Lack of Nationalism and Patriotism of the Filipino Youth Today Essay

â€Å"Lack of Nationalism and Patriotism of the Filipino Youth Today† Nationalism and patriotism both show the relationship of an individual towards his or her nation. The two are often confused and frequently believed to mean the same thing. However, we have lost that sense of nationhood particularly among youth. It wasn’t long time ago when young people here, loved to die for their country. The evident reasons were patriotism and love in their souls for their motherland. But the situation is not so now. Nowadays, if you ask them to die for their country, believe it or not, they either will slap you or laugh out loud at you, thinking it as a frivolous roguery, you are trying to pull at them. Many wonder, if there is a foremost problem, then there must be a solution to it, education reformation, globalization awareness and westernization regulation. Modern education is a major influence for such a situation because the subsequent generation was never taught of patriotic acts and sacrifices of people for their country which resulted in lack of inspiration and moral education also wasn’t encouraged as it should have been. Young people were taught to be self-independent and to only ponder on their well-being. Movies and songs also stopped showing patriotism and partisanship and started making them believe in fantasies, driving them apart from veracity. These are the few reasons why the present generation is devoid of patriotism. I believe that the Department of Education should give also importance on how nationalism be engraved to Filipino youth. Globalization describes the processes by which economies, societies and cultures have become integrated through communication, transportation and technology. It is a new form of culture that knows no boundaries and is spreading globally which is quite alarming. Youth tends to be blind about the process of globalization in our country. For me, having knowledge about social culture is such a big count for patriotism. Westernization is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, law, politics, economics, lifestyle, diet, clothing, language, alphabet, religion, philosophy, and values. This particular process plays a big role in lack of nationalism of the Filipino youth today. Idolizing Korean-pop, adulating  imported products and simulating foreign fashions are the norms. In this case, parents and teachers or authorities must not tolerate those actions. They should be the first to encourage youth about nationalism and patriotism. The nation built by today’s youth will be the nation they pass along to their own children. If young people today wish their children to have an America of freedom, the young people of today must protect and defend that freedom by supporting our country’s greatness and working to make her ever better. The youth of today owe a debt to those of the past who sacrificed, worked hard, and even died to build us a free nation. To keep faith with those who have gone before and upon whose toil and sacrifice the nation was built, youth need to show patriotism. Through education reformation, globalization awareness and westernization regulation, nationalism and patriotism will not be lost among Filipino youth.

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Coordinate Algebra Review Test 1 Multiple Choice Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. ____1. Which equation represents the relationship â€Å"3 more than a number is 7? † a. | | b. | | c. | | d. | | ____2. A parking lot holds 42 cars. There are 26 cars in the lot already. Which inequality can be solved to show all the numbers of cars c that can still park in the lot? a. | | c. | | b. | | d. | | ____3. Leroy works part time for a moving company. One day he had to move 34 boxes from a truck to inside a house.After moving some boxes, he took a break and told his boss that he has only 15 more boxes to move. Which equation can be solved to find how many boxes Leroy moved before his break? a. | | c. | | b. | | d. | | ____4. A rectangle with an area of has a length that is 4 times the width. What is the width? (Round your answer to the nearest tenth. ) a. | 5. 6 cm| c. | 22. 3 cm| b. | 11. 1 cm| d. | 44. 5 cm| ____5. The area of the rectangle shown is more than 72 square inches. Which inequality can be used to find x? a. | | b. | | c. | | d. | | ____6.The maximum capacity of a theater is 471 people. So far, 254 people are seated in the theater. Which inequality can be solved to show the number of people p that can still enter the theater? a. | | c. | | b. | | d. | | ____7. A total of d dollars was donated to 4 charities. Each charity received $375. Which equation can be solved to find the total amount of money donated? a. | | c. | | b. | | d. | | Short Answer 1. Citizens less than 18 years old are not allowed to vote. Define a variable and write an inequality for the ages of citizens who are not allowed to vote.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Advanced Academic Writing The wide attention of critics to Hemingway â€Å"Indian Camp† can be attributed in compare two secondary sources: â€Å"Hemingway Primitivism and Indian Camp† by Jeffrey Meyers, and â€Å"Dangerous Families and Intimate Harm in Hemingway Indian Camp† by Lisa Tyler. Both Meyers and Tyler explore the theme of masculinity and Hemingway biography. The story introduces the theme of masculinity in the context of giving birth in anIndian camp. Although childbirth typically concern women, Hemingway turns it into a male-dominated situation and shifts the focus to DRP. Adams, who performs a Cesarean operation, and to the husband's suicide. Both Tyler and Meyers examine this masculine focus of a typically female endeavor-?childbirth. Tyler refers to DRP. Adams role as the person who passes on values and shape perceptions of masculinity and especially how to respond to a women suffering to his son- Nick.Meyers, on the other hand, refers to the India n husband who feels responsible for the male sexual behavior during the birthing that contaminates his wife and â€Å"cannot bear this defilement of his wife's purity â€Å", therefore follows his primitive values and customs and â€Å"punishes himself for the violation of taboo†. Both secondary sources cite Hemingway biography. Tyler uses Hemingway biography in order to demonstrate how Hemingway own relationship with his father extends to the interactions between Nick Adams and his father. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Classic Theology vs. The Contemporary Case Study

Classic Theology vs. The Contemporary - Case Study Example His judgment of people is conditioned on his â€Å"changeless purpose concerning sin and conversion.   The scriptural embodiment of the doctrine of immutability is probably captured best in 1 Samuel 15:29 (RSV) where it is written, â€Å"And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.† The scriptural basis of the doctrine of Immutability is fully developed with numerous citations and succinct specificity to unchangeableness that enlightens the doctrine. Scriptures offer confirmation that God is not mortal with the qualities of lying or a changeableness of mind (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29). There is a timelessness, unchanging quality to God in a time-dependent, changing world (Psalm 102:26). The promises of God are of an eternal nature not capriciously offered to people (Psalm 110:4; Isaiah 31:2). His steadfastness is apparent in his constancy of presence and love (Isaiah 40:28). The final book of the English Old Testament rings with the words of Malachi in Chapter 3, verse 6 (RSV), â€Å"For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.† The New Testament has few direct citations regarding changeableness. God’s unchangeable nature is restated for these readers in a new context (Hebrews 1:11; 7:21). While scripture offers examples that can be interpreted to show a disparity in whether God has a changeable nature, the major points of consideration would be that the New Testament offers no distinct contradiction to the attribute of God’s unchangeableness. A modern reformulation of the classic doctrine of immutability has been penned by James Packer. God is simple (that is, totally integrated), perfect and immutable. These words affirm that he is wholly and entirely involved in everything that he is and does and that his nature, goals, and ways of acting do not change, either for the better (being perfect, he cannot become better) or for the worse. His i mmutability is not the changelessness of an eternally frozen pose, but the moral consistency that holds him to his own principles of action and leads him to deal differently with those who change their own behavior towards him. †¢ Would you agree more with Vanhoozer or Nygren on this issue? Why? No, They state, â€Å"†¦from Plato, Aristotle, and the subsequent Hellenistic tradition, the church arrived at the notion that God was altogether unmoved, impassible, immutable, nontemporal and purely actual.† Open theists uniformly teach that the church fathers were so influenced by Greek philosophy when they formulated their theology, that the church’s historical and theological understanding of God reflects a more philosophical understanding than a biblical one. Carl Henry rightfully noted, â€Å"It is true that medieval theologians were aware of the teaching of certain Greek philosophers in discussing God’s immutability.

Ethical issues with the artificial intelligence of computers Research Paper

Ethical issues with the artificial intelligence of computers - Research Paper Example Additionally, to the level that ethics is a rational recreation, the artificial intelligence could easily outstrip human beings in the value of its ethical thinking. Therefore, it is the role of the AI designer to cite its initial motivation. Since the artificial intelligence may turn out to be inevitably influential due to its intellectual power and the technologies it could invent, it is should be provided with people friendly motivations. Discussion Artificial intelligence of the computer is a computer science field responsible for inventing machines that can participate in intelligent attributes. The capacity to invent intelligent devices has intrigued people since the traditional times, and currently with the creation of the computer, and several decades of study in the artificial intelligence programming techniques, the vision of intelligent devices are becoming a reality, (Poole & Mackworth, 2010). Additionally, researchers are inventing intelligent systems that can impersonat e human thought, comprehend speech, outstrip the most intelligent human chess player and various other innovations never before possible. With these significant creations of artificial intelligence computers or machines, fascinating concerns have emerged. For instance, computer scientists, sociologists, psychologists and anthropologists are concerned about the future and ethical implications of these advanced creations. Emerging concerns includes, first, will the value of human life advance with development of artificial intelligence or not? What are possible ethical implications of artificial intelligence of computers? Finally, what beneficial types of artificial intelligence should be invented and how they are applied? This paper seeks to investigate and provide solutions to these concerns. Artificial intelligence of computers seeks to enhance and promote the value of human life. Various positive results in the modern society can emanate with the utilization of artificial intellig ence. For instance, intensive production and indirect reduced costs of production are evident in factories, industries and production lines. Operations better suited for machines have reduced errors and enhanced efficiency, for instance, the capacity to detect fraud and credit, (Berlatsky, 2011). Additionally, American Express and other institutions have invented an authoritarian assistant, which utilizes artificial intelligence to assess whether; a transaction is short of character for a card code. The authority assistant system is highly accurate compared to manual system, and it saves more time. Also, this and various, infinite other opportunities exist for employing artificial intelligence of devices to enhance efficiency. Artificial intelligence systems are being utilized to substitute human efforts in dangerous conditions. Artificial intelligence can withstand radioactive aspects and operate efficiently in conditions where there is restricted space and inadequate oxygen to inh ale. This alternative will alleviate unwarranted life losses because of possible accidents and unsecure conditions. In addition, artificial intelligence seeks to enhance the lives of old people. Experts agree that due to human demand to participate in their work, the attention and care for old people at home has declined, and the percentage requiring nursing attention has

Weka programme Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Weka programme - Essay Example It is a free software issues under GNU General Public License. Weka stands for Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis. It is the software which allows businesses to extract useful information out of large databases. This is the process of data mining which is a field that analyzes large sets of data and discovers patterns and methods for the management, processing, and inference considerations of the data. Weka software offers businesses a collection of learning tools and schemes that may be used for data mining (Witten, 2011, p. 132). There are four applications in the program which are accessible; these are Explorer, Experimenter, KnowledgeFlow, and Simple CLI. The first section of the software is to open the database or the dataset and make the edits as the user wishes. These edits include the filtering of data contents, changing of attributes, and visualizing the result in a bar chart. The available data can also be classified according to the set of rules which are predefined and can perform a complete analysis of cost-benefit that would display automatically the threshold curve and the cost matrix (Witten, 2011, p. 132). Moreover, the program also has many tools for the data clustering, attributes evaluator, and association rules. In addition, businesses also use it for the data plotting allowing the user to view and analyze the point graphs individually for each possible attribute combination. Businesses also use the weka programme as it is suitable for the development of new machine learning schemes. The user simply has to configure the experiment by choosing the type: classification or regression. Then the desired data set and algorithm has to be chosen and then it is ready to be run. The results of this procedure can be saved in CSV format or ARFF or as JDBC database. A data file can also be analyzed or tested through the program as it allows the user to choose the comparison field and the sorting criteria on

Non-current assets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Non-current assets - Essay Example The paper will look at two standards by the IAS, which are the IAS 16 and IAS 38 regarding non-current assets. This paper attempts to analyze the standards that IAS sets regarding accounting of non-current assets. It sets these guidelines on how organizations and companies should handle both tangible and intangible non-current assets. IAS is responsible for setting international auditing standards so that they act as guidelines for auditors and accountants to follow regarding non-current assets (Kirk, 234). Each part in the accounting profession has its own standards as a guide on how to handle it. For instance, handling plant and machinery under IAS 16 is different from dealing with intangible non-current assets under IAS 38. This creates a form of independence when dealing with various aspects in the accounting process. IAS standards on Property, plant, and equipment IAS 16 defines handling of property, plant and equipment which is different from IAS 38 which defines handling of in tangible assets in financial statements. Property, plant and equipment are all fixed tangible assets; therefore, adoption of a common method when dealing with them in the accounting process. ... The first guideline is their initial measurement which entails the initial cost and all other cost necessary to make the assets ready for use. It also includes capitalization of interest costs. The other step is the subsequent measurement of the fixed assets which entails depreciation and disposal of assets (Kirk, 234). The rule of Impairment and disposing of the assets indicates how to dispose of such assets in terms of the guidelines. Accounting standards regarding these three assets provides a guideline on how to classify long-lived assets that are held for sale and those held for use. Long-lived assets that are meant to be held for sale do not depreciate; therefore, their presentation should be separate. They should be placed separately in a statement of financial position. This is because they are not in the business for use, rather they are for sale; hence, their selling price does not fall. The accounting standards provide rules and formula regarding how to measure this type o f fixed assets (Kirk, 250). The other guideline regarding plant, property and equipment is the discontinued operations for those assets held for sale and those held for use. The impairment test and recoverability test give rules regarding recoverability of fixed assets and those that are not recoverable. There are also rules on the impairment loss on plant, property and equipment under the accounting standards. The standards provide for impairment loss that can be reversed, and that is unversed. This indicates how these types of losses are recognized when preparing financial statement (Alexander, 359). The standards also give conditions on when such losses cannot be reversed, for instance in situations where there is an increase in the fair value of plant,

Health Beliefs of Haitians Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Health Beliefs of Haitians - Essay Example Always when a Haitian becomes ill, the first line of care is home herbal remedies. These are often utilized for the prevention and treatment of cold, fever, and stomach aches. Traditional treatments are passed on from generation to generation. It is difficult for them to accept Western approaches such as vaccination and cancer screening as they feel the treatment may make them ill and they have no prevention against it. Haitians believe that pain affects the whole body system and because of that they are frequently not able to tell you where the pain comes from. They also may come to the physicians office and be very vague about what is wrong with them because they see everything as the same (Salisbury.edu), either natural or supernatural. All deformities are considered brought on by an evil spirit. Haitians who have a chronic illness are cared for by family and friends, they seldom go to a nursing home. If they get to return home they will pay the spirits back by having a Thanksgiving ritual. Haitians also believe that a wheelchair means they are very sick and they will misunderstand if it is offered. Haitians do not talk about organ donation, nor do they believe in organ transplant. Pre-natal care is not an illness so there are most likely no prenatal care visits and it may be very difficult. Practitioners Most of the lower class in Haiti believes in Voodoo and that comprises about 85% of the population. They do practice Christian beliefs at the same time. There, according to the Haitians is not only a visible world but a spiritual world. The spirits of the deceased make up both good and bad spirits. Usually when there is an illness the Haitian goes to see the Hougan who is able to be a conduit to the Loas and provide a cure. If the patient has visited the Hougan several times and is not better, they may be referred on to the physician (Miller, 2000). If a patient is in the hospital here in the United States, they may want to go back to Haiti to see a Hougan, especially is they are not getting better. Physicians within the community of practitioners to treat Haitians must do what they can to understand the cultural significance of many of these beliefs in order to get screening and preventive care done. Chronicity and Psychiatry The role of the supernatural is very much a part of Haitian society. They feel that chronic illness as well as psychiatric illness is caused by the supernatural. Depression, psychosis, inability to perform activities of daily living and academic underachievement may often be seen as a curse or a spell placed on them. They often feel that this happens because they did not work hard enough of did not do something they should have done (Astrid & Shiela, 2002) and didn't. They may feel they were lazy or that someone had a grudge and put a spell on them through an evil spirit. Patients who are chronically ill are usually cared for at home by family and friends: nursing homes are almost never used. It should be remembered also that offering a Haitian a wheelchair is the same as telling they are very ill and may not get better (Salisbury.edu) In actuality, the Haitians deal with many chronic illnesses due

LT ASSIGNMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

LT ASSIGNMENT - Essay Example Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the nature of motivation; whether one is born with it or not, and exploring some factors that lead to demotivation of individuals (Ryan, 2012). Motivation is an attribute that a person can have or lack. Basically, some form of motivation is inborn which is refered to intrinsic type of motivation. This type assumes that each and everybody is born with certain aspects of performance. Motivation that a person is born with can be hereditary. People born motivated excel because they do the things they are passionate about. From that point, things take off. On the contrary, not everyone is born motivated or possessing the selfdrive nature. However, the greatest attribute to motivation is one of extrinsic value which results from external factors. This can be referred to as the main argument in motivation. The way a person is brought up determines the character of that individual. It implies that the greatest boost to motivation is inherited from the environment because it offers an opportunity. On other hand, past experiences make people to become sensitive about opportunities and hence they acknowledge and accept them (Ryan, 201 2). On the contrary, people can become demotivated. Sometimes, when an individual lacks to achieve a specific set goal and they had paid full attention into accomplishing it, the result is demotivation. Failure makes some people to give up and lose their motivation. However, failure to some people acts as a form of motivation to work even harder to achieve success. Furthermore, poor performance can lead to demotivation as well as lack of trust say in leadership in a work place (Ryan, 2012). In conclusion, motivation is the desire to achieve while demotivation is the lack of selfdrive nature. Some people can be born with motivation while others cannot. However, the biggest contributor of motivation is learned. On the

Compare and Contrast Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country and Chinua Essay

Compare and Contrast Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country and Chinua Achebe's Thing's Fall Apart - Essay Example Achebe’s narrative signals the first indicator of tribal decline in Africa, exploited by the white colonisers to exert power in their expanding empire. The death toll of tribal life in Africa in Things Fall Apart symbolises the human predisposition towards conflict as the ethnic tensions are replaced with the tensions between the whites and blacks. In contrast, Cry, the Beloved Country takes the reader forward, highlighting the predicament of native blacks under white rule, where the funeral for tribal life prophesised in Things Fall Apart is now a reality, symbolised by the theme of human loss. The industrialisation of Africa and separation of families brought about by white rule is highlighted through the Kumalo’s journey as central protagonist in Cry. Pastor Kumalo loses a brother to the city and his brother in law to the mines. Furthermore, Kumalo’s sister disappears when she goes to the city. Through contrasting perspectives both novels utilise the conflicts between the white rulers and black natives to portray a deeper themes of the complex cycle of human conflict; its resultant impact on the family nucleus and the human need for connection and family relationships particularly driven by loss and fear. Analysed in conjunction, the contrasting spectrums at which both Paton and Achebe begin their narrative effectively takes the reader through the beginning of colonial policies in Things Fall Apart, to the practical impact of white rule in Cry, the Beloved Country. The focus of this analysis is to evaluate through a comparative analysis the authors’ depictions of the conflicts between the white colonisers and the native blacks and consider which, if any depicts the predicament most sympathetically. It is submitted at the outset that both whilst both works are undoubtedly important in highlighting the

Summary of an article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Summary of an article - Essay Example In his article, Tiebout stresses that this concern is different if the governments can â€Å"provide goods to citizens who can move to distinct communities† (Stoddard n.p.). The rationale is that if the people are confronted with a collection of communities that afford various kinds or levels of goods or services, then the people will be placed in a framework wherein they are able to choose communities that best serve their interests. This is a potential resolution to this â€Å"free ride problem† as citizens will be given options based on their capacity to take on tax burdens: citizens with high demands for public goods may choose to focus on communities that provide the corresponding levels of services and taxes. On the other hand, those who could not afford high levels of services and taxes may choose to concentrate on communities has low demands. The gist of this potential intervention, according to Tiebout, is to ensure that every citizen get their fair share of pu blic goods and services. Tiebout believes that Samuelson’s article largely focused on the public goods at the central level. He observes that while Samuelson and Musgrave claimed that public good provision can be optimal, this can only exist if the citizens express their true preferences through voting. Nevertheless, in reality, this is not what is happening: citizens are devaluing their preferences and demands in order to preclude high taxes. He identifies that this model merely presumes that provision of public goods can only be carried out by central governments. Tiebout balks with this idea and resorts to local governments. He comes up with a model that considers local governments as providers of public goods. He proposes that local governments, like central governments, generate a parcel of public goods. Tiebout believes that local governments can provide optimum public

Fashion for a cause Essay Example for Free

Fashion for a cause Essay Having a ribbon on your outfit to support a cause is a thing of past. Today a brand needs to be more deeply involved with different social causes as well as provide us with fashionable clothes. But what is the primary motivation for a buyer in this scenario? Does he buy such products because he wants to support the social cause behind it or because of the product itself and the brand name it carries? Is it just a onetime buy? Is the consumer completely aware about the social concern the product is working for? Are the Indian customers ready to adopt such brands? Objectives 1. To understand if there is a direct relationship between the social concern factor and the brand equity of the product. 2. To know the primary motivation of the buyer of such brands. 3. To check the brand loyalty of these consumers for such brands. 4. To check if the consumers are aware of the social concern around which the product is being promoted. 5. To check if the consumers in India are ready to adopt such social brands. 2 CHAPTER 2 3 Review of Literature (Fernandez, 2013) ‘It is not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving,’ wise words by Mother Teresa. In today’s world that is fuelled by money, it is endearing to find people who try to fuel the world with love and so, it is in this nature that companies have started to verge toward campaigns themed with more ‘selfless giving‘. In the past few years there have been a trend towards various noble causes: charity events, concerts, and other philanthropic endeavours brought about by various companies in a number of industries. There are also a wide a number of advocacies that include: AIDS, HIV, cancer, global warming, gay rights, and many others, in need of charitable donations. And while the whole idea of fashion-brands-going-the-extra-mile-for-a-better-cause may give us the warm feeling and a restored faith in humanity, there is still that quiet looming reminder that in the world of business, nothing comes free. (Times of India, 2013) Fashion may be used to promote a cause, for example, to promote healthy behaviour, to raise money for a cancer cure, to raise money for local charities, for example a Juvenile Protective Association, (Martin, 2013) or to raise donations for a childrens hospitals. (Sultan, 2011) â€Å"Most people do not take the time to donate to the charities yet a small donation can make a very big difference in another persons life. The most important aspect of donating to charity is the fact that you will be helping out a needy person get basic human necessities improving a life in the process. † In today’s busy life not many people take out time to make donations and do charity work but everyone has time to buy new clothes and if buying these clothes can help someone in need wouldn’t that be worth it? (Singh, 2013) â€Å"The global appeal and charitable nature of stores like Being Human not only gives a unique shopping experience to the customers, but also gives them satisfaction of doing good. † The idea of following a film star always appeals to the masses. (Khan, 2013) â€Å"All fashion labels are about looking good, Being Human is also about doing good. † (Beig, 2013) â€Å"Wearing Being Human means you ‘look good, do good’ because you help people by the simple act of slipping on your clothes every day. † (Mandhana, 2013) â€Å"The ‘Being Human’ line is designed to offer comfort, quality and style while supporting an endeavour of good cause. † (Chase, 2009) In a study of how a clothing brands affiliation with a social cause would affect buyers spending habits the research team conducted a survey of Generation Y college students to find out how their support of an existing line of apparel, 7 For All Mankind, might change should the brand begin campaigning with, say, Breast Cancer Awareness. The study reported that both college men and women would hold such brands to a higher esteem in general, and 89% would likely switch from Brand A to Brand B if Brand B was associated with a socially/environmentally focused cause (assuming price and quality are held constant). Additionally, 72. 4% stated they had intentionally purchased a brand name product due to the fact that the brand was affiliated with a cause they agreed with. 4 (Markson, 2012) Purpose is being integrated into marketing efforts in more concerted ways and with favourable consumer response. According to Markson, the marketing world is coming to an understanding that purpose must carry as much weight in crafting an effective ad campaign as the traditional Four Ps of Marketing: Price, Placement, Product and Promotion. In the United States, after quality and price, social purpose (at 47 percent) ranks higher as a purchase motivator than brand loyalty (27 percent) and design and innovation (26 percent). In addition, if a brand of similar quality supports a good cause, 75 percent of consumers claim they would buy it and 76 percent claim they would recommend and share positive experiences about such a brand. Sixty-two percent of U. S. consumers say they would also switch brands if a brand of similar quality supported a good cause. Finally, U. S. consumers willingness to actually promote a brand that supports a good cause jumped 19 percent from 2008 (47 percent) to 2010 (66 percent). (Barkley Cause Survey, 2010) A full 88 percent of American men say it is important for a brand to support a cause. Such a finding points to a new masculine ideal taking hold, an evolution beyond the bad-boy tough guy ideal. American men are comfortable with having a good heart. Maybe they dont want to wear it on their sleeve. But they do want to contribute through their purchases, and in fact a majority demands it, 55 percent of men said they would switch brands from a company that did not support a cause to one that did. (Storm, 2013) Fashion is fun, but sometimes it’s more than that. Certain brands answer to a higher calling than simply making shoppers look fabulous and consumers seem willing to pay extra for it. According to Nielsen’s Global Corporate Citizenship Survey, 46 percent of consumers are willing to pay more for products and services from companies that give back to society. (Nielsen, 2012) New findings from a Nielsen survey of more than 28,000 online respondents from 56 countries around the world provide fresh insights to help businesses better understand the right audience for cause marketers, which programs resonate most strongly with this audience, and what marketing methods may be most effective in reaching these consumers. In the study, respondents were asked if they prefer to buy products and services from companies that implement programs that give back to society. Anticipating a positive response bias, respondents were also asked whether they would be willing to pay extra for those services. For the purposes of this study, Nielsen defines the â€Å"socially conscious consumer† as those who say they would be willing to pay the extra. Two thirds (66%) of consumers around the world say they prefer to buy products and services from companies that have implemented programs to give back to society. That preference extends to other matters, too: they prefer to work for these companies (62%), and invest in these companies (59%). A smaller share, but still nearly half (46%) say they are willing to pay extra for products and services from these companies. These are the â€Å"socially conscious consumers,† as defined by and focused upon in this report. Sixty three percent of global, socially-conscious consumers are under age 40, they consult social media when making purchase decisions and are most concerned about environmental, educational and hunger causes, according to a new study from Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy. 5 6 Few of the brands I came across during my research: 2. 1 Sseko Designs Mission and Impact on Sseko Designs official webpage: Sseko Designs uses fashion to provide employment and scholarship opportunities to women pursuing their dreams and overcoming poverty. To date, theyve enabled 33 to continue on to University. They provide employment (along with access to a comprehensive social impact program) to their team of 45 women in Uganda. And they do it all through a financially selfsustaining model. Issue 1: Female students, due to a lack of economic opportunity, are not able to continue on to university and pursue leadership positions in society. Solution 1: Sseko Designs provides employment during the 9 month gap between high school and university where high potential young women are able to earn and save enough money to pay for college tuition. 50% of their salary each month goes into a savings account that is not accessible until tuition is due. This ensures that their income goes towards education. This also protects the women in the program from the social pressure they often feel from their families to give away the money they are earning which can perpetuate the cycle of poverty. At the end of each term, Sseko Designs grants university scholarships that match up to 100% of the savings each woman has made during her 9 month session with Sseko. Issue 2: In a patriarchal and male dominated society, women are not afforded the same employment and economic opportunities as their male counterparts. Although 66% of the worlds labour is done by women, they own less than 1% of the worlds assets. As long as women are not afforded educational and professional equality, extreme poverty will continue to exist. Solution 2: For every dollar a women in a developing economy earn, she will reinvest 90% of it into her family. Empower a woman and you empower an entire community. In addition to providing employment to women working their way towards university, Sseko partners with women from all walks of life. Sseko employs university graduates who comprise the upper level management team. These are women that use their education, experience and voice to help shape their company. Sseko also works to provide employment for women who have aged out of the education system and have no other form of income generation. They partner with a local non-profit in Uganda that works with young women who have recently come out of the commercial sex industry. Providing stable, dignifying and fair wage employment is a key component to keeping women from entering back into prostitution. They believe that every woman has the capacity to end the cycle of poverty and that it can be done in a way that is fair, dignifying, honouring and life-giving. Issue 3: Although charities and non-profits play a vital and necessary role in all societies, sometimes charity and aid can play a negative role by enabling dependencies and damaging the local economies. Like any of us, our African friends need and desire opportunity, dignity, job creation and empowerment. Solution 3: Instead of treating the symptoms, they aim to address the deeper, underlying issues of extreme poverty. Although Sseko Designs has been built for the purpose of impacting a 7 specific social sector, they have chosen very intentionally to use a sustainable, self-sufficient business model to do this. Their hope is to help create industry and fair-trade with the belief that a large component of economic development lies in the business sector. They believe in the power of responsible consumerism. Instead of competing for limited donor dollars, they hope consumers will think about the story behind their stuff. If they considered the impact that each product they consume has on the lives of those who produced that product and chose to see consumerism as a force and opportunity for positive social change, they believe the world would be filled with beautiful products with even more beautiful stories. 2. 2 World Clothes Line Everyone loves the smell of a clean t-shirt. Or the feeling of a new sweatshirt, soft. Or the look of a brand new outfit, confident and ready to conquer the day. Yet every day, millions of people around the world do not have a clean change of clothes. No options. No choice. World Clothes Line is dedicated to helping them. World Clothes Line will match every item sold with a new item for someone in need. Therefore, when customers purchase merchandise for themselves, they also provide clothing for others. In January 2010, World Clothes Line was born. 2. 2. 1 Their Vision As given in their name, their vision is to clothe the world. At World Clothes Line, they give clothes to people who need them. Through the generosity of their customers and dedication of their team, they hope to spread their message and continually help others. Their shoot for the stars goal is to create an active clothing collection for every country of the world. 2. 2. 2 Their Clothes Their styles are basic: t-shirts, sweatshirts, pants. Their main concerns are functionality, protection, and comfort. The designs are unique. They find that most people are inspired by the world. Every World Clothes Line collection is designed specifically to reflect its countrys people and culture. World Clothes Line is a socially conscious brand. All items are manufactured sweatshop-free at fair wages with environmentally-friendly practices. 8 2. 2. 3 Why Clothes? Clothing is one of our most basic needs. It ranks among air, food, water, and shelter. Clothing provides protection from the elements, reducing the effects of sun exposure, wind rash, and frostbite. It also provides defence against diseases, many of which are spread through mosquitoes and other insect bites. Proper clothing contributes to cleanliness, comfort, ease of movement and overall health. The simple act of changing and washing clothes can prevent infection, chafing, skin disorders and the spreading of viruses. However, in cases of extreme poverty, clothing is often one of the first needs to be ignored. Statistically, more than one billion people in the world live on less than one dollar a day. Almost 2. 7 billion people (thats 40% of our population) survive on less than two dollars per day. In such circumstances, daily necessities like food and water take top priority. Clothing, which can be reworn, therefore is reworn. Day after day. After day At World Clothes Line, they make clothes their number one priority. 2. 3 No One Without N. O. W: One At A Time No One Without water is their non-stop mission. Every product in a purchase provides clean water to one person for 25 years through a concrete Bio-sand filtration system and their partnership with Thirst Relief International. Studies have proven that these filters effectively remove more than 90% of bacteria and 100% of the parasites found in untreated water. Nearly one billion people lack access to clean water and each year 2. 5 million people die from contaminated water, 90% are under 5 years old. The World Health Organization has declared a worldwide water crisis among the worlds poorest people. Society has conditioned us to be overwhelmed with statistics and the quantity of need in the world. The easy thought process is to say theres too much and Im only one person. By taking one step at a time, one day at a time, one person at a time, theyre breaking down numbers and they believe in the power of one. 9 No One Without has aligned themselves with the Thirst Relief mission: To overcome death and disease resulting from the consumption of contaminated water by providing safe, clean water to those in need around the world. 2. 3. 1 Why Water? The solution to the clean drinking water need is found in the concrete Bio-sand filter. The Biosand filter has the ability to produce safe, clean drinking water from both contaminated surface water, and ground water sources. As a result, the simple yet affective technology provides a long-term, sustainable and economical drinking water solution to those in poverty stricken areas around the world. Thirst Relief International currently has Bio-sand filter placements in Brazil, Cameroon, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. No One Without will follow Thirst Relief International around the globe on the quest for clean water. 10 2. 4 TOMS In 2006, American traveller Blake Mycoskie befriended children in a village in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Realizing this movement could serve other basic needs, TOMS Eyewear was launched. With every pair purchased, TOMS will help give sight to a person in need. One for One. Over the past seven years, theyve listened and learned with every pair of new shoes given. With the support of their amazing network of Giving Partners and the continued support of their community, theyve reached this major milestone and proven that business can fuel good and sustain giving. They have seen remarkable results with shoe giving. Shoes are helping improve school attendance and enrolment. Theyre combined with screenings to combat malnutrition. Theyre given in conjunction with medication to fight hookworm. Further, their model is one that can work beyond shoes. Since they launched TOMS Eyewear, theyve helped restore sight to more than 150,000 individuals around the world. And they look forward to finding new ways to help others. They currently make Giving Pairs in Ethiopia, Kenya, Argentina and China. Within two years, they will produce one third of their Giving Shoes in the regions where they give them. By producing more shoes locally they will create and support jobs in places where they are needed. They are testing production in India and are looking to expand manufacturing in Africa and other regions. In Haiti, they are in the early stages of getting production off the ground. Theyve also partnered with local artists to create a line of hand-painted shoes for their customers helping create and support jobs in a place where they also give. And theyre looking to offer more styles that feature locally produced textiles. Their sight giving empowers communities and supports sustainable eye-care organizations in the developing world. They work with locally based organizations that train residents to provide professional care. So its an investment in clinics, people and even local jobs. 11 2. 5 Common Threadz Common Threadz is a non-profit organization helping orphans vulnerable children in developing nations to reach their full potential through the empowerment of the children, their caretakers the local grass roots community organizations that support them. 2. 5. 1 School Uniforms for Orphans Vulnerable Children This was the first initiative that Common Threadz created in 2008. For every t-shirt or bracelet that they sell from their Shop to Help Store, they give a school uniform to an orphan or vulnerable child (OVC) so they can go to, or stay in school. Some of the children they care for had been refused schooling for not being able to afford a uniform. Uniforms are a requirement in most schools in Africa and they want to make sure that all these children have the chance to go to school, make friends and learn so that they can reach their full potential. Since the inception of this program, hundreds of uniforms have been handed over to OVC’s. Typically a uniform will last a year and so there is an ongoing need for uniforms. As the caregivers they continuously work to identify the OVC’s in need and as support for this program grows, they plan to hand over many more uniforms in the future. 2. 5. 2 Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Mentor Program They currently operate a mentor program in Obanjeni, South Africa. This program teams responsible and employed adults from the local community with orphans and vulnerable children (OVC’s) as role models on a one-to-one basis. Each of their mentors supports many children, meeting with each child for at least one hour per week. The mentors spend time helping with homework, chatting about personal hygiene, advising on healthy lifestyles and most of all, listening to the child. In some cases these mentors have come back to them to report abuse and a child has had to be moved to a place of safety and the police and social workers are called in. The mentors are their ears and eyes in the community. The program has rolled out with many young children and teenagers benefiting greatly. Still in its infancy, this program has been a great success and will be replicated and expanded moving forward. 2. 5. 3 The Feeding Program Common Threadz provides the funding and nutritional guidance for grassroots non-profit organizations in rural South Africa, such as Siyathuthuka Obanjeni, to provide daily meals to over 200 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC’s) that they have identified in the area. Proper nutrition is a fundamental need for the children to grow and learn and although the government says that it’s a child’s right not to go hungry, this is far from the reality for many thousands of children in South Africa. This program has grown from its inception last year when caregivers began to cook three meals a week for children after school. Now an employed cook prepares a cooked meal every day for the children to eat after school and in April 2010 they started to provide high protein porridge for the children to eat on their way to school, as the teachers have indicated that it is very difficult for the children to concentrate when they are hungry. 12 Once again this program has much room to expand and reach many more needy OVC’s but it would not be possible without the support of their customers. 2. 5. 4 Shoes for Kids This program complements the School Uniforms Programme by providing new school shoes to barefoot children in need, namely orphans and vulnerable children (OVC’s). School uniforms might give these children entrance to school, however many of them walk for up to four hours a day to go to school barefoot. A new pair of school shoes is usually the only new pair of shoes most of these children will ever receive and for most of them it will be the only pair of shoes they will own. All it takes is $10 to provide an OVC with a new pair of shoes so that they can go to school with confidence. 2. 6 Threads for Thought What began as a small business manufacturing and marketing graphic tee shirts that were made exclusively from organic cotton, gave back to charity, and promoted a cleaner environment, or advocated for peace, has grown into a complete lifestyle brand. They have never deviated from their primary mission, to promote a sense of responsibility for those who share this world with us, but rather than simply broadcasting that message on the front of tee shirts, the company has incorporated those principles into their very existence. 2. 6. 1 How their threads are sustainable Threads 4 Thought fabrics are made using the most sustainable materials possible such as organically grown cotton and polyester derived from recycled water bottles. Their fabrics are dyed using low impact dyes whenever possible often the water used in the dye process is purified and then reused rather than being discarded. 13 2. 6. 2 Organic Cotton vs. Conventional Cotton ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Organic cotton is 90% less toxic than conventional cotton. Conventional cotton crops use more than 25% of all the insecticides in the world and 12% of all the pesticides while growing on only 2. 5 % of cultivated lands in the world. Organic cotton uses untreated seeds that are never genetically modified while conventional cotton uses genetically modified seeds, hurting the crops soil over time. Organic Cotton plants stay strong through crop rotation and retain water efficiently due to increased organic matter in the soil. Conventional cotton plants use synthetic fertilizers. Organic Cotton fields use seasonal freezes and water management for defoliation. Conventional cotton does this through the use of toxic chemicals. Weeds are physically removed by hand hoeing and cultivation. Farmers use beneficial insects and trap crops to control pests. Conventional cotton uses a toxic aerial spraying technique. 2. 6. 3 Turning Plastic into fashion 1. The plastics are sorted according to colour and SNV plastics. 2. Next, the plastic goes through a sterilization process. Then, it is dried and crushed into chips. Next, liquefaction occurs under high temperatures, as a mixture of the recycled chips and some new plastic from petroleum derivatives are melted together to form a smooth, syrup-like material. 3. The first threads are formed when the liquefied material is forced through holes and exposed to air. The hardened threads, called tow, then go through a strengthening process. 4. The drawing process strengthens the molecular bonds of the tow; the tow is pulled to double their size and then shrunken. 5. The threads then go through a dryer where they develop a woolly texture. The texture is inspected for strength and thickness, and then spun into a finer yarn that is then ready to be dyed and knit into fabric. 14 2. 7 147 Million Orphans Profits from 147 Million Orphans are directed to the 147 Million Orphans Foundation, where they are given to Love+ 1 Projects and feeding programs. The 147 Million Orphans Foundation was created to impact the lives of children through the provision of food, water, and medicine. They invest directly in projects that help provide these basic needs to those who desperately need it, and most of their projects occur in Haiti, Honduras, and Uganda. As with any good foundation you must lay one brick at a time. Whether that is a medical clinic in Haiti, homes in Honduras, Water Wells in Sudan, or a store house full of food for Uganda, they want to show the love of Christ. The rebuilding of the wall in Nehemiah was accomplished by people just doing their part and helping others to do theirs. The Love+ 1 projects are steps in rebuilding, and they would love for us to be a part of the rebuilding. 2. 7. 1 During 2012 and 2013, the Love+ 1 Projects Included: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Provided funding for over 100,000 meals for children in Uganda, Haiti, and Honduras Helped to build clean water wells in Sudan and Honduras Provided funding for HIV education and medicine in Uganda and Haiti Provided funding for a vehicle, appliances and kitchen construction for an orphanage in Haiti Funded the construction costs of 27 homes in Mt. Olivos, Honduras for displaced families. These 2 bedroom, concrete homes with running water are allowing families to remain intact and raise their children in a healthy environment. They are building a strong community, including a school and a weekly worship service. Provided over 150 cans of formula to an infant feeding nutrition program in Haiti Raised $200,000 of the $250,000 needed for construction of the Love+ 1 Medical Centre in Gressier, Haiti where there are currently no medical or dental facilities available to the 35,000 residents. This centre will include a doctor’s office with a pharmacy, a dental office, an urgent care clinic, and an operating room. This clinic will be located on land adjoining a school that currently serves over 400 children. Raising the final $50,000 and beginning construction of the Love+ 1 Medical Centre in Haiti – a 5,000 square foot facility with medical and dental facilities for a community of 35,000 people with no medical care. The medical facility is expected to open in October 2013 with ongoing funding needs for supplies and equipment. Construction of a tilapia pond for the community of Mt. Olivos, Honduras. Completion of the construction of all homes in Mt. Olivos, Honduras. Formula for an infant feeding and nutrition program in Haiti Food and medicine to children in Uganda, Haiti, and Honduras Bedding and supply needs for an orphanage in Uganda Food to children in Tennessee through a weekly backpack program 15 2. 8 I Am A Star I AM A STAR is built on a solid foundation of trust and collaboration. It is rooted in the Somali diaspora communities leadership, and it makes room for the solidarity and creativity of motivated people everywhere. Together, theyre providing relief in Somalia, and shining a light on a culture of poets, artists, mothers and fathers, children, innovators, farmers, businesspeople. Each one, a star in his or her own right. Perched on the very tip of the Horn of Africa, Somalia has suffered two decades of hardship, violence and displacement. Its estimated that 25% of the countrys population have fled their homes, traveling to Kenya and Ethiopia or to other parts of Somalia. Since the summer of 2011, the country has faced a crippling food crisis. Between 50,000 to 100,000 Somalis have died as a result. US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton called it the most severe humanitarian emergency in the world today-and the worst East Africa has seen in decades. Thanks to the spirit and efforts of the worldwide Somali Diaspora and other compassionate individuals, organizations and governments, relief is getting to people who need it. Donors have looked past the negative imagery of Somalia in the media and sent their support. That support has saved the lives of mothers and fathers, children, poets, artists, innovators, farmers, businesspeople, human beings. But there is still so much that needs to be done in Somalia. The famine has ended, but 1 in 5 Somali children are still malnourished. 2. 5 million people are still dependent on food aid in order to survive. It will take an investment of time and great effort to shake off the legacy of 20 years of war and unrest in Somalia. The country has the worlds lowest rates of school enrolment, and experts estimate that 18% of children born in Somalia will not live to age 5. 2. 8. 1 With Support from: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? KNAAN 4Real IDEO Pivotal Labs Heroku Music for Relief Mataano Chef Roble Co. Faarrow Mosaic 16 2. 9 Soles 4 Souls Soles4Souls is a global not-for-profit institution dedicated to fighting the devastating impact and perpetuation of poverty. The organization advances its anti-poverty mission by collecting new and used shoes and clothes from individuals, schools, faith-based institutions, civic organizations and corporate partners, then distributing those shoes and clothes both via direct donations to people in need and by provisioning qualified micro-enterprise programs designed to create jobs in poor and disadvantaged communities. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Soles4Souls is committed to the highest standards of operating and governance, and holds a four-star rating with Charity Navigator. Founded in 2004, Soles4Souls is a global not-for-profit institution dedicated to fighting the devastating impact and perpetuation of poverty through the distribution of shoes and clothing. Soles4Souls distributes shoes and clothing in two ways. Most new items collected primarily from corporations and retailers are given directly to people in need, both in the U. S. and overseas. The organization has relationships with several of the world’s leading apparel brands, which provides Soles4Souls with new but non-marketable overstocks, returns, discontinued models and other shoes or clothing items. At the same time, Soles4Souls receives millions of articles of used shoes and clothing that have been collected by individuals, schools, faith-based institutions, civic organizations and corporate partners. After sorting items in its national warehouse system, Soles4Souls typically sells the used shoes and clothing, as well as some new items allocated by manufacturers, to carefully selected micro-enterprise organizations. These both private and non-profit companies are contracted to provide shipping, financing, inventory, training and other support to ultrasmall businesses in countries like Haiti where there are virtually no jobs to generate personal income. Through the collection and sale of used (and new) clothing and shoes, Soles4Souls helps create self-sustaining jobs that generate desperately needed revenues throughout those communities. The sale of footwear and apparel to support micro-jobs also provides the majority of funding to sustain Soles4Souls operations and further expand its donations of new shoes and clothing. 17 2. 10 FEED FEED Projects mission is to create good products that help FEED the world. They do this through the sale of FEED bags, be

Communicative Language Teaching: The Origins

Communicative Language Teaching: The Origins This chapter is devoted to the CLT approach, its origins and major features. Also the chapter sheds the light on grammar, how it is handled in language teaching, the way it is defined and lastly, and perhaps most importantly, its role in CLT. 3.1 Communicative Language Teaching CLT is an approach to the teaching of second and foreign languages that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language. It is also referred to as communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages or simply the communicative approach. 3.1.1 The Origins Educators such as Richards and Rodgers, Savignon, and Sano state that the origins of communicative language teaching are many, in so far as one teaching methodology tends to influence the next. Sano (1984:171) says that the communicative approach could be said to be the product of educators and linguists who had grown dissatisfied with the audio-lingual and grammar-translation method of foreign language instruction. Richards and Rodgers (1986:93), on the other hand, claim that the origins of CLT are to be found in the changes of situational language teaching approaches, which influenced the British language teaching tradition till the late 1960s. 29 Meanwhile, Savignon (1991:262) asserts that the emergence of CLT can be traced to concurrent developments on both sides of the Atlantic, i.e., in Europe and the United States. Educators and linguists e.g., Candlin (1981: 121) and Widdowson (1978: 61) saw the need to focus in language teaching on communicative proficiency rather than on mere mastery of structures. They felt that students were not learning enough realistic, whole language in those methods, i.e., situational language teaching, audio-lingual or grammar-translation method. Students did not know how to communicate using appropriate social languages, gestures, or expressions; in brief, they were at loss to communicate in the cultures of the language studied. In respect of this point, Widdowson remarks the following: The problem is that students, and especially students in developing countries, who have received several years of formal English teaching, frequently remain deficient in the ability to actually use the language, and to understand its use, in normal communication, whether in spoken or written mode (1972:15). Similarly, Howatt says that the original motivation for adopting a communicative approach in the early seventies was remedial, an attempt to overcome the inadequacies of existing, structural syllabuses, materials, and methods (1984:287). To put simply, the rapid application of these ideas by textbook writers; and the equally rapid acceptance of these new principles by British language teaching specialists, curriculum development centers, and even governments gave prominence nationally and internationally to what came to be referred to as communicative approach. There was a positive response from linguists, methodologists, and classroom teachers offering the best hope for the elaboration and diffusion of language teaching methods and materials that work, encourage and support learners in the development of their communicative competence (Savignon, 1991: 264). Although the movement began as largely British innovations focusing on alternative conceptions of a syllabus since the mid 1970s, the scope of communicative language teaching has expanded. Interest in and the development of communicative style teaching mushroomed in those years; authentic language use and classroom exchanges where students engaged in real communication with one another became quite popular. Also, numerous textbooks for teachers and teacher trainers expound on the nature of communicative approaches and offer techniques for varying ages and purposes (Brown, 1994: 217). It is this socio-linguistic perspective, which is the unifying principle and the driving force behind a communicative approach to language teaching (Sano, 1984: 174) Although this socio-linguistic approach is basically a language theory rather than a learning theory, taking into account Richards and Rodgers definition of approach, CLT encompasses a theory of language and a theory of language learning, and see it as an approach than a method. Briefly, they define an approach as a set of theories about the nature of language and of language learning. It is axiomatic, as it takes a number of assumptions as a starting point. A method, on the other hand, is the level at which theory is put into practice and at which choices are made about the particular skills to be taught, the content to be taught, and the order in which the content will be presented. Besides, these writers claim, at the level of language theory, CLT has a rich, if somewhat eclectic theoretical base (1986:102). 3.1.2 Language Theory The rise of interest in the individual and in relationships among individuals, which characterized the sixties, marked the emergence of socio-linguistics, that branch of science where sociology and linguistics meet. A new light was shed on language, not simply as a system of structurally related elements, which form a rule, but as a vehicle for the expression of meaning and social interaction. In other words, the structural view was supplemented with a functional, a semantic and interactional view. It was this idea of language as communication that started off the whole communicative movement (Savignon, 1991: 266). And it was Hymes (1972) that made history by challenging Chomskys view on linguistic competence, and replacing it by the notion of communicative competence (cited in Savignon, 1991: 269). In the words of Canale and Swain (1980:7) communicative competence refers to the interaction between grammatical competence, or knowledge of the rules of grammar, and socio-linguistic competence, or knowledge of the rules of language use. In other words, rules of use and rules of usage are complementary and not mutually exclusive. According to them; the primary goal of a communicative approach must be to facilitate the integration of these two types of knowledge for the learner (1980: 25). Savignon notes that communicative competence characterizes the ability of language learners to interact with other speakers to make meaning, and [it] is relative, not absolute, and depends on the cooperation of all the participants involved (1983:9). Broadly speaking, communicative competence is an aspect convey and interpret messages and to negotiate meanings interpersonally within specific contexts. According to the socio-linguistic theory, the act of communication is seen not as basically an exchange of linguistic messages, but rather as a social phenomenon in which the use of language plays a part. In the field of the ethnography of communication, which Stern (1983:220) defines as the study of the individuals communicative activity in its social setting. language is a sub-ordinate, yet integrated part of social and situational systems, which are actually behavior patterns. Halliday argues the existence of a semantic network which is the linguistic realization of patterns of behavior. He postulates that the more we are able to relate the options in grammatical system to meaning potential in social contexts and behavioral settings, the more insight we shall gain into the nature of the language system (1978:44). In his functional account of language use, Halliday has criticized Chomskys linguistic, theory of competence. He says Linguistics is concerned with the description of speech acts or texts, since only through the study of language in use are all the functions of language, and therefore all components of meaning, brought into focus (1970:145). This view complements Hymes opinion of communicative competence, and we can only understand language if we view it as an instrument or as a communicative tool. To which Widdowson (1979:50) adds that once we accept the need to teach language as communication, we can obviously no longer think of language in te rms only of sentences. This statement provides the justification for the emphasis on discourse in CLT. 3.1.3 Learning Theory In contrast to the amount that has been written in CLT literature about communicative dimensions of language, little has been written about learning theory. However, two of the general learning theories, which emphasize common features among learners, are cognitive theory and skills theory. 3.1.3.1 Cognitive Theory According to cognitive theory, learning involves the ability to understand, to anticipate, and to relate new information to pre-existing mental structures. This focus on meaningful learning is derived from an attempt to make sense of the world. The heavy reliance of CLT practitioners on the mental schema theory is exemplified by Brumfits statement that new learning must be closely assimilated with what is already known, and if language is being learnt for use, then new learning must be directly associated with use (1979:189). Hence, at the level of learning theory this view supports Hallidays claim about the semantic network as a bridge between linguistic form and behaviour pattern, a link between words and the world. As Stern (1983:261) posits The learner must become a participant in a real-life context of language use as a condition of effective learning. Macdonough (1981:27) describes the cognitive process as hypothesis testing, and adds, significantly, that rules can only be found if the risk of error is run (ibid: 29). This view is reflected in the great tolerance of CLT towards errors. Errors are not to be avoided at all cost; they are not to be seen as evidence of non-learning, but being an external manifestation of the continual revision of the inter-language system. They are essential elements in the learning process. 3.1.3.2 Skills Theory This theory emphasizes the importance of cognitive learning and practice. However, advocates of this theory reject mechanical practice altogether as being totally irrelevant to genuine learning. Skills theory links mental and behavioural aspects of performance through a hierarchically organized set of plans, in which low level of automation is necessary to free attention for high level of planning. In this regard, Littlewood states the following: The cognitive aspect involves the internalization of plans for Creating appropriate behaviour. For language use, these plans derive mainly from the language system they include grammatical rules, procedures for selecting vocabulary, and social conventions governing speech. The behavioural aspect involves the automation of these plans so that they can be converted into fluent performance in real time. This occurs mainly through practice in converting plans into performance (1984:74). Skill practice is considered as a legitimate learning principle (Richards and Rodgers 1986), provided that it offers natural options of language use which reproduce the kinds of choice that occur in spontaneous communication (Stern 1983:260). 3.1.4 Major Features CLT is, relatively, a newly adapted approach in the area of foreign/second language teaching. CLT is a hybrid approach to language teaching, essentially progressive rather than traditional. (Wright 2000: 7). CLT can be seen to derive from a multidisciplinary perspective that includes, at least, linguistics, psychology, philosophy, sociology and educational research (Savignon 1991:271). It is generally accepted that, proponents of CLT see it as an approach, not a method (See Richards and Rodgers 1986; Savignon 1991; Brown 1994). For Brown, for instance, [Communicative language teaching] is a unified but broadly- based theoretical position about the nature of language and language learning and teaching(1994: 244-245). He further maintains that though it is difficult to synthesize all of the various definitions that have been offered, the following four interconnected characteristics could be taken as a definition of CLT: 1. Classroom goals are focused on all of the components of communicative competence and not restricted to grammatical or linguistic competence. 2. Language teaching techniques are designed to engage learners in the pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for meaningful purposes. Language forms are not the central focus but rather aspects of language that enable the learner to accomplish those purposes. 3. Fluency and accuracy are seen as complementary principles underlying communicative techniques. At times fluency may have to take on more importance than accuracy in order to keep learners meaningfully engaged in language use. 4. In the communicative classroom, students ultimately have to use the language, productively and receptively, in unrehearsed contexts (Brown, 1994: 245). The communicative approach is a hazy concept, which can have a variety of meanings along the continuum between a strong version and a weak one. Johnson (1979: 155) argues that the weak version attempts to integrate communicative activities into an existing programme, where as the strong version claims that language is acquired through communication. According to Howatt (1984: 279) the weak version, which became more or less the standard practice in the late 70s and early 80s of the last century, stresses the importance of providing learners with opportunities to use their English for communicative purposes and, characteristically, attempts to integrate such activities into a wider program of language teaching. As for the strong version of communicative teaching it advances the claim that language is acquired through communication, so that it is not merely a question of activating an existing but inert knowledge of the language, but of stimulating the development of the language system itself. If the former could be described as learning to use English, the latter entails using English to learn it (ibid). Howatt adds that creating information gap activities, games, role-plays, dramas, simulations etc., are some of the exercise types in the weak versions of CLT. Although we have different versions and various ways in which CLT is interpreted and applied, educators in the area, Richards and Rodgers (1986, 2001); Littlewood (1981); Finocchiaro and Brumfit (1983); Brumfit (1984); Candlin (1981); Widdowson (1978, 1979); Johnson and Morrow (1981);; Larsen-Freeman (1986); Celce- Murcia (1991b) and Johnson (1982), put some of the major characteristics of CLT as they are presented in the following subsections. 3.1.4.1 Emphasis on Language Function It is felt that students need knowledge of the linguistic form, meaning and functions. However, CLT gives primary importance to the use or function of the language and secondary importance to its structure or form (Larsen-Freeman 1986: 88; Johnson 1982:63). This does not mean that knowledge of grammar is not essential for effective communication, rather systematic treatment of both functions and forms is vital. Stressing on this, Littlewood says one of the most characteristic features of communicative language teaching is that it pays systematic attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language (1981: 1). CLT suggests that grammatical structure might better be subsumed under various functional categorieswe pay considerably less attention to the overt presentation and discussion of grammatical rules than we traditionally did (Brown, 1994: 245). Emphasis is also given to meaning (messages they are creating or task they are completing) rather than form (correctness of language and language structure). For Finocchiaro and Brumfit meaning is paramount (1983:91) since it helps the learners to manage the message they engage with the interlocutors. 3.1.4.2 Fluency and Accuracy Fluency and accuracy are seen as complementary principles underlying communicative techniques (Brown, 1994:245). However, at times fluency may have to take on more importance than accuracy because fluency and acceptable language is the primary goal (Finocchiaro and Brumfit 1983:93) and accuracy is judged not in the abstract but in contexts. Fluency is emphasized over accuracy in order to keep learners meaningfully engaged in language use. It is important, however, that fluency should never be encouraged at the expense of clear, unambiguous, direct communication. And much more spontaneity is present in communicative classrooms (Brown, 1994: 246) 3.1.4.3 Teaching Techniques Language teaching techniques are designed to engage learners in the pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for meaningful purposes. Classrooms should provide opportunities for rehearsal of real-life situations and provide opportunity for real communication. Emphasis on creative role plays, simulations, dramas, games, projects, etc., is the major activities which can help the learner provide spontaneity and improvisation, not just repetition and drills. Another characteristic of the classroom process is the use of authentic materials because it is felt desirable to give students the opportunity to develop the strategies for understanding language as it is actually used by native speakers. In the classroom, everything is done with a communicative intent. Information gap, choice and feedback are thought to be truly communicative activities (Johnson and Morrow, 1981: 25). 3.1.4.4 Grammar Teaching Grammar can still be taught, but less systematically, in traditional ways along side more innovative approaches. Savignon (2002:5) says for the development of communicative ability [communication depends on grammar], research findings overwhelmingly support the integration of form-focused exercises with meaning-focused experience. Grammar is important; and learners seem to focus best on grammar when it relates to their communicative needs and experiences. Disregard of grammar will virtually guarantee breakdown in communication (Thompson, 1996: 10). These writers also say that there are some misconceptions about CLT that makes difficult for many teachers to see clearly what is happening and to identify the useful innovations that CLT has brought. One of the persistent misconceptions is that CLT means not teaching grammar although the exclusion of explicit attention to grammar was never necessary part of CLT (ibid). In CLT involvement in communicative event is seen as central to language development, and this involvement necessarily requires attention to form (structure). In fact, it is certainly understandable that there was a reaction against the heavy emphasis on structure at the expense of natural communication. Nonetheless, it would seem foolish to make mistakes on the side of using communicative approach exclusively and totally disregard grammar teaching. Regarding this, Celce-Murcia comments: In spite of the intuitive appeal and the anecdotal evidence Supporting proposal for exclusively communicative language teaching, there is equally appealing and anecdotal evidence that grammarless approach. can lead to the development of a broken, ungrammatical, pidgenized form of the target language beyond which students rarely progress (1991a:462). Savignon also remarks that, communicative language teaching does not necessarily mean the rejection of familiar materials [grammar](2002:7). Rivers in her famous statement strengthened Savignons remark in that Saying that we do not need to teach grammar is like saying that we can have a chicken walking around without bones (cited in Arnold, 1994: 122). Nowadays, it seems that educators accept that an appropriate amount of class time should be devoted to grammar, but this does not mean a simple return to a traditional treatment of rules. Rather the focus has now moved away from the teacher covering to the learners discovering grammar (Thompson, 1996: 11). 3.1.4.5 Skills and Activities Communicative approach is not limited to oral skills. Reading and writing skills need to be developed to promote pupils confidence in all four skills areas. Students work on all four skills from the beginning, i.e., a given activity might involve reading, speaking, listening, and perhaps also writing (Celce-Murcia, 1991b: 78). Of course, oral communication is seen to take place through negotiation between speaker(s) and listener(s) (most likely among students), so too is the interaction between the reader and writer, but with no immediate feedback from the reader. Hence, in the classroom, emphasis is given to oral and listening skills, as contact time with language is important. It paves way for more fluid command of the language. Learners do not hear the teacher all the time, but having personal contact themselves, practicing sounds themselves, working on the permutation of sentence patterns and getting chance to make mistakes and learn from doing so. The idea of emphasizing the oral skills creates uncertainty among teachers. They misconceived CLT as if it were devoted to teaching only speaking. But, CLT is not exclusively concerned with face to face oral communication (Savignon, 2002:7). The principles of CLT apply equally to reading and writing activities that engage readers and writers in the interpretation, expression, and negotiation of meaning. In other words, it is important to recognize that it is not only the speaker (or writer) who is communicating. Instead, communication through language happens in both the written and spoken medium, and involves at least two people. Thompson (1996:13) further states that, though there is a complaint that CLT ignores written language, a glance at recent mainstream textbooks shows that reading and writing materials have been given attention too. 3.1.4.6 Pair Work and Group Work Students regularly work in groups or pairs to transfer (and if necessary to negotiate) meaning in situations where one person has information that others lack (Celce-Murcia, 1991b: 82). More emphasis should be given to active modes of learning such as pair or group work in problem-solving tasks in order to maximize the time allotted to each student for learning to negotiate meaning. Many people assume group/pair work is applicable in all contexts. However, classroom group and/or pair work should not be considered an essential feature used all the time, and may well be inappropriate in some contexts (ibid). Thompson (1996:12) and Savignon (2002: 6) claim that group and/or pair work are flexible and useful techniques than that suggests, and they are active modes of learning which can help the learners to negotiate meaning and engage in problem-solving activities. The use of pair/group work is a physical signal of some degree of control and choice passing to the learners; but that needs to be complemented by real choice (learners need to be given some degree of control over their learning). Therefore, the use of pair/group work needs to be complemented by real choice for the following reasons: (1) they can provide the learners with a relatively safe opportunity to try out ideas before launching them in public; (2)they can lead to more developed ideas, and therefore greater confidence and more effective communication; (3) they can also provide knowledge and skills which may complement those of their partners which in turn lead to greater success in undertaking tasks (Thompson, 1996:13). 3.1.4.7 Errors and Correction Errors are seen as a natural outcome of the development of the communication skills and are therefore tolerated. Learners trying their best to use the language creatively and spontaneously are bound to make errors. Constant correction is unnecessary and even counter-productive. Correction noted by the teacher should be discreet. Let the students talk and express themselves and the form of the language becomes secondary. If errors of form are tolerated and are seen as a natural outcome of the development of communication skills, students can have limited linguistic knowledge and still be successful communicators (Larsen-Freeman, 1986: 121). 3.1.4.8 Evaluation Sano (1984: 176) states that evaluation is carried out in terms of fluency and accuracy. Students who have the most control of the structures and vocabulary are not necessarily the best communicators. A teacher may use formal evaluation i.e., he/she is likely to use a communicative test, which is an integrative and has a real communicative function (e.g., Madsen, 1983; Hughes, 1989). Larsen-Freeman (1986: 132) points out that the teacher can also informally evaluate his students performance in his role as an advisor or co-communicator. Savigonon, (1991: 275: ; 2002: 4) reports that the communicative approach follows global, qualitative evaluation of learner achievement as opposed to quantitative assessment of discrete linguistic features. 3.1.4.9 Native Language Use The students native language has no role to play (Larsen Freeman, 1986: 135). The target language is used both during communicative activities and for the purpose of classroom management. The students learn from these classroom management exchanges, and realize that the target language is a vehicle for communication. Whatever the case may be, the teacher should be able to use the target language fluently and appropriately (Celce-Murcia, 1991b: 8). However, for others (e.g., Finocchiaro and Brumfit, 1983: 98) judicious use of native language is accepted where feasible. Teachers may provide directions of homework, class work and test directions by using the native language. 3.1.4.10 Teachers Role The teacher is the facilitator of students learning, manager of classroom activities, advisor during activities and a co-communicator engaged in the communicative activity along with the students (Littlewood, 1981: 9; Breen and Candlin, 1980: 90). But he does not always himself interact with students; rather he acts as an independent participant. Other roles assumed for the teacher are needs analyst, counselor, researcher and learner. Students, on the other hand, are more responsible managers of their own learning. They are expected to interact with other people, either in the flesh, through pair and group work, or in the writings. They are communicators and actively engaged in negotiating meaning in trying to make themselves understood. They learn to communicate by communicating (Larsen-Freeman, 1986: 142). Above all, since the teachers role is less dominant; the teaching/learning process is student-centered rather than teacher-centered. In other words, it is the learner who plays a great role in a large proportion of the process of learning. 3.2 Grammar and Grammars Yule (1996: 87) states that each adult speaker of a language clearly has some type of mental grammar, that is, a form of internal linguistic knowledge which operates in the production and recognition of appropriately structured expressions in that language. This grammar is subconscious and is not the result of any teaching. A second, and quite different, concept of grammar involves what might be considered linguistic etiquette, that is, the identification of the proper or best structures to be used in a language. A third view of grammar involves the study and analysis of the structures found in a language, usually with the aim of establishing a description of the grammar of English, for example, as distinct from the grammar of other languages. Linguists define grammar as a set of components: phonetics (the production and perception of sounds), phonology (how sounds are combined), morphology (the study of forms, or how elements are combined to create words), syntax (how words are strung together into sentences), and semantics or meaning. Because all languages are characterized by these components, by definition, language does not exist without grammar (VanPatten, 1990:288). However, grammar has not always been defined in these terms. Originally, the term grammar, grammatica, referred to the art of writing, as compared to rhetoric, rettorica, the art of speaking. As used today by many teachers and learners, grammar is loosely understood to be a set of rules that govern language, primarily its morphology and syntax. But morphology and syntax are only two components of grammar (Chamot Kupper, 1989: 15). Actually the word grammar has been defined rather differently by various grammarians and dictionary writers. According to Crystal (2003:207), grammar is systematic description of a language. Also, Widdowson describes that grammar is the name given to the knowledge of how words are adapted and arranged to form sentences (1988: 147; cited in Shih-Chuan Chang, 2011: 14). Still other definitions of the term specify the scope of grammar. In fact, grammar is multi-dimensional (Kennedy, 1987: 165) and has multi-meanings. It is generally thought to be a set of rules for choosing words and putting words together to make sense. Every language has grammar. It has been held that if a language is a building, the words are bricks and the grammar is the architects plan. One may have a million bricks, but do not make a building without a plan. Similarly, if a person knows a million English words, but he doesnt know how to put them together, then he cannot speak English (Karavas, 1996: 189). In other words, grammar is a framework to describe languages. 3.2.1 Grammar in Language Teaching The role of grammar is perhaps one of the most controversial issues in language teaching. In the early parts of the twentieth century, grammar teaching formed an essential part of language instruction, so much that other aspects of language learning were either ignored or downplayed. The argument was that if one knew the grammatical rules of the language, he would be able to use it for communication. This concept was strongly challenged in the early 1970s (Ellis, 2006: 90). Knowledge of the grammatical system of the language, it was argued, was but one of the many components which underlay the notion of communicative competence. To be considered a competent user of a language, one needs to know not only the rules of grammar, but also how the rules are used in real communication. During this period, grammar teaching became less prominent, and in some cases, was abandoned (Hudson, 1998: 12). In recent years, grammar teaching has regained its rightful place in the language curriculum. People now agree that grammar is too important to be ignored, and that without a good knowledge of grammar, learners language development will be severely constrained. There is now a general consensus that the issue is not whether or not we should teach grammar. The issue now centers on questions such as, which grammar items do learners need most? How do we go about teaching grammar items in the most effective way? And are they best taught inductively or deductively? (Tomlinson, 1994: 22). In fa

Behaviour Modification and Cognitive Processes of Learning

Behaviour Modification and Cognitive Processes of Learning Pillay Sheryl Amanda Ballen I will be discussing some important procedures which enable learning. Each and every human being learns any kind of behavior during their life span. There is no human being on earth who does not undergo the process of learning. There are various learning methods through which we obtain beliefs, approaches and skills (Skinner, 1971, cited in Ryckman,2013, p. 361) Here we shall discuss the principles of learning and their uses in daily life. I would like to also demonstrate how behavior modification compares with cognitive processes of learning. Learning What we mean when we say the word â€Å"learning†, we normally mean â€Å"thinking using the brain†. These concepts of learning are the central perspective in the Cognitive Learning Theory (CLT). Mental processes can be explained, as they are predisposed by both internal and external factors, which gradually bring about learning. Cognitive Learning Theory suggests that the different procedures regarding learning can be described by examining the mental processes first. It suggests that with actual cognitive processes, learning is simpler and new material can be placed in the memory for a long time. However, ineffective cognitive processes affect learning complications which can be seen in a person. Social Cognitive Theory (SLT) There are three variables in social cognitive theory, which are interconnected with each other, for learning to happen, which consist of: Personal factors Environmental factors Behavior factors An individual’s environmental interaction, beliefs, ideas and mental skills are influenced by outside factors such as a caring or uncaring parent, disturbing or healthy environment or a very hot or humid climate. The mental process in a person is affected by his behavior, and environmental interaction, which can also alter the way he thinks. One’s behavior can disturb and change the environment in which he or she lives in. Basic concepts of social learning are: Observational Learning Is a form of learning from other people, by means of observing their behavior in an effective way in order to gain knowledge and change behavior. Reproduction Is the method wherein there is a goal to successfully escalate the repeating of a behavior by means of changing the environment to a safer and more comfortable on , within reachable proximate, and to encourage him to remember the new information and behavior learned and to exercise them. Self-efficacy Is the way a person uses the newly learnt knowledge or behavior which he has learnt. Emotional coping is a good coping devices used against demanding environments and negative personal appearances can lead to operational learning, especially in adults Self – regulatory capability is the capability to regulator the behavior even within a negative environment. Classical and operant conditioning are two vital perceptions significant to behavioral psychology. While both result in learning, the procedure is quite different. To understand how each of these behavior modification methods can be used, it is also important to understand how classic conditioning and operant conditioning differ from one another. Classic Conditioning Was developed by the Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov, classic conditioning is the first type of learning wherein an organism responds to an environmental stimulus. Pavlov (1927) observed that in classic conditioning, the stimulus (S) triggers the response (R) of an organism. Within the exposure of the organism to the stimulus, reflex(Hermans et.al., 2006, cited in Weiten, 2014, p. 232). The unconditioned stimulus (US) is the stimulus which leads to an observable response without training. The unconditioned response (UR) is the response brought about by the unconditioned stimulus. It is an automatic and normal behavior. The conditioned stimulus (CR) is a stimulus that is original and has no meaning to the subject. Through learning it is paired with the unconditioned stimulus (US) and brings about the conditioned response. The conditioned response (CR) is the behavior caused by the condition stimulus in response to the (CS). It is usually anticipation of the (US). General Observation My brother was in matric and my little sister was two years old when I observed my brother’s behavior. He would often get very frustrated with my little sister when he tried to study (US) in order for him to study he use to give her a chocolate (UR) and she would smile and leave him to study. The chocolate is a positive reinforcement. Now six months later he has completed his matric and when she goes into his room she expects chocolate (CR). Now that my brother do not give her chocolate, when she goes into his room she begins to cry, and mom would get angry at my brother for making her cry. Mom do not realize that my brother has created a (CR) in my little sister behavior, since mom does not allow her to eat chocolate. Operant Conditioning known as Instrumental Conditioning: Was established by B.F.Skinner . However Skinner was also greatly influenced by the works of Ivan Pavlov on the conditioning reflux. (Skinner, 1970, cited in Ryckman, 2013, p. 360). Operant conditioning tries to contradict the belief that internal thoughts and mere inspirations which brings about learning in a behavior. Skinner thought that only exterior causes of behavior must be considered (Skinner, 1953, p. 65)) The term â€Å"operant† was used by Skinner in order to give us a good suggestion of his theory and how he used it: (Skinner, 1953, cited in Ryckman, 2013, p. 365). Reinforcement: Is a procedure of increasing the frequency rate of a behavior by means of awarding a stimulus soon after the demonstration of the behavior. The event that strengthens the probability of the behavior to be recurring is called a reinforcer. According to Skinner, reinforcement can take two forms, which are called positive and negative reinforcement (Skinner, 1953, cited in Ryckman, 2013, p. 367). Positive Reinforcement: When my mom wanted me to do the dishes, she would say to me â€Å"if you do the dishes for me, for the week than I will take you out shopping on Saturday†. Naturally we would spend the day shopping and she would spoil me, but eventually without her asking me to do the dishes for her. I realized that she was tired after work and the least I could do was help her with the dishes. Negative reinforcement occurs when a reply is reinforced because it is followed by the elimination of an unfriendly stimulus. Example cleaning the house to get rid of the mess or wearing a safety belt whist driving to prevent an annoying sound (Skinner, 1953, cited in Ryckman, 2013, p. 367). Negative Reinforcement: I hated the fact that I needed to drive with my safety belt on, and I found that the annoying noise of the seatbelt would not stop until I buckled up which is an aversive stimulus since it encourage me to fasten my seat belt. Until I fasten the seatbelt, the annoying sound persisted I could not get rid of the aversive stimuli. Now days when I get into the car, the first thing I do is put my safety belt on. In both positive and negative reinforcement, behavior is increased, however negative reinforcement plays a key role in both escaping learning and avoidance learning (Skinner, 1953, cited in Ryckman, 2013, p. 367). In escape learning, a being obtain a response that decrease or ends some aversive stimulation example: my little sister wearing her shoes before going outside to play, this leads to: Avoidance learning in which an entity obtains a response that stops some aversive stimulation from happening example putting on shoes before you get an ammonia. Avoidance learning is a good way to see how classical conditioning and operant conditioning work together to regulate behavior. An example, shoes my sister needs to put on before she goes outside and play might become a classical conditioning (CS) that elicits a fear of wearing shoes in her. However the response of putting on her shoes is an operant behavior. This response is strengthened through negative reinforcement, because it reduces the person’s fear of getting sick. Thus in avoidance learning a fear response is acquired through classical conditioning and an avoidance response is maintained by operant conditioning. Punishment Is a process whereby a stimulus is used after the presentation of behavior and cause the decline in the possibility of the behavior to reoccur. In contrast to reinforcement there are also consequences that decrease a being’s leaning to make a specific response. Positive punishment: Is the accumulation of something which affects the decrease in repeating the behavior that was displayed? Negative punishment, also known as punishment by removal, occurs when a favorable event or outcome is removed after a behavior occurs (Skinner, 1953, cited inRyckman, 2013, p. 368). When I was younger my sister and I slept in the same room and we often fought with each other about who slept on the top of the double bunk. Until my father got angry one day and sent us both to the naughty corner for two whole hours, and whilst sitting alone it decreased our behavior and we never fought again with each other about sleeping arrangements. Negative Punishment: Decreases the behavior from occurring, it is removing pleasant stimulus when someone is not doing the appropriate behavior. Eating food was one of my difficulties, since I rather looked forward to the deserts during super time, so I use to waste my food. Dad took away my spending and said I needed to learn to appreciate and feel what poor kids are going through. He even took me to the orphanage and I felt so bad, now I know not to waste food since there are so many kids out there who do not have food. My view on wasting food has changed. OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING Is based on the work of Albert Bandura (1977). Bandura and his associates were able to exhibit through a variation of experimentations that the request of concerns was not necessary for learning to take place. Instead learning could happen through the simple procedure of observing someone else’s actions or behavior. This effort provided the basis for Bandura’s future work in social cognition ( Ohman Mineka, 2001, cited in Weiten, 2014, p. 252). Bandura expressed his findings in a four step design which includes a cognitive and an operant view of learning. Attention- to learn observation, you must pay attention to another person’s behavior and its environment. Retention- you may not have times to observe response for a long time. Hence the individual remembers what was noticed and must store a mental image of what he has witnessed in his memory. Reproduction- the action that the individual produces that is a replica of what was noticed. Motivation your motivation depends on whether you encounter the situation in which you believe that the response is likely to pay off for you (Weiten, 2013, p. 252). My eldest brother (fifteen years old) use to skip school and smoke cigarettes. Whilst my younger brother who was (twelve years old) at the time observed what he was doing. When my younger brother turned (fourteen) he stated smoking cigarettes too. Thereafter he started modelling my eldest brother’s behavior and he too started skipping school. Now both of them are addicted to smoking. I often hear both my brother’s saying that smoking is not good, yet they keep smoking. And when their friends come over, they smoke even worst. I cannot fully understand the need for their smoking. However I do know that it is not good for their health, it clogs their lungs and some people also dies of lung cancer, besides I hate the bad odor in there breathe. My eldest brother was a good athlete at college but these days he complains that he cannot run like he used to, because he suffers of short breath and he coughs a lot to. I constantly tell him to quit smoking and he would stop for a day or two, and he would become very frustrated and annoying to be around. Eventually I would say to him â€Å"you know, you should rather smoke because you are so annoying, your attitude really stinks† And he would say you know I cannot function without cigarettes it feels like my nerves are finished, I cannot even concentrate, I am trying to leave this addiction but it is not easy. Behavior Modification Is a therapeutic technique created by Skinner, a psychologist who is the â€Å"Father of Behaviorism.† Skinner established a theory of operant conditioning, whereby he states that all behavior is ruled by reinforcing and punishing stimuli. Behavior modification practices a planned approach that rewards wanted behavior and â€Å"punishes† unwanted behavior. This technique is used in therapy and is used in psychological settings. Behavior modification is now known as Applied behavior analysis (ABA) which is more logical (Kransner, 1970, cited in Ryckman, 2013, p. 375). How Behavior Modification is applied: Psychologists use behavior modification to treat disorders such as attention deficit disorder, autism etc. The basics of behavior modification are used to increase the desired behaviors in any specific person, regardless of functional level (Tanaka- Matsumi et al., 2002 cited in Corey2014, p. 254). For example, a person wants to quit smoking cigarettes; he may use behavioral methods to help attain those goals. Another example is, an individual who sees a shark and swims for his life, and he is not swimming fast because he is â€Å"scared.† Instead, he is swimming fast because he saw what happened to other’s who did not swim and who was eaten by the shark. The impulse to swim fast is a result of those that swam and did not live. In addition, the particular feeling of being â€Å"scared† is measured as a flight reflex, not a feeling. The heart races and adrenaline rises as the nervous system responds to the situation at hand. Hence, anything a person does can be directed to behavior modification. Reinforcement and Punishment The idea of reinforcement and punishment is often used in different ways, in behavior modification than in everyday linguistic. Whatever increases a behavior is a reflected reinforcement and whatever decreases the behavior is punishment. The complex part is that both reinforcement and punishment can have either a positive or negative outcome. Positive refers to whatever is added to the situation and negative is whatever is taken away from the situation (Watson Tharp, 1997, cited in Weiten, 2014, p. 260). Positive Reinforcement: When I was in school my mom would give me a huge hug and when I got really good marks she would reward me with presents for passing. Negative Reinforcement: My brother often did not do well at school, and he did not get any praises from my parents, instead my parents were disappointment and would often ground him. This is a negative reinforcement, because although he was not an academic student I feel my parents would still praise him and motivated him in whatever field he is good at. Punishment: Often my brother had to do the gardening for the duration of the school term in order for his grades to go up. This was dad’s way of punishing him positively. Mom use to take away his play station and his bicycle until his grades picked up. This was mom’s way of punishing him negatively (Weiten, 2014, p. 260). Behavior Modification in Everyday Life: According to Lazaras (1989) behavior modification may seem complicated, but in fact it is actually quite simple. If an individual is reinforced every single time he or she does something good, sooner or later the reinforcement will lose its power. When using this technique with general people, one should reinforce the desired outcome, with a consistency. Then as they start to respond, change your schedule of reinforcement to every third time, and they will do what you want. After a while, change it again to every fifth time until they do it automatically (Lazaras 1989 cited in Corey, 2014). Mom wanted dad to open the car door for her. When they went out shopping she carried all the bags and when she got to the car, dad noticed that her hands were filled and he opened the door for her. Once he opened the door, she looked at him in the eye and told him what an amazing person he is. After several times of her encouraging him to open the door, eventually he started opening the car door for her regularly. And once she noticed that he was opening the door for her she did not compliment him every time. However once in a while she would complement him. Conclusion Both cognitive processes and behavior modification has been used with good outcomes to help people with a wide variety of problems. These approaches makes use of tangible, involvements, because of the way problems are recognized .The major methods are logical and straightforward. References Corey, G. (2014). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (SA ed.). USA: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning, Inc. Ryckman,R. M. (2013). Theories of Personality (10th, ed.). USA: International Edition, Cengage Learning. Corey, G. (1986).Theory and practice of group counselling and psychotherapy(3rd ed.). Monterey, CA Brooks/Cole. Weiten, W. (2014). Psychology Themes and Variations (SA. Ed.). Las Vegas, USA: Cengage Learning.