Should smartphones be bsnned in classrooms Research Paper

Should smartphones be bsnned in classrooms - Research Paper Example 1). In addition, the same discourse has identified that the smartphone owners by age group revealed that 23.8% are owned by young people, specifically within the 13 to 24 years range (Alexander, 2012), or those who are considered within the school-age bracket. In this regard, the current study aims to determine the effects of smartphone use in academic performance. Despite the academic benefits that have been published associated with smartphone use; apparently, there are more costs or disadvantages linked to its usage within the classroom setting. As such, one argues that smartphones should be banned in classrooms due to the greater disadvantages associated to its use and its negative impact on academic performance. Impact of Smartphone Use in the Classroom Setting One of the more prominent reasons for arguing that smartphones should be banned is its being used to promote maladjusted behavior, including cheating and posting inappropriate information about teachers (Gutnicki, 2010; ( Barkham & Moss, 2012). As emphasized by Gutnicki (2010), â€Å"smart phones are being utilized to cheat in the classroom and to record/post inappropriate information about teachers. ... Concurrently, smartphones should be banned in classrooms for being a distraction and taking crucial time from focusing on the instructions. From among the schools that have confirmed the distractive effect of smartphones, instituting banning or prohibitive policies of their use within the classroom setting were noted to have gained benefits in terms of improvements of academic behavior. As noted from a spokesperson for Cockshut Hill Technology College in Yardley, Birmingham, â€Å"we introduced a complete ban on mobile phones two years ago because of the disruption they were causing†¦and it has improved behaviour† (Barkham & Moss, 2012, par. 14). If the collective time spent of viewing and attending to applications in the smartphones are removed, these time would completely be focused on academic endeavors and instructors would enhance students’ awareness of subject matters that would benefit them most. Thus, the banning of smartphones has evidently proven that stu dents’ behavior and academic performance significantly improved. Finally, smartphone use were clearly linked to cyberbullying. Banning smartphones within the classroom setting and within the campus would therefore minimize time spent to send distructive messages that aim to ridicule, discriminate, or victimize unsuspecting students. As emphasized, â€Å"a recent survey conducted by the National Crime Prevention Council reported that 43% of middle school students: received an e-mail or an instant message that made them upset had something posted on a social networking site that made them upset had been made fun of in a chat room; had something posted on a Web site that made them upset; had something posted online that they did not want others to see; and were afraid to go on the computer†

Operation Iraqi Free

Operation Iraqi Freedom Essay The relationship between the United States and Iraq has been a rather complicated relationship. This relationship can be classified as a roller coaster ride that last through out history. The United States and Iraq relationship became rocky in 1958 when King Faisal was overthrown and Iraq signed with the Soviet Union. Because of the relationship that the United States had with the Soviet Union this made Iraq and the United States relationship a little questionable. In 1967 Iraq broke all ties with the United States when they decided to join ranks in the protest of the United States and Israeli strategic alliance. This decision that the Iraqi made once a country we were allies to a country we do not trust but we will deal with, a country that became a server threat to the United States. However, when Iraq needed us to help them stand against Iran, the United States was there. Regardless of how shady the relationship was with Iraq, the United States saw Iran to be more of a threat then Iraq. Prior to this the United States had removed Iraq from the State Department list of state that sponsors terrorism. The United States did all this in hope of a closer relationship with Baghdad, Iraq. This step the United States made to get closer to Baghdad is what opened the door for the United States to have access to Iraq. By November 1984, the relationship between the United States and Iraq had been at full diplomatic. Needless to say, the United States did not full trust Iraq but did not see them as a serious threat. Iraq continuously showed the United States that they could not be trust by committing various acts against the United States in a way that seemed to be unnoticeable. On March 17, 1987, the Iraqi’s seem to have accidentally hit a United States ship, mistaking it for the USS Shark, this â€Å"mistaken† identify caused the like of thirty-nine American sailors. As if that was not enough, in June 1982 the assassination of the Israel’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, was link to Iraq. The United States, although in what seemed to be a peaceful relationship with Iraq, still believed Iraq to be a sponsor of terrorism. The United Stated did remove Iraq from the list, however it was not necessarily done because of belief that Iraq was not sponsoring terrorist but it was done in the exchanged for expulsion of Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal. The United States did not doubt that Baghdad was sponsoring terrorist, and the United States was completely right in their thinking. In 1985, Iraq shelter terrorist that was involved in the hijacking of the Achjille Lauro cruise ship and the murder of the wheelchair-bound United States citizen Leon Klinghoffer. Also two terrorist that had planned an attack was held in Rome on their way to the United States. Yet still the United States did not see Saddam Hussein and his regime as a serious threat. Prior to Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Iraq had destroyed the Iranians in April-July 1988 and the United State quickly disengages with Iraq. The overthrow of Iran brought power to Saddam Hussein and his regime that was not there prior to the Iran-Iraq war. During the war Kuwait allow Iraq to borrow seventeen billion dollars, but instead of Saddam Hussein paying it back like Iraq agreed to, he decide to tell Kuwait to right it of because they owned Iraq for protecting them from Iran. Iraq since 1961, when the British ended it’s protectorate in Kuwait, it was then that the Iraqi government claimed Kuwait was an â€Å"integral part of Iraq† (6). If it was not for Britain, Saddam Hussein would have taken over Kuwait in July 1961, so Iraq has had the idea of controlling Kuwait for quit some time, therefore the idea of Kuwait being in debt to Iraq for protecting â€Å"Kuwait† was just a way that Saddam Hussein was using to cause Kuwait to surrender to him. The United States was ready for the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, so ready that the military was playing war games to train for it and in the middle of training the United States started to see the Armed Forces war games play out in real life. On August 2, 1990 Iraq started to make their move to attack Kuwait. Iraq’s war plan was to kill the royal family or Kuwait, in so they attacked reclaim royal palaces and the Dasman Places. On that same day by eight o’clock that morning Iraq had completely invaded Kuwait City, however the Kuwait royal family was able to escape due to the Emiri Guard delaying actions. This invasion on Kuwait allowed Saddam Hussein to have control or five percent of the world’s production and 19.6 percent of proven global reserves (10). As a result of this attack and take over of Kuwait, Iraq was in serious challenge to the 1980 Carter Doctrine that said, â€Å"any attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America. And such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force† (10). The Kuwait attack is the reason that the relationship between Iraq and the United States went bad, clearly the relationship was unstable from the beginning, and Saddam Hussein had proven time and time again that he could not be trusted so no one wanted to trust him with so much control over the world’s oil. This invasion of Iraq on Kuwait was the start of the building of Operation Desert Shield. Operation Desert Shield officially started on August 7th 1990 when United State aircraft started to arrive in the Gulf. The mission of the United States was to go in a liberate Kuwait, and their plan in doing so was to attack the Iraqi Army along the boarders of Kuwait and Iraq. In this attack it would deliberately keep the pressure up all through the night allowing the United Stated to by time on the â€Å"Time-on-Target† (14). Operation D3esert Shield was known as D-Day, This plan where complete on August 20th, and some of the other plans were for United States aircraft making and â€Å"hard initial thrust† against the Iraqi forces for the first seven hours the invasion. Also the plans that the United States had was to provision for land-based aircraft to relocate while the aircraft carriers USS Eisenhower and Independence (14). Operation Desert Shield lasted until October allowing all the aircraft to take their places and get ready for the start of Operation Desert S torm. Operation Desert Storm began January 17th, 1991, with the same mission to go in and set Kuwait free, for their royal family was working as custodians of Islam’s holist shrines, Makkah and Medina. The first weapon that was launch in Operation Desert Storm the TLAM that came from the Red Sea headed towards Baghdad. However it was not the first to hit anything, the Hellfire missile was the first to make an impact causing a gap in the Iraqi’s surveillance radar and the boarders of Saudi Arabia. It also had many more successful hits. Operation Desert Storm lasted forty-three days before the United States. February 7th, 1991, the United States was jointed by Joint Special Operation Task Force with the British. The DIA claim that only sixty Scuds was destroyed and most appeared to be ones of commercial articulate. On the 30th of January there were a number of Jordanian trucks that was hit and destroyed. The Unite States has did not claim collateral damage until 1992(67). During Operation Desert Storm on January 30. There was major collateral damage when the United States tried to hit Tigris Bridge and by mistake hit the Iraq Central Bank. Things may look to have gone perfect but a lot of the outside, but the United States there were a lot mistakes that was made. On February 25th 1990 this was the day the ground war took place, this day is known as G-Day. The day before, February 24th, the marine forces and two Islamic corps began diversionary attacks into the Saddam Line. The XVIII Corps launched a deep thrust towards Highway eight, and by the end of the day marine and Islamic forces had breached the Saddam Line and air mobile XVIII Corps forces had established forward operating base, known to this day as FOB, Cobra more then 280 kilometers inside the Iraqi boarders. This was known an Operation Desert Saber. During the ground war there were steps taken to ensure that the possibility of fratricide would be lower. The first step was related specifically to friendly fir between ground units. In order to do this GPS equipped units had to ensure that they were correctly aligned with their unit boundaries and were not moving or shooting over those boundaries. Secondly, Coalition units sacrificed precious seconds to ensure positive identification of targets, sometimes pausing six to ten seconds to be sure it was the Iraqi’s or allowing them to get close enough to get a clear visual identifying it was the Iraqi’s(105). On February 1991, Kuwait was completely set free, and although Operation Desert Storm only last a short time, the conflict with Iraq had never can to an end. Many things went on between the United States and cease fire that take place on March 3. Saddam Hussein he was really upset with the United States for innerving with his attempt to take over Kuwait. He was upset that the United States came in a liberated Kuwait from the Iraqi’s. This rescue mission was not just about free Kuwait but it was also about, taking away the power Saddam Hussein had gained room to take over in Iraq No one wanted to see a man who had proven too many countries time and time again that he is a man that can not be trusted at all . The time after Operational Desert Storm until the Operation Iraqi Freedom, was not a peaceful journey for the United States. Because of Saddam Hussein’s angry with the United States; the United States has suffered many attacks from Iraq. After the war the United States came in control of the airspace over the boarder of Saudi Arabia. This area was continually attacked by Saddam Hussein in this area. In September 1990, United States Air Force Brig. Gen. Bustert Glosson remains in the Saudi Arabia area to take command of the Special Planning Group that had developed a new integration of Instant Thunder which is now known as Offensive Campaign-Phase One. The mission of Instant Thunder Phase One was to reduce the strength of Iraqi’s deviations and there should be no diversion of air strikes against fielded armed force. The Saddam Hussein regime, the Baathist, the one that would give the most trouble was \ after Operation Desert Storm in March 1990 went from it survival tactics to becoming a resistant regime. From July 23, 1992, the Iraqi’s began to launch air attacks and continued to increase between the months of April and August, showcasing Saddam Hussein’s freedom of action. It was during this time that the United States, Bush distraction formed the â€Å"no-fly zone† Every since both of the no-fly zone in both the north, formed April 1991 and the south, formed in August 1992, was formed Saddam Hussein main goal had been to shoot down a United States aircraft using a mix of aerial and SAM forces(131). During this time Saddam Hussein was building his forces and he began to fly his aircraft in the no-fly zone, on January 6, 1993 Present Bush gave Iraq forty-eight hours to remove there aircrafts from the no-fly zone, Iraq to back away and removed their SAM from the area. However Saddam sent unarmed men into the United Nations’ zone to recover an aircraft that was lost in Desert Storm. The HY-2 Silkworm was no longer theirs it was suppose to go to Kuwait, this breach into the zone that separated Iraq from Kuwait is was started the first war between Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The first attack on Iraq since Operation Desert Storm was Operation Provide Comfort. One of the mistakes of Operation Provide Comfort is it was unsuccessful because the United States decided to attack anyway with out being able to visional see the target. On January 11th and 12th the weather was bad and they were unable to see but because they were running out of time, the United States attacked anyway on January 12th. Once the United States was able to see what targets was hit, they quickly learned that it was a bad mission, out of the thirty-three targets only sixteen had been hit. On August 31st, an Iraqi armored spearhead thrust northward into the Green Lines and this action cause once again another attack on Iraq, Operation Desert Strike. From this point there have been countless attacks on Iraq due to Saddam Hussein’s many attempts to destroy the United States. Saddam Hussein has attack many of the United States’ U-2’s that were guarding the no-fly zone that he continually violated. Operation Desert Thunder I, II, and IV was all organized because Iraq kept violating the no-fly zone rules. However Saddam Hussein had a stagy known as â€Å"cheat and retreat.† By this time the UN had set up inspections throughout Iraq in search of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) On many occasion Saddam Hussein would deny the inspectors access to certain places then when the United States were about to take action Saddam Hussein would retreat and back down. Saddam Hussein had used the cheat and retreat tactic so much that finally the Clinton administration took action and Operation Desert Fox took place. Because of so many times that Iraq would back down once the United States had spent money to deploy troops, the United States decided to make Operation Desert Fox a surprise by not deploying any more troops in the area only using the troops that was already in theater. This Operation started on December 18-19 as a successful mission; however things did not go all well because the United States received the wrong information about the where about of Saddam Hussein and his family. The United States was told that Saddam and his family would be at one of his wife’s places, Dora, but it was empty and had been for sometime. There were many other events that lead up to Operation Iraqi Freedom, but what push the limit for the United States was the events that took place on September 11. 2001 at 0730 Baghdad time a Predator was lost while flying a reconnaissance mission, making it the second to be lost in a few weeks time the first was shoot down. Also on this day nine hours later the first plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center. The U.S. had enough of Iraq, all the trouble they have had with Iraq, the hit of the tower, on the U.S. soil was a wake up call. So on March 21 Operation Iraqi Freedom began. After Operation Iraqi Freedom, the relationship between the U.S. and Iraq seems to be at better standing and once again with the destroying of Saddam’s regime and the capture and execution of Saddam Iraq seems to be on good terms with the United States and now seems to be working for the same goal.

Exploring a Communication in Arabic Lingua Culture Essay Example for Free

Exploring a Communication in Arabic Lingua Culture Essay Conversation is the most basic form of communication and human beings rely on conversation to exchange information and maintain social relationships (Gardner 1994: 97). Human interactions rely on conversation for simple chatting as well as work related tasks, political discussions and educational decisions (Gardner 1994: 98). Conversation is at the heart of the human ability to interact with one another in everyday life. Communicative events typically involve definable boundaries and a joint effort at interaction (Orr 2008: 317). A communicative event that occurs within its social boundaries becomes an engagement between two people (Orr 2008: 317). In other words, a communicative event between two friends results in an engagement that has meaning to both parties involved. In contrast, a communicative event that is between two strangers, such as a shopper and salesperson, cannot be considered an engagement because when the encounter is over it holds no meaning to those involved (Orr 2008: 317). Further, a communicative event is only successful when both parties involved contribute to the process of understanding as the conversation takes place (Aune, Levine, Park, Asada, Banas 2005: 358). In a communicative event between friends, each friend is responsible for contributing something to the conversation that will make the interaction meaningful for both people. When both friends are not contributing to the communicative event equally, then the encounter fails to have meaning and makes the person who is contributing view his or her friend negatively (Aune, et al 2005: 358). An analysis of a communicative event that occurred between two friends in Saudi Arabia is offered. This analysis includes a discussion of the eleven components that Saville-Troike identifies. The Communicative Event Cultural analysis is an important part of discussing linguistics and communication. However, linguistics is not typically associated with a cultural analysis even though the conversation styles and traditions of different cultures are an essential component to communicative events (Wierzbicka 1997: 1). In fact, there is a very close link between culture and the lexicon of the language spoken as part of that culture. This is why many cultures rely on special words for important aspects of their culture such as food (Wierzbicka 1997: 1). Additionally, many cultures, such as the Arabic culture, rely on special greetings and phrases as part of their communicative events. These special greetings and phrases add depth to the communicative events and allow them to have meaning to the people involved. The conversation analyzed for this paper occurred between two friends and included a special greeting as well as common phrases used in Saudi Arabian culture. These components of the communicative event allowed the interaction to mean something to the two friends and resulted in positive feelings from both. The definition of a communicative event and a consideration to cultural differences is particularly useful for language teachers because it gives them insight into the importance of specific aspects of communicative events that differ across cultural boundaries. Language teachers are most successful when they are able to incorporate aspects of native language into new language acquisition. Changing the way that language teachers instruct is a constant part of the job of language teachers (Jacobs Farrell 2003: 5). At the same time, it is important that a language teacher give students the tools necessary for learner autonomy, understanding the social nature of learning, the ability for curricular integration, a focus on meaning, attention to diversity, thinking skills, assessment and utilizing the teacher as a co learner (Jacobs Farrell 2003: 5). These eight skills are essential for language teachers to implement in order to allow students to rely on their native language while also learning a new language. Further, sensitivity to cultural differences in language style will allow the language teacher to provide students with authentic opportunities to engage in meaningful communicative events. At the same time, language teachers cannot choose to only implement one or two of these components. They are all necessary components to successful language instruction. Classroom language instruction is an important part of the job of a language teacher. However, the type of language instruction has an impact on how well students acquire language skills (Spada 1987: 137). A study of three separate language classrooms over a period of sixty observation hours shows that students are sensitive to the communicative orientation of new language acquisition (Spada 1987: 137). The reason behind this observation is the different communicative styles utilized by different cultures. For example, the special greeting and phrases used the in conversation to be analyzed here differ from the style of communication in other cultures. Therefore, sensitivity to different communicative styles may result in better instruction and higher levels of learning. The ability to improve in the speaking, listening and discourse areas of language learning seem to be related to classroom instruction style (Spada 1987: 137). When a language teacher begins to work with a specific location, the first step is to study the community that will make up the instructional population. This is important so the language teacher is able to gather important information about the social organization and important aspects of the culture in order to relate that information to the culture (Saville-Troike 1989: 107). At the same time, it is important for language teachers to discover the way that native speakers structure their communicative events in order to gain insight into the importance of different communication components important to that specific culture (Saville-Troike 1989: 107). Ultimately, the goal of a language teacher would be to make many careful and thorough observations of native speakers engaging in a variety of different communicative events so a complete understanding of communication can be gathered. Once this job is completed the language teacher should be able to model communicative events after the communicative events of native speakers (Saville-Troike 1989: 107). To this end, Saville-Troike introduces eleven components that will each be commented on as they relate to the communicative example used in this paper: type of event, topic, purpose or function, setting, key, participants, message form, message content, act sequence, rules for interaction and norms for interaction (1989: 138). Type of Event, Topic, Purpose and Setting The type of event, topic, purpose and setting make up the scene of the communicative event (Saville-Troike 1989: 139). The type of event analyzed is an informal conversation between two university friends who have not seen or spoken to one another for a week. The topic of the conversation is the time that has gone by without speaking or seeing one another and includes a discussion about why so much time has passed as well as plans to spend time together in the near future. The purpose of the communicative event is time for the friends to catch up with one another and make plans to engage in further conversation. Finally, the setting for the communicative event is Abha City in the Southern Province of Saudi Arabia. These four components of this specific communicative event make up the whole scene. While only the setting can be directly observed, the type of event, the topic and the purpose of this communicative event are equally as important for gathering information about the cultural aspects of Arabic linguistics and conversation style (Saville-Troike 1989: 139). Further cultural information can be obtained by observing the traditions and customs of a specific culture with regards to communication. This communicative event occurred between two friends and included the special greeting, â€Å"Peace be upon you† and â€Å"peace be upon you too. † This greeting is an essential aspect of Arabic communicative events and means that there is goodwill among the two friends. If this greeting would have been omitted from the conversation it would indicate that the friends were angry with one another. When analyzing components of a communicative event that are not directly visible it is important to be watching for important information regarding the sacred nature of communication and what that looks like for different cultures (Saville-Troike 1989: 141). For example, in this communicative event between two friends, an observer cannot see what the type of event or what the purpose of the event is. However, listening to the conversation and watching for customs and traditions provides valuable insight into the nature of cultural differences and what is important (Saville-Troike 1989: 141). These observations will allow an observer to discover what is sacred to a culture with regards to communication as well as what types of beliefs are important to them. Further, an observer can learn what behaviors are unacceptable, what the purpose of particular behaviors are and see external signs of participation in ritual parts of a communicative event (Saville-Troike 1989: 141). Key The key of a communicative event is introduced in order to provide the tone, manner or spirit of the encounter (Saville-Troike 1989: 141). This can take the form of teasing versus seriously discussing something, being sincere versus sarcastic, being friendly versus hostile or being sympathetic versus threatening (Saville-Troike 1989: 141). The type of key that is present in a communicate event relies on the type of relationship the people involved in conversation have. In this case, the communicative event was informal, but respectful and was a sincere and friendly exchange between two friends. However, if the conversation took a sarcastic key, the sarcasm would have overridden the sincerity of the interaction thus making the conversation far less meaningful than it was (Saville-Troike 1989: 142). In this way, the strongest key takes center stage and is determined by who the participants of the communicate event are, what their relationship as well as the nature of the conversation. Further, the key of the communicative event may be determined through the use of nonverbal cues in addition to the dialogue. For example, if one person winks at the other this may suggest some teasing during the conversation while a stiff posture may indicate that a serious conversation is occurring (Saville-Troike 1989: 142). Observing the communicative event that is analyzed here, the nonverbal cues may have included changes in facial expression when the friends began to discuss why one friend had been to busy to spend time with friends. Watching these facial expressions would lend insight into how serious or friendly the communicative event really was. Participants The participants are the most important component of a communicative event. Without participants, conversation would never happen. The participants in this communicative event were two young male university friends. The absence of females indicates the nature of gender roles in the Saudi Arabian culture. In the Arabic culture, males are not permitted to meet with females and are only allowed to converse with other males. This information provides important information regarding the role relationship of conversation in Saudi Arabia as well as information about sex and social status (Saville-Troike 1989: 143). The absence of females provides a great deal of information about the Arabic culture. It shows what the rights of each member of society are as well as the attitudes, expectations and behaviors toward others. It also shows who has authority over whom (Saville-Troike 1989: 143). This communicative event shows that males are the dominant gender in Saudi Arabian culture and this prevents them from openly conversing with females. Further, it gives insight into the attitudes, expectations and behaviors expected from males versus females. Finally, the culture dictates the formality or informality of a communicative event (Saville-Troike 1989: 144). This exchange between two young male friends was informal as compared to a conversation that may take place between a young Arab male and an older Arab male. In other words, the participants engaging in conversation have a direct influence over the nature of the communicate event and dictate what type of interaction will take place. Message Form Message form, message content and act sequence are determined by various social, cultural and situational constraints on communicative behavior. Each of these components can be presented vocally or non vocally (Saville-Troike 1989: 144). Many cultures rely on non vocal sounds to represent meaning in conversation and these make up the message form. These vocal and non vocal sounds make up the verbal and non verbal components of conversation style. For example, the verbal vocal relationship includes spoken language while the non verbal vocal relationship includes such things as laughter. Similarly, the non vocal verbal relationship is comprised of such things as written language or sign language while the non vocal non verbal relationship includes such things as silence and eye behavior (Saville-Troike 1989: 145). Although these different aspects of language vary across cultures, they are important aspects of any communication style. This communicative event example used here relies on these different relationships in order to allow the participants to engage in a conversation that has meaning to both parties. The two friends engaged in the verbal vocal relationship simply by exchanging spoken dialogue. At the same time, they engaged in the non verbal vocal relationship by relying on laughter to become part of their conversation. They also relied on the non vocal verbal relationship through the use of hand gestures and facial expressions that lent support to the nature of the conversation and also injected meaning into the exchange. Finally, the two friends showed the non vocal non verbal relationship through their use of appropriate silences and eye contact while speaking to one another. Message Content The message content is closely related to message form and cannot be separated for appropriate analysis to occur (Saville-Troike 1989: 150). Message content refers to what communicative acts are about and what meaning they hold. The dialogue and silences of a communicate event make up the message form while the meaning and implications derived from the communicative event make up the message content (Saville-Troike 1989: 150). The overall meaning of a communicate event rely on the verbal and non verbal messages being exchanged. However, meaning is also derived from extra linguistic context as well as information and expectations participants bring to the conversation (Saville-Troike 1989: 150). The physical content of a communicative event is important because it lends additional information to the exchange that allows for enhanced meaning. In this way, people who do not even speak the same language are often able to find meaning in their exchange simply be relying on physical objects or other outside influences that inject meaning without words (Saville-Troike 1989: 151). Whatever type of physical objects, outside influences or even hand gestures that are used during a communicative event it is important that they convey meaning and allow for a successful conversation. The example of a conversation used here was successful because the two friends understood the location they were in as well as the gestures each person used during the course of the communicative event. Act Sequence The act sequence component of a communicative event includes information about the ordering of the conversation. This is evident through the appropriate initiation of conversation by one person and the following of that initiation by the other person (Saville-Troike 1989: 152 153). The example provided here is a good example of appropriate initiation. One of the young men starts the conversation by saying, â€Å"peace be upon you† and the other man responded with, â€Å"peace be upon you too. † In Saudi Arabian culture this is an important greeting and indicates friendship and goodwill at the start of a conversation. Eliminating this greeting would suggest anger and would upset the natural ordering of conversations in Arabic culture (Saville-Troike 1989: 153). Regular patterns and recurring events are important cultural component of communicative events. When participants follow these patterns and recurring events it suggests that the nature of conversations is important and sacred within a culture. Further, the types of patterns that emerge from these patterns and recurring events allow for comparison across cultures (Saville-Troike 1989: 153 154). The conversation between the two young Arabic students followed a natural progression and provided important insight into the nature of communicative events in Arabic culture. Rules for Interaction The rules of interaction dictate an explanation for the rules of speech which are applicable to communicative event in a specific culture (Saville-Troike 1989: 154). These rules refer to the way that the participants in the conversation are expected to behave based on the values of their culture (Saville-Troike 1989: 154). Again, the special greeting at the start of this conversation is one example of an expectation for behavior. In Arabic culture, this is the standard greeting that comes at the beginning of a communicative event and Arabic males are expected to make use of it. These rules may not necessarily be dictated by law but are used based on values that are important within a specific culture (Saville-Troike 1989: 154). Arabic law does not require this greeting at the start of a conversation, but the values and beliefs of the Arabic culture make the greeting an expectation. Further, the use of this greeting indicates the role of turn taking in conversation within the Arabic culture. The initial greeting is followed by a follow up greeting which allows the participants to take turns greeting one another and starting a conversation. At the same time, turn taking is important in this example of a communicative event because it allows each young man to have a turn speaking while the other young man listens. This injects meaning into the conversation because the interaction relies on listening skills as well as speaking skills to get the point across (Saville-Troike 1989: 155). Norms of Interpretation Norms of interpretation are important because they provide all of the other information about the culture. These are essential for the overall understanding of the communicative event (Saville-Troike 1989: 155). For example, the different types of speech must be analyzed in order to fully understand cultural differences within a conversation. This example of the communicative event used here includes the use of the phrase, â€Å"old man. † In some cultures this may a derogatory phrase but is included in this example to show respect. In Arabic culture using the term â€Å"old man† shows respect for one’s elders and the young men use it in reference to one of their fathers. The understanding that this phrase shows respect is well known within the Arabic culture so it becomes a norm of conversation that is acceptable (Saville-Troike 1989: 155). Conclusion The development of communicative competence cannot take place without a relationship among these eleven components (Lock 1983: 253). Contexts rely on cultural information in order to provide an interplay of conversation as well as the self concepts of the participants and social structure acceptable within a society (Lock 1983: 253). A relationship among these eleven components can lead to successful communicative competence based on the cultural implications of language and how this relates to self concept and social structure (Lock 1983: 253). This can be directly applied to the language teacher because communicative competence is a cornerstone of successful language acquisition (Lee 2006: 349). Further, successful communicative events are only possible if a language teacher is able to blend the cultural components of the native language with the cultural components of the new language (Holliday 1997: 212). Therefore, an understanding of communicative competence is an essential part of successful language instruction (Lee 2006: 349). Communicative competence is the part of language knowledge that dictates which communicative system to use (Stalker 1989: 182). When the communicative system chosen is spoken language or conversation it is important to connect the goals and context of the situation in order to have a meaningful communicative event (Stalker 1989: 182). A basic understanding of what communication abilities are necessary for successful conversation within a specific culture is necessary to function adequately in society (Wiemann Backlund 1980: 185). Therefore, the eleven components applied to a specific conversation example provide evidence and insight into the importance of language teachers enabling students to gain the knowledge the learning necessary in order to successfully participate in communicative encounters (Wiemann Backlund 1980: 185; Gardner 1994: 104). To this end, it is important to provide students with knowledge pertaining to the use of key words within a particular culture (Wierzbicka 1997: 6) as well as analyze the importance of the relationship between the eleven components of language (Saville-Troike 1989: 156). Finally, the overall outcome of communication is to discover the unique events and recurring patterns within a specific culture (Saville-Troike 1989: 177). This can only be done through careful observation and analysis of communicative events within a particular culture (Saville-Troike 1989: 177). Aune, R. K. ; Levine, T. R. ; Park, H. ; Asada, K. K. ; Banas, J. A. 2005. Tests of a theory of communicative responsibility. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 24 (4): 358 – 381. Gardner, R. 1994. Conversation analysis: some thoughts on it applicability to applied linguistics. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, Series S (11): 97 – 118. Holliday, A. 1997. Six lessons: cultural continuity in communicative language teaching. Language Teaching Research, 1 (3): 212 – 238. Jacobs, G. M. Farrell, T. S. C. 2003. Understanding and implementing the CLT paradigm. RELC Journal, 34 (1): 5 – 30. Lee, Y. 2006. Towards respectification of communicative competence: condition of L2 instruction or its objective? Applied Linguistics, 27 (3): 349 – 376. Lock, A. 1983. Communicative contexts and communicative competence. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 2 (2-3-4): 253 – 266. Orr, W. W. R. 2008. ‘Prospecting an encounter’ as a communicative event. Discourse Studies, 10 (3): 317 – 339. Saville-Troike, M. 1989, The analysis of communicative events, in The Ethnography of Communication: An Introduction, 2nd edn, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 107-180. Spada, N. M.1987. Relationships between instructional differences and learning outcomes: a process-product study of communicative language teaching. Applied Linguistics, 8 (2): 137 – 161. Stalker, J. C. 1989. Communicative competence, pragmatic functions, and accommodation. Applied Linguistics, 10 (2): 182 – 193. Wiemann, J. M. Backlund, P. 1980. Current theory and research in communicative competence. Review of Educational Research, 50 (1): 185 – 199. Wierzbicka, A. 1997, Introduction, in Understanding Cultures Through Their Key Words, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 1-31.

Woody Holton Theory Analysis

Woody Holton Theory Analysis Woody Holton is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Richmond in Virginia and is a member of the Richmond Research Institute. He has published three award-winning books: Abigail Adams (2009), a Bancroft Prize winner, Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution (2007), a finalist for the National Book Award; and Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia (1999) winner of the Organization of American Historians Merle Curti award for social history. In 2006, the OAH named Holton one of its Distinguished Lecturers.[1] In his book, Unruly Americans, Holton endeavors to revive Beards arguments in An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution that our Constitution was created to protect the interests of a small group of wealthy farmers and creditors over those of small farmers and debtors. However, Holton shifts the focus from the wealthy few to the ordinary people who opposed the concept of a strong centralized government. Holton sides with Beard that the principal purpose of our Founding Fathers was not to safeguard civil liberties but to protect their own financial interests. (xi) The author contends that the arguments and efforts of ordinary farmers who maintained that the post-Revolutionary recession could have been ended without making the United States a less democratic country that resulted from the Constitution. (17) We are indebted to these farmers for insisting the Bill of Rights be added to the Constitution. Holton argues that these amendments directly contradict the Framers antidemocratic intent. (277) He goes on to state that besides initiating the Bill of Rights, the tax rebels with no rebellions, there would have been less tax and debt relief legislation, and without relief, there would have been much less need for a powerful new national government. (277) According to the author, few supporters of tax relief wanted to repudiate debts, but in at least nine states they suggested to discriminate, treating the original recipients of bonds differently from those who had purchased them on the open market. (55) The rigorous tax and debt collection had prevented Americans from realizing their full potential as laborers. (101) Holton shows that tax burdens for ordinary Americans were three or four times higher than colonial levels which made them question whether they had been better off under British rule. (29) The author relies on newspapers, pamphlets, and political tracts to prove his thesis. He depicts the conflict between the debtors struggling to regain their economic footing after the Revolutionary War while Congress encourages the state governments to increasingly impose new taxes upon them. Holton describes the contributions of previously unknown individuals such as Herman Husband, a North Carolina farmer, and William Mathews, a Massachusetts tavern keeper. He also mentions Adonijah Mathews who owned a tavern in Virginia. Their inclusion allows him to go beyond the leading Anti-Federalists. (274) Meanwhile, states struggled to compensate the bondholders who loaned them money, Congress battled to pay off the commutation certificates of former officers in the war, and debtors and creditors clashed over whether paper money should be used to satisfy outstanding taxes and debts. Holton argues that because state governments failed to maintain order and fulfil their obligations, reformers decided to meld those thirteen sovereignties together and launch and empire of their own. (3) He states, the democrats unconsciously initiated a powerful reactionary movement as bondholders and creditors attempted to put the democratic genie back into the bottle. (5) According to Holton, James Madison and others accused that state representatives had shown excessive indulgence to debtors and taxpayers. They had refused to force farmers to pay what they owed. (8) The argument from the debtor side was that thousands of other Americans contended that the remedy for the recession was not to press harder on taxpayers and debtors, but to ease up on them. (100) Holton contends that the Framers of our Constitution saw disproportionate democracy as the root of tax leniency which obstructed bondholders and thwarted investment. Holton argues that the need to reign in the states weighed far more heavily upon the convention than the motive that has received the most attention from later generations of Americans, strengthening the Confederation. (182) While this reviewer appreciates Holtons arguments on behalf of the ordinary Americans, this book is very repetitive. Some points such as the perspective of farmers on democratic government and the influence of bondholders on the creation of the Constitution are stated multiple times. His mention his intent is to focus on individuals such as Adonijah Mathews, yet he tends to go off on a rant about our Founders such as James Madison. Mathews and Husband received but a few pages of reference in the index, but Madison has eighty-three pages listed under his name. This seems to flip Holtons assertions that his book is about ordinary Americans rather than about the Founding Fathers. Holton also impedes his own arguments when he states that although bond speculators were among the Constitutions most enthusiastic supportersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it is also clear that thousands of Americansà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦supported federal taxation not because they owned bonds-many did not-but for other, more public-spirited reasons. (215) Holton further contends that Some of the most avid supporters of the Constitution were not creditors but debtors. (230) Therefore, his own arguments contradict Holtons conclusions that the adoption of the Constitution was largely the result of class conflict in the fledgling nation between the haves and the have-nots. [1] Simon and Schuster, Woody Holton http://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Woody-Holton/44139211

One Who Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest :: Ken Kesey

Chief is the narrator because if McMurphy were the narrator, he could not quite be telling the story as a fable. He would be empowered to control the path of the narrative--if he were still sane. But Chief, who has not been lobotomized but freed, recounts McMurphy's story and takes the lesson to the outside world. He becomes the messenger. Chief Bromden believes in the "fog" and the power of the "Combine." The fog is, on an individual level, a kind of mental dimness or confusion that also represents the thickness of delusion and suffering that prevents the inmates from seeing their true situation and their true selves. The Combine is, on a social level, a repressive institution and all the individual wheels and cogs in it that ensures that the inmates stay quiescent. When McMurphy supposedly oversleeps and is discovered, we must question the depth of his motivation to escape. McMurphy has found deep fulfillment in helping the men in the ward, especially Bromden, despite his increasing personal frustration. But he also has been letting his frustration distance himself somewhat from his initial efforts at leadership. McMurphy may well be the kind of person who is immoderate in his desires and who might end up oversleeping even while he might have preferred to escape. McMurphy has figuratively disrobed Nurse Ratched, disempowering her and because she has been exposed as human. Her power over the men is further broken, despite her clear victory over McMurphy as an individual. "Thoughts are free," but if part of one's brain has been removed, one does not even have much in the way of thoughts. Ratched has been stripped of much of her authority, her credibility in the overall institution has been further eroded, and Bromden finally gains the independence to escape. Nurse Ratched is nominally the villain, but she symbolizes a somewhat broken institutional system and the problems of a larger, repressive society that subjugates individualism to conformity. She is part of the Combine, and another upon her demise will likely take her place in the machine. Still, she is particularly cruel at a level beyond that of the other doctors and nurses. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey, each character is a representation of something else. Randle McMurphy represents an outside world/nature and Nurse Ratched represents the inside world and is a manipulator. However, Chief Bromden is different. He is depicted as an adherent, the balance between the outside and inside world, and a follower of McMurphy.

Kabuo Assumed Guilty Because of Japanese Heritage in Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson :: Snow Falling Cedars David Guterson Essays

Kabuo Assumed Guilty Because of Japanese Heritage in Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson In the novel, Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson, Kabuo Miyamoto is arrested for murder without any substantial evidence. He was charged with a crime he did not commit. He was accused based strictly on his race. Kabuo’s trial was unfair because there was racial conflict with the Japanese following World War II. The racial conflict with Japanese-Americans began when the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, a military naval base located in the state of Hawaii. â€Å"Behind them they left chaos, 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed planes, and a crippled Pacific Fleet that included 8 damaged or destroyed battleships† (â€Å"Attack† 1). The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on the Empire of Japan. The fear that resulted from the attack on Pearl Harbor caused many white Americans to hate the Japanese-Americans. Many Japanese were accused of being spies and were arrested without proof. â€Å"Rabid anti-Japanese American racism surfaced the first days after Pearl Harbor. The FBI and the military had been compiling lists of "potentially dangerous" Japanese Americans since 1932, but most were merely teachers, businessmen or journalists† (Thistlethwaite 1). In February of 1942 , all of the Japanese on the West Coast of the United States were sent to internment camps. Japanese Internment Camps were established to keep an eye on everyone of Japanese decent. The internment camps were based on an order from the President to relocate people with Japanese Heritage. This meant relocating 110,000 Japanese people. â€Å"Two thirds of these people were born in America and were legal citizens, and of the 10 people found to be spying for the Japanese during World War II, not one was of Japanese ancestry† (Friedler 1). Thus, there was no reason for these internment camps, but people do irrational things when driven by fear. In theinternment camps, many of the Japanese became sick or even died because of lack of nourishment in the food provided at these camps. The conditions in the internment camps were awful. One of the internment camps, Manzanar, was located to the west of Desert Valley in California. â€Å"Manzanar barracks measured 120 x 20 feet and were divided into six one-room apartments, ranging in size from 320 to 480 square feet.

Washington History :: essays research papers

Assignment #1 Question #1 A) How is a region defined?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A region can be defined by its’ geography, industry, or culture. For example the Bible belt is a cultural region; Silicon Valley is an industrial region, and the Plains States form a region defined by the geography and agriculture both. B) What Unifying forces define the Northwest?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The region of the Pacific Northwest is defined as a Hinterland replete with a wide array of natural resources. The treasures found in the natural beauty of the Northwest’s pristine waterways, ample valleys, and lush mountain forests define the region. No other region in the United States can compare with the beauty and majesty of the Pacific Northwest. It stands alone as having one of the most varied and rich landscapes in the country. Thus allowing an independent, confined, and truly original culture to emerge. Question #2  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is the size and distribution of the population of the Northwest?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Pacific Northwest region is lightly populated with the majority of the residents located in a few key areas. The main population centers of thirty thousand or more pertaining to Washington are the Puget Sound area, and Spokane. In Oregon it is the Willamette Valley from Portland to Eugene and Medford where the population centers are located. Idaho, while being much more rural then Washington and Oregon, does have clusters of more highly populated areas in select geographic areas, such as Boise and Pocatello. All of Idaho’s major urban areas are located on or around the Snake River. Taking the time to really study the location of cites in relation to surrounding geographic areas one gets a good look into the minds of the first settlers and even the native inhabitants. Larger urban centers are usually located on or near waterways; all were and still are very reliable sources of food, water, and trade. One example of this statement is shown in today's Vanc ouver, Washington, which was first settled on the Columbia River. Question #3  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Discuss the natural setting of the Northwest   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Pacific Northwest is rich in culture and beauty. What gives this land its beauty, so much so that the region is know the world over? Maybe it is the giant snake of concrete known as Interstate-5? Could it be the snow crowned Peaks of the cascades? Or is it the glistening monoliths of glass that tear at the cloud filled sky above the Emerald City of Seattle? The Sun bathed beaches of the San Juan Islands?