Counterintelligence Policies

One of threatening crime these days in the U. S. is terrorism like the 9/11 tragedy and other similar terrorism attacks. The reason is obvious that such attacks turn out to be suddenly happened that scare most people to go into public venues like malls, office buildings, bus or railway stations, and other places of interests. Prior to 9/11 tragedy, the U. S. experienced impressive economy growth in terms of GDP in which, according to CIA Factbook, â€Å"before 2001 the country became the largest and the most powerful economy in the world with a per capita GDP of $36,200† (†CIA Factbook 2001†).However, the situation turned upside down when terrorists attacked the Pentagon and Two Buildings of World Trade Center in September 2001. It turned out that the 9/11 brought the country’s economy to experience a great suffer since some industries experienced great losses and slow growth afterwards. In order to prevent such huge loses in the future; U. S. government tak es some necessary actions in both foreign and domestic policy especially regarding the home country defense initiatives (counterintelligence) to protect U. S. citizen from foreign espionages that threatens the U.S. nation security, which also impacts the country economy. Concerning the counterintelligence issues that the U. S. faces, therefore, the thesis statement for this paper is â€Å"As foreign intelligence action becomes threats to the U. S. national security, what goals and policies that U. S. counterintelligence has within the past six decades and in the future and what factors in the counterintelligence initiatives that need fixing to improve future successes in counterintelligence† 2. Counterintelligences in the U. S. 2. 1 History and Recent Cases of Counterintelligence in the U.S. A great power is the result of the great pressure. This condition highlights the roadmap of the U. S. counterintelligence initiatives within the past six decades. To date, United States i s still perceived as the most powerful nation on the earth that suggests many actions threat the country to challenge their defense system. Due to the current position as a super power country, such actions to the country’s land will take months or even years of preparation since the attackers must have reliable information about the country’s defense before prior to execute it.Since any attacks to the country take some times by sending the intelligence, therefore, the country has to have the capability to counteract any intelligence performed by country’s counterparts by securing vital information about their national security plans. One of action to secure it is through counterintelligence. Historically, counterintelligence started several decades ago when John Jay became the first coordinated a national level of counterintelligence efforts.At that time, the goal of committing the counterintelligence is to lead a legislative committee to investigate a plot to sabotage defense and infrastructure targets in New York. In his investigations, Jay employs at least 10 agents; a few of the famous ones are Nathaniel Sackett, Elijah Hunter and Enoch Crosby. All of his agents were operating under enormous pressure. Some were undercover; being unmasked meant death to all of them (Rose P. K. , 1999). Enoch Crosby is the best secret agent that John Jay has.He uses various names and identity to retrieve information about the pro-British’s activities. After he get â€Å"to famous† for his work in one place, he was assign to another area, joining another pro-British Colony (Rose, 1999).In addition, one of recent cases in counterintelligence was on the arrests of two Chinese, Fei Ye and Ming Zhong, who found guilty for their actions of committing economic espionage, highlights the importance to conduct counterintelligence to secure the U. S. critical resources including trade secrets. The cases occurred when they found to bring the stolen tr ade secret in their luggage in San Francisco International Airport in November 2001. According to their statement, they intend to take the trade secrets of two well-known IT companies in the U. S. -Sun Microsystems, Inc. and Transmeta Corporation- to support and profit the development of the respective industry in China (Department of Justice, 2006).Similarly, the case of 9/11 attack also highlights that the country experiences information leaks about sensitive defense material that let the tragedy happens. Other leaks of information might cause another threats to America in the future. Here is where American Counterintelligence takes a vital role. American Counterintelligence has found that leaks of information have often happened in the United States governmental and intelligence environments. It turned out; the history of Americans sold out their country goes back a very long way.

Morality and Ethics

Morality and Ethics Morality and ethics are terms often used as if they have the same meaning. At other times, they are used as if they have no relationship to one another. I think most people realize ethics and morality have something to do with the concepts of good and bad. However, English is not like French, which has the Academic Fantasies acting as its linguistic jury – establishing what proper French is. English changes at the impulse of the crowded. One can bomb, and that's bad, but if one is the bomb, and that's good.The word â€Å"morality† has been co-opted by groups, such as the Moral Majority, making us think morality only deals with acts these religious groups think aren't proper, or are therefore immoral. The meanings of the terms â€Å"ethics† and â€Å"morality† can be differentiated based on their origins in ancient Greek and Latin, respectively. As a result, words that come into the English language from the Greeks often have meanings th at are primarily philosophical study, while the Latin-derived words imply â€Å"doing the thing. Ethics comes from the Greek word ethos – moral character or custom. Morality comes from the Latin word moralist – custom or manner. The words both deal with the customs or the manner in which people do things. Their modern meanings relate to the way people act – either good or bad. Morality, strictly speaking, is used to refer to what we would call moral conduct or standards. Morality is looking at how good or bad our conduct is, and our standards about conduct. Ethics is used to refer to the formal study of those standards or conduct.Sometimes, one refers to the study of conduct as moral philosophy, but that is less common than just saying â€Å"ethics. † One might say that morality is ethics in action, but in the end, the two terms can be used interchangeably. The study of ethics or moral philosophy can be divided into three broad areas: descriptive, normat ive and analytical or met ethics. Ethics deals with such questions at all levels. Its subject consists of the fundamental issues of practical decision making, and its major concerns include the nature of ultimate value and the standards by which human actions can be judged right or wrong.The terms ethics and morality are closely related. We now often refer to ethical judgments or ethical principles where it once would have been more common to speak of moral judgments or moral principles. These applications are an extension of the meaning of ethics. Strictly speaking, however, the term refers not to morality itself but to the field of study, or branch of inquiry, that has morality as its subject matter. In this sense, ethics is equivalent to moral philosophy.Although ethics has always been viewed as a branch of philosophy, its all-embracing practical nature links it with many other areas of study, including anthropology, biology, economics, history, politics, sociology, and theology. Yet, ethics remains distinct from such disciplines because it is not a matter of factual knowledge in the way that the sciences and other branches of inquiry are. Rather, it has to do with determining the nature of normative theories and applying these sets of principles to practical moral problems.Virtually every human society has some form of myth to explain the origin of morality. In the Louvre in Paris there is a black Babylonian column with a relief showing the sun god Shamash presenting the code of laws to Hammurabi. The Old Testament account of God giving the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai might be considered another example. In Plato's Protagoras there is an avowedly mythical account of how Zeus took pity on the wretched humans, who, living in small groups and with insufficient teeth, weak claws, and lack of speed, were no match for the other beasts.To make up for these deficiencies, Zeus gave humans a moral sense and the capacity for law and justice, so that they c ould live in larger communities and cooperate with one another. There is some difficulty, already known to Plato, with the view that morality was created by a divine power. In his dialogue Euthyphro, Plato considered the suggestion that it is divine approval that makes an action good. Plato pointed out that if this were the case, we could not say that the gods approve of the actions because the actions are good. Why then do the gods approve of these actions rather than others?Is their approval entirely capricious? Plato considered this impossible and so held that there must be some standards of right or wrong that are independent of the likes and dislikes of the gods. Modern philosophers have generally accepted Plato's argument because the alternative implies that if the gods had happened to approve of torturing children and to disapprove of helping one's neighbors, then torture would have been good and neighborliness bad. That morality should be invested with all the mystery and po wer of divine origin s not surprising. Nothing else could provide such strong reasons for accepting the moral law. By attributing a divine origin to morality, the priesthood became its interpreter and guardian, and thereby secured for itself a power that it would not readily abandon. This link between morality and religion has been so firmly forged that it is still sometimes asserted that there can be no morality without religion. According to this view, ethics ceases to be an independent field of study. It becomes, instead, moral theology.

Behavioral Management in the Developmentally Disabled

This paper will dwell on the behavioral management for the developmentally challenged individual. This paper seeks to provide a general understanding on how the on how clients with developmental disabilities are improve with regard to their conditions.Therefore, the following will be discussed: †¢ The process of Occupational Therapist in modifying behavioral development of disabled person; †¢ Techniques employed to assist the developmentally challenged individual;†¢ Way used by the Occupational Therapist to help a disabled individual write; and †¢ Identify the techniques and tools used by the Occupational Therapist in behavioral management for developmentally challenged individual. Moreover, this paper will focus in two developmental disabilities that exist today in the society. More specifically these are autism and dyslexia. Functions of Occupational Therapist There are four functions of occupational therapists.First, they are ask to put into application the kno wledge, skills and abilities they have acquired in their years of training in the academe for the benefit of enabling people to live normal lives and immerse themselves with the daily tasks (â€Å"A Definition of Occupational Therapy,† n. d. ). Second, is to assist, maintain, regain and enhance the independence of an individual who is ill, injured, disabled and psychologically impaired (â€Å"A Definition of Occupational Therapy,† n. d. ).Third, engage the relatives of the client and other people who are connected such as the caregiver (â€Å"A Definition of Occupational Therapy,† n. d. ). This can be achieved through comprehensive assessment and therapy with the goal of increasing the capacity of client to participate in daily activities (â€Å"A Definition of Occupational Therapy,† n. d. ). Lastly, to accordingly deal with the problems of the client by focusing on three things: ability to accomplish, undertakings of the client and the environment where the undertakings are performed (â€Å"A Definition of Occupational Therapy,† n.d. ). Meaning of Autism Autism, also classified as classical Autism is considered as the most prevalent condition amongst the family of Autism Spectrum Disorder or better known as ASD (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke [NINDS], 2006). One can discern Autism through the following symptoms: a) â€Å"impaired social interaction,† b) â€Å"problems with verbal and nonverbal communication,† and c) â€Å"unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests† (NINDS, 2006).In addition to this, the cluster of Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD includes other conditions. These are – a) â€Å"Asperger syndrome,† b) â€Å"Rett syndrome,† c) â€Å"childhood disintegrative disorder,† and d) â€Å"pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (usually referred to as PDD-NOS)† (NINDS, 2006). Statistics shows that in every 1000 children three to six will be affected by autism (NINDS, 2006) Furthermore, Men are four times more prone or at risk of acquiring such behavioral disorder like autism than women.(NINDS, 2006) Meaning of Dyslexia Dyslexia, pronounced as dis-lek-see-uh is a type of learning disorder that some of the children encounter that impairs their ability to read and spell (â€Å"Dyslexia,† n. d. ). What may seem C-A-T to normal people would appear A-C-T to dyslexic individuals. It is not a measure of whether a child is intelligent or not but is rather an impairment of the brain (â€Å"Dyslexia,† n. d. ). In fact, a number clever and gifted people are suffering from dyslexia (â€Å"Dyslexia,† n. d. ).In the United States, the condition is classified as a â€Å"specific learning disability† or as a â€Å"specific reading disability† by the related federal legal statutes that has special education in its scope (Allington, 2006) However, the main idea o f all these explanations comprises the indeterminable hardships encountered by a dyslexic individual when it comes to reading. Moreover, there is no consensus with regard to the definition of the illness that causes the stakeholders confusion that renders them not to use the term (Allington, 2006).Behavioral Management and Techniques in Autism There are three behavioral management and techniques used by the occupational Therapist in able to develop and assist their clients that are suffering from Autism. These are all aimed at a holistic approach to treating the symptoms and addressing the difficulties that come with it. The three techniques are discussed in the next section. Educational/behavioral interventions Occupational Therapists use well reliable and thorough skill-oriented exercises in able to help their client enhance their language and social capabilities.Counseling the relatives and the family of the their client is better a technique to assist the entire clan deal with t he specific obstacles and difficulties in taking care of the autistic client (NINDS, 2006). Medications Occupational therapist could as well seek for the help of a doctor. A medical doctor usually recommends an antidepressant prescription in able to deal with the symptoms of a) â€Å"anxiety,† b) â€Å"depression,† or â€Å"obsessive-compulsive disorder† (NINDS, 2006). In a sense, these Anti-psychotic medicines are helpful to lessen the burden brought about by the symptoms of behavioral disabilities (NINDS, 2006).Attacks, on the other hand, can be prevented with the administration of variety of doses anticonvulsant medicines (NINDS, 2006). Prescription of stimulant drug that is specifically given for the children suffering from the attention deficit disorder or better known as ADD is an effective technique used by the Occupational Therapists to cut down the incident impulsivity and hyperactivity (NINDS, 2006). Other therapies Controversies abound the therapies t hat are formulated to treat autistic children (NINDS, 2006).This has made the use such be attached with caution before these are adopted by the parents or guardians (NINDS, 2006). Furthermore, an insignificant number of these are backed up with thorough scientific research (NINDS, 2006). Writing for the developmentally disabled individual Therapeutic Sessions for autism With the aim of teaching the developmentally challenged person it is important to have focus and patience together with appropriate learning strategies that will help the disabled individual in writing and learning process.Likewise, it is necessary to conduct follow up sessions with the therapist and at home with the help of the parents and other relatives. Behavioral Management and Techniques in Dyslexia According to website article, a recent game was developed with the purpose of helping children and other individuals cope with the difficulty they suffer from reading (Briggs, 2001). In the study, a group of seven-y ear-old children served as the respondents of the study and this resulted to a positive outcome for the research on reading difficulties (Briggs, 2001).The game included activities that require the respondents to match certain shapes to particular sounds (Briggs, 2001). They are asked to press a space bar after a series of sequences and then they will be greeted with a smile (Briggs, 2001). This resulted in higher rates of accuracy and an increase in the speed of reading for the 24 children who are diagnosed to have dyslexia (Briggs, 2001). Conclusion The role of the occupational therapist is a four-fold task. This is aimed towards uplifting the condition of the client.It is the aim of the occupational therapist is to be able to address the needs of the client and the chance to fulfill their responsibilities. There are different ways by which the therapist could help the clients in making their lives better through these techniques. It has become a better way of making people live a fulfilling life. These are different techniques of writing such as video games. References A Definition of Occupational Therapy. (n. d. ). Retrieved July 5, 2008, from http://steinhardt. nyu. edu/ot/definitionAllington, R. (2006). â€Å"Dyslexia. † In Microsoft ® Student 2007 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation. Briggs, H. (2001). Computer game helps dyslexics. Retrieved July 05, 2008, from http://www. dyslexia-teacher. com/t113. html. Dyslexia. (n. d. ). Retrieved July 5, 2008, from http://kidshealth. org/kid/health_problems/learning_problem/dyslexia. html National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke [NINDS]. (2006). Autism Fact Sheet. Retrieved July 5, 2008, from http://www. ninds. nih. gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism. htm

(Love) Ethical Issues in Healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

(Love) Ethical Issues in Healthcare - Essay Example Group morality on the other hand is the contrast values of right and wrong that are stipulated by each group according to the group dynamics and its organizational culture. The moral exemplary leader of all times is the late Mother Teresa. She was a moral leader because she stood for what was right according to not only the culture but also according to the bible. She made many people develop their own personal morality by just following her moral standings and judgment. Deontology is the morality theory that states that an individual follows his or her own personal morality when it comes to making ethical decisions. On the other hand, utilitarianism states that an individual’s ethical decision depends on whether the decision will benefit many people or not (Hinman 2007). An example of deontology is when a friend steals medicine from the hospital’s pharmacy and you have to decide whether to report the friend or assume the theft. In this situation, your personal morality is the one you will base your decision

UK Government in Encouraging Sustainability in Businesses Essay

UK Government in Encouraging Sustainability in Businesses - Essay Example This essay stresses that  the concept of sustainability first became prominent with the publication of the Bruntland Report in 1987. The report defines sustainability as â€Å"meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs†.From this paper it is clear that  the concept of sustainability has evolved overtime since it was first defined. In earlier days, it was mainly an operational concern that focused on defensive strategies to cut waste and reduce organizational footprint. It then evolved and took a more strategic stance with focus shifting to value chains and innovation from waste and cost reduction. Right now, the concept pervades all organizational decision making.  This trend clearly shows a move towards rendering the term sustainability in business redundant as it will simply be how business is done. However in the present, businesses are consciously incorporating sustainability into their business decisions.   Most businesses express their sustainability goals through corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments. CSR within an organisation is often composed of practises, policies and programs that are integrated throughout the business’s operations from decision making, processes to supply chain, which aim at ensuring current sustainable business operations taking into consideration future impacts.  Governments around the globe have increasingly grown aware of the significance of encouraging sustainability in businesses.... hows that many organizations are actively integrating and incorporating sustainability principles into their business operations, and the reasons behind this go far beyond reputation management. A sustainable business hence genuinely delivers environmental, economic and social benefits simultaneously in its operations while minimising the damage to society and the environment (Nidumolu, Prahalad, and Rangaswami, 2009:1). Most businesses express their sustainability goals through corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments. CSR within an organisation is often composed of practises, policies and programs that are integrated throughout the business’s operations from decision making, processes to supply chain, which aim at ensuring current sustainable business operations taking into consideration future impacts (Petrini and Pozzebon, 2010: 364; Baumgartner and Ebner, 2010:77). Companies are increasingly inclined to incorporate society’s expectations of ethical busines s practices into their business strategies as a way of not only responding to pressures from stakeholders such as employees and consumers among others, but also exploring opportunities that create competitive advantage for the company. Assessment of the role of UK government in encouraging sustainability in businesses as compared to other stakeholders Governments around the globe have increasingly grown aware of the significance of encouraging sustainability in businesses. In the UK, the government has played a critical role in encouraging sustainability in businesses. The government’s role in sustainability adoption often takes a regulatory approach. This is unlike other stakeholders of an organisation which have different key roles to play in encouraging sustainability, for instance, employees

Models and Frameworks for Adult Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Models and Frameworks for Adult Care - Essay Example Furthermore care plan is constructed adopting holistic approach for each problem. Moreover, it is also explained how various interventions work together for the achievement of final goals. Mr. A, who is 37 years old adult, was facing acute back pain because of his daily activities. He was a businessman who used to sit for several hours. This was the basic reason why Mr. A was facing acute low back pain. John Popp has defined low back pain in his book named A Guide to the Primary Care of Neurological Disorder as an acute problem affecting the population all around the world. This problem is considered the most common cause of disability in the individuals at the age of 40 years and plus. The reasons behind acute low back pain may differ from one individual to another. It may occur spontaneously or because of trauma event. In an online publication put forward by Baylor College of Medicine, acute low back problems are defined as the situation when activities and daily lifestyle routine limits due to lower back problem or the symptoms less than of 4 weeks. Mr. A was also facing difficulties in carrying out daily activities in a normal way. However, it is a fact that acute low back pain is diagnosable. About 90% of patients of acute low back problems recover within 1 month. Furthermore, Low back pain can be divided into different categories. For example, none radiating, radiating, loss of motor functions, spinal fractures and infections. Mr. A was losing motor functions and developed internal infections because of acute low back pain issue. Peter A. Rives, MD., Alan B. Douglass, MD. 2004 divided low back pain into acute and chronic conditions. Mr. A was passing through acute low back pain issue. The website of European Guidelines for the Management of Acute Nonspecific Low Back Pain in Primary Care defines acute low back pain as duration of pain less than 6 weeks. While low back pain is defined as a pain or discomfort below the costal portion, with or

Homework 4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Homework 4 - Assignment Example When the first rocket was launched, it made us aware that the world is limited in its resources and space. There is a limit to the amount of life the earth can hold. The destruction to the environment by humanity presents new challenges that plants and animals have adapted. However, the destruction has reached an extreme scale. Species there are over one and a half billion that have been discovered by scientists. There is just a small representation of the diversity of animals that exists all over the world. Most people just appreciate the big animals like elephants. Lions in the savannahs but there are also a great diversity of small animals like mosquitoes, the sea holds so much life beneath it, but most of it remains a mystery. There are many cases of extinction on the face of the planet of big animals but if small animals were to be extinct, the world would face a crisis as they form the foundations of the earth. Extinction has become massive on a scale of 100 t0 1000 due to human activities like deforestation. Is there an importance to preserve our biodiversity. The answer is yes. The eco-environment provides us with soil and cleanses our air all free. Most importantly, we should focus on handing down an environment full of rich biodiversity to the next

Information Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Information Technology - Essay Example The paper throws light on Information Technology that opens up a vast sea of structured and organized knowledge and information for an organization where the key people in a business are well equipped to take business decisions based on it. This leads to a powerful interplay of power and knowledge which transforms into a business opportunity where the people in power have the strength of knowledge from within the organization. Based on the knowledge with regular data being streamed in for every stage of business operations, the key business managers are well informed and updated to take key business decisions. â€Å"In the development of ERP, knowledge is a critical part of the management of organizational asset. Knowledge has often been seen as a necessary resource of which provides the organization with its competitive advantage. The principle of Enterprise Resource Planning is one of the important components based on which an organization structures its various departments into m odules and correlates their respective functions through IT. ERP of an organization is a huge leap forward towards automization within all departments of the enterprise. It facilitates all the key areas of the enterprise and works in a structured manner where the various ERP modules can talk to each other, share vital information in the form of data, work real time and the effect can be seen instantly in the other department control panel screen. All these functionalities reduce considerable time which in turn scales up the productivity of the existing manpower. The result is the acquiring of structured data within all scales of the organization which gives valuable insight and much required knowledge for the higher management to streamline their business activities and take key business decisions. â€Å"These organization’s aim is to integrate its global operations through the use of the ERP software. However these implementations objectives are often found to be difficult and complicated.†

The Launching of Credit Card in Romania Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Launching of Credit Card in Romania - Essay Example The bank which is launching the card is Alpen bank. The objective of the research is to find out whether the launch of credit card into the country will be worth and whether such a launch will be able to generate the sufficient amount of revenues so that the feasibility of the new product is proved in terms of entry-decision. SWOT analysis is carried out to find out the relevant opportunities and issues about the establishment of new credit card business. Market positioning of the bank is analyzed for the successful establishment of the credit card business. SWOT Analysis Strengths The strength of the bank comes from its affluent customers. Majority of customers of the bank belong to the upper strata of the society. Having affluent customers also means that they are more frequent with the use of credit card and the purchase amount is also high. Weaknesses The major weakness of the credit card business comes because of the low growth potential. The growth potential of credit card busi ness is very low in Romania compared to other emerging markets. Lack of consumer experience in terms of management of credit card and related monetary transaction is another weakness, because of which majority of customers opt for cash transactions. The country has suffered a three year long recession which has affected the life style of the common people. Consumers have become price sensitive and opt for cutting budgets with the objective of saving money. This is a weak link for the credit card business because it is a general perception among consumers that holding credit cards leads to higher amount of purchases as compared to cash purchases. Another issue in credit card business is that, most of the times credit card is used for exclusive cash withdrawals rather than using it for real purpose that it purchase. Apart from this, since credit card business is relatively new and unknown to the customers of Romania, huge investments will be needed with respect of advertising, direct marketing and support infrastructure. Opportunities The opportunities from this credit card business can be explained in terms of the political, social and other related factors affecting the country and the credit card industry as well; Political- legal policies, procedure and other corporate obligations in the country are not very stringent, which will help in the smother transaction of the business. Economic- the economic environment of Romania has improved since 2006, after the country entered into the European Union. Since then, the microeconomic trends have been positive and with the increasing income, the disposable income of the households has also increased. This shows the opportunity of the credit card business to bank on the increased economic conditions of the country. Socio-cultural- with the increase in the economic status, it is expected that one third of the Romanian population will prefer branded products. This will increase the overall use of credit cards in the co untry. Technological- with the advent of globalization, more are more companies have stated to market their products and services into more emerging and developing markets. As the availability of technology has become cheaper and readily available, the credit card business can tap on this opportunity. Since credit card business will need technological assistance, the company can use the latest technology available to gain a sustainable competitive advantage over the competitors. Environmental- the use of credit cards is totally free from creating environmental hazards. The use of online transactions will also decrease the use of paper which will influence the environment in a positive manner. Threats Similarly, the threats from this credit

Critically evaluate the reasons for the recent global financial crisis Essay

Critically evaluate the reasons for the recent global financial crisis - Essay Example This view has recently been confirmed by an IMF report (2011), that financial crises usually follow "credit or asset price bubbles" (IMF, p. 6). Moshirian (2010) has found that the inability of national regulatory bodies to respond adequately to a global market that has become increasingly interdependent has left these bodies unable to control regulatory arbitrage and the international movement of toxic assets (p. 504). In a way of confirming these last two perspectives Longstaff (2008) has found that lower movements in the ABX Index of credit-default swaps did cause financial contagion in other financial markets. This report will show how in the US, deregulation did serve to encourage market liquidity that could have advantaged banks and homeowners. The report will explain how the lack of appropriate regulation in the financial markets led to both a real estate bubble and the global financial crisis that reached the UK and world markets. ... gulation policy expressed through passage of US federal acts that eventually, though not intentionally, allowed banks to collateralize the assets and to use them, as investment banks, to participate directly in the secondary financial markets. Deregulation was originally intended to finance supply with more liquidity of resources in order to meet an increasing demand in the real estate market. Eventually supply overtook demand while banks and financiers overtook market safeguards in favor of speculative profit. The US housing bubble that occurred in 1983 with the savings-and-loan debacle was amplified to multiple effects in 2008, producing the financial crisis that spread to the UK and the world. The 2011 US Congressional Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Report identified "widespread failures in financial regulation and supervision" producing instability that undermined world markets (p. xviii). Deregulation McClendon (2010) explains how in 1980 the Depository Institutions Deregul ation and Monetary Control act freed banks from usury ceilings held by US states, enabling them to charge conventional high interest rates to appropriate populations for home mortgage loans. This act also raised the deposit insurance limits up to $100,000. The ceiling had previously been $40,000. The Alternative Mortgage Transaction Parity Act of 1982 soon followed and allowed banks to make adjustable rate and interest-only mortgages outside of state restrictions. Both of these measures were intended to help banks and savings and loans institutions spread more liquidity into appropriate markets. The US Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 enabled savings and loans banks to enter the lending market with low loan-to-value ratios (McClendon, 2010). The result was that the

Why Nomadic People Developed Complex Civilization Essay

Why Nomadic People Developed Complex Civilization - Essay Example They would move to a place that they considered economically better than their current situation (Goldin et al 120). There were three categories of Nomadic people, hunters and gatherers, pastoral, and wandering Nomads. Hunters and gatherers nomads were communities moving from one location to another in search of wild meat, fruits, and vegetables. Pastoral nomads’ movement were influenced by the availability of water and pastures for their cattle, they were settling in places with good pasture for their animals, and when pastures and water were exhausted in these locations, they would move to another location with greener pasture and water. On account of their movement and interaction with various communities, modern day civilization was born that led to the development of different economic empires and rise of military structure. Another of factors made nomadic people settle, build and develop complex civilization. Firstly, the development of new methods agriculture as time passes by made nomads to settle in one place because there was a way to control drought through irrigating their land. Also, through improved irrigation system, pastoralist were able to store enough water for their animals and at the same time irrigate land reserved for pasture so that they do not run animal feeds.

Chemical Reactions Essay Example for Free

Chemical Reactions Essay Introduction In this paper you learn about the reactions that occur between backing soda and lemon juice. We will also describe what is occurring with the molecules on a molecular level. Lastly we will explain what chemical bonds are formed and or broken when lemon juice and backing soda. Observations of the Reactants When most people hear baking soda they think of the bright orange box sitting in their pantry or refrigerator soaking up the foul odors that have come about from the onions or fish. Some may think of pancakes or baking a cake. Baking powder is a fine white substance with the consistency of powdered sugar. Baking soda is a chemical base. Another substance most people do not recognize as a chemical in their household is Lemon Juice. This is a liquid mixture of water and citric acid. Its color is mildly foggy and a pale yellow. Lemon juice is a chemical acid and when mixed with a base like baking soda creates a reaction. Reactions that occur Mixing lemon juice with baking soda gives you a chemical reaction. The lemon juice contains citric acid. The citric acid from the lemon juice will donate a hydrogen ion (H+) to the bicarbonate or baking soda (NaHCO3). When the bicarbonate is mixed into solution, the bicarbonate acts as a base and takes the H+ ion from the citric acid to form carbonic acid (H2CO3) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Whenever a chemical reaction produces gas, it will be highly favored due to its large increase in entropy associated with the gas formation. In this reaction, you will notice the solution bubbling and foaming due to the CO2 production. The reaction of lemon juice and baking soda is as follows: C6H8O7 + 3NaHCO3 Na3C6H5O7 + 3H2CO Essentially, one molecule of citric acid will react with three molecules of sodium bicarbonate. This will form one molecule of sodium citrate and three molecules of carbonic acid. It is a very exothermic chemical reaction. Molecular Level Baking soda or sodium bicarbonate is a salt while lemon juice is a citric acid. When combined, on a molecular basis, the acid in the lemon juice is able to lose a hydrogen (H+) ion while the sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) of the baking soda is able to gain an ion. Mixed in a solution, the NaHCO3 dissociates into a sodium (Na+) and bicarbonate (HCO3-) ion. The HCO3- then takes the H+ ion to form H2CO3 (carbonic acid). Bonds that formed and broken The bonds that are forming between the lemon juices and backing soda are polar covalent bonds. The bonds have an uneven electron share which is known as a dipole moment that makes them insoluble. Each the backing soda and the lemon juice have bonds that are broken. The bonds that are broken in the citric acid are when the H+ ions are taken away to form the H2CO3 and CO2. While this is happening the two molecules are sharing there atoms which is making then fight one another. So in return the baking soda does not naturalize the lemon juice like most acids and bases do. This is the violent bubbling reaction you see occur when the two are mixed. Conclusion Backing soda and lemon juice are two very few reactants that react the way they do. Normally a base and an acid turn neutral. This is not the case between these two chemicals. The molecules fight on another casing them to react violently resulting in the bubbling situation that is observer. As you have learned these two chemicals react in a way to form a gas called carbon dioxide. The color changed mildly to form a fogy white color. When it is compared on a pH level it is stronger than stomach acid. This experience has showed us that different reactants react in many different ways and that is why it is important to observe them many different items before make an assumption. Reference Swindells, J. (n.d.). What does lemon juice and baking soda do?. Retrieved from http://www.blurtit.com/q7839108.html Tro, N. J. (2009). Introductory chemistry. (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. What is the chemical equation for lemon juice and baking soda. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_chemial_equation_for_lemon_juice_and_baking_soda

Proper Designs For Air Conditioning In Mosques Environmental Sciences Essay

Proper Designs For Air Conditioning In Mosques Environmental Sciences Essay To maintain comfortable thermal conditions for the occupants is the basic requirement for any environment, because the thermal conditions have direct impact on the health, morale and productivity of human. Throughout the history using by using the intelligence and by being creative humans has been able to create environments which are comfortable for them to perform their activities and to keep maintaining such environments is very important. A complete thermal comfort occurs when the net heat gained by body is equal to the net heat loss from the body, in other terms; there occurs no storage of heat in the body. This is situation is known as thermal balanced situation. Thus to achieve thermal comfort it is is important to achieve thermal balance. It is possible to attain the thermal balance at a large range of environmental conditions but the thermal comfort is mainly achievable in conditions which are readily adjustable for the body. Thermal comfort is infact the state of mind which shows satisfaction within the existing thermal environment (Hutchean, 1989). There are many parameters involved which decide the thermal comfort conditions. These parameters are those which are related to the body heat loss and gains. Some of the important parameters which determine the heat balance in a particular thermal environment for a human body are: Air velocity, air temperature, humidity of air, activity levels of human, human clothing, means radiant temperature etc. Different models are being used till date by many people in order to relate the human comforts with these parameters in a particular environment. In many cases body has been considered as a thermal object which exchanges heat with the surrounding environment through different modes like: convection, conduction, radiation and is able to loose heat to the surroundings through evaporation and by adapting to the environment using the regulatory system of the body. (Cheng, 2006) Thus prediction of thermal comforts i n different environments is of substantial importance for people and organizations like ASHRAE which deal with air conditioning. Thus one important part of the present research would be to develop an approach which would be helpful for assessing the thermal comforts and problems for the buildings which would then be utilized for a pilot study on some of the mosques of Kuwait and near by areas where the environment is harsh and humid. During harsh hot and humid climatic conditions, an effective air conditioning system is required for buildings, which can provide an acceptable thermal comfort level. Although such systems exists in many places but in many situations either the buildings gets over cooled or in many cases proper levels of thermal comfort are not achieved because of improperly designed system, or improper operation practices with lack of maintenance and thus resulting into an inefficient air-conditioning system. Thus the other important aspect of the research would be to conduct a study for Mosques in harsh hot and humid climatic conditions. Mosques are a type of building which has their own unique operating schedule which depends on the time of prayers or others. So in the work a designed study would be carried out to monitor the thermal comfort conditions and to monitor the energy use of a number of mosques during hot and humid conditions so as to assess accurately the thermal comfort conditions and the energy efficiency in such buildings during the occupancy period so that an efficient air-conditioning system can be designed for them. 1.2 Problem statement One of the important essential requirements from an indoor environment is that it should be able to provide proper thermal comforts in order to satisfy human desires. Undesirable conditions can result in human dissatisfaction and in turn affecting their activities. Thus in this scenario it is very essential to give urgent consideration and attention to the thermal comfort conditions of the buildings especially building in the harsh hot and humid climatic conditions like Mosques where occupant satisfaction is very important during peak hours of prayers etc. In most of the buildings today the comfort levels are achieved through complex air conditioning systems but this might result into to the thermal comfort problems which can occur because daily operations in the building. Many a times it can be very difficult to identify thermal comfort problems and solve them because they can be very diverse in nature and can be cause because of large number of factors. Thus there is a need of deve loping a systematic approach so as to deal with the problems of thermal comforts in building, which in the present case is Mosque. Mosques are the place of great importance for the worshipers and it is needed that the worshipers feel calm and comfortable in the mosque and when they leave the mosque they have the feeling of peace and tranquility. Thus a careful evaluation of mosques is needed for thermal comforts and requirement of energy. Till date only a few studies have been conducted to fulfill this requirements for Mosques and thus there is a need of systematic study which can be helpful in monitoring the thermal comforts and energy use for Mosques so as to assess accurately the thermal comfort conditions and the energy efficiency in such buildings during the occupancy period so that an efficient air-conditioning system can be designed for them. 1.3 Objectives of the Research Detailed study on the methods for predicting the thermal comforts and energy use and previous work done by people in predicting the thermal comforts in buildings Development of a systematic approach for identifying and treating thermal-comfort problems Investigating the Basic design Elements of Mosques Monitoring thermal comfort conditions and energy use in some of the mosques of Kuwait and near by areas Suggesting recommendations for achievement of proper thermal comfort levels and properly designing air-conditioning systems for Mosques 1.4 Methodology The methodology adopted for performing the research and to meet the desired objectives is as below: Step 1: First of all the problem is identified through thorough discussion and observation of the area to be studied. After than understanding the background of the problem and finding out the necessity areas where the research needs to be conducted Step 2: Exhaustive study about the existing models and approaches for thermal comfort problems identification and ways to solve them. Studying the previous research done in the desired area for Mosques or similar kind of buildings in different environmental conditions and there by making a roadmap for the present research. Step 3: On the basis of the detailed analysis of the various approaches and by putting up new ideas through discussion and thorough observation of area, a systematic approach for identifying and treating thermal-comfort problems in building swould be developed which would then be applied for the Mosques of Kuwait or near by places Step 4: Before carrying out the analysis of comfort levels of mosques a study on the basic design elements of the Mosques would be performed in order to make the research more effective Step 5: Finally with the help of developed approach thermal comfort conditions and energy use in some of the mosques of Kuwait and near by cities would be monitored and the problems related to thermal comforts would be identified Step 6: At last a list of recommendations would be generated which would be helpful in improving the air conditioning performance, thermal comfort levels and efficient energy use. Step 7: And the research would then be completed by concluding the findings from the study and giving a future vision to the study and some points of research in future. 1.5 Expected Outcomes A systematic approach would be proposed with the help of which thermal comfort problems can be identified assessed and can be dealt with in a proper way. The developed approach will acts as a helpful tool for the building managers and the operators in order to deal with the thermal comfort problems arising in a building. Based on the study conducted for the mosques a list of recommendations would be generated. Although this recommendations would be genrated from the mosques in hot and humid climatic conditions but an attempt would be made to make them generic so that they can be applicable in any mosques in general. Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Mosques represent a place of great importance and unique function and operation as worshipers using the mosque need to feel comfortable and calm, and be able to leave with a feeling of tranquility and peace. Consequently, they need to be carefully evaluated in terms of thermal comfort and energy requirements. However, only a limited number of studies have dealt with these requirements of mosques. A study on thermal comfort requirements for Friday prayer during the hot season in Riyadh (Saeed, 1996) indicated that most people are comfortable and few prefer cooler conditions. Thermal comfort considerations are usually paramount in most buildings involving people occupancy. This requires the addition or extraction of heat from the space depending mainly on the season and type of activities performed indoors. The thermal environment parameters involved are all those affecting body heat gains and losses. Air temperature, air humidity, air velocity, mean radiant temperature as well as huma n clothing and activity levels are factors that determine the heat balance of a human body in a given thermal environment. Several models are available in the literature to relate the human sensation of comfort to those factors. Prediction of thermal comfort has been of substantial interest to ASHRAE. ASHRAE has developed a comfort index which is based on the effective temperature. The effective temperature is defined on the basis of 50 % relative humidity. The basis of the definition is that the effective temperature describes the uniform temperature of enclosure which is radiantly black at 50% RH (ASHRAE, 1997) and in which the comfort, heat exchange and physiological strain experienced by the occupant would be same as that of the actual environment with same air velocity. Fanger, 1970 has done a very elaborative study on the prediction of thermal comfort levels under steady state conditions. Fanger, 1970 formulated a comprehensive equation for heat balance which was based on the various parameters of heat exchange. Fanger, 1970 developed a comfort equation which involved the use of two empirical relations which relates skin temperature and evaporative heat loss to the metabolic rate. With the help of the equation developed by Fanger, 1970 comfort conditions for any type of envi ronmental conditions with any type of parameters of clothing and rate of metabolism can be calculated. The other major development in this study by Fanger was the estimation of the PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) for a space in which there are differences in the thermal sensation from the optimal the optimal value. This PMV is helpful in predicting the percentage of dissatisfied people. Considering the variability of thermal sensation under the same conditions, Fanger devised a means of estimating a predicted mean vote (PMV) of the subjects in a space in which there are deviations from optimal in the thermal sensation. Using the PMV, the percentage of people dissatisfied (PPD) can be predicted. The impact of air movement and the effect of its flow patterns on thermal comfort have been the subject of many theoretical and experimental studies(Jiang, 1992) (Chow, 1994). Results from those studies have emphasized the role of air velocity and air distribution patterns as a determinant factor of thermal comfort. Furthermore, models for predicting comfort at different flow regimes and air distribution patterns have been suggested. Charles (Charles, 2003) reviewed and assessed the validity of Fangers Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) Model, and Fangers Draught Model. The review also suggested that the bias in PMV predictions varies by context. The model was a better predictor in air-conditioned buildings than naturally ventilated ones, in part because of the influence of outdoor temperature, and opportunities for adaptation. Ji et al, 2006, examined the thermal comfort of people in naturally ventilated environments in a field study in Shanghai, China. The study suggested that people residi ng in such hot area have adapted to its climate and their expectations for comfort allow them to endure heat better than expected Many studies have been conducted and carried out in different environmental conditions in order to find out the difference in requirement of thermal comfort levels based on parameters related to sex, body build and age. Results showed that there is no significant difference in the comfort conditions required by male or female, elderly or young etc. (Chung, 1990), (Cheng, 2006). Dear and Brager, 2002 summarized earlier adaptive comfort research, presented some of its findings for naturally ventilated buildings, and discussed the process of getting the adaptive comfort incorporated into Standard 55. Adaptive models include in some way the variations in outdoor climate for determining thermal preferences indoors. Cheng and Ng, 2006 discussed in a recent study the adaptive model in thermal comfort, which has been included in the new revision of ASHRAE Standard 55-2004. Furthermore, it demonstrated the development of a comfort temperature chart for naturally ventilated buildings in Hong K ong. Van Hoof et al (2007) discussed two implementations of the adaptive comfort model in terms of usability and energy use for moderate maritime climate zones by means of literature study, a case study comprising temperature measurements, and building performance simulation. The study concluded that for moderate climate zones the adaptive model is only applicable during summer months, and can reduce energy for naturally conditioned buildings. The subject of thermal comfort in buildings is intimately related to the energy consumption/conservation issue as most of the time either heating or cooling is needed to maintain the space at a comfortable level. Many studies have been carried out to investigate this relationship and explore means and ways to conserve energy without compromising comfort (Tham, 1993). A multidisciplinary approach for achieving energy saving and thermal comfort simultaneously was developed (Tham, 1993). The impact of various energy conservation measures and HVAC system and component characteristics on building thermal performance including thermal comfort has been investigated. Results have indicated that adaptation of a higher temperature set point in summer can lead to a significant reduction in cooling energy without loss of thermal comfort. The energy consumption by building heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems has evoked increasing attention to promote energy efficient control and operation of HVAC systems(Mathews, 2000 and 2002). Many other measures related to the design and operation of the HVAC system can be considered for conserving energy. However, in no circumstances should the comfort of occupants be compromised. In hot and cold climates, thermal comfort in building is achieved by HVAC systems, resulting in considerable energy costs. In many situations, buildings are over cooled or the HVAC system is kept running for a much longer time than needed. This will allow considerable opportunities to conserve ener gy while achieving better comfort conditions or at least maintaining the desired comfort conditions at a reduced level of energy consumption. Recently, Budaiwi (2007) proposed and implemented a multi-phase approach to investigate and remedy thermal comfort problems in buildings. Although mosques are important buildings with a unique function and intermittent operation, evaluation of their thermal performance, problems and, subsequently, possible remedies did not receive adequate attention by researchers. This paper presents the results of a study monitoring energy use and indoor environmental conditions in a number of mosques in order to assess the quality of their thermal comfort conditions especially during occupancy periods in such intermittently operated buildings in hot-humid climates. This study is part of a comprehensive research conducted on mosque thermal performance (Budaiwi, 2005). In this part of the study, energy use and thermal indoor conditions for three mosques were monitored over a period of one year. These mosques were selected to represent the common types of a single-zone daily prayers mosque, a single-zone Friday (large) mosque, and a two-zone Friday mosque. The criteria of representative mosques selection as well as their physical and operational characteristics have been presented in previous work. Chapter 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF MOSQUE Before going further on the discussion related to the thermal comfort conditions and energy use it is important to first briefly discuss the basic and important elements of a typical design of mosque and the different activity modes in mosque. 3.1. Basic Elements of typical design of Mosque Mosque is generally a simple rectangular wall enclosed building having a roofed prayer hall. The longer side of the rectangular shape has orientation in the direction of the Makkah City having the holy mosque. This longer wall is normally termed as Qibla Wall. In the center of the wall is a recess in the form of niche wall which is called as Mihrab. It also includes an elevated floor commonly termed as Minbar, in the right of Mihrab, from which Imam delivers or preaches the speech on Friday, i.e. Khutba.These are some of the essential elements of any mosque design. In Fiugre1 an isometric and a plan of a typical simple design of a mosque has been shown emphasizing the basic elements of design of a mosque. Although from the functional point the mosques are not different and have remained unchanged but the space, building materials, architectural forms and the construction systems have evolved and developed to very different extent in the different parts of the world of Islam which are influenced by many other factors as well. Figure 1: The basic design elements of a simple mosque (a) plan, and (b) isometric [Reference: [22]]. Figure2: The geometric configurations (plans) of the investigated mosques. 3.2. Activity modes in a mosque The design of the mosque is greatly influenced by the worship considerations. There are usually two modes of worship in a mosque. The first mode is the prayer mode which involves doing prayers either in groups or individually as per the religious prescription. Generally while performing group prayers the worshippers stand, prostrate, bow and sit behind the Imam in parallel rows and on the same floor level which are aligned parallel to the Qibla Wall having a distance of approximately 1.2 m. The second mode of worship is the preaching mode, in which the worshippers seat in random rows and listens to the Imam who preaches and deliver Khutba, standing on the Minbar which is a elevated floor. The height of the Minbar floor is different in different mosques. The mosque capacity is dependent upon the floor area and is determined by dividing the area of the floor with the average area required by a worshipper for performing the prayer which is approximately 0.80 * 1.2 = 0.96 m2. Gantt Chart Thermal Comfort in Mosques Nov Dec Jan Feb TASKS Submission of Research Proposal Literature Survey Interim Report Submission Development of Systematic Approach Field study of Mosques Result analysis Concluding Remarks and Recommendations Final Project Submission

A New High Speed Rail Link For Britain Engineering Essay

A New High Speed Rail Link For Britain Engineering Essay Recently travel by rail has increased with many lines struggling to cope with the demand. The West Coast mainline which can be seen as one of the most important rail lines in Britain will reach capacity by 2020 according to the Transport Politic and has also seen investments of around  £13 billion already (www.thetransportpolitic.com, 2009). One of the popular modes of travelling long distance within Britain is short haul flights; however air travel is neither efficient in terms of energy nor is it environmentally friendly. As the U.K has pledged to lower carbon emissions by 80% by the year 2050 (www.treehugger.com, 2009) Britain needs more sustainable forms of transport. With the need to increase capacity on the rail lines, especially from London to the North, along with the environmental and sustainability factors the question that arises is, would it be more be beneficial to upgrade the existing link between the north and London or to implement a new high speed rail link? An Atkins report commissioned by the Dft alternatives to the high speed rail titled High Speed 2 Strategic Alternatives Study (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010) outlines rail upgrades as an alternative. Firstly trains could be lengthened to allow for more passenger, however this does not tackle any reduction on journey times and station platforms may not be able to accommodate longer trains. Secondly an investment on the infrastructure to enhance the capacity of the West Coast Mainline would cost around  £3.6 billion (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010). This would see the operation of an extra four to five trains per hour reducing journey times to Birmingham and Manchester by 12 minutes and 6.5 minutes respectively (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010). This alternative would not have many adverse effects on the environment as it does not affect the Chiltern Area of Natural Beauty, where the high speed network would, it would however be disruptive to passengers. The third alternative detailed in the report would be to in vest on the Chiltern line along with the previous alternative which would allow three trains per hour to the West Midlands on the Chiltern line at a cost of  £12.5 billion without reduction on journey times and an adverse environmental effect on the Chiltern AONB. Adding onto this would be the fourth alternative with further work on the Chiltern Line between London and the West Midlands to improve journey times at a cost of  £15.1 billion (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010). This could see a single stop service to the West Midlands in 64 minutes (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010). This would have the same environmental effects on the Chiltern AONB and also be disruptive to passengers. The last alternative would be to include further work on the infrastructure on the Chiltern Line to take it up as far as Stratford as an alternative to the northern stretch on the West Coast Main Line. This would cost approximately  £19.6 billion(www.dft.gov.uk, 2010), but may prove to challenging, and result in a small frequency on services, without any certain demand for these services. This alternative would be the most environmentally damaging not only for just the Chiltern AONB and would cause disruption to passengers. All the alternatives in upgrades to the existing network seem to be costly, have an adverse effect on the environment and disruption to services already in place which outweigh the benefits in terms capacity generated and reduction of journey times. For many of the alternatives there is no impact on the journey times, which would be seen as defeating the objective of upgrading the existing network. A publication by the Institution of Civil Engineers titled unblocking the potential of rail states that Flights currently account for 93% of business trips between Scotland and London. Research shows passengers will only consider changing from air to rail if the journey time is under three hours only possible on land with a high speed rail route. (www.ice.org.uk, 2010). Over the years Britain has seen to fall behind its European neighbours in developing high speed rail networks. France, Germany, Italy and Spain have all developed high speed rail networks. In particular Spain have in place a high speed rail network between Madrid and Barcelona which reaches speeds of 220mph, which allows the journey of 410 miles to be completed in 2 and a half hours (www.treehugger.com, 2010). Spain is a good example as they have a similar route from Madrid to Seville where more than 80% of travellers on that route prefer to travel by train (www.treehugger.com, 2010). The article Spains high speed service challenges the airlines on www.treehugger.com, 2010 also describes the services as In terms of comfort and convenience the operators are not skimping either. Each train features a conference room, upgraded cooling and air conditioning, internet access and a restaurant car and passengers are refunded their entire fare if the train is more than 5 minutes late (www.tr eehugger.com, 2010). However since 2009 the government have set up a new organisation. High speed 2 Ltd (HS2 Ltd) which is outlying proposals and reports on a new north-south high speed rail network. Recently the transport secretary published the report for new high speed rail network which could see work start around 2017 at the earliest (BBC News, 2010) Figures from The Transport Politic show that the project would cost  £34 billion and include 1500 miles of track, accommodating a total of 34 tunnels and 138 bridges. Whilst 8 new stations would be built and the procurement of 73 high speed trains. If put in place the new north-south link would see an annual ridership of 43.7 journeys. (www.thetransportpolitic.com, 2009). Figure 1 in the appendix shows the proposed line and reduction in journey times. The transport secretary Lord Adonis in a speech about the high speed rail stated additional transport capacity would be needed from the 2020s between our major cities, starting with London to the west midlands, Britains two largest conurbations . . .high speed rail could be the most efficient and sustainable way to provide more capacity between these conurbations. (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010). Lord Adonis summarised the development as an initial high speed network linking London to Birmingham then onto Manchester, the East Midlands, Sheffield and Leeds with high speed trains through to Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh, which would result in a Y shaped network capable of carrying trains upto 250mph. Figures 2-4 in the appendix show some comparisons of high speed rail compared to classic rail. The benefits of high speed rail as described by Lord Adonis on the Dft website (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010) are an increase of rail capacity by a third on the West Coast Mainline, not only because of the track but also due to the length of high speed trains and the adapted stations along with segregation from other rail traffic. The speech also describes the upgrade of existing rail lines yielding less than half the extra capacity for more money and disruption than it would do to implement a high speed network. A new high speed network could see pressure on capacity on the West Coast Mainline released for other services on the network. In terms of saving time on journeys, the time between the London and the west midlands would be between 30 to 50 minutes depending on the station used, whereas places such as Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield would be bought to within 75 minutes of London and places further north such as Edinburgh and Glasgow to around three and a half hours. High speed trains are stated as a sustainable way forward (www.dft.gov.uk, 2010) by Lord Adonis, going on to say that they emit less carbon then other modes such as car or airplane per passenger mile, with the low impact of a new high speed rail network on local areas than that of a new motorway. Weighing up the benefits to the costs, HS2 assessed that the project will yield  £2 for every  £1 spent with the first part of the line up to the West Midlands costing between  £15 and  £17 billion. Along with these benefits, other factors must be taken into consideration. The high speed trains are said to reach 400km/h or 250mph. which would make them the fastest trains in the world, we however need to observe the fact that a train travelling at 360km/h requires 50% more energy than that of a train travelling at 300km/h (www.cpre.org.uk, 2010), going faster could be a cost to the environment. On the topic of environment the high speed network will, similarly to many of the alternatives, cut through the Chiltern AONB where extensive tunnelling will be required as high speed trains need to travel in straight a line as possible. High speed trains will generate a new form of travel, where freed up traffic via existing rail and air travel may be taken up by new demand which could in turn add to carbon emission. For high speed rail to be part of a sustainable future, policys should be produced to keep demand and traffic down on other modes such as increasing air fares and making it more expensive to travel by car. In conclusion high speed rail travel looks more attractive compared to an upgrade of the existing network. Many of the alternative upgrades mentioned have little effect for a big price. The cost of the fifth alternative up grade matches that of the cost of a new high speed line from London to the West Midlands, where you would have significantly reduced journey times and no disruption to existing services. Environmentally both upgrading and building a new high speed line have adverse effects. For the same amount of effect on the environment you could have a new faster rail network, which could be a small price to pay for a network with greater outcomes and a project which would contribute to the economy and create jobs. In terms of carbon emissions and efficiency figure 5 in the appendix shows high speed rail is the most efficient in terms of passenger km carried by unit of energy than other forms. However it should be taken into consideration the past in terms of development of rail lines. Where plans to upgrade existing lines have been postponed by Lord Adonis due to lack of finances and what may be a coincidence of the government introducing these plans just before a major election. On the lines of finance the project cost a substantial amount, especially with the current debt of the country. This cost may be passed on as increased rail fares, fares which currently some of the population regard as expensive. The new and improved service may not be attractive to some unless it is heavily subsidised. Overall a new high speed rail link from London to the North would be beneficial, looking at our European neighbours we can see that high speed rail can be a success and the plans tick all the boxes in terms of journey time reduction and being able to compete with other modes such as short haul air travel and helping in the reduction on carbon emmissions. High speed rail can be an improvement if it does not drag funds and infrastructure investment away from other areas and is affordable to use.

crime and punishment :: essays research papers

Crime and Punishment consists of many people who have committed distinct crimes, and all of them have served their punishments in one way or another. Raskolnikov was one of the main characters in the novel. Raskolnikov had committed the crime of a premeditated murder. Svidrigailov, on the other hand, did things because they made him feel good. Svidrigailov’s biggest crime was falling in love with Dunya. There are many ways a person can commit crime and there are many ways they can pay the punishment. Raskolnikov’s definition of crime was killing someone and defending himself by thinking that he had done nothing wrong. According to Svidrigailov, crime can be committed by doing something as harmless as falling in love. Some people can pay the punishment for the crime they committed by letting their inner conscience bite them, whereas, some people can make their own life miserable by wishing for something that just wasn’t meant to be. The crime of the rapscallion Raskolnikov also reverberated on a much deeper, moral level inside his own head. Only one of his two murders was actually premeditated, the one committed against Alyona Ivanova. Lizaveta, her tortured sister was an inadvertent death. He was forced to kill her when he failed to shut the door and she was able to come in. He ignored the ultimate rule of good and evil, the principles of justice, and felt that if he killed Alyona no one would be injured because Alyona was a waste to society. Raskolnikov commits his initial crime out of arrogance. "The old hag is nothing.... I killed not a human being," he says. (245) He believed that Alyona was less than a human, and that he was a superior being. Raskolnikov thought that he had a right to kill. Svidrigailov is one of the most enigmatic characters in Crime and Punishment. He employed tacit and devious tactics. Svidrigailov molested, irked, and bothered young women who do not wish to be associated with him. He pandered to their weakness and he self-admittedly used deception to win them for his own. His goal was to pursue Dunya, hence he poisoned his wife, Martha. He wanted to get complete freedom from her. These are the acts of a man who is entirely self-serving. Svidrigailov appeared to believe, almost until the end of the novel, that he could make Dunya love him. When Raskolnikov surrendered, he accepted his mistakes and rejected his self-centered attitude.

Women Have the Right to Abortion Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Arg

Women Have the Right to Abortion Webster's New World Dictionary defines the word abortion as, "any spontaneous expulsion of an embryo or a fetus before it is sufficiently developed to survive" (Webster's 1988; Pps. 3- 4). Assuming the reader of this essay agrees with the above definition, I will explore the following thesis, and support my answer with appropriate, adequate documentation, from "Conversations": "Should abortion be legal? At what point in time, and under what criteria should it be restricted?" Let me begin with a rather neutral source. Sallie Tisdale, a registered nurse and writer (Tisdale, 737) in her essay, 'We Do Abortions Here', states: "Like many women my age, I took the pill as soon as I was sexually active. To risk pregnancy when it was so easy to avoid seemed stupid, and my contraceptive success, as it were, was part of the promise of social enlightenment. But birth control fails, far more frequently than laboratory trials predict" (Tisdale, 738) According to the 'left', abortion shouldn't be legal for anyone, regardless of the circumstances. What about this first example? Do those with this philosophy imply that women just shouldn't have sex, plain and simple, until they're ready to handle caring for a child? How does this conflict with the reality in our society that young men and women are having sex at an earlier age, then in previous generations? Is it possible that although this idea is well-intentioned, it may not take into account a person's need to be sexual, which is just part of the human condition? What's a woman to do, if she's taken the necessary precautions, including one of several choices, including condoms (both for men and women), or the pill, and either method fails... ...ld have the option to terminate the pregnancy immediately, as such conditions arise, regardless of the developmental stage of the unborn fetus. Works Cited Irving, John. Pornography and the New Puritans. 1992. Conversations: Readings for Writing. Ed. Jack Selzer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 617. Tisdale, Sallie. We Do Abortions Here. 1987. Conversations: Readings for Writing. Ed. Jack Selzer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 737-741. Quinn, Sally. Our Choices, Ourselves. 1992. Conversations: Readings for Writing. Ed. Jack Selzer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 756. Meehan, Mary. Abortion: The Left Has Betrayed The Sanctity of Life. 1980. Conversations: Readings for Writing. Ed. Jack Selzer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997.747-752. "Abortion." Webster's New World Dictionary. 1988 ed. "Murder." Webster's New World Dictionary. 1988 ed. Women Have the Right to Abortion Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Arg Women Have the Right to Abortion Webster's New World Dictionary defines the word abortion as, "any spontaneous expulsion of an embryo or a fetus before it is sufficiently developed to survive" (Webster's 1988; Pps. 3- 4). Assuming the reader of this essay agrees with the above definition, I will explore the following thesis, and support my answer with appropriate, adequate documentation, from "Conversations": "Should abortion be legal? At what point in time, and under what criteria should it be restricted?" Let me begin with a rather neutral source. Sallie Tisdale, a registered nurse and writer (Tisdale, 737) in her essay, 'We Do Abortions Here', states: "Like many women my age, I took the pill as soon as I was sexually active. To risk pregnancy when it was so easy to avoid seemed stupid, and my contraceptive success, as it were, was part of the promise of social enlightenment. But birth control fails, far more frequently than laboratory trials predict" (Tisdale, 738) According to the 'left', abortion shouldn't be legal for anyone, regardless of the circumstances. What about this first example? Do those with this philosophy imply that women just shouldn't have sex, plain and simple, until they're ready to handle caring for a child? How does this conflict with the reality in our society that young men and women are having sex at an earlier age, then in previous generations? Is it possible that although this idea is well-intentioned, it may not take into account a person's need to be sexual, which is just part of the human condition? What's a woman to do, if she's taken the necessary precautions, including one of several choices, including condoms (both for men and women), or the pill, and either method fails... ...ld have the option to terminate the pregnancy immediately, as such conditions arise, regardless of the developmental stage of the unborn fetus. Works Cited Irving, John. Pornography and the New Puritans. 1992. Conversations: Readings for Writing. Ed. Jack Selzer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 617. Tisdale, Sallie. We Do Abortions Here. 1987. Conversations: Readings for Writing. Ed. Jack Selzer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 737-741. Quinn, Sally. Our Choices, Ourselves. 1992. Conversations: Readings for Writing. Ed. Jack Selzer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 756. Meehan, Mary. Abortion: The Left Has Betrayed The Sanctity of Life. 1980. Conversations: Readings for Writing. Ed. Jack Selzer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997.747-752. "Abortion." Webster's New World Dictionary. 1988 ed. "Murder." Webster's New World Dictionary. 1988 ed.

Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger Essay -- rural town, football cra

H.G. Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights brings to mind the cold, autumn nights of 1988 where a town, just like any other rural town in America, was brought together in such a raw and emotional way. From the rise and fall of Boobie Miles to the push for the playoffs, it is clear that 1988 Odessa was swept up in the glory of football to replace the grandeur of the 1950s, which seemed to deteriorate throughout that hectic decade. While a modern reader may view Bissinger’s masterpiece as a tale from a dated and faraway place, several factors have kept it in the public’s eye. What is it about Friday Night Lights that still resonates today? The answer can still be found in the same rural towns of America. Though it may seem incredible, Texas is still football crazy, and it may be fairly concluded that emotions have only slightly receded from the obsession they once held towards high school football. People’s inability to analyze themselves, the impact a community c an have on younger generations, and the way priorities can easily be warped all struck me as subjects that have stayed true in Texas culture over the past 26 years. I will be discussing these topics throughout this dissection of Friday Night Lights. The ability to analyze one’s self is a trait that seems to be lacking in nearly everyone until, supposedly, they reach full maturity. It can be noted that this ability is extremely lacking in every character introduced in the book, including adults. All of the coaches and parents fail to realize the great amount of pressure they place on the kids. Rather than being supported, Boobie Miles is treated as a â€Å"has been† at the age of eighteen by everyone surrounding him. Don Billingsley is dejected at the beginning of the season, even b... ...at Round Rock because the school was having difficulty supporting it. It can be understood why the football season of 1988 seems like such a faraway place. 1995, the year I and many of my fellow classmates were born, marked twenty six years since Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Though it is not a pleasant thought, it seems that the problems Americans faced in 1969, 1988, and now will be problems we must face for years to come. It is our duty to make Texas a better place to live, encourage younger generations that success and happiness exist after high school, and that one is in charge of his own destiny. Works Cited Cantu, Rick. "State's Stadium Spending, Amenities Raise Eyebrows." Austin News, Sports, Weather, Longhorns. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. .

English Language and Students

1: Introduction At present, speaking a foreign language represents one of the essential requirements of today? s society. Besides other skills and knowledge, it is considered as one of the most influencing factors while applying for a job or sustaining in a particular work position under the condition of advancing the language level. Based on my work experience, I can confirm that knowing a foreign language is a necessity for everyone in general, mainly for my students – soldiers. These people are required to reach a sufficient level in a foreign language in order to accomplish military assignments in missions abroad.Teaching foreign languages, mainly English, for these military purposes is provided by the Defence Language Institute in Vyskov where I have been working as an English teacher for almost three years. My principal goal is to provide the soldiers with as efficient English lessons as possible because it will be them who will have to deal with international relationsh ips and take measures for solving various situations. The main reason for choosing this topic for my bachelor thesis was realizing how important speaking is in everyday situations.No matter where we are, either in the Philippine Republic or in a foreign country, English conversation plays a crucial role in understanding each other and dealing with different kinds of uncovered problems. It means school teachers need English to communicate with their colleagues – native speakers.. Even if they come from America, England or Australia and their accents differ, it is just a question of time for teachers and also students to adjust to their speech and distinguish differences in pronunciation.Being able to keep a fluent conversation with a native speaker is viewed as the main goal of students, which underlines the importance of speaking skills in a student? s point of view. Therefore, in my thesis I decided to concentrate on communicative activities which might be helpful for Englis h teachers and enhance their students? communicative skills. 1. 1: Statement of the problem This research would â€Å"What is the effectiveness of implementing speaking zone at the University campus? † 1. 2: Objective of the studyThe objectives of my studies are: 1. To review the concept and importance of speaking skill. 2. To analyze the factors that are effective in speaking skill. 3. To explore the new ways of speaking skill. 4. To recommend how they improve speaking skill in English at University campus. * * 2: Discussion 2. 1. SPEAKING * 2. 1. 1 Speaking as a skill For most people, the ability to speak a foreign language is synonymous with knowing that language because speech is for them the basic means of human communication.English learners no longer expect the traditional approach of their teachers based on developing mainly the grammatical competence and using methodology popular in the past. Today, teachers are expected to provide their students with useful active k nowledge of the foreign language, not just theory about the language. Communicative approach focuses on a balance between fluency and accuracy and is the most suitable for those students whose aim is to gain confidence in speaking and conversational abilities.Nevertheless, speaking in a foreign language has often been viewed as the most demanding of the four skills. â€Å"While listening and reading involve the ability to correctly receive messages and are therefore referred to as receptive skills, speaking and writing, on the other hand, involve language production and are referred to as productive skills. † (Harmer 1995, 16) Producing spoken language has often meant a difficulty and an obstacle for English learners. There might arise a question why.The answer is obvious. In the natural spoken language students are required to be aware of characteristics of fluent speech, such as reduced forms, use of slang or idioms, fixed phrases, collocations and most importantly the pace of speech. All of these have to be taken into consideration while practising conversation in class. Without these, our spoken language would sound bookish and unnatural. To avoid this, it is essential to introduce and practise â€Å"real† communication with our students ithin the learning process. If it is neglected, it may be a reason why students are often shocked and disappointed when using a foreign language for the first time whilst interacting in foreign environment. They have not been prepared for spontaneous communication and could not cope with all of its simultaneous demands. The embarrassment is usually caused by students’ inability to adjust to native speakers’ speech. This is natural and adjures patience while learning to speak or communicate in a foreign language.As I already mentioned, native speakers are a great support and the opportunity to communicate with them means even greater encouragement for our students. Although it is quite demanding for students to keep up in conversation with them, they take it as an advantage in their studies. Most English learners are actually familiar with the fact that the best way to advance their speaking skills is adjusting to it in an English speaking environment. 2. 1. 2 Difference between speaking and conversation Although the terms â€Å"speaking† and â€Å"conversation† may seem clear, they often get misunderstood.Speaking as a skill taught at schools presents the student’s ability to express his or her opinions, thoughts and ideas to a particular matter. Speaking practice, which is usually based on storytelling, giving speech or presentation, is the necessity for later successful conversation. Nevertheless, the focus on speaking activities has diminished in recent years. This has been caused by many factors, especially by realizing the need of everyday communication. As I mentioned above, giving speeches or presentations is not what we concentrate on in our le ssons.Even though these are crucial prerequisites for later conversational practice, the teachers tend to focus on communicative activities as the main goal of speaking lessons. I have no objection to this, but it is essential to mention the importance of presentations for military English learners working for the Ministry of Defence and the consequences of the lack of speaking skill while giving military presentations abroad. For this reason, it is very important for teachers to think through the purpose of speaking and communicative activities being prepared for lessons and also the target group of learners.Nolasco (1987, 3) mentions that being able to speak reasonably correct and even fluent English is one thing, but being able to engage in on-going, interactive, mentally satisfying conversation is another. Conversation is such a natural part of our lives that many people are not conscious of what happens within it. However, conversation follows certain rules which should be obey ed in order for participants to feel relaxed and be satisfied with it. Arthur (1987, 5) adds that the main purpose of conversation is the exchange of information among people.While communicating, our students may find themselves in different social situations playing various social roles and the main task for language teachers is to prepare them for these real situations they might participate in. This also includes leading students to develop the ability to initiate and sustain conversation whenever it occurs. 2. 1. 3 Students’ motivation to participate in a speaking lesson When students learn a foreign language, they very often accumulate a lot of knowledge (grammatical rules, lists of vocabulary items), but then they find out that they cannot actually use this language to communicate when they want to.Scrivener (2005, 147) claims that there seems to be some difficulty in moving language from passive knowledge into active usage. Without experience in using the language, lea rners may tend to be nervous about trying to say things. Partly they may fear seeming foolish in front of others, they may worry about getting things wrong they may want to avoid teacher’s comments or correction and so on. It takes quite a long time for some students to express themselves, which leads to long embarrassing pauses while learners are trying to find out how to say what they really want to say.One of the best ways of helping learners to activate their knowledge is to put them in â€Å"safe† situations in class where they are inspired and encouraged to try to speak a foreign language. Teachers should try to create such activities in which learners feel less worried about speaking and less under pressure. Nevertheless, the teacher is not the only one whom the students’ success in speaking is based on. There are also motivational factors, differing from student to student, which influence his progress in the spoken language. Harmer (1991, 4-6) distingui shes extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.He claims that students? attitude to speaking the language may be affected by different factors from the outside, such as people in close surroundings, previous speaking experience in a foreign language or the job opportunities offered after mastering foreign language communication. All of these represent extrinsic motivation. Although extrinsic motivation is nowadays a driving force for most students, without intrinsic motivation no goal in improving the speaking skill could be achieved. Success is also based on students? willingness to learn to speak a foreign language, which may be influenced by the teacher? methods used in teaching communication and, above all, his or her personality. Considering these, teachers should realize how important role they play in encouraging the students to learn to speak a foreign language. Students’ personalities also play an important role in determining how quickly and correctly they will manage a sp eaking task. Those students who are risk-takers, unafraid of making mistakes, are generally more talkative but usually make many errors. Those who are shy may take a long time to speak confidently, but when they finally manage it, their English contains fewer errors.The aim of both types of students is the same, indeed – to use the language correctly and fluently. To achieve this goal the teachers should try as much as they can to break the silence in the classroom and get the students speak no matter how many mistakes they make or how long it takes them to produce sentences. In order to decrease shyness while speaking in front of the whole class, students may be offered the opportunity to work in groups or pairs, which is a suitable approach for enhancing the active language use. Harmer (1991, 7-9) points out different motivational factors depending on the age and level of the students.Children’s and adolescents’ motivation to speak a foreign language is irrele vant for the purpose of my thesis because, as mentioned above, I deal with adult English learners and their motivational needs for a foreign language communication are substantially different from the others. I concentrate on intermediate students who represent the majority in my classes. Their English is good at this stage but they are motivated by a primary goal of achieving a more advanced level of the language. They already know a lot and are able to have a conversation about every day matters but sometimes there might occur some problems.One of them is often the feeling that they are flooded with the new complexity of the language and cannot cope with it. Teachers, when having found this out, should focus on building up the knowledge students already have and assure them they can speak the language well enough to understand and be understood. Ur (1991, 274-280) declares that â€Å"motivation is very strongly related to achievement in language learning. † This statement r esults from teaching practice showing that eager learners willing to invest effort in speaking activities are likely to make greater progress.On the contrary, those sitting silently at the desk without desire to be involved in any kind of speaking activity, may find themselves stuck to be able to improve their speaking skill. Having noticed this, teachers should encourage low-motivated students to develop the interest in communicative activities. Ur (1991, 281) describes some strategies to enhance students’ motivation to speak in a lesson. The principal one is selecting the topic carefully to make it as interesting for students as possible. If the teacher’s choice fails in the class, there should be no panic or embarrassment.The possible solution to this situation may be asking the students to vote for a topic they would be interested in talking about. Varied tasks are also suggested for a successful and efficient speaking lesson as well as using visuals to enhance stu dents’ motivation to speak. Average pictures copied from different sorts of textbooks and workbooks do not encourage adult learners to speak anymore. Based on my teaching experience, adult learners prefer to be set into real situations, dealing with real and current news items concerning today’s world and society.To satisfy students’ expectations, teachers should be supplied with sufficient amount of authentic materials, such as newspapers and magazines. The speaking tasks could be based on describing the photos to each other and guessing the place in the world where the action has happened. Connection between the picture and reality makes it even more tempting for students to express their points of view to a particular event and, at the same time, the teacher’s goal is achieved as well – getting students to speak and communicate with each other. 2. 1. 4 Accuracy versus fluencyAccuracy and fluency are terms characteristic for a successful and fecu nd conversation. Scrivener (2005, 160-162) declares that accuracy is the ability to speak correctly without making serious mistakes and therefore a greater use of instant teacher's correction within a speaking activity is appropriate. On the contrary, fluency is the ability to speak confidently without irrelevant pauses or hesitation, however, often with making major mistakes. In this case, instant correction may be inappropriate and could interfere with the aims of the speaking activity. Teachers should be aware f whether their main goal in a speaking activity is accuracy or fluency and adapt their role in class eligibly. If the main aim is to get students to speak, then one way to achieve that would be reducing teacher? s contribution. It is supposed that the less he or she speaks, the more time and space it will allow the students to. If the main aim is accuracy, the teacher should concentrate on students? mistakes and devote time to their correction. However important speaking w ithout mistakes is, a promoted trend at present seems to be to lead students to a fluent conversation in every day situations.Taking this into consideration, this approach best fits the needs of today? s society which is based on fast exchanges of information. Nevertheless, it would be injudicious to qualify accuracy as less important in communication and underestimate its importance. It is also essential for the ability to speak a foreign language well. 2. 1. 5 Correcting students’ mistakes Fluency Activities In a fluency activity the teacher is expected to monitor the class and encourage the students to speak with minimum interfering and correction. This technique is called scaffolding.Scrivener (2005, 162) states that â€Å"it is a way a competent language speaker helps a less competent one to communicate by encouraging and providing possible elements of conversation. † In practice it means to encourage the weaker one by nodding, eye contact, repeating the last word in order to encourage the speaker to continue, asking tag questions, etc. The aim of this encouragement is to make a student speak as much as he or she is able to. Considering a fluent activity, correcting the mistakes should be done after finishing this activity. Suggested techniques are the following: ) writing the sentences used during the activity on the board and discussing them with the whole class b) writing incorrect sentences used during the activity on the board and encouraging the students to make correction c) inventing and writing down the story that includes some errors the teacher overheard during the activity and students try to find them and correct them d) writing out two lists A and B – each list contains ten sentences from the activity but some of them are correct, some of them incorrect. Students work in two groups and their task is to decide if the sentences are either correct or incorrect and why Accuracy ActivitiesIn an accuracy based activity the tea cher is required to correct students? mistakes whenever possible. While practising accuracy, students become aware of their own mistakes in speaking straight away because the teacher does not wait until finishing the task. This approach is suitable while focusing on grammar mainly and enables the students to realize and correct their mistakes and also prevent their recurrence. 1. 2 COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES Every speaking lesson should be based on communicative activities which fulfil two important language learning needs.They encourage the learners to acquire language knowledge and prepare them for real-life language use. Achieving the outcome requires the participants to interact, which means not only speak with a person but also listen to what he or she is saying and react to it. 2. 1. 6 Importance of pair work and group work Pair work and group work present ways of organizing the class while teaching speaking. The teacher? s responsibility is to choose a suitable communicative ac tivity depending on what is going to be practised – either fluency or accuracy – and organize the students into pairs or groups.In some activities such as role plays and guessing games, pair work is essential. On the other hand, discussions and debates require group work and enable the students to express their opinions on a given topic within the group. After that, the spokesman of each group notifies the rest of the class about the conclusion they have reached. This may lead to a following discussion among groups and if the topic is amusing, the speaking lesson seems to be enjoyable for both students and the teacher, too. Advantages of pair and group workThere are many reasons for pair and group work to be used in the lessons. First of all, they provide the students with a lot more practice than working as a whole class. Students also feel more comfortable to speak to one or two people rather than the whole class and the teacher. Moreover, speaking to just a few peop le is closer to real-life situations. Pair and group work allows each student to work at the pace of his or her small group or pair. The teacher is no more considered the only source of information but the students learn from each other.This creates opportunities for learners? knowledge to be shared. In order to be successful, learners need to become accustomed to using English without the teacher? s permanent support. Therefore, working in pairs or groups helps them to build up their independence and confidence for further conversations. The advantages of pair and group work can be noticeable not only from the learner? s but also the teacher’s point of view. It provides the teacher with more time to work with weaker students and encourage them, by participating in a role play or discussion, to communicate.Teachers can also benefit from a great availableness of different communicative activities being offered in bookshops and on the internet nowadays. The variety of materials for pair or group work speaking practice is praised by most of them and their use has proved to be very efficient for speaking skill improvement. Slight disadvantages of pair and group work However efficient and useful pair and group work is, it may sometimes cause little problems while practising speaking. According to Doff (1989, 141) the noise belongs to these obstacles the teachers have to overcome during lessons.Usually the students themselves are not disturbed by the noise, it is more noticeable to the teacher observing pairs or groups. However, the noise created by pair and group work demonstrates learners? engagement in a speaking task and gives the teacher visual evidence of students? involvement. Considering this, the success in working in pairs or groups depends mainly on the students? and the teacher’s approach. Another fact Doff (1989, 141) mentions is the difficulty to control the whole class during a communicative activity.To stop activity getting out of contr ol, it is important to give the students clear instructions, define the speaking task clearly and set up a routine, so that students accept the idea of working in pairs or groups and know exactly what to do. 2. 1. 7 The role of a teacher in communicative activities The teacher is a facilitator of students? learning and as such he has many roles to fulfill. Freeman (1986, 131) describes him as a manager of classroom activities. In this role, one of his major responsibilities is to set up activities that promote communication.During the communicative activities he acts as a consultant answering students? questions, offers advice and provides necessary language items. One of the most important roles is to make sure that students know what they are supposed to practise and check if they do it effectively. These roles are called a conductor and a monitor. Although there is a great number of various activities which may be used in speaking lessons, their use would be confusing and pointle ss if they would not be logically organised. Being a good organiser should be an ability possessed by every skillful teacher.Considering the facts mentioned above we can conclude that the teacher? s personality in a learning process is very important not only while participating in the activity but also while monitoring the students. The teacher? s less dominant role in communicative activities offers the students the opportunity to be involved in conversation and improve their speaking skills to be able to cope with the real-life situations. * 3: CONCLUSION In my thesis I tried to deal with speaking as one of four basic skills and highlight its importance in everyday situations.My aim was to distinguish speaking and conversation since these terms are commonly used but often get mixed up. I pointed out that conversation plays a crucial role in our lives and without it we would not be able to exchange the information and share our knowledge. I also dealt with motivation as an essenti al factor for language learners and classified its types – extrinsic and intrinsic, with the emphasis on the teacher? s personality which influences the students? willingness to participate actively in the learning process.I mentioned native speakers as a great source for our teaching practice and described the ways they may encourage the students to carry on studying a foreign language. To feel confident while learning to speak a foreign language, the students are supposed to be put in a „safe environmentâ€Å". This prevents them from embarrassement or anxiety when they are asked to express themselves. I tried to explain this term and suggested possible ways to decrease students? concern about speaking. Due to students? different personalities and also abilities to speak a foreign language, I dealt with pair work and group work as the ways of organizing the class.I mentioned the advantages of this kind of work, especially reducing tension in class, creating a pleasan t atmosphere and building up students? independence and confidence. Pair work was evaluated as more useful since it is closer to real-life situations and dealing with them is the main aim that the students are heading for. Another area I focused on, were communicative activities and their categorization : information gap activities, discussions, role plays, simulations and guessing games. I characterized them and evaluated the interaction they offer to prepare students for real-life language use.In connection with them, I dealt with terms accuracy and fluency and explained the importance of distinguishing them due to teacher? s objective within the lesson. I introduced different techniques for correcting mistakes in either accuracy or fluency communicative activities and also described the roles of a teacher and requirements which he or she has to fulfil to manage the roles successfully. By means of this thesis I realized how important it is for the teacher to have a great amount of information concerning teaching speaking to be able to provide the students with efficient conversational lessons.The methodology literature I was reading through enabled me to have a look at a speaking skill from a different point of view and think about this issue more deeply. All the theoretical information I gained from this literature was used in the practical part of my thesis. Based on that, I reached several findings. One of them was realizing how important role motivation plays in the learning process. It was proved that students? progress in speaking a foreign language depends on motivation and encouragement from their teachers.I found out that if there are no stimulating factors and the students are not motivated, it leads to boredom in class. To prevent this, entertaining communicative activities and interesting topics proved to be very useful and effective. Another fact which I found reasonable while evaluating presented activities, was distinguishing them according to the teacher? s objective. The fluency activities proved to be essential while practising fluent conversation to prepare students for the real world. On the other hand, the accuracy ctivities focused on grammar and due to them the students were given the opportunity to practise the correct use of foreign language. Since using various types of communicative activities proved very beneficial in my classes, I would like to recommend them to all teachers whose aim is to improve their students? communicative skills. 4: Recommendation 1. Living through a situation and finding to use the language as a compelling force always helps in acquiring a sound language habit. Can be teacher of English devise such situations when it is the second or the third language to learn?.It is not uncommon to find that the child even when he is at play he uses the new sounds as he hears them being used by other children in his play groups, without even knowing what each sound or word means. In a very short ti me he has learnt the meanings of the words by using them in the right place at the right moment. 2. Meaning of words must be allowed to be explored and they are learnt and remembered better. Equivalents, if used, often weaken the impression of the new word and thus tend to damage pupils interest in learning a language. Certain though around a great deal of difficulty stimulators learning.It must be guaranteed that the living personality of the teacher makes use of new word in all kinds of contexts and situations. 3. The proper plan is to adopt new sounds, words and structure patterns into well designed course which ensures gradual yet through repetition so that correct forms, construction are established in the mental habits of the pupils. Pupils should not have a free choice of grammatical form and structure. * * * * * * * * * * 5: References 1. Harmer, J. (1991). The practice of english language teaching. Essex:Longman, 296p. , ISBN:0-582- 046564 1. Scrivener, J. (2005).Learning t eaching. Oxford:Macmillan Publishers Lim, 431p. , ISBN:1- 4050- 1399- 0 2. Ur, P. (1991). A course in language teaching. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 375p. , ISBN:0-521-44994-4 3. Thornbury, S. (2005). How to teach speaking. Essex:Pearson Education Limited, 156p. , ISBN:0-582-85359-1 4. Littlewood, W. (1994). Communicative language teaching. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 108p. , ISBN:0-521-28154-7 5. Celce, M. M. (2001). Teaching english as a second or foreign language. Boston:Heinle;Heinle, 584p. , ISBN:0-8384-1992-5 6. Ladousse, G. (1987). Role play.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 182p. , ISBN: 0-1943-7095 7. Doff, A. (1989). Teaching english. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 286p. , ISBN: 0-521-348641 8. Freeman, D. (1986). Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 142p. , ISBN: 0-1943-4133 9. Nolasco, R ; Arthur, L. (1987). Conversation. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 150p. , ISBN: 0-19-437096-8 10. Hadfield, J. ( 1990). Intermediate communication games. Essex: Jill Hadfield, 105p. , ISBN: 0-17-555872-8