Religion and New Age Movements

Using material from item A and elsewhere, assess the view that most people today see spirituality and religious belief as purely private and personal matters. In society today religion can be seen in two different ways, as a private and personal matter or something to share with your community.Some sociologists would argue that religion and spirituality is a private matter because of televangelism, which is where people watch their religions services on television or go on online churches in the comfort and privacy of their own home when we have free time but other sociologists argue that this does not mean that religion and spirituality is a private matter, but that we have to use televangelism due to the fact we live in a postmodern society which means society is constantly changing and causes us to lead hectic lifestyles.This also links in with vicarious religion, which is where a small group of people practice for the wider community. Another reason why sociologists would argue t hat religion and spirituality is a private matter is that there has been a large increase in new age movements, such as; horoscopes, tarot cards and Wicca. Which focus on individualistic beliefs and self-healing, increasing amounts of these springing up indicates that because we live in a postmodern society we are starting to focus on ourselves more meaning that our beliefs are becoming privatised.Other sociologists would argue against this by saying that they are not a true picture of our religious beliefs, and are in fact, just fads, which we can pick and choose whether, we believe in them and don’t necessarily believe in them throughout our whole lives. This is linked to spiritual shopping, which is where we pick and choose which parts of different religions we believe in. Our beliefs are not a set structure and we have personal choice in what we believe. Also, another reason why religion may have become privatised is because of industrialisation, which caused us to no lon ger live in small tightknit communities.Before industrialisation churches and other religious organisations were often the centre of small tightknit communities and also, there was social stigma attached to not going to church before industrialisation. Industrialisation caused people to go from living in extended families to living in small nuclear families so that they could move round and find work where it was available, This lead to more hectic lifestyles and less time for people to go to churches meaning that they had to practise privately.Because of this, industrialisation also therefore decreased the amount of social stigma around not attending church allowing people to choose whether they actually wanted to go or not. You could argue that this means that religion is now more pure because we chose what we believe and don’t just ‘believe’ so that we fit into the rest of society. On the other hand, other sociologists argue that there are still other religiou s people about that still live in tightknit communities such as Muslims.Muslims tend to use their religion as a form of cultural defence to protect their identity from scrutiny from outsiders of their religion. But other sociologists would argue that this is a Eurocentric argument because Muslims do not use their religion as a form of cultural defence outside of Europe, and the reason they do it here is because of how they are represented in the media and because people connect them with fundamentalist attacks that happen causing ‘islamaphobia,’ Which is the irrational fear of Islam.Structural differentiation has meant that religion has become more privitised because we now live in a multi-cultural society we now have more choice in what we believe in allowing us to ‘spiritual shop’ Lyon did a study called ‘Jesus in Disneyland’ believes that we have become religious consumers, meaning that me pick and choose what we believe from all the differe nt religions in the world. This has been made possible because of globalisation creating stronger links between different countries and allowing us to have access to multiple types of religions with all different norms and values.This gives us greater choice between what we believe in and what we don’t. There are many methodological problems with measuring whether religion has become privatized, on of these problems is that ‘ how do you measure how many religious organisations there are? ’ this is a problem because it is near impossible to count every single religious organisation in the world because of the amount of cults and sects that exist that not everybody may now about. Sociologists argue that there has been a decrease on the number of religious organisations, and therefore religious belief is decreasing, but they do not take into account that it may not be religious belief that is declining, but that lack of funding has meant that the religious beliefs c ould not remain forcing people into practise privately, Also, how do you define what a religious organisation is.Another problem with measuring whether religion has become privatised is that you can’t know what people are thinking, just because they don’t visit a religious organisation, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are not religious, they may just not have the time to visit the organisation so instead use things like televangelism to practise at home.Also, just because people don’t attend religious organisations often, Stark and Bainbridge believe that the decline in traditional religions has created a demand for newer religions, this includes new age movements that focus on private practice. They believe this is due to people being naturally religious and needing religion as a compensator during times of crisis. They think that people still turn to religion for rites of passage and in times of life crisis, so, when people feel their life is unst able and they need something to make them feel better.

Adolescence and music

Consider the song lyrics provided below, both lyrics and performance, looking for themes or messages for adolescents or relating to adolescent development. You should describe the music and use the lyrics to explain what the lyrics communicate to adolescents and about adolescents, including an argument for whether or not there are cultural, moral, and political messages conveyed in the song. Finally, using what you have learned about adolescence, make an argument for why would this music appeal to adolescents Name: Course: Psychology 310, Fall 2006 Tutor: Date: University: Adolescence is a growth and development stage in ones life where a myriad of changes both in terms of psychological and physical terms take effect. However whether a teenager will successfully transit into adult hood or get trapped by the challenges of adolescence is shaped by amongst others, family, the trait of the adolescent, and the external environment with which the adolescent interact such as religious settings, as well as school (Steinberg, 1999)). This lyric song is made to investigate the changes both behavioral and emotional that are undergone by adolescents. Personality development in adolescents changes the way an adolescent views his/her self and the way the same views the outside world. The myriad of challenges an adolescent undergoes shapes his/her relations with peers. The song provided develops certain themes, which are all central to the life of any adolescent; most of the themes revolve around culture, and morality. Sex. Adolescence is a period characterized by the acceptance of ones sex and sexuality. In the song this comes out when the lyrics mention sex in connection with adolescence. It reveals the fact that adolescents are of sex and sex matters and this is well manifested in the phrase that, â€Å"The timing/and structure/ did you hear/ he fucked her? † Relations with peers. Adolescence is a time when teens depend on their peers for almost every decision they make. They constantly look for comments and recommendations from fellow adolescents whom they regard as their equal and have no fear for, unlike their parents whom they consider too â€Å" old fashioned to understand them†. In this lyric song, there is a line that, â€Å"I’ll turn to a friend, someone that understands†, that evidences this. Status transitions. Adolescence is a transitory period and a lot happens at the same time in the lives of adolescents (Arnett, 2004). In the song, this comes up clearly when the teen in the song juxtaposes and delves into the next stage of life, adulthood and even envisions a marriage life. Identity formation The many questions asked in the song point to the fact that the adolescent is in the process of discovering their identity in the society. This is a common trait in adolescents who tend to attach a moral connotation to every single happening to their life (Arnett, J. A. 2002). The lyrics keep on addressing the issue of morality by asking questions on whether this or that is right and wrong. An example is found on the line, did you hear/ he fucked her? Changing personal relationships. Unlike in childhood when one can virtually associate with any one, teens are very selective of whom they enter into personal relationships with. In the lyrics this is evidenced by the fact that the singer keeps talking of the relationship and in a way, protecting and shielding it from perceiving threats. This is evidenced by the statement that she will turn to a friend who is understanding. Individuation process. This is evidenced by the fact that the singer does not want to imagine any one taking his/her friend. It seems he/she is prepared to posses the friend alone and not any where near sharing the friendship. Forming and dissolving intimate relationships. It is evident that, from the sentiments in the song, the singer is ready to make or break the relationship. This is characteristic of teenagers and it is evidenced by the the phrase that, The charade/ it won’t last/ I won’t come back. Psycho social problems. As the song progresses, it becomes clearer that the adolescent has some psycho social issues which needs to be addressed. Adolescence period is full of problems especially emotional and unless well handled, one can suffer from depression. This can be evidenced by the phrases, â€Å"on losing/ and failing†, and ‘we’ll pretend it’s okay’. Cognitive development. There is clear evidence of developed abstract thinking since through out the song the adolescent is drawing his/her feeling from abstract analysis of situations and not from just observation. Evidence can be drawn from the line that, â€Å"and your pictures/ are falling down. † Effects. There is increased self-consciousness, which is the cause of the imagined audience evident through out the lyrics. This can be shown from the lyrics by the fact that the writer decides to turn only to an understanding friend. Conclusion. Adolescence is a challenging stage in life when a lot of psychosocial, cognitive and physical changes appear in the lives of adolescents. The song analyzed above will appeal to most adolescents because it addresses issues central to their growth and developmental needs. There is a need for more studies to be aimed at discovering remedies to the many challenges a teen is faced with. More over, it is crucial that the government comes up with programs geared at supporting the teens as well as the community in dealing with the challenges associated with adolelescence.

Total Economic Value of a Public Park Case Study

Total Economic Value of a Public Park - Case Study Example Though it is a short project, but I had to be careful in case of collecting information and applying them properly. My lack of knowledge and shortage of information were great limitations for this work, but the Park authority helped me very much by providing disc losable information. But they didn't disclose some confidential information, which is part of their business policy. I am very grateful to our instructor who has given me the opportunity to do the project that has enriched my knowledge, skills, and practical experiences on a mentionable place of a distinctive country. OVERVIEW OF KINGS PARK: Perth City is Western Australia's central business district. Kings Park is located on the western edge of Perth. It is a 4.06 square kilometers (1003 acre) park having mixture of: Grassed parkland; Botanical gardens and Natural bush land on Mount Eliza. The streets of Kings Park are another symbol of peace. They are lined with individual plaques. The plaques are dedicated by Western Australian Service men and women's family members, who died in World War I and World War II. Other than the tourist facilities and attractive sites, Kings Park also has: The State War Memorial; The Royal Kings Park Tennis club and A reservoir. Basically, it is assumed that the Kings Park is one of the profitable Parks in Western Australia. Because according to specialists, the places, which are situated in the centre of countries or districts, are more or less seem to be profitable. Kings Park is sort of that, but in some cases it could be better. HISTORY OF KINGS PARK: Officially the Kings Park was opened on 10 August of 1895. At the beginning, it was named Perth Park. People believe that the name was like... Officially the Kings Park was opened on 10 August of 1895. At the beginning, it was named Perth Park. People believe that the name was like that by its district where it is situated. In 1901, it was renamed as Kings Park to mark the concurrence of King Edward VII and the visit to Perth of George to the British throne. May Drive, one of the major roads, was named in the Princess's honor. Kings Park’s this kind of honor is rare in Park’s history. For this reason it gained and still now gaining fame and likings of people.New York's Central Park is smaller than Kings Park in size. Though New York’s Central Park seems to be bigger than Kings Park, but actually it doesn’t. No park was designated for public use in Australia before this one (in 1872). Australia's largest wildflower show and exhibition take place in Kings Park during September to October of each year. In Australia, rarely any park has this kind of arrangements for public entertainment. By identifyi ng the land to set aside for public, General John Septimus Roe (colony's first surveyor) recognized the qualities of the area and tried to protect it from any kind of disasters. Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority does not work under any Local Government sector. Since 1999, Kings Park has been administered by that authority. They also administer Bold Park. The administration building of Kings Park provides the options where the visitors can book guided walking tours, gather information, or reserve one of the facilities.

Week 1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Week 1 - Assignment Example The various financial markets and how these have changed over the years since 2007/2008 are thus discussed. An assessment of how the changes have taken place is also presented. The financial market has been noted to be a place where the trading of financial securities and commodities take place among people and entities at prices that reflect demand and supply (Naude and Rossouw, 2010). This means that there are two clear components of the financial market, which are commodities and securities. In my country, both commodities and securities are emphasised, which means that the country operates a market economy. With the general financial market within my country, there are two broad forms of markets, which are the capital market and money market. As noted by Bodie, Kane and Marcus (2011), the capital market is used for long term financial investment whiles the money market is used for short term financial investment. All in all, there are six main financial markets, even though there are other minor financial markets, which are not considered in mainstream discussion. The six main financial markets are stock markets, bond markets, commodity markets, money markets, insurance market, and foreign exchange market. Some of the shadow financial markets are derivatives market and future markets. Since the end of the recession in 2008, the major changes that have taken place in the financial market in my country have largely taken the form of the type of financial market that is patronised by the majority of people. On the whole, the changes can be seen among three players within the financial market, which are government, industry and individuals. On the part of government, there has been a change that looks towards to patronage of more long term finance such as bond and stock. Government has since 2008 increased its capital market investment in the areas of bond and stock so as to ensure that it is protected against future meltdowns

Atrial Fibrillation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Atrial Fibrillation - Essay Example AF may occur in men or women and is generally seen in the elderly population in the age group of 60 -70 years or above. As Kowey and Naccarelli points out â€Å"from an epidemiological standpoint AF is predominantly a disease of elderly individuals with cardiovascular diseases† (Kowey and Naccarelli, p.1). AF generally is not seen in the young population. The human heart consists of four chambers – the upper two chambers are known as atria while the two lower ones are known as ventricles. De-oxygenated blood containing high amounts of carbon dioxide enters the right atrium via the superior vena cava and inferior vena cava and flows into the right ventricle. The right atrium contracts to pump the rest of the blood into the right ventricle which in turn contracts to pump the blood into the lungs where the blood loses its carbon dioxide and gets fresh oxygen supply. This oxygenated blood then enters the left atrium which contracts to pump the blood into left ventricle. The left ventricle contracts to send the blood to the rest of the body. These contractions of the heart muscles occur due to an inbuilt electric supply system present in the human heart that sends out electrical signals during each heart beat. Each electrical signal starts its journey from the sino-atrial (SA) node present in the right atrium of the heart. From her e as it moves down it causes both the atria to contract thus pumping blood to the ventricles. The electrical signal then moves down to the atrio-ventricular node and via the bundle of His enter both the ventricles causing them to contract and pump blood to the lungs and the rest of the body. In atrial fibrillation this electrical signal arises from the nearby pulmonary veins and other parts of the right atrium instead of the SA node. These electrical signals produced are extremely irregular and generally very rapid and can range up to 350 signals per

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 11

Philosophy - Essay Example Stoicism was founded by three early thinkers – Zeno of Citium in Cyprus (344-262 BC), Cleanthes (d. 232 BC) and Chrysippus (d. ca. 206 BC). â€Å"Chrysippus was particularly prolific, composing over 165 works, but we have only fragments of his works. The only complete works by Stoic philosophers that we possess are those by writers of Imperial times, Seneca (4 BC-65 AD), Epictetus (c. 55-135) and the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180) and these works are principally focused on ethics† (Baltzly, 2004). On the surface, Stoicism emphasized the idea that the true sage, in his zealous pursuit of wisdom, would find all the happiness he could want in his knowledge and subsequent inner tranquility. The ultimate source of this tranquility is achieved through the fire of the soul as it becomes connected with the fire of God, who permeates everything. Because they felt that the laws of nature were absolute and that the essential nature of humans was reason, they felt people could d o no other than ‘live according to nature.’ The Epicureans, on the other hand, felt that the greatest goal in life was to experience pleasure. Founded on the ideas of Epicurus (340-270 BC), Epicureanism centers on the idea that pleasure in moderate amounts as well as an absence of bodily pain was necessary for one to gain a state of tranquility and freedom from fear. This was obtained through the obtaining of knowledge, friendship and by living a virtuous and temperate life. The key to how this philosophy differed from other forms of pleasure-seeking philosophies was in the term ‘moderation.’ Although it was all right to have sex, to become involved in an all-consuming passionate affair or to have sex too often could easily throw one out of balance, making it preferable to simply abstain. In addition, this philosophy was firmly grounded upon scientific, rather than divine, principles presuming that an understanding of the world around us, and a physical understanding of

The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) isn't wrong. It just doesn't go Essay - 1

The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) isn't wrong. It just doesn't go far enough. Discuss - Essay Example by the quÐ °ntity betÐ ° (ÃŽ ²) in the finÐ °nciÐ °l industry, Ð °s well Ð °s the expected return of the mÐ °rket Ð °nd the expected return of Ð ° theoreticÐ °l risk-free Ð °sset. The cÐ °pitÐ °l Ð °sset pricing model (CÐ PM) theory Ð °ssumes thÐ °t Ð °n investor expects Ð ° yield on Ð ° certÐ °in security equivÐ °lent to the risk free rÐ °te (sÐ °y thÐ °t rÐ °te Ð °chievÐ °ble on six-month TreÐ °sury bills) plus Ð ° premium bÐ °sed on mÐ °rket vÐ °riÐ °bility of return X Ð ° mÐ °rket risk premium. In Winter 1991, the mÐ °rket risk premium on listed U.S. common stocks Ð °ppeÐ °rs to hÐ °ve been Ð °bout 6.5%, Ð °ccording to stÐ °tistics published in the QuÐ °rterly Review, Winter 1991, by the FederÐ °l Reserve BÐ °nk of New York (though the Ibbotson study found it to exceed 8% from the mid 1920s through 1987). Thus in Ð ° period of 4% inflÐ °tion, the T-bill rÐ °te might be Ð °ppropriÐ °tely 4.5 to 5%; Ð ° four- or five-yeÐ °r TreÐ °sury note should hÐ °ve Ð ° yield of 5.5 to 6%; TreÐ °sury bonds should yield Ð ° percent higher thÐ °n this; Ð °nd corporÐ °te bond yields should hÐ °ve even higher returns to co mpensÐ °te for their Ð °dditionÐ °l credit or business risk. The cÐ °pitÐ °l Ð °sset pricing model for this scenÐ °rio suggests thÐ °t Ð °nnuÐ °l returns on low-betÐ ° electric utility might be .05 + .50 betÐ ° (.065) = 8.25%. Ð bout 75% of this might come from dividends Ð °nd the bÐ °lÐ °nce from expected growth in dividends over Ð °n extended time period. By contrÐ °st, Ð °n Ð °verÐ °ge stock with Ð ° betÐ ° of 1.00 should provide Ð ° rÐ °te of return of 4.5 to 5.0% plus the mÐ °rket premium of 6.5% or between 11 Ð °nd 12%. Ð  high-betÐ ° stock (one operÐ °ting in Ð ° cyclicÐ °l industry, for exÐ °mple) with Ð ° betÐ °, or relÐ °tive mÐ °rket volÐ °tility in price, of 1.50 should provide Ð ° mÐ °rket return of 5.0% + 1.50 (0.065) or Ð °bout 15%. We could convert these from eÐ °rnings price rÐ °tios to price-eÐ °rnings (P-E) rÐ °tios Ð °nd determine thÐ °t the electric utilities, in this scenÐ °rio, should trÐ °de Ð °t Ð °bout Ð ° 12 Ãâ€" P-E rÐ °tio Ð °nd the high-betÐ °

Quidelines for Communications Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Quidelines for Communications - Research Paper Example The controller is mainly nominated by the state or even the society law. It is essential and mandatory to ensure that the EU citizens are never in a position where their privileges to privacy are compromised. Therefore, there must be a satisfactory and valuable means of scrutinizing the dispensation of the personal identity data by an appointed controller. Thus, the EU member ought to assign a competent controller to do the work. When private data are accumulated, they are mainly used in a variety of ways. An individual can give his personal data when he for instance, records for a library tag, or when he signs for gymnasium association, or even opens a depository account. Therefore, personal data can be gathered unswervingly from the individual or from an existing database. This information may afterwards be utilized for other reasons and further shared with extra parties. Personal data can be any data that recognizes an entity, such as a person’s name, an individual’s telephone number, or moreover an individual’s photo. The idea of development in computer knowledge and also in telecommunications system is permitting personal data to go across borders through superior simplicity. As personal data is collected and exchanged more frequently, regulation on data transfers is necessary (Bennet & Raab, 2007). The Specific Role of the EU Member State Controller with regards to EU Citizen Privacy Protection The controller is chiefly appointed by the government body. The key roles of the controllers in the EU include a variety of duties. For instance, they must be able to ensure limited types of personal data are collected from the member states of the EU. For instance, the data that is capable of revealing an individual’s ethnic, or the race, the political conviction, religious beliefs, or even the health as well as the sexuality is not to be collected unless the individual collecting that information has the right to do so in the member co untry. For example the government body or the employers are an example of those who have full rights and privileges to collect an individual’s personal data. Secondly, the controller must guarantee accuracy of the data collected. The controller ought to ensure accuracy of data and any data without accuracy must be deleted. This is to enable the availability of correct data and therefore the inaccurate data must be removed or updated and rectified. Additionally, the controller of the EU members must further ensure that the data collected from the individuals is kept securely and safely. Moreover, the data controllers must further ensure that they have implemented appropriate technical and also organizational measures so as to protect personal data against any forms of accidental loss, or even the alterations, or from any unauthorized disclosure or even access. Furthermore, the controller’s role is also to fully guarantee redress of the personal data. This is an independ ent mechanism that ensures individuals have recourse if they want to and feel like their rights to their personal data has been interfered with or infringed. Eventually, the controllers must ensure that the individual has a right and access to the power to investigate claims of data protection violations. They must also have a right to intervene and further stop the collection of any personal data and further initiate a legal procedure against any violators of the data protection rights (Staples, 2001). The Required

The History of Hospitals, Delivery of Inpatient Services Essay

The History of Hospitals, Delivery of Inpatient Services - Essay Example The agencies of the Public Health Service are the Health Administration, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Prevention, the Agency of Health Care Research and the Agency Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Wherever numerous publicly funded health care programs help to provide for the elderly, disabled, military service families and veterans, children, and the poor and federal law ensures public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay, however, the main goal wasn't implemented. Significant goal was approached through Massachusetts, implementation of a near-universal health care system by the Massachusetts 2006 Health Reform Statute, mandating that residents purchase health care coverage with little or no control over how much the health insurance policies cost. Problems as rising cost have been contributed by increasing per capita spending by an aging population. One reason for this is the large number of babies born in the lost years and so contribution was increasing expenditure. Another thing is that try improving health care on old population has tended to delay the onset of serious illness and high health care expenditures and medical malpractice; also, resulting defensive medicine has slight contribution of care cost. And so the need of health care system on an aging population has been established since 1960 through Medicare, provider of health care insurance for all Americans age 65 and older. It covers hospital care and physician fee and prescription drug benefits. Medicare takes important steps to reduce long-term health care cost through providing up-to-date preventive benefits and programs that lower overall cost for benefices with chronic illness by preventing complication. Also development of better information on quality and costs of health care through implementation of competitive reforms in durable medical equipment. But Medicare funding has issued warning when financing will exceed 45 percentage of total expenditure with seven years. Such a warning triggered an expedited process to reduce general revenue financing, in which the President is required to propose legislation to address the issue in the next Budget, and Congress is required to consider the proposal on an expedited basis. So crises will run in 2018 because the hospital insurances will run of money. Most health economist believe that the primary causes of increasing spending of health care is development of new technologies, try which could be established improvement of patient care. Estimating the efforts on overage the benefits are expending opportunities of effectiveness of care. Physicians, nurses, and other health profession hospitals and manufactory of pharmaceuticals and device and researches are key input into the health care system. Right investning in any of them can establish effective health care system or effective key output. The pharmaceutics and the medical device industry are most impotent aspects of modern health care system and so supply many of the products are most responsible for improvement on public health, such as medication and devices such as joint replacement and artificial lenses. The developing and the right marketing are the right way to established effective health

Supporting Notes Essay Example for Free

Supporting Notes Essay The practitioner we were most inspired by was Katie Mitchell. The crucial idea behind Katie Mitchell is that of Stanislavsky, naturalistic but with a contemporary twist. We chose to explore an extract from Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen. Being, a naturalistic play, we thought that by using Katie Mitchell as our practitioner, we would be able to put a slight twist onto the dated play, and gain more knowledge of the characters. This involved us researching the era of the play, the characters with depth, and the specific extract we were choosing to do. Katie Mitchell focused on exploring the characters with much depth, and allowing a real portrayal to be shown to the audience, in order for them to relate to. After researching into the background of Katie Mitchell, we found that she directed Ghost, another Ibsen play, which encouraged us to explore other Ibsen plays. This led us to Hedda Gabler, a naturalistic play in which we believed we could adapt and direct to suit Katie Mitchell’s style of play. By following the book ‘The Director’s Craft’, we could gain an insight into her ways of directing and how she believes you should work in order to achieve a certain style of play. The exploration of the characters within the play, allowed us to record a backlist of what we believe may have happened, allowing a bigger picture to form in which we could establish what we thought the play was trying to achieve. This allowed us to create more believable characters and discuss what we believe to of happened between the time gaps between the scenes. Katie Mitchell’s idea of performing a play is that to completely immerse yourself within a character, and imagine you are them from all angles, this allows us to understand emotions and feelings behind the character. We chose an extract mainly reliant upon having two female speaking parts, however, allowed a good scope to improve and explore acting styles to suit this extract. Although the play didn’t advise much movement for this extract, we believe there is much that can be done in order to increase the tension and difficultness between both the characters within this scene.

Service Oriented Architecture And What Advantages Information Technology Essay

Service Oriented Architecture And What Advantages Information Technology Essay The project aims to clearly define SOA, definition SOA, history overview, characteristics, SWOT analysis, and importance of SOA now-a-days, advantages and disadvantages of SOA as compared with other architecture. The project clearly defines the reader the clear overview of SOA which can help them to understand SOA and the comparison with other architecture. In these days SOA is well known and well discussed topic by IT vendors all over the world. IBM, HP, Microsoft, SAP and many other major IT companies use SOA and some of them amending SOA and represent into new tune. SOA is the group of new software bind together to allow IT vendors to produce something else which is latest and flexible. SOA has special and unique characteristics. For effective use of SOA the developers and designer need to understand the characteristics and SOA concepts. (Hurwitz, Judith, et al, 2007) History of SOA It was a big challenge in IT and business to find the service which can make integration between IT and business for achieving business objectives. As it seems that it is very easy but in reality it is very complex. In the past computer applications were developed for specific particular task without integration to other system. In the modern computing the applications are much more distributed. Now a single application shared into several components like emails, DNS services etc. it is more practical to use components based computing rather than using one application for one task. (Service-Oriented Architecture, 2010) In the past if the account holder needs the information about the account then the customer service representative has to go to one terminal and enter the account number. If the customer needs the saving account information then the representative has to enter the account number in the different terminal. The problem was that each account type has different interfaces. Now-a-days with the successful implementation of SOA and distributed systems banks are now interconnected which improved customer services and customer satisfaction. It also reduced the cost and time.(Rosen,Boris Smith, 2008) Before explaining SOA the software architecture needs to be explained. Software architecture is a new field in the software engineering. Software architecture highlighted the components of the system and how they interact with each other. The interaction between these components is called connectors. (Stevens, 2002) The definition of Software architecture is as followed The software architecture of a program or computing system is the structure or structures of the system, which comprise software components, the externally visible properties of those components, and the relationships among them. (Bass, Clements, and Kazman 1997) Figure 2.1 Components and connectors of system software architecture What is SOA? On the basis of software engineering SOA is an IT architecture which is based on the delivery of reusability of well-defined business. The IT components are under pinned in such a way that the consumer (customer) and provider (business) are loosely coupled. SOA give the independence to enable components to be implemented in different platforms and computer languages. SOA give the great flexibility to re-assemble the existing IT components to build a new solution. There is no restriction in SOA that where there components resides and how things will create. The big misconception about SOA is that most people think that SOA is a technology. However, SOA is not a technology it is the approach to software design that assemble systems from a reusable components and services may originated from different resources and different technology environment. The services provided by SOA can be distributed across heterogeneous platforms which maximize the business and IT agility. (Introduction-to- Service-Oriented-Architecture-SOA, 2010) There are many definitions of SOA. The definition of SOA which can be more likely to understand is as followed: A service oriented architecture is a framework for integrating business processes and supporting IT as secure, standardized components service that can be reused and combined to address changing priorities (Bieberstein, Norbert, et al, 2010) SOA is flexible architecture design. SOA is not only simple architecture it builds architecture on the basis of existing architecture and build more advance software architecture. (Oasis, 2006) According to Jamil SOA is a design pattern which is composed of loosely coupled, discoverable, reusable, inter-operable platform agnostic services in which each of these services follow a well-defined standard. Each of these services can be bound or unbound at any time and as needed. (Jamil, 2010) In this definition it did not indicate any service that what service is being provided in this architecture. It did not describe about software. On the basis of SOA the hardware architecture can be designed effectively. Basically SOA architecture plays the role of bridge between embedded systems and enterprise software. Many companies are making integrated systems now-a-days and SOA is playing a very important role in the integrated systems for integration. SOA makes changes easier SOA makes changes easier in the business and IT environment. IT Systems are the collection of software, hardware and networks. These IT components (software, hardware and networks) are integrated with each other. For making change between them is very difficult. It is very easy to reuse and assemble the components with the help of SOA. For example if a business provides some services to customer like checking credits, checking shipping status and inventory. With the help of SOA we can assemble components in any way as required by the business. When a business needs to be changed then instead of doing work from the beginning we have to reuse and re-arrange the components and services to make something new. SOA help us to save the time and money. We can add new components or someone elses components to make the IT to build something new. SOA helps to grow the business. It gave the flexibility to make change in our business easily which helps business to innovate new. (Rosen Michael, Lu blinsky Boris Smith Kevin T., 2008). The base of SOA is based on loosely coupled services in which software components can easily communicate with each other. These components do not have to know their technical details. (Service-Oriented Architecture, 2010) SOA Model Registry Publish Find Service Provider Service Customer Service Consumer Service consumer executes the service by sending it a request formatted according to the contract. Service Provider Service provider publishes its contract in the registry for access by service consumers. Service Registry Service registry is a network-based directory that contains available services. It is an entity that accepts and stores contracts from service providers and provides those contracts to interested service consumers. Advantages and Disadvantages of Service-Oriented Architecture Advantages of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) This section shows the advantages of SOA in the following aspects. SOA benefits to distributed computing SOA short term benefits SOA long term benefits SOA benefits from the business prospective SOA benefits t to distributed computing Location independence SOA is loosely coupled architecture and location is important factor for loosely coupled architecture. Loosely coupled architecture like SOA provides many requests of the same service from the different location. SOA provides location independence. In SOA architecture services does not need a particular network or specific system.(Bieberstein, 2006) Completely loosely coupled SOA has loosely coupled approach and the quality of this service is that if you want to change the service in one location then it does not need to change linked services. Dynamic search and  connectivity to other services SOA short term benefits SOA has many short term benefits like Enhancing reliability Reducing hardware acquisition costs Leverages existing development skills Providing data bridge between business and IT (Introduction-to-Service-Oriented-Architecture-SOA, 2010) SOA long term benefits SOA provides the following long term benefits Ability to build composite  compatible applications Reducing management costs Real-time decision making applications (Introduction-to-Service-Oriented-Architecture-SOA, 2010) SOA benefits from the business prospective Change more quickly according to the customer Low cost of maintenance technology Leverages existing investments in technology Reduces expensive custom development cost (Introduction-to-Service-Oriented-Architecture-SOA, 2010) The main advantage of SOA is that it fits in business and IT gaps. In the recent world there are many forces contributing in business environement like competition, new products and other endless factors. In the past, IT groups were struggling for fill out this IT and business gap. SOA filled this gap by building an integration between IT and business. One thing which we have to keep in our minds while implementing SOA in the organizations that SOA is not a complete success it is based on how SOA is being designed?. For example, if anyone wants to replace the AVsystem they can replace it with better DVD player. So, they can buy DVD player and replace AV system quickly. Similarly if an organization wants to replace old CRM with new CRM they can easily buy one and integrate with existing system with the help of SOA. But the success of SOA is that how it is designed?. (Barry, 2003) SOA services are used by multiple clients. So, SOA has their own security systemsalso. Multiple level security increased the security of the system. SOA architecture integrate application with each other which solved the problem of software incompatibility and as a result it has low integration cost. SOA facilitate the organization to adapt change quikly. With the help of SOA organizations can adapt change according to market situation. (Barry, 2003) Disadvantages of Service-Oriented Architecture Although there are many advantages of SOA but there are some disadvantages also. SOA is based on loosely coupled architecture thats why SOA has no synchronization element. In SOA process there are some illogical steps followed which are not the part of the SOA model. SOA is not recommended for the following applications. SOA is not for the systems which are stand alone or non-distributed e.g. word processor does not has request and respond based calls. SOA is not suitable for applications which are short term and those applications which have no attention of reusability in the future. Applications which have lots of data of geographical manipulation data are also not suitable with SOA. (Disadvantages of SOA , 2010) Comparison with other architectures SOA vs. Components based architecture If we compare SOA and component based architecture then there is no clear line between them. The main difference between them is connection between and the possibilities offer single service for third party. Conclusion In the conclusion SOA is not the aver night architecture that happens suddenly or overnight. To implement SOA it needs patience consistency and right way of implementation. SOA has many advantages and disadvantages. SOA by itself does not have major problem but the way of implementation is the key point of success. SOA has many challenges but the challenges are more likely relevant to business rather than IT. It is also considered that SOA is not the solution for all the software development problems. SOA has too many problems like the required service according to circumstances, acceptable performance and security. Although there are many advantages and disadvantages of implementing SOA but the key success of implementing of SOA is the way of implementation SOA. How SOA is being implemented in the organization? References Bass, L., Clements, P., and Kazman, R. Software Architecture in Practice. Addison- Wesley, 1997. Bieberstein, Norbert, et al. Chapter 1 Introducing SOA.Executing SOA: A Practical Guide for the Service-Oriented Architect.  IBM Press,  Ã‚ © 2008.  Books24x7. Web.  Nov. 16, 2010.http://common.books24x7.com.librouter.hud.ac.uk/book/id_27520/book.asp Barry, D. K. (2003). Web services and service-oriented architecture: the savvy managers guide. San Francisco,CA: Morgan Kaufmann Publisher. Bieberstein Norbert, Marc Fiammante, Keith Jones, Rawn Shah . (2006). Service-oriented architecture compass: business value, planning. US: Pearson Plc. Ejaz Jamil, What really is SOA. A comparison with Cloud Computing, Web 2.0, SaaS, WOA, Web Services, PaaS and others. Web.Nov.17,2010.http://soalib.com/doc/whitepaper/SoalibWhitePaper_SOAJargon.pdf Hurwitz, Judith, et al. Service Oriented Architecture for Dummies.  Service Oriented Architecture For Dummies.  John Wiley Sons,  Ã‚ © 2007.  Books24x7. Web.  Nov. 16, 2010. Juneja, Girish, et al. Chapter 1 Introduction.  Service Oriented Architecture Demystified.  Intel Press,  Ã‚ © 2007.Books24x7. Web.  Nov. 16, 2010. Marks, Eric A., and  Michael Bell. Chapter 1 Introduction to the SOA Business Model.  Service-Oriented Architecture: A Planning and Implementation Guide for Business and Technology.  John Wiley Sons,  Ã‚ © 2006.  Books24x7. Web.Nov. 16, 2010. Rosen Michael, Lublinsky Boris Smith Kevin T. (2008). Applied SOA : Service-Oriented Architecture and Design Strategies. John Wiley Sons. Stevens, Michael. Service-Oriented Architecture Introduction.web. Nov.16,2010.http://www.developer.com/services/article.php/1010451 Schmutz, Guido,  Daniel Liebhart, and  Peter Welkenbach. Chapter 1 Basic Principles.  Service Oriented Architecture: An Integration Blueprint: A Real-world SOA Strategy for the Integration of Heterogeneous Enterprise Systems.  Packt Publishing,  Ã‚ © 2010.  Books24x7. Web.  Nov. 16, 2010.http://common.books24x7.com.librouter.hud.ac.uk/book/id_35815/book.asp Service-Oriented Architecture. (2010). Retrieved 11 22, 2010, from What is Service-Oriented Architecture?: http://www.bestpricecomputers.co.uk/glossary/service-oriented-architecture.htm Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form

Parents Play a Critical Role in Their Childrens Education :: Persuasive Essays, Argumentative Essays

Discussions continue about improving the U.S. public education system. One question which is frequently overlooked is: What is the role of parents in education? There are a variety of thoughtful and interesting conversations about everything from resource allocation, to the impact of race on educational achievement, to the most effective uses of technology, to redefining education to meet the needs of the 21st century – topical and relevant discussions that never seem to include parents. Parents aren’t completely ignored, but more often than not, the role they play isn’t a substantive part of the discussion. Their involvement becomes a less than critical part of any proposed solution. I believe we can make the argument that a significant part of the solution to the educational challenges we face requires meaningful parent involvement, not just lip service. In all fairness, however, meaningful parent involvement can be tough. Schools are faced with federal regulations that require it (Title I, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act); there is solid evidence that when parents are involved there is a strong, lasting connection to academic achievement, and particularly for children at high risk. Many of these children have parents who themselves were unsuccessful in school; for these children, parent engagement is a real challenge. For parents, it is generally easier when children are younger; content is easier, and schools (and children) seem a bit more welcoming to parents being involved. As children grow, however, the content becomes more difficult, schools and children are much less welcoming to parent involvement, and parents are left with just asking questions: â€Å"How was school today?† and/or â€Å"Did you do your homework?† Of course, all this doesn’t even consider the issue of parents working multiple jobs who struggle with finding time for involvement in their child’s education. More regulations and legal structures are not necessarily the answer either. There is a subset of children, those with disabilities, who have federal protections mandating significant parental involvement. Unfortunately, those regulations often create a contentious, rather than cooperative, relationship between parents and teachers and school administrators. When it comes to parental involvement, most people agree with the â€Å"why†; it’s the â€Å"how† that poses the challenge. The vast majority of parents want to be involved, but face significant barriers in doing so. The vast majority of schools welcome parent involvement, but with short parent meetings (for which both sides struggle to find time), it’s hard to know exactly what to do.

Jane Eyre :: essays research papers

Passion and Responsibility In the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses Jane Eyre as her base to find out how a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with her responsibilities. . Mistreated abused and deprived of a normal childhood, Jane Eyre creates an enemy early in her childhood with her Aunt Mrs. Reed. Just as Mrs. Reeds life is coming to an end, she writes to Jane asking her for forgiveness, and one last visit from her. â€Å"Will you have the goodness to send me the address of my niece, Jane Eyre, and to tell me how she is. It is my intention to write shortly and desire her to come to see me at Madeira†¦I wish to adopt her during my life, and bequeath her at my death whatever I may have to leave.† (252) Regretting many things in her life, Jane is put into a situation in which the answer lies in deterring to redress the wrong or to keep the past where it belongs and do what Jane believes is ethical and morally right.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Obligations arise as Jane is forced to stay with Mrs. Reed. With out being nurtured, Jane receives unnecessary abuse and still feels as if she is yet to find â€Å"home†. Frustration slowly builds up in Jane’s mind and she awaits the perfect chance to let it all out, â€Å"You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness; but I cannot live so: and you have no pity† (33) With the anger and anguish built up inside of Jane, she finally finds a chance to move out, leaving behind a broken relationship with her aunt Mrs. Reed. Jane works towards living a better life, a more worthwhile life leaving what happened in the past, where it belongs. As Mrs. Reed becomes ill, she wishes to see Jane one last time before she passes away. This triggers the moral side of the Character Jane Eyre, and she is stumped on a decision she was to make, not realizing that her decisions will show her true character.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Whether it is because of the obligation, out of love, pity or kindness, Jane believes she visit Mrs. Reed and fulfill her last wishes. â€Å"Forgive me for my passionate language; I was a child then; eight, nine years have passed since that day.† (253) Putting the hardships behind her Jane gives her full apologies to Mrs. Jane Eyre :: essays research papers Passion and Responsibility In the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses Jane Eyre as her base to find out how a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with her responsibilities. . Mistreated abused and deprived of a normal childhood, Jane Eyre creates an enemy early in her childhood with her Aunt Mrs. Reed. Just as Mrs. Reeds life is coming to an end, she writes to Jane asking her for forgiveness, and one last visit from her. â€Å"Will you have the goodness to send me the address of my niece, Jane Eyre, and to tell me how she is. It is my intention to write shortly and desire her to come to see me at Madeira†¦I wish to adopt her during my life, and bequeath her at my death whatever I may have to leave.† (252) Regretting many things in her life, Jane is put into a situation in which the answer lies in deterring to redress the wrong or to keep the past where it belongs and do what Jane believes is ethical and morally right.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Obligations arise as Jane is forced to stay with Mrs. Reed. With out being nurtured, Jane receives unnecessary abuse and still feels as if she is yet to find â€Å"home†. Frustration slowly builds up in Jane’s mind and she awaits the perfect chance to let it all out, â€Å"You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness; but I cannot live so: and you have no pity† (33) With the anger and anguish built up inside of Jane, she finally finds a chance to move out, leaving behind a broken relationship with her aunt Mrs. Reed. Jane works towards living a better life, a more worthwhile life leaving what happened in the past, where it belongs. As Mrs. Reed becomes ill, she wishes to see Jane one last time before she passes away. This triggers the moral side of the Character Jane Eyre, and she is stumped on a decision she was to make, not realizing that her decisions will show her true character.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Whether it is because of the obligation, out of love, pity or kindness, Jane believes she visit Mrs. Reed and fulfill her last wishes. â€Å"Forgive me for my passionate language; I was a child then; eight, nine years have passed since that day.† (253) Putting the hardships behind her Jane gives her full apologies to Mrs.

Locke, Aristotle and Aquinas Essay -- Philosophy essays

Locke, Aristotle and Aquinas      Ã‚   In the tomes of history, many philosophers have outlined their visions of a perfect society.   Until recently however, few have ventured into the waters of religious tolerance.   One such philosopher was John Locke.   Writing in the late 17th century, Locke advocated a complete separation between church and state.   He argued for an unprecedented tolerance of people of all faiths.  Ã‚   Although Locke's views became widely popular throughout Europe and the Americas, they did not meet with unanimous approval.   Many earlier philosophers disagreed with Locke.   Two such philosophers were Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas.   Aquinas disagreed in three key respects:   Compulsion, toleration, and authority.   Aristotle, on the other hand, disagreed on a more fundamental issue:   the goal of politics itself.   This essay aims to elucidate Locke's arguments, and then explicate Aristotle and Aquinas' would-be objections to Locke's A Letter Concerning Toleration.    In A Letter Concerning Toleration, Locke discusses the issue of civil tolerance.   His main premise is that society is constituted merely for the procuring, preserving, and advancing of civil interests.   He defines civil interest as:    Life, Liberty, Health, and Indolency of Boy; and the Possession of outward things, such as Money, Lands, Houses, Furniture, and the like.1    Having explained civil interests in terms of material possessions, Locke argues that the only concern of the Magistracy should be the violation of these civil interests.   The Magistracy is to enforce these rights through punishment, or by threatening the deprivation of the aforesaid rights.   But since no individual would voluntarily forfeit these freedoms, the Magist... ...ed States of America;   1983 Baumgarth, William P and Richard J Regan [eds].   Aquinas, Saint Thomas.   On Law, Morality, and Politics.   Hackett Publishing Company, United States of America; 1988    Notes 1 Tully, James H.[ed]   Locke, John.   A Letter Concerning Toleration.   P. 26 2 Ibid.   P. 27 3 An obvious referral to the Arab Muslims, whom Europeans deemed as "heathens" and "infidels."   This term generally considered offensive, by most Muslims. 4 Baumgarth, William P and Richard J Regan [eds].   Aquinas, Saint Thomas.   On Law, Morality, and Politics.   P. 250 5 Ibid.   P. 250 (with emphasis added) 6 Ibid.   P. 251 7 Ibid.   P. 255 (emphasis added) 8 Tully, James H.[ed]   Locke, John.   A Letter Concerning Toleration.   P. 46 9 Ibid.   P. 47 10 Lord, Carnes [trans.]   Aristotle, The Politics.   P. 99 11 Ibid.   P. 98   

Impact of Priorities on the Intersection of Language and Culture

Carolina Granados Mrs. Brady AP Language and Literature 16 September 2012 Impact of Priorities on the Intersection of Language and Culture The impact of language on culture and culture on language are all essentially based on priorities. A priority can be described as a resource or activity that a culture gives specified attention to. Distinguishing the priorities of a culture can be easily done by taking a look at their language or at their culture. The priorities of cultures, such as that of the Normans, Eskimos, Italians or Asians, are food, everyday activities, and communicating.There are many types of priorities but one priority that is probably the most important to any culture is food. According to Bill Bryson in The Mother Tongue, â€Å"every language has areas in which it needs, for practical purposes, to be more expressive than others† (14). This means that the culture’s priorities cause the language to be more expressive. For example, Italians have over 500 n ames for macaroni because pasta is their main priority, while Araucanian Indians of Chile have a variety of words for hunger because food is scarce thus not a top priority.As reported by Tanya Brady in her lecture, in 1066 A. D the Normans and the Anglo Saxons had different words for the food they ate. The Anglo Saxon’s priority was the farm animals and to provide the French with food and so they named their food with words like sheep, cow and pig. On the other hand the Norman’s priority was not the farm animal but the actual food on their table therefore they named their food with words like mutton, beef, and bacon. This matters because it shows that their priorities of their food are seen throughout the words in their language.In 1984, Winston was unfamiliar with â€Å"good† foods, like wine. In the book O’Brien says, â€Å"It’s called wine† (Orwell 171). This means that Winston did not know what it was called because it was not in his lan guage sine wine was something Winston never had, making it not a priority. Food is a simple priority that can be affected by the words we use to describe it. In The Origins of Pleasure, Paul Bloom argues that changing the word that describes the food can change what a person thinks they are eating thus bringing more pleasure. For example, changing the name of wines for a more luxurious and expensive name an cause adults to believe they are drinking the expensive stuff making the wine more enjoyable. This shows that the words that are chosen to describe something can affect priorities, like the adults with the wine. Priorities of any culture, like the Eskimos, circle around the everyday activities they do. According to Bill Bryson, Eskimos have fifty words for types of snow. This means that the snow is a large part of their life, making it a big part of their language. Bryson also states that Arabs have over 6,000 words for camels and camel equipment.Working with camels is an everyda y thing for the Arabs making camels a priority to their culture. Brady makes it clear that the Normans focused everyday on matters of court, government, fashion, and high living, while the English peasants just continued to eat, drink, work and sleep. The difference in preferences of these two tiers, the French-speaking autocracy and the English-speaking peasantry, is seen throughout the words in their language. In 1984 George Orwell describes that Winston’s priority was to work for the Inner Party.His everyday life did not consist of fun and interesting activities but consisted instead on things the Party wanted him to do. This was because his leader Big Brother was destroying words out of their vocabulary which limited what Winston and the rest of the people in Oceania could do. Orwell describes Winton’s day by saying, â€Å"He†¦hurried of to the Center, took part in the solemn foolery of a â€Å"discussion group,† played two games of table tennis†¦ and sat for a half an hour through a lecture†¦ † (109). This shows his activities were controlled and limited.Mark Pagel in How Language Transformed Humanity said, â€Å"You use your language to alter the settings inside someone else’s brain to suit your interest,† and in fact that was what Big Brother was doing to them. Limiting a person’s activities also limits their priorities. Malcolm Gladwell, in Outliers, states that Asian children tend to work harder in mathematics because it is an advantage in their culture. Their language constructed of remarkably brief number words, which allowed the children to memorize them faster. The difference means that Asian children learn to count much faster than American children.This difference matters because the advantage of the number words in their language made mathematics one of their culture’s priorities. Communication is another priority of any culture around the world. Davis Sedaris in Americans i n Paris portrays the priority of communication perfectly. Davis Sedaris could not communicate with the people in Paris because of his language, which narrowed down who he was able to talk to and what he was able to do. Sedaris’s activities were around the people that made him happy and that he had ease understanding and communicating like the children at the theater.Sedaris’s priority of communicating with others was affected by the language he had not yet mastered. Malcolm Gladwell observed that the kinds of errors that cause plane crashes are invariably errors of communication. In the Avianca crash Klotz, the pilot, was not able to communicate his problem effectively because he was using his own cultural language, speaking as a subordinate would to a superior. To the Kennedy Airport air traffic controllers the mitigated speech from the pilot did not mean he was being deferential to a superior but instead it meant he didn’t have a problem.According to George Or well the Inner Party used Euphony to prevent people in Oceania to communicate. The purpose was so that their society would speak so easily, almost automatically, with no personal expression so that communicating would become harder. Stripping away the uniqueness of how the word was said made the ideas left behind not worth listening to, thus decreasing the communication between everyone. Orwell says, â€Å"There will be no love† (267). In Oceania the people did not have any individual relationships, or any bonds or any love because there was no communication.This means that the priority of communication with individuals, like friends and family was removed completely. This matters because again changing the language in any way can affect the priorities of any individual, like the priority of communication. Mark Pagel states, â€Å"Our modern world is communicating with its self and with each other. † This means that communication is a way for every culture to transfer goods, ideas and technologies. This is a way for parts of the world to put their priorities together changing the known language and culture.Priorities are a large factor of the intersection between language and culture. Priorities essentially distinguish the difference in cultures by pin pointing the focuses in every single culture. Priorities of cultures, such as the food they eat, the activities they conduct, and the way they communicate, affect what people correlate to the words they speak which in turn changes the language. Works Cited Brady, Tanya. â€Å"The History of English Language. † A. P. English Language and Composition. Tahquitz High School. Titan Trail, Hemet, CA. 22 August 2012. Lecture Bryson, Bill.The Mother Tongue: The English Language. Great Britain: Penguin Books,1990. Print. Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. New Work: Little, Brown and Company, November 2008 Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Penguin Books, 1949. Print Page, Mark. â€Å"Ho w Language Transformed Humanity. † 2011 August. http://www. ted. com/talks/view/lang/en//id/1203 Sedaris, David. â€Å"165: Americans in Paris. † Interview with David Sedaris. By Mike, Daisey. Chicago, 2012. Web Bloom, Paul. â€Å"The Origins of Pleasure. † TED Global. Edinburgh, Scotland. July 2011. Conference Presentation.

Left Wing Extremism Essay

Six years back, when on November 4, 2004, the Prime Minister proclaimed Left Wing Extremism as the biggest threat confronting the nation that had to be dealt at ‘war footing’, it had a ring of resolve of a freshly elected government to take the bull by its horns. However, when he repeats the same now, it carries an air of helpless lamentation. The efforts at war footing notwithstanding, during the last six years, the area under Naxal influence has nearly doubled extending to nearly 203 districts in fourteen states. The strength of armed guerrillas has swelled from less than 7,000 then to somewhere around 13,500 now. Left extremists, today, have many more and much sophisticated weapons; (estimated to be nearly 14000 as against 5500 in 2004) and have upgraded their tactics, field craft and skills in handling weapons and explosives manifold. They raise funds nearly to the tune of Rs. 1,200 Crore a year, which in an impoverished area of their dominance is a huge amount to create instability and enables them to pay regular monthly salaries to their armed cadres. Economic conditions of the people have by and large remained unchanged despite sizeable developmental outlays – most of the funds either misused or siphoned off by the corrupt. It would be erroneous to infer that the government took no initiatives both at security and developmental fronts to deal with the situation. However, in terms of results achieved, the efforts made have failed to achieve the expected results. It makes it a case less of error of intention, and more of lack of capability, which in a national security paradigm is a cause of much greater concern. The matter that needs to be pondered over is why a country of India’s Comprehensive National Power is unable to cope with an existentialist threat from an ideology that has been defeated and discredited world over, is unable to counter an offensive by under-resourced and ill trained tribals and despite being world’s biggest democracy is unable to mobilize its civil society in its fight against the extremists, whose agenda is patently anti-national. The first requirement for designing an effective response is to accept the realities as they are and to make a hard assessment of the enemy – his mindset, doctrines, capabilities and goals. One can not win unless one fights and one can not fight till one is able to define the enemy – boldly and bluntly. One major reason why we, as a state, have often gone wrong in our responses and not derived full value out of our efforts and sacrifices is our fear to face the hard realities as they exist, notwithstanding the compelling evidence. What needs to be accepted by all those in power and those who aspire for it is that Left Wing extremism is pure and simple terrorism that fully meets the conventional definition of the term i. e. Use of violence to terrorise people for achieving political objectives’. Their armed struggle is for acquiring and then retaining political power through barrel of the gun and both in theory and practice they have not deviated from this goal. While often advanced causative factors –developmental, social, political etc. – may have ample justifications on their own merit, for Maoists they are only instrumentalities to seize political control. In pursuance of this end, they are prepared to make a common cause with all those who are inclined to give expression to their dissent through violence. They support everything that negates Indian nationhood – may it be the secessionists in J&K, insurgents in North East, radical Islamic groups or armed ethnic groups. In an interview in 2007 Ganapathy, the Secretary General of CPI-Maoists asserted â€Å"We see the Islamic upsurge as a progressive anti-imperialist force in the contemporary world. It is wrong to describe the struggle that is going on in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Kashmir, Chechnya as Islamic fundamentalism. Our Party supports the Islamic upsurge†. Commenting on 26/11 massacre of Mumbai, Bimal, Polit Bureau Member was quoted in Hindustan Times that â€Å"We do not support the way they attacked the Victoria station, where most of the victims were Muslims. At the same time, we feel the Islamic upsurge should not be opposed as it is basically anti-US and anti-imperialist in nature. We therefore want it to grow. † Varavara Rao referring to North East insurgencies stated on May 13, 2007 that â€Å"This is a time for all revolutionary, democratic and nationality movements, like the ones in Kashmir and the Northeast to unite, and something will come out of this unity†. They stand against India’s sovereignty, unity, democratic polity and civilisational values and hence will have to be fought and defeated at all planes – ideological, political, and physical. Any dilution in accepting this basic character of the threat will only compound the problem and prolong the national agony. Having settled the goal, the next stage is working out the strategy to achieve it. It is obvious that the policy of ‘blow hot blow cold’ does not work and only betrays the confusion indecisiveness of those in power. It also demoralizes the security personnel. Indecisiveness is a consequence of fear and needs to be shunned. The security apparatus of the country, given the right resources, empowerments and leadership is quite strong and resilient to take on the Left Extremists. They need to be provided best of weapons, vehicles, communication equipment, armoured personnel carriers, night vision devices, portable gen-sets, direction finders etc. There is also an urgent need to improve their living conditions, making safe their work places and keeping their morale high. Most importantly, tactical plans should be well deliberated upon by senior and experienced officers and wherever possible duly rehearsed. It is particularly necessary where central forces have to work along side the local police forces. Maoists are great political analysts who carefully work-out their long term strategy and tactical plans. Maoists in their political estimates assess, and probably with some justification, that the political class in the country, irrespective of the brand names that they carry, are fast losing their legitimacy and credibility. The elected representatives hold their positions more by virtue of legality of the process that catapultes them to power than the moral authority, trust and respect of the people that they claim to represent. The credibility of the governmental apparatus to provide a sense of security and justice to the people, redress their basic grievances, assure development and assure dignity is at a low ebb. Most of the extremist actions analysed in strategic terms are aimed at exploiting this in firmity and indulging in acts will further erode the legitimacy and credibility of the system. Their attacks on police and para-military forces are aimed at demonstrating that the coercive power of the government is a myth as it is even unable to protect itself. Their holding Jan Adalats, imposing fines and dictating terms for talks are calculated to undermine the government’s ability to enforce its writ and authority and gave credibility to their propaganda that government is only a ‘paper tiger’. On the contrary, the state has been able to do little to demolish the contrived self image of the Left Extremists as saviors of the people. The discordant voices within the government and display of confusion and indecisiveness immensely boost their moral. While the far flung tribal areas are in the news because of incidents of violence what is lesser known is their fast spreading influence in urban suburbs, among the trade unions, unemployed youth etc. much beyond the tribal areas. To meet this grave challenge the political class first needs to do a serious introspection and subordinate their party interests if not for the larger national interests than at least for their own self interest. All political parties need to realize that they face an existentialist threat as the political power, the booty of the war, has to be seized from them. This is a classical model of Fourth Generation Warfare-(4GW) – a warfare where the enemy is invisible and the battle is for the control of civil society – through coercion, controlling the hearts and minds of the people or delivering results by redressing grievances of the people. The modern day guru of Fourth Generation Warfare, William Lind aptly observes that, â€Å"If nation states are going to survive, people in power must earn and keep the trust of the governed. Addressing the American Council of Foreign Relations he said â€Å"The heart of Fourth Generation Warfare is a crisis of legitimacy of the state†. How true to the Indian model when he added that, â€Å"The establishment is no longer made up of ‘policy types’- most of its important functionaries are placemen. Their expertise is in becom ing and then remaining members of the establishment. Their reality is covert politics and not the competence or expertise†. When the 4GW will visit them their response would be to â€Å"close the shutters on the windows of Versailles†. Majority of the people in Maoist affected areas and even their supporters and cadres have little to do with Maoism at ideological level. They are only alienated and angered people with real of perceived sense of injustice, oppression and indignity. Maoists are cleverly exploiting this sentiment to their advantage – caste conflicts in Bihar, resentment against landlords in Andhra, discontent against forest laws in tribal areas, unemployment amongst youth and radicalism among Muslims are all given prescription of capture of power through gun as the ultimate solution of all their problems. While the local grievances need to be effectively addressed through improved governance and ruthless accountability, there is also a need for creating mass awareness of the ultimate designs and consequences of what the extremists stand for. Maoist propaganda must also be effectively countered, particularly at the political level. Democratic political parties have plenty of political arguments and facts in their favour to demolish the subversive propaganda of the Left extremists. They also have reach and access upto village levels with intimate social networking that needs to be arnessed. This task cannot be undertaken by the government agencies or the police. Additionally, through a concerted, credible and sustained psy-war offensive contradiction in their ideologies and practices, tales of their brutalities, collaborations with the rich to collect funds, incidents of moral turpitude etc. should be highlighted. The local and national media, think tanks and NGOs operating in the region could be leveraged for the purpose. Some of their front organizations, masquerading as think tanks and NGOs engaged in subversive propaganda also need to be tackled effectively. At tactical level the most important advantage of 4GW warriors is the advantage of invisibility. Only quality operational intelligence can make them visible for counter tactical operations aimed at pre-empting, preventing and punishing the depredators. It is also the only instrumentality through which they can be tactically surprised and their advantage of speed and surprise neutralized. The tendency to raise additional battalions without corresponding accretion in operational intelligence capability creates little pressure on the extremists and only provides them more targets to hit at. State Police forces, with their intimate knowledge of the terrain, language and local people are best equipped to develop ground intelligence. They need to be resourced and trained for intelligence work. Diversion of at least 30% of central modernization grants to state police for intelligence up-gradation should be made mandatory. Money is one of the most important factors helping extremists to acquire weapons and explosives, raise their cadre strength by recruiting youth on regular salaries and carrying out mass mobilization programmes. They are reportedly collecting Rs. 1,600 crore a year, which is a big money for carrying out armed insurrection in an impoverished area. With a determined effort and much lower risk, the governments can take stern actions against business houses paying protection money, transporters paying levies, contractors giving taxes and corrupt government officials sharing the loot from the developmental funds. Most would be willing to cooperate if provided sense of security and protection which can be achieved at a much lesser cost. There is no doubt that this menace ultimately will be contained and countered. A finely chiseled strategic response is required only to minimize its cost to the nation in terms of valuable lives lost, growth and development stalled and innocent people falling prey to malicious propaganda of the extremists. The civil society and opinion builders have a vital role to play in this. They should create right pressures on the politicians and create broad spectrum awareness among the people to help bring about a convergence in national response.

History and Influences of Mexican Americans and the United States Essay

Looking around the United States. it is non difficult to see the influence that Spanish-speaking states. viz. Mexico. hold had on us. Every twenty-four hours we see marks in Spanish. We hear it as we walk through the streets of Madison and Milwaukee. We feel the impact it has on us in our public school system. We besides see the contention it causes on the intelligence. What I will be trying to research in this paper is the beginnings of Mexican Americans and their continuing influence on the United States. I believe it is of import to first understand the history of the relationship between Americans and Mexicans to understand the preconceived impressions many Americans have towards Mexico. Although both states are technically â€Å"Americas† . for the continuance of the paper I will mention to the United States as America. After winning its independency from Spain. Mexico foremost had large-scale contact with Americans during the early 1800s when Americans were migrating further west to what is present twenty-four hours Texas. Mexico allowed these citizens to shack despite the tenseness and clash that was constructing between Whites. Indians and Mexicans in these districts. Texas citizens declared themselves an independent state. and due to the United States acknowledgment of such. a war was prompted between the United States and Mexico. Mexico lost the war every bit good as its districts in North America. Mexican citizens who stayed behind in the lost districts became American citizens ( Marger. 2012 ) . One of the things that ever confounded me about racism in the South. and provinces like Arizona. is the complete indifference or ignorance of this fact. I have ever wondered how the White Supremacist mentality plants when Mexican Americans have a natural lineage in these provinces and were the first citizens of these provinces. How can we still see bumper spines that say â€Å"Learn English or Travel Home† . or â€Å"Go back to your ain country† when the first citizens of these provinces were Mexicans? I believe that a cause for this is the deficiency of accent of early Mexican American history taught in schools. I I believe that if this were emphasized. these specific ethnocentric statements would be dispelled earlier. Immigration of Mexicans and other Hispanics to America is non traveling to halt. so to disregard their political influence would be foolish. Demographics are demoing that the Hispanic population is on the rise. There are an estimated 6. 6 million illegal immigrants from Mexico entirely shacking in the United States ( Marger. 2012 ) . The European American population. although still the largest in size. worsening. ( Marger. 2012 ) . Since there are an increasing sum of people in the United States who are a assorted race. such as myself who is portion Mexican American. true Numberss of those who identify as portion Hispanic are non yet known. ( Marger. 2012 ) . I believe that due to this. it is more important than of all time to understand what sort of influence Mexican Americans will hold on the socioeconomic and political construction of the hereafter America. Equally much as certain groups of people would desire to deny the influence of Mexican civilization. every bit good as that of other Spanish-speaking ethnicities on the United States. the population statistics. ( every bit good as the 2012 Election consequences. in my sentiment ) prove otherwise. Spanish americans are the largest minority group ( Naumann. Benet-Martinez. Espinoza 2013 ) . and it is estimated that by 2050. 46 % of the United States population will be Latino. ( Marger. 2012 ) . Insofar as political influence is concerned. 2008 held 19. 5 million registered Hispanic electors. and it is estimated that 23. 7 million registered electors were Latino in the 2012 election. To more specifically mention the influence of Mexican Americans in today’s vote universe. there are 33 million Mexican Americans in the United States and 73 % of them were born in America ( Naumann. et al 2013 ) . Despite efforts of the Republican Party to capture the ballot of Latino Americans. 70 % of them are still voting Democratic. ( Naumann. et al 2013 ) . Although Cubans tend to vote chiefly more for Republicans. the larger population of Mexican Americans is still voting for Democrats. ( Naumann. et al 2013 ) . By analysing these informations. I can merely reason that the desperate demand for the Latino ballot from the GOP is the exclusive intent of the being of Marco Rubio in modern political relations. A inquiry arises. every bit much as Mexican Americans influence us. how much do we act upon them? The reply would hold to depend on how in favour they are of assimilation. Surveies have shown that most Mexican American young person would prefer a â€Å"biculturism† signifier of socialization. preferring to keep on to their cultural imposts but besides to encompass new American 1s ( Naumann. et al 2013 ) . It was besides shown in these surveies that the more deep-routed Mexican Americans tend to be in their ethnicity. that the likelier they are to vote liberally ( Naumann. et al 2013 ) . Understanding Mexican Americans function in the workplace presently will besides assist explicate motives as to how they vote and continue to act upon the remainder of America. A survey published in 2005 showed that Mexicans. while populating in Mexico. have fewer outlooks for promotion in the workplace. including to upper-management places. This leads them to believe there are less signifiers of favoritism based on age. sex and ethnicity ( Bennington. Wagman. Stallone. 2005 ) . Although these surveies were done for Mexicans. non Mexican Americans. I believe that during the newest moving ridge of in-migration this attitude could transport over. which could explicate at least one ground that despite the big population. there are non heaping sums of Mexican Americans in high-level places. For work life itself. harmonizing to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Mexican Americans have at big suffered the same impact of the recession other ethnicities have suffered. holding Unemployment top outing strongly in the 2009-2011 old ages and merely now in 2013 get downing to do a recovery ( Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2013 ) . I believe this relates to the influence Mexican Americans have on us because since newer immigrants do non seek power every bit rapidly as other cultural groups. it can take to certain biass of them being unmotivated. which in bend would act upon behaviour of White Americans to handle them as subsidiaries. In summing up. I believe that educating the true history of Mexican Americans ( such as their beginning as fall ining the US as citizens after the Mexican War ) . can assist halt certain signifiers of bias. every bit good as assisting Americans to recognize that they are an ever-increasing demographic that is non traveling off anytime shortly. Their influence is turning in US Politics. and this will hold to be recognized if certain political groups wish to last in the new century. I believe that if there is more respect given to them while they are a minority group. the more regard they will give to White America one time Whites lose their position as the dominant cultural group.

English Language and English Proficiency Levels

Carrie Wertepny Domain 1: Culture (Cross-Cultural Communications) Standard 1: Culture as a Factor in ELLs’ Learning Why are having Domain's and Standards important to teachers? Domains and Standards play a huge part in giving teachers indicators on their children's performances. We as teachers need certain domains and standards on identifying and monitoring the children's performances throughout the classroom. Having standards allows us as teachers to indicate their levels of ability and performances to be met. Their are three levels of standards that can be measured on the children's ability how well they perform.The three types of standards that teachers use are Approaches Standards, Meet Standards and Exceeds Standards. (  2003. by teachers of English speakers of other languages, Inc, TESOL  ) In Culture (Cross-Cultural Communications) the first domain of five. This  is an important factor in ELLs to learn and understand the language knowledge from the diverse backgro unds. The most recent survey says in (2005-2006) the population of ELL's is up approximately  10 percent of the total public school enrolled and increasing every year. (Why TESOL? pg 5-6) Why TESOL?States, â€Å"Providing for the English Language learners is one of the school districts greatest challenges. † Their are many indicators we can use to help us engage in our children's diversity. Some ideas I found interesting to help would be, displaying artifacts from different cultures. Celebrating ethnic holidays throughout the year would be a great way to inform others and help the children feel comfortable. I believe that getting to know your students background and engaging in their life stories will help us succeed and be effective in their learning for ELL's and  their diverse background.Performance Indicators 1. 1. a. Understand and apply knowledge about cultural values and beliefs in the context of teaching and learning of ELLs, from diverse backgrounds and at varyin g English proficiency levels. 1. 1. b. Understand and apply knowledge of concepts of cultural competence, particularly knowledge about how cultural identities affect learning and academic progress for students from diverse backgrounds and at varying English proficiency levels. 1. 1. c. Use a range of resources in learning about the cultural experiences of ELLs and their families to guide curriculum development and instruction. . 1. d. Understand and apply knowledge about the effects of racism, stereotyping, and discrimination in teaching and learning of ELLs from diverse backgrounds and at varying English proficiency levels. 1. 1. e. Understand and apply knowledge about home/school connections to build partnerships with ELLs’ families (e. g. , Parent Leadership Councils (PLC)). 1. 1. f. Understand and apply knowledge about concepts related to the interrelationship between language and culture for students from diverse backgrounds and at varying English proficiency levels.Cour se| Indicator(s)| How I learned about this Standard| Evidence that I learned about this standard| TSL 4080| 1. 1| Why Tesol? Chapters 1-4| Victor video, You tube| TSL 4081| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Domain 3: Methods of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Standard 1: ESL/ESOL Research and History Teachers will demonstrate knowledge of history, public policy, research and current practices in the field of ESL/ESOL teaching and apply this knowledge to improve teaching and learning for ELLs. See attached paper) Performance Indicators 3. 1. a. Demonstrate knowledge of L2 teaching methods in their historical context. 3. 1. b. Demonstrate awareness of current research relevant to best practices in second language and literacy instruction. 3. 1. c. Demonstrate knowledge of the evolution of laws and policy in the ESL profession, including program models for ELL instruction. Course| Indicator(s)| How I learned about this Standard| Evidence that I learned about this sta ndard| TSL 4080| 3. 1| Why Tesol? School research paper and Reserch| TSL 4081| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Hyperlinks to (attached documents must be saved in the Portfolio folder) Attachment(s): School research paper URL(s): Summary: See attached paper, for Domains 1,3,5 Domain 5: Assessment (ESOL Testing and Evaluation) Standard 1: Assessment Issues for ELLS Teachers will understand and apply knowledge of assessment issues as they affect the learning of ELLs from diverse backgrounds and at varying English proficiency levels.Examples include cultural and linguistic bias; testing in two languages; sociopolitical and psychological factors; special education testing and assessing giftedness; the importance of standards; the difference between formative and summative assessment; and the difference between language proficiency and other types of assessment (e. g. , standardized achievement tests). Teachers will also understand issues around accountability. This includes the implication s of standardized assessment as opposed to performance-based assessments, and issues of accommodations in formal testing situations.As teachers it is very important to understand and beware of the different testing and assessing the students. Testing and assessment are two very different things. Mitchell (1992) states that a test is a â€Å"single-occasion, one-dimensional, and timed exercise, usually in multiple choice or short-answer form. † (Why Tesol, pp 201)   Tests are given in the same time frame and the conditions never change. They call these standardized tests. Not all standardized tests work for everyone, especially English Language Learners (Ell)s . An assessment on a student is a done on a wider range of a scale.We as teachers need to get a more oral assessment on the knowledge, background, history, language where the (ELL)s came from. Upon entering a new school for the first time, us as teachers need to know everything about our student’s background and language. We ask every parent or guardian to fill out an Home Language Survey (HLS) which in tails about 3-5 questions about their language used at home. This (HLS) will give us an indication how much school the student has had and a background about their family as well as their native language.It is up to administrators to make sure the students are placed correctly and teachers to watch and document their language growth throughout the year. As for the testing and assessing, formal and informal are a type of assessment that is brought in to teach ESL students. It is important to test them on their linguistic skills, which include, phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary. These are just language assessments instruments that are used to determine the results on what is being taught by teachers. Formal measures are based on standardized test.They are very structured, timed and trained to be given and administered by very strict rules. It is sometimes very hard for and (ELL)s to take a formal test due to their reading,writing capabilities. As for informal measures, they are a little more hands on learning. As teachers we can do activities and determine students strengths orally and visually. Their is no set time and can be given in various languages not just English. It is very important the student is assessed correctly for the correct placement in his/her program.It is also very important to understand the federal laws that coincide with the equal educational opportunities for all students regardless of national origin, ethnicity,or languages. (Why TESOL? , 2010)   The consent decree was a law that was passed that consists of six different principals to be met in each section. Each (ELL)s student has to be assessed in six steps which include: identification, appropriate and categorical programming (LEP), personnel, monitoring and outcome measures. (Why TESOl? pp 210) After the (ELL)s are measured they now are placed in a certain level.Levels such as (A1- E) each of these levels indicate what (ESOL) service or basic program they will be placed into. Making sure the proper assessments are given before, during and after school is very crucial to ones learning. The very initial start of school is the most important evaluation and steps that need to be taken to follow the correct standards and laws for the English Language Learner. Performance Indicators 5. 1. a. Demonstrate an understanding of the purposes of assessment as they relate to ELLs of diverse backgrounds and at varying English proficiency levels. 5. 1. b.Identify a variety of assessment procedures appropriate for ELLs of diverse backgrounds and at varying English proficiency levels. 5. 1. c. Demonstrate an understanding of appropriate and valid language and literacy assessments for ELLs of diverse backgrounds and at varying English proficiency levels. 5. 1. d. Demonstrate understanding of the advantages and limitations of assessments, including the array of accommodation s allowed for ELLs of diverse backgrounds and at varying English proficiency levels. 5. 1. e. Distinguish among ELLs’ language differences, giftedness, and special education needs.Course| Indicator(s)| How I learned about this Standard| Evidence that I learned about this standard| TSL 4080| 5. 1| Why Tesol? Chapters 22-26| Power point/ You tube| TSL 4081| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Standard 2: Language Proficiency Assessment: Teachers will appropriately uses and interpret a variety of language proficiency assessment instruments to meet district, state, and federal guidelines, and to inform their instruction. Teachers will understand their uses for identification, placement, and demonstration of language growth of ELLs from diverse ackgrounds and at varying English proficiency levels. Teachers will articulate the appropriateness of ELL assessments to stakeholders. Factors influencing the assessment of English Language Learners are very important to understand. Language fact ors and guidelines consist of: * Different linguistic backgrounds- * Varying levels of proficiency in English * Varying levels of proficiency in native language Educational Background Factors: * Varying degrees of formal schooling in native Language Cultural factors can also be a great source that adds complexity of appropriate assessing and (ELL)s student.T To plan the assessment, polls are taken by the general student population, which includes English Language Learners. Test taking is a way to getting a clear and valid interpretation of the students ability. Testing is done for all major purposes. They can be used to evaluate readiness for advancement, or for remediation. It is very important according to the laws that modifications must be made for ESOL students, based on the level and language skills of comprehension. It is very crucial that teachers don’t wait until the â€Å"know enough† to instruct the, in school content. Educational Testing Service, 2009, ETS, the ETS logo) It so happens that in many states, ESOL students who have been in the ESOL program for less than two years might be exempted from taking other testing. It is very important that the ESOL committee and school districts of that state evaluate all testing for ELL learners. (Why TESOL? p. 223-225) Domain 5: Assessment (ESOL Testing and Evaluation) Standard 2: Language Proficiency Assessment Teachers will appropriately use and interpret a variety of language proficiency assessment instruments to meet district, state, and federal guidelines, and to inform their instruction.Teachers will understand their uses for identification, placement, and demonstration of language growth of ELLs from diverse backgrounds and at varying English proficiency levels. Teachers will articulate the appropriateness of ELL assessments to stakeholders. Performance Indicators 5. 2. a. Understand and implement district, state, and federal requirements for identification, reclassification, and exit o f ELLs from language support programs, including requirements of the LULAC Consent Decree. 5. 2. b. Identify and use a variety of assessment procedures for ELLs of diverse backgrounds and varying English proficiency levels. . 2. c. Use multiple sources of information to assess ELLs’ language and literacy skills and communicative competence. Course| Indicator(s)| How I learned about this Standard| Evidence that I learned about this standard| TSL 4080| 5. 2a5. 3b| Why TEOL? Chap 25| Online E-Learning Journel| TSL 4081| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Standard 3: Classroom-Based Assessment for ELLS Teachers will identify, develop, and use a variety of standards- and performance-based, formative and summative assessment tools and techniques to inform instruction and assess student learning.Teachers will understand their uses for identification, placement, and demonstration of language growth of ELLs from diverse backgrounds and at varying English proficiency levels. Teachers will a rticulate the appropriateness of ELL assessments to stakeholders Colorin Colorado (2007) states â€Å"Informal assessments (also called authentic or alternative) allow teachers to track the ongoing progress of their students regularly and often. While standardized tests measure students at a particular point in the year, ongoing assessments provide continual snapshots of where students are throughout the school year.By using informal assessments, teachers can target students' specific problem areas, adapt instruction, and intervene earlier rather than later. † Adapted from: Eastern Stream Center on Resources and Training (ESCORT). (2003). Help! They don't speak English. Starter Kit for Primary Teachers. Oneonta, NY: State University College. It is important to identify and develop certain assessments in a classroom. We as teachers can use performance based assessments by evaluating the language proficiency and schooling through oral reports, speeches, demonstrations, written work and personal portfolios.Here some examples of assessment activities that are geared up for ELL students, for their English speaking proficiency. * Reading buddies * Story telling * Role playing * Visual prompts with writing * Oral note taking * Telling a story with picture books * Playing fun games * Brainstorming with buddies These are some of hundreds of ideas for teachers to develop assessments with different techniques and tools. Teachers can track their growth an ability for placement for the student. Domain 5: Assessment (ESOL Testing and Evaluation)Standard 3: Classroom-Based Assessment for ELLs Teachers will identify, develop, and use a variety of standards- and performance-based, formative and summative assessment tools and techniques to inform instruction and assess student learning. Teachers will understand their uses for identification, placement, and demonstration of language growth of ELLs from diverse backgrounds and at varying English proficiency levels. Teacher s will articulate the appropriateness of ELL assessments to stakeholders.Performance Indicators 5. 3. a. Use performance-based assessment tools and tasks that measure ELLs’ progress in English language and literacy development. 5. 3. b. Understand and use criterion-referenced assessments appropriately with ELLs from diverse backgrounds and at varying English proficiency levels. 5. 3. c. Use various tools and techniques to assess content-area learning (e. g. , math, science, social studies) for ELLs at varying levels of English language and literacy development. 5. 3. d.Prepare ELLs to use self- and peer-assessment techniques, when appropriate. 5. 3. e. Assist ELLs in developing necessary test-taking skills. 5. 3. f. Assess ELLs’ language and literacy development in classroom settings using a variety of authentic assessments, e. g. , portfolios, checklists, and rubrics. Course| Indicator(s)| How I learned about this Standard| Evidence that I learned about this standard| TSL 4080| 5. 3a,5. 3c5. 3d| Why TESOL? | http://www. colorincolorado. org/educators/assessment/informal/| TSL 4081| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |