t find these claims convincing. However, at the time people would find these claims convincing because they wouldn’t know anything else they would believe what the government is saying. Document B 1. (Sourcing) When was this document written? Was this before or after the passage of the 18th Amendment? This document was written on November 14, 1922. This was after the 18th Amendment. 2. (Close Reading) What is the â€Å" Hooch Murder Bill†? The â€Å"Hooch Murder Bill† states that if someone sells alcohol and the buyer dies they can be tried for murder. . (Context) Based on this document , who is the Anti-Saloon League blaming for the sale of alcohol during Prohibition? Who do you think they singled this group? The Anti-Saloon League is blaming foreigner. I think they are blaming them because alcohol is part of their culture, and they are not from America. Document C and D 1. (Sou rcing) When were these posters made? Was that before or after the passage of the 18th Amendment? These posters were made in 1913. These posters were before the passage of the 18th Amendment. Who published these posters? What was their perspective? Scientific Temperance Federation published these posters. Their perspective was alcohol was the cause of everything bad. 2. (Close reading) According to these posters, what are the two reasons why Prohibition is a good idea? According to these posters prohibition is a good idea was because it kills infants and it destroys a child’s birthright. 3. (Close Words) Look at the words used in Document C. These were considered â€Å"scientific† categories. What does that tell you about science at this time? By looking at these words in Document C, I can tell science at this time was only based on assumption. . (Context) Using these posters, explain some of the beliefs about children that were common in the early 20th century. Do you think these beliefs are silly or reasonable? Explain. I think these reason beliefs were silly, because they never proved that alcohol was the problems. They only made is through assumptions. They saw birth defects, poor work man ships, disabilities, memory lose etc. They saw alcohol was a cause and with that they passed the Amendment. They didn’t think the corruption was the cause of all the problems. |

Truman Doctrine or the Marshall Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Truman Doctrine or the Marshall Plan - Essay Example The Truman Doctrine came into being in 1947. It signalled a break with previous US foreign policy and undoubtedly contributed to the bitter rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. While the United States had previously pursued a policy of non-intervention and had hoped to return to this policy following the conclusion of the war, the Truman Doctrine effectively prevented this. Instead, it defined a policy of intervention in European domestic affairs as an extension of American national interests. Most specifically, the Truman Doctrine aimed to contain and curtail the power of the Soviet Union within Europe. Hence, upon being informed by the British forces that Great Britain could no longer afford to maintain a military presence in Greece for the purposes of fighting the Greek communist threat, the United States covered the cost of the operation. The point here is that the United States, irrespective of the concept of European nationalism and regardless of the Soviet U nion's own European identity and continental affiliation, had decided that intervention for the purposes of containing the spread of Soviet influence was both its right and duty. The consequence of its doing so was the division of Europe into East and West, into the Communist and the Liberal/Democratic blocs. The Marshall Pl

Effective Advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Effective Advertising - Essay Example   Ã‚  Ã‚   Although marketers and creative directors may be thoroughly familiar with the rational approach and may have learned much about mnemonics and long-term memory, many are still in the dark regarding the unconscious side and motivation. What is presented here is the integration of all three aspects of advertising, leading to a totally integrated three-dimensional approach to advertising and marketing.   Ã‚  Ã‚   It is imperative to examine three-dimensional advertising and marketing in detail, especially with reference to the second dimension: motivation.    The First Dimension of Advertising and Marketing: Logic, Rationalizations, and Justifications   Ã‚   Logic and rationalization are the first dimension of advertising and the one that is the most familiar. They also are the most exploited dimension in advertising. That is because most marketing approaches are based upon traditional market research, and traditional market research asks people logical questions. Henc e, consumers respond accordingly: with logic and the left side of their brain. Since humans want to appear logical and rational, they give logical and rational answers. They respond not only to other people, but also to themselves. These are rationalizations. They may be true or untrue. They are what the consumer wants to believe, and they are what the consumer wants others to believe. Rationalizations are the most common form of advertising. They work either on the front end or as reinforcers, after the decision has been made. Rationalizations influence the emotions.... Hence, consumers respond accordingly: with logic and the left side of their brain. Since humans want to appear logical and rational, they give logical and rational answers. They respond not only to other people, but also to themselves. Typical of the answers and rationalizations that are given are: "I bought it because I'll never see it at that price again." "When these are all gone, there won't be any more." "These coupons cut the price nearly in half." "I really needed it." "The salesman offered me a deal I couldn't resist." "I bank at First because it's so convenient." "I like the people at the Apple Tree Restaurant; they're friendly and go out of their way to please." "Even though I have a two-hour commute to the city, the taxes are much lower out here." These are rationalizations. They may be true or untrue. They are what the consumer wants to believe, and they are what the consumer wants others to believe. Rationalizations are the most common form of advertising. They work either on the front end or as reinforcers, after the decision has been made. Rationalizations influence the emotions. They are obvious, and they are powerful. They are motivating.The problem is that at some point before the sale is made the consumer has to deal with emotion. Also, rationalizations do not feed into brand loyalty, positioning, unique selling, and marketing propositions. That is why people buy ABC instead of XYZ, and what has to be done to change them. Consumer decisions are based primarily on emotion and not reason. Even so, rationalizations are an important part of the purchasing process.Kowata and Buck ( 1995) illustrate the relationship between rationalizations and emotions (affect) in a cross-cultural study. According to these investigators,