How the Internet Is a Good Tool to Learn New Languages free essay sample

Among these sites we have Livermore and Buss; these are two highly recommended tools that offer users entertainment and knowledge. There is no doubt that on line language learning immunities are the perfect blend between fun and learning, as the following reasons may illustrate.The main purpose of these sites is to be a free platform in which people interact with others to learn new languages, most of the benefits are included in the free version, if you help other members to learn your native language, the lessons will be unblocked progressively, although If you want to make your learning experience deeper or Just to be a PIP member you have to pay a certain amount of money to accede to the whole benefits; then these sites will send you a daily report of news and exercises by e-mail. The ease to present the contents Is another of the main reasons by which people choose using these sites, because they offer a great variety of resources, such as images, videos, sounds, access to online newspapers and magazines, etc. We will write a custom essay sample on How the Internet Is a Good Tool to Learn New Languages or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page By making use of these advantages you can practice both, grammar and vocabulary. Most grammar rules are explained in various kinds of exercises. All courses include a great amount of progressive lessons so, as well you can see what you want to learn and repeat modules as many times as you like.You can download PDF and MPH files of each lesson, which you can use to practice in any other place. You need to pass a test if you want to move on to the next level. By using Livermore and Buss you can keep in touch with people from all over the world, no matter how far away they live. Video chatting Is a good way to connect with friends you have made to make clear your doubts. These sites offer a great proclamation In discussion groups so as to exchange knowledge with others around the world. Hen you are learning a new language, it is very important hearing native speakers pronunciation, so you can improve your speaking skills. Practicing with foreign language speakers may be useful to become fluent, seeing that we learn idiomatic expressions that are not generally taught in language classes. Moreover you can send to your friends writing and speaking submissions so that they can be corrected. Learning languages is one of the best things that I have made in my life; with this I have learned about culture, geography, technology, economy, health and so on.In recent times, social networks are considered as a waste of time, but if they are well used could be a very fast and effective method to learn new languages and a lot of other things. If you have never studied another language, It Is time to start; do not SSE the opportunity to do It, go right now and create an account on Lovelace or Buss; these sites are the best tools you can use if you are looking entertainment and There we can find clear instructions to start learning, and it makes you increase your necessity to strike up conversations as well.Undoubtedly, Livermore and Buss can change your life, and your way to see the world; you will be surprised with the useful that they can be, and with the satisfaction that causes understand and to be understood by people from any other country; do not forget that you can learn when you want to, and practice online at anytime.

MOVIE PROJECT Essay

MOVIE PROJECT Essay MOVIE PROJECT Essay MOVIE PROJECT The movie that I chose was Gran Torino. This movie is about a man named Walt Kowalski. The world is changing fast around him and he doesn't know how to adapt. His once all-white neighborhood is now mostly Southeast Asian and he has a Hmong family living next door. He doesn't get along with his sons and is out of touch with his grandchildren, all of whom seem more interested in getting his house than anything else. His pride and joy; however, is his 1972 Gran Torino. When the Hmong teenager who lives next door, Thao, is challenged by his cousin and other local gang members to steal it, Walt almost shoots him. Gradually, however, he realizes he has more in common with his neighbors than his own family and becomes something of a neighborhood hero when he prevents the gangbangers from forcing Thao into their car. He gradually takes Thao under his wing, teaching him a few things about life and helps getting him a job. Walt's intervention has a price, however, when the gang s hoots up Thao's house and attack his sister Sue. For Walt, it's time to take action, though not in a way you would expect. Walt is a veteran of 2 or 3 tours in Korea and just recently lost his wife. Walt is a very original man his motto is you stay off my lawn and leave my things alone and I will do the same. Walt is what I would call a very straight forward he says what is on his mind and he means it too. When in danger, it’s natural to feel afraid. This fear triggers many split-second changes in the body to prepare to defend against the danger or to avoid it. This â€Å"fight-or-flight† response is a healthy reaction meant to protect a person from harm. But in post-traumatic stress disorder, this reaction is changed or damaged. People who have PTSD may feel stressed or frightened even when they’re no longer in danger. There are many symptoms of PTSD one including re-experiencing symptoms which includes flashbacks and bad dreams. Another symptom is feeling stro ng depression or guilt that you survived and the others didn't. Walt shows survivor guilt, and a hate of all enemies, isolation and even a death wish which are all symptoms of PTSD. He showed survivor guilt when he earned a Silver Star Medal as the survivor of an Infantry attack on an enemy strong point in the Korean War. Thao said that he was ready to kill the gangbangers and Walt tells him that it is terrible to kill so many people let alone getting a medal for it. He shows a hate of all enemies when he hates all "gooks" with an obsessive passion which even extended to Asians which were our allies in Vietnam. He was quick to grab his M-1 Garand Rifle or 45 Pistol for any intrusion into his â€Å"space† or yard. Even in the face of overwhelming violent adversity. He shows isolation when he

Water Balance. Sediment Yield Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Water Balance. Sediment Yield - Essay Example usual concepts employed to study landscape morphology do not essentially hold for dry land environments, where extreme proceedings are responsible for most erosion and sediment transport. The finest descriptions are from areas of vertical soils in the waterway Country of inland Australia, where they arise widely. They have also been explained on 'tabra' soils in the Sudan. What these areas have in common is the establishment of the soil outside into hummocky landscape. In the Australian examples this is due to gilgai, in the Sudanese example to differential compaction of the soil on climate 0 channel links can be developed per square kilometre. The hummocky surface makes flow to focus close by in lower areas where its greater depth causes it to be faster and livelier. This deliberation of flow causes waterways to form linking the depressions. Other features contributing to conduits formation are that slumps are more often covered than mounds, and as a consequence the floodplain there is often more cracked and eroded. It would seem as purely phenomena for land area or at least similar channels haven't yet been explained from other surroundings. Amongst other things, a lack of foliage seems essential to enable over bank flow to cut conduits where it wouldn't otherwise have enough energy. What is their protection possibility They have not been depicted in the rock record. The gilgai they are connected with has often been illustrated; however it is likely that the reticulate channels would be very difficult to spot. Firstly they are shaped in and transport sediment typically identical in composition to the mass of the floodplain sediment, thus leave-taking no textural signature of their presence. Secondly, the changes in soil formation which cause their formation would also tend to obliterate any signatures of their presence. In the last three decades of the 20th century a file on pending sediment yield (SSY) and it's controlling factors, which have information for 4140 river basins of the Earth, was created by geomorphologies of Kazan State University (Russia). Features shaping the values of SSY are overflow, river basin area, relief height, rock and soil opus, the thickness and structure of vegetable cover and degree of anthropogenic especially agricultural mastering of basin natural landscapes. According to N.I. Makkaveev (1955) and many other researchers, the study of river sediment yield is the most ambitious and precise method of judgment of erosion intensity. The specific suspended sediment yield (t km-2 year-1) and degree of anthropogenic mastering of river basin landscapes in various height regions of the Earth Dominating tendency Hemispheres of the Earth northern southern Rising 34.02 ( 34.7) 24.94 ( 72.0) Descending 26.83 ( 27.4) 1.69 ( 4.9) Relatively permanent 21.30 ( 21.8) 5.42 ( 15.6) No data area 15.79 ( 16.1) 2.60 ( 7.5) Total area 97.97 (100.0) 34.65 (100.0) The areas (106 km2) with different dominating tendencies of erosion intensity and suspended sediment yield changes in hemispheres of the Earth during the second half of the 20th century There is also an ordinance which is made to the following purposes: The hazard areas of North Augusta are subject to episodic flood which consequences in loss of life and property, health and safety hazards, disruption of commerce and governmental services, unusual public expenditures for flood fortification and relief, and injury of the tax base, all of which

Healthy People 2020 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Healthy People 2020 - Research Paper Example Finally, in 2010, Healthy People 2020 was launched to guide health work for the next 10 years or up to 2020. Sometime during the mid-period or thereabouts of each of the ten-year programs, a mid-course review is conducted. For instance, the mid-course review for Healthy People 2010 was started to be published in December 2006. Presumably, therefore, a mid-course review for Healthy People 2020 will be done sometime 2015 or thereabouts. The launching of Healthy People 2020 was announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through an official press release on 2 December 2010. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2011), there are four overarching goals in Healthy People 2020. First, the attainment of â€Å"high-quality, longer lives free of preventable disease, disability, injury and premature death.† The second overarching goal is the achievement of health equity, elimination of health disparities, and improvement of health of all groups. The third overarching goal is the creation of social and physical environments that promote good health. Finally, the fourth overarching goal is the promotion of a quality of life, health development, and healthy behaviors across all life stages. The four overarching goals are declared in the official website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for its healthy people programs in www.healthypeople.gov as well as in a brochure produced in November 2010. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2010, p. 4), the population of Montgomery was estimated at 366,900 as of 1 July 2010. Approximately, 60 percent of the population resides in Montgomery County. Further, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2010, pp. 4-5), Montgomery’s population was growing at an average of 1.3 percent annually during the 1990s but the population growth rate dropped to 0.1 percent annually since 1 July 2008. Unemployment rate in

It is not an essay but quistions Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

It is not an but quistions - Essay Example AS a result, the number reduced making it inferior to withstand the forces from the north. The other success was in Gettysburg. In the battle, the army under the command of Lee suffered a significant loss. In the battle, there were massive casualties. As a result, Lee side was demoralised on invasion of the north and, therefore, had to retreat to Virginia. The 1890 can be described as a watershed of the 1900’s in different ways. In the period, various changes defined the 1900’s. First, there was consolidation of various railway projects that had begun in the second part of the century. The consolidation helped in emergence of various industries that helped spur economic growth in the 1900’s. Moreover, the emergence of industries led to economic dominance of United States in the following century. Secondly, industrialization led to increased immigration to America. For example, there was increasing number of immigrants. Most came from Europe. They were looking for work and increased freedom. Consequently, there was growth of cities where the immigrants settled leading to increased urbanization. However, the period also saw increased discrimination. The discrimination was directed to African American. The period saw the passage of authoritarian laws such as Jim Crow laws that authorised segregation of African Americans. The law also allowed lynching of African Americans in the southern side. The changes led to rise of civil rights groups in then 1990’s. Moreover, there was a rise of exceptional leaders agitating for equality of different races over the same time such as Dubois and Martin Luther King. Additionally, the period saw the rise of various political parties. The parties were because of activism of farmers. In the period, farmers complained of reduced prices of commodities such as wheat and cotton. One of such parties was the People’s Party (Populist Party). The party was agitating for political

Difficulties Listeners Face Processing a Foreign Language

Difficulties Listeners Face Processing a Foreign Language INTRODUCTION Recently, listening has gained more and more attention in foreign language learning. In learning a foreign language, it is suggested that the most important step should begin with an effort to listen. (Rubin Thompson, 1994) Listening provides input for learners to make learning occur and listening exercises draw learners attention to new forms in language, such as new vocabulary items. (Rost, 1994) Listening can be regarded as a necessary skill in the diagnosing and preparation of foreign language students and can even be served as a good predictor of language achievement. In consequence, listening comprehension acts as a pivotal role in foreign language learning. (Oxford, 1993) In this essay, three issues are discussed. Issue 1 states listening difficulties in second language acquisition. Underwood (1994), Chiang and Dunkel (1992) and Rubin and Thompson (1994)‘s viewpoint are discussed. Issue 2 proposes taxonomies of the factors affecting listening difficulties. Boyle (1984), Yagang (1993) and Rubin (1994) ‘s point of view of the factors affecting listening comprehension are referred to. Issue 3 mentions studies in listening difficulties of L2 listeners in foreign countries. Tauroza and Allisons (Rubin, 1994) study is about speech rate. Boyle (1984)s study is factors most frequently mentioned in listening comprehension. Lynch (1997)s study is a case study of a intermediate-level learners progress in listening comprehension. Goh (2000)s study discusses listening comprehension problems. Chapter 1 Listening difficulties in second language acquisition Underwoods (1994) point of view Underwood (1994) identified seven potential difficulties in listening comprehension as: (1) lack of control over the speed at which speakers speak, (2) not being able to get things repeated, (3) the listeners limited vocabulary, (4) failure to recognize the signals, (5) problems of interpretation, (6) inability to concentrate, (7) established learning habits. Many language learners believe that the greatest difficulty with listening comprehension is that the listener cannot control how quickly a speaker speaks. (p7) They are so busy working out the meaning of one part of what they hear that they miss the next part. Another difficulty is that listener is not always in a position to get the speaker to repeat an utterance. This is particularly likely to be the case when students are ‘on the edge of conversation outside the classroom. For people listening to a foreign language, an unknown word can be like a suddenly dropped barrier causing them to stop and think about the meaning of the word and thus making them miss the next part of the speech (p 17). And students need to learn to listen for the ‘signals in order to be able to connect the various utterances in the way the speaker intended them to be connected. (p18) Students who are unfamiliar with the context may have considerable difficulty in interpreting the words they hear even if they can understand their ‘surface meaning. (p19). Inability to concentrate can be caused by a number of things, but in listening work it is a majo r problem, because even the shortest break in attention can seriously impair comprehension. (p19) Outside factors may well make concentration difficult, too. An inferior machine or poor recording can make it very hard for the students. As for establishing leaning habits, when the learner can more readily accept the frustrations involved, he will be more prepared to strive for a partial and incomplete understanding of what is being said. (pp16-19) Rubin and Thompsons (1994) point of view Rubin and Thompson list three common problems in learning to listen to a foreign language. The first problem is that the speaker talks too fast. If the listener can not follow the speaker, the listener can let the speaker know that he is not following. He can ask for repetition and slowing down the speed, seeks clarification, rephrase, and repeat. The listener can pay attention to intonation and tone of voice, focus on question words such as who, what and when and assume that the ‘here and ‘now are relevant. That is, the sentence is directly related to the subject they have just been discussing. Assume that what a person says is directly related to something he or she is experiencing at that very minute. The second problem is that the listener is not getting anything out of foreign language TV and movies. If the listener could not understand the foreign language TV and movies, they should try to take control of his listening by predicting what he was likely to hear. For e xample, use visual clues and use his background knowledge. Anticipate information in a segment by relying on your knowledge of what such a segment is likely to contain. Listeners could also use information from the segment itself and determine the genre of the segment. Knowing the genre of a segment will help you determine how best to approach it. For instance, if it is an interview, then concentrate on the questions. If it is a news report, a who, when, where strategy will work best. If it is a drama, look for the story line. Listeners could listen to familiar elements, listen to familiar-sounding words, listen to and jot down repeated words, learn to recognize numbers and learn to recognize proper names. The third problem is that the listener tends to stop listening when he hears an unfamiliar word or phrase. Many learners, particularly in the early stages of language learning, panic and lose their concentration when they hear an unfamiliar segment. As a result, they miss portions of the passage that might have helped clarify the unfamiliar word or segment. The listener should concentrate on familiar elements and keep listening. Understanding something is better than getting nothing at all. If you continue listening, chances are that you will comprehend at least some parts of the massage. It is possible that the portions you missed were not very important after all. Chiang and Dunkels (1992) point of view Chiang and Dunkel (1992) pointed out that listeners comprehension in English may be thwarted by a number of cognitive and linguistic factors as well as academic and cultural issues, including: (a) inability or lack of opportunity to engage in communicative interaction with the second/foreign language teacher or lecture; (b) inability to detect the main points of the lecture or to â€Å" grasp the usual goals of particular genres of discourse situation of which the discourse is a part; (c) unfamiliarity with the structure and type of the discourse ; (d) inability to apprehend discourse markers and logical relationships in the English lecture; (e) inability to comprehend lecture speech delivered at faster rates of speed; (f) limited short-term memory for English input; (g) failure to use appropriate cognitive or learning strategies; (h) poor inference abilities in English; (i) limited proficiency in English; (j) lack of prior knowledge about the content of the spoken or written text; and (k) inability to process L2 input devoid of speech modification such as elaborations or redundancies. Of these difficulties confronting L2 learners, Chiang and Dunkel explored the effect of three of them. The first situation was when the listeners had limited listening proficiency in English, the second situation was when they lacked prior knowledge about the topic of the L2 lecture, and the third situation was when they were not supplied with modified speech. The results revealed a significant interaction between prior knowledge and text type. Chapter 2 Taxonomy of the factors affecting L2 listening difficulties Boyles (1984) three categories of factors Boyle (1984) began with a survey of the factors most frequently mentioned in the literature on listening comprehension, including three categories of factors. The first category referred to the listener factors, including experience in listening to the target language, general background knowledge of the world, educational background and type of school, knowledge of the target language in its various aspects, memory, powers of analysis and selection and motivation and attitude of the listener to the speaker and to the message. The second categories, the speaker factors, contain language ability of the speaker: native speaker—beginning level non-native speaker. Speakers production: pronunciation, accent, variation, voice affect, too. Speed of delivery and prestige and personality of the speaker count. The third category, factors in the material and medium, comprise difficulty of content and concept, especially if the material is abstract, abstruse, highly specialized or technic al, lengthy or poorly organized. Acoustic environment such as noise and interference and amount of support provided by gestures, visuals also have influence on listening comprehension. Yagangs (1993) four aspects of factors Instead of three categories, Yagang (1993) proposed that the sources of listening difficulties came mainly from the four aspects: the message, the speaker, the listener, and the physical setting. The message factors comprised content and linguistic features. In content which is not well organized, listeners cannot predict what speakers are going to say. And if listening materials are made up of everyday conversation, they may contain a lot of colloquial expressions, such as guy for man. Students who have been exposed mainly to formal or bookish English may not be familiar with these expressions. The speaker factors consists of redundant utterances, such as repetitions, false starts, re-phrasings, self-corrections, elaborations, tautologies, apparently meaningless addition such as â€Å" I mean† or â€Å" you know† and speakers personal factors such as their accents. Learners tend to be used to their teaching accent or to the standard variety of British or American Engli sh. They find it hard to understand speakers with other accents. The listener factors played a more important role in EFL students listening. For example, foreign language students might be not familiar enough with clichà © and collocations in English to predict a missing word or phrase. For example, they can not be expected to know that rosy often collocates with cheeks. EFL students might be lack of sociocultural, factual, and contextual knowledge of the target language. (Anderson and Lynch 1988).It can present an obstacle to comprehension because language is used to express its culture. Factors in physical setting included noise, both background noises on the recording and environmental noises, could carry the listeners mind of the content of the listening passage. Listening material on tape or radio lacks visual and aural environmental clues. Not seeing the speakers body language and facial expressions makes it more difficult for the listener to understand the speakers meaning. Unclear sounds resulting from poor quality equipment can interfere with the listeners comprehension. Rubins (1994) five categories of factors Rubin (1994) classified these listening factors into five categories: text, interlocutor, task, listener and process characteristics. Text characteristics referred to acoustic-temporal variables, acoustic-other variables and morphological and syntactic modifications (including restatements). Acoustic-temporal variables are speech rate, pause phenomena, and hesitation. Acoustic-other variables are level of perception, stress and rhythmic patterning perception and L1 and L2 differences. Variables of morphological and syntactic modifications are redundancy, morphological complexity, word order and discourse markers. Text characteristics referred to text type. Visual support for texts is also an important variable. Interlocutor characteristics referred to variations in the speakers personal characteristics, such as gender, pronunciation, accent, expertness and so on. Listener characteristics are listeners language proficiency level, memory, attention, affect, age, gender, learning disabi lities in L1, and background knowledge as well as aptitude, processing skills, background biases, motivation, and confidence level. Process characteristics referred to how listeners interpret input in terms of what they know or identify what they dont know. Top-down, bottom-up and parallel processing is being examined in L2 contexts. Current views of listening comprehension propose that listeners actively process language input. Two types of processing have been discerned: cognitive strategies and metacognitive strategies. Research on listening strategies includes: work on several languages; work contrasting strategy use at several proficiency levels; work with interactive or transactional listening; work with cognitive and metacognitive strategies; work considering the relation of strategy use to text, task, and setting. Chapter 3 Studies in listening difficulties of L2 listeners in foreign countries Tauroza and Allisons ( )studyspeech rate Griffiths suggests that different language have different â€Å"normal† rates and the rates defined in studies using English can not be applied exactly to studies of other languages. Most research quotes a normal speech rate of 165 to 180 words per minutes for native speakers of English. On the other hand, while Foulke reports a threshold (the rate at which comprehension begins to decrease rapidly) level between 250-275 w.p.m., others states that comprehension decreases as a function of mental aptitude and difficulty level. Tauroza and Allison compare normal speed of British speakers for four types of speech. They found that while the mean for radio and interview speech events lies within the range of 160 to 190 w.p.m., the means for conversation and lecture categories are outside this range. The mean rate for conversation in words per minute was 210, while for lectures, 140. They note further that thirty-three percent of their lecture data was slower than 130 w.p.m. and twent y-three percent of the conversation data was faster than 220 w.p.m. The issue of normal speech rate is one that still needs a great deal more research that takes into account all of the variables mentioned above. (Rubin, 1994) Boyles (1984) study—factors most frequently mentioned in listening In Boyles (1984) study, 30 teachers and 60 students in Hong Kong were asked to list the six factors which they considered the most important in aiding or hampering the effectiveness of listening comprehension. It was interesting to know that the students gave much more importance to vocabulary than teachers did. It was surprising that the students mentioned two factors, memory and concentration, barely mentioned by the teachers. In addition, the students considered that there was a possible relationship between their reading habits and their listening comprehension, which was not mentioned by the teachers. On the other hand, the teacher seemed to specify the linguistic factors more sophisticatedly. The teacher would specify the factors as ability to pick up clues, complex syntactical structures, stress and intonation and interference from Chinese. On the contrary, the students just indicated that the lack of general language ability or the difficulties in English listening comprehens ion. Lynchs (1997) study—a case study of an intermediate-level learners progress Lynch (1997) conducted an ethnographic study of a Japanese student who attended English language courses at the Institute for Applied Language Studies, the only one taking an undergraduate course in economics at the University of Edinburgh. His scores on the listening tests were relatively low in comparison with his reading and grammar scores with the other students in class. A number of possible reasons were found to explain his difficulties in listening comprehension. First, he was the youngest member in his class so that he was unwilling to engage in negotiation with his seniors. Second, he was the only undergraduate student with an economic background in his English class so that he viewed himself as insufficient in some general background knowledge. Third, he joined Course 3 in the EAP program, skipping the basic class, Course 1 and 2. Therefore, he thought he needed more time to get used to negotiate with others in English. Fourth, his lowest listening score disappointed him gr eatly. The perceptions of the subject had made a substantial influence on his English learning. Gohs (2000) study—listening comprehension problems Goh (2000) investigated the comprehension problems of second language listeners in a cognitive perspective. She identified real-time listening difficulties faced by 40 Chinese undergraduates and examined their difficulties within the three-phase model of language comprehension proposed by Anderson. (1995). The data were collected from learners self-reports in their diaries, semi-structure interviews and immediate retrospective verbalizations. The data revealed 10 problems that occurred during the cognitive process phases of perception, parsing, and utilization. She also, made a comprehension between two groups, high ability listeners and low ability listeners. Each group consisted of eight students selected according to their grades in a post-instruction standardized proficiency test, the SLEP test of Educational Testing Service 1991. She found that listeners with highly ability and low ability both had a perception problem with recognizing words they knew. Another problem they both shared was parsing problem that they quickly forgot what they thought they had understood. In addition to these two problems, high ability listeners reported a utilization problem that they were often unable to extract the meaning out of the message even if they had understood all the words. On the other hand, low ability listeners reported another perception problem that they often did not hear the next part of a text because they spent too much time thinking about what they had just heard. REFERENCES Boyle, J.P. (1984). Factors affecting listening comprehension. ELT Journal, 38 (1), 34-38 Chiang, C.S. Dunkel, P. (1992). The effect of speech modification, prior knowledge, and listening proficiency in EFL lecture learning. TESOL Quarterly, 26(2), 345-374 Goh, C.C.M. (2000). A cognitive perspective on language learners listening comprehension problem. System, 28(1), 55-75. Lynch. (1997). Life in the slow lane: Observations of a limited L2 listener. System, 25 (3), 385-398 Oxford, R. (1993). Research update in L2 listening. System, 21(2), 205-211. Rost, M. (1994). Introducing listening. London: Penguin. Rubin, J. (1994). A review of second language listening comprehension research. Modern language Journal, 78(2), 199-217 Rubin, J. Thompson, I. (1994) How to be a more successful language learner: Toward learning autonomy. MA: Heinle Heinle Publishers. Underwood, M. (1994). Teaching listening. Longman Handbooks for Language Teachers. Yagang, F. (1993).Listening: problems and solutions. English Teaching Forum, 31 (2), 16-19

Internet Hackers :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Hackers Last year, two Cloverdale teenagers pleaded guilty to federal charges. What did they do that the FBI raided their homes and seized their computers? They hacked into Pentagon computer systems. These two teenagers, Makaveli and TooShort, were also suspected of breaking into computers at universities, government agencies and military bases. This example and many others show the increase of hackers and their crimes over the years. In another story that is similar to the story about Makaveli and Too Short, from a BBC News story, Hackers target Nasa and Pentagon, an international group of computer hackers broke into Pentagon computer systems and also said they had stolen key software from Nasa. The group consisted of eight Americans, five British and two Russians. They called themselves the "Masters of Downloading." They were considering selling the information to international terrorist groups or foreign governments. The number of hacker related crimes seems to be increasing y ear by year. Theft on the internet is costing companies billions, and the high-tech industry is struggling to stop it. According to Michael Meyer's Crimes of the "Net", last year roughly $2 billion worth of software was stolen over the internet last year. Also that year, the leader of an international piracy ring operating out of Spain, pleaded guilty to a brand of fraud destined to become commonplace. According to U.S. investigators, they stole 140,000 telephone credit-card numbers. Hackers used the numbers to make a total of $140 million worth of long-distance phone calls. Now, the question is who is really at loss here. The answer is simple. Companies like GTE, AT &T, Bell Atlantic and MCI. Because of these hackers, those companies lost a lot of money. What actions must be taken to stop these theives? According to the hackers, they call what they are doing sharing. Hackers are criminals that steal from others to better themselves. They are leeches, feeding off ot her peoples' personal items. People have to become aware of the risk they face with hackers. Software and phone cards isn't the end of the stealing hackers. Everything from computer parts to flowers and teddy bears are at risk to hackers. With the increasing technology, the abuse is almost endless.

Early Literacy in Education Essay

Introduction â€Å"Literacy learning has a profound and lasting effect on the social and academic lives of children. Their future educational opportunities and career choices are directly related to literacy ability. Since early childhood is the period when language develops most rapidly, it is imperative that young children are provided with a variety of developmentally appropriate literacy experiences throughout each day, and that the classroom environment is rich with language, both spoken and printed. Early childhood teachers are responsible for both understanding the developmental continuum of language and literacy and for supporting each child’s literacy development. Literacy learning begins at birth and develops rapidly during the preschool period. The main components of literacy—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—should all be encouraged and supported through conversations and activities that are meaningful to the child and that involve adults and peers. Each child’s interest and motivation to engage in literacy-related activities are evident before that child is able to read or write conventionally. Children should be provided with environments that encourage literacy exploration and their emergent reading and writing behaviors should be valued and supported by their teachers. Effective language and literacy programs provide children who do not speak English with opportunities for listening, speaking, reading, and writing in both English and the home language. It is important for the teacher to recognize the need to make modifications in the presentation of vocabulary, directions, storytelling, reading, and other oral language communication when working with children who do not speak English as their home language. These modifications may include the use of visual aids, scaffolding, repetition, rephrasing, and modeling. † (NJ Department of Education, 2009) Gone are the days in which manual labor was the backbone of our society. We are a people living in the information technology age. Everything that is done from brewing your morning cup of coffee to setting your I-pod to wake you up morning and everything in between requires reading. Without reading a person will face great adversity in day to day living let alone success. It is now critical that every child and adult be able to read and comprehend. Over the past ten years, the amount of information that requires one to read, utilize writing skills, problem solving, and critical thinking has grown enormously. Studies have shown that one of the strongest indicators of a child’s success in school is the educational attainment of his or her parents. As you can imagine, this can plainly effect more than the person who is illiterate. This can also be a death sentence of poverty and destitution as the child grows into adulthood just as doors open for the life-long reader. Today we will discuss: what is needed to prepare children to read, the methods used to help recognize phonics and begin the transition into emergent readers, and what can be done to encourage reading in the future. Preparation In order for a child to begin reading parents must begin assisting their child from an early age. â€Å"Every step a child takes toward learning to read leads to another. Bit by bit, the child builds the knowledge that is necessary for being a reader. Over their first 6 years, most children †¢Talk and listen. †¢Listen to stories read aloud. †¢Pretend to read. †¢Learn how to handle books. †¢Learn about print and how it works. †¢Identify letters by name and shape. †¢Identify separate sounds in spoken language. †¢Write with scribbles and drawing. †¢Connect single letters with the sounds they make. †¢Connect what they already know to what they hear read. †¢Predict what comes next in stories and poems. †¢Connect combinations of letters with sounds. †¢Recognize simple words in print. †¢Sum up what a story is about. †¢Write individual letters of the alphabet. †¢Write words. †¢Write simple sentences. †¢Read simple books. †¢Write to communicate. †¢Read simple books. Children can take more than one of these steps at the same time. This list of steps, though, gives you a general idea of how your child will progress toward reading. † (Helping your child become a reader) While these ideas may seem structured, it is also important to allow children to be creative and use their imagination. Although reading is imperative, too many arrangements and rules can turn a child off and lead to feelings of resentment, anger, and resistance. Reading should be set to the tone and pace of the child. Emergent Readers As the standards of education change a consistent factor remains the focus on reading. Early childhood educators must provide an atmosphere that is both developmentally stimulating to the student while also meeting the standards of education. The methods used to help recognize phonics and begin the transition into emergent readers vary from student to student. Without the foundation of phonics research shows that a child will not learn to read. All children must know the alphabet in order to communicate effectively. Phonics cannot be drilled into the child. This will only produce memorization. Instead, educators must understand a child’s individual needs as well as balance. There is no true need to teach phonics as a separate subject. Most children will develop a sense of curiosity from their own knowledge, ideas, and interest. There will of course be a select few that may benefit from a more formal instruction. When children have a reason to know this will provide enthusiasm. For example: The first letter and sound a child typically learns may be his or her own name. A teacher may ask Billy to identify the first letter of his name. â€Å"B† replies Billy. â€Å"What sound does the letter B make? † â€Å"Buh-buh-Billy exclaims the child. Billy is now inspired and driven to want to learn the other sounds the letters make. Parents and teachers must also realize that reading will contrast greatly as children grow. Below is a list that may help each parent as well as teacher: â€Å"Infants †¢Talk, read, and sing to infants–they learn from everything they see and hear even in the first stages of life. †¢Take your baby to the park, zoo, and the store with you. Bring her attention to objects, signs, and people. †¢Always make books a part of your baby’s toy selection, even if he enjoys handling books more than being read to. As your child grows, point out pictures of objects and offer their names. Eventually, your child will be able to name the pictures, too. †¢Encourage associations between symbols and their meaning–as they get closer to toddlerhood, children may begin to recognize familiar signs for products and logos for cereal or fast food restaurants. Toddlers †¢Help toddlers make the transition from baby talk to adult language by repeating their words and expressions correctly without reprimanding them. †¢Let toddlers â€Å"read† their favorite picture books by themselves while you remain close by to comment. Or, pause before a familiar word as you read to your toddler, and let her fill in the missing word. This works especially well with rhymes or repeated refrains. †¢Provide magnetic and block letters to introduce a toddler to the spelling of his name. †¢Before you take your toddler on a new type of outing, read about the events you are about to witness. Talk with your child about the experience, and follow up with further reading to reinforce learning. Preschooler †¢Add new books to your child’s collection, but keep reading old favorites. Your preschooler may know them by heart now–this represents an important step in learning about reading. †¢Continue to take children shopping with you, and let them help identify products with coupons. Let preschool children join in as you follow a recipe. †¢Take books on long trips with you to encourage reading as entertainment. School-age children †¢Continue to read to your child, even if she has learned to read already. Take turns reading pages of your favorite books. †¢Encourage story writing by listening to the stories children tell. †¢Play word games like Scrabble or Boggle with children and introduce them to crossword puzzles. † (NAEYC, 1998) Encouragement â€Å"The first step in teaching a child to read is encouraging them to read. † – Unknown. This is a proven fact in the development of children. A child that is encouraged has no limit on what he or she can achieve. As educators and parents the responsibility begins early. Reading will encourage children to develop a life-long love for learning. If knowledge is power, books are full of it. Why is reading so important to children? â€Å"The Media Awareness Network emphasizes the potentially negative effects watching television can have on kids. This includes increased exposure to violence, sexual content, and adversely affecting a child’s course of development. In addition, watching television teaches children habits that promote a sedentary lifestyle, contributing to childhood obesity. Meanwhile, reading has been proven to enhance a child’s life by assisting cognitive development and helping children build language skills. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization points out that reading helps children develop a sense of empowerment. It can also help children develop social and communication skills. Furthermore, good reading skills increase educational opportunities and may dramatically increase a child’s chances for academic and lifelong success† (Lendabarker, 2010) There is a vast assortment of options for parents to help encourage reading at home. One of the longest running programs to encourage reading is Pizza Hut’s â€Å"BOOK IT† program. â€Å"This provides an incentive to motivate children to read. BOOK IT! runs every school year from October through March. The teacher sets a reading goal for each child in the class. A tracking chart and reproducibles are included to make it that much easier. As soon as a child meets the monthly reading goal, the teacher gives him or her a Reading Award Certificate. † (Pizza Hut) Flexible BOOK IT! goals are based on reading ability. Number of books, number of pages, or number of minutes – they all work. BOOK IT! can also be used with the reading curriculum or as support for comprehension or intervention programs. For children not reading independently, the goal can be set where a parent or others read to the child. Fun Pizza Hut is proud of all BOOK IT! readers! The restaurant manager and team congratulate every child for meeting the monthly reading goal and reward them with a free, one-topping Personal Pan Pizza, BOOK IT! card and backpack clip. Other ideas to encourage reading include: †¢Make a habit of reading to your child every day, whether she is a one-year-old or a 10-year-old. †¢When your child is able to, have her read to you. You can take turns reading chapters in a simple chapter book, for example. †¢Get a library card for your child. Go to the library every week and take out several books. †¢Be aware of your child’s interests and direct your child to related books. †¢Try to find a series that she really likes and will want to continue reading. †¢Provide a comfortable reading area, with good lighting, in your home. †¢Discuss books with your child. †¢Buy books for your children that are related to their special interests. †¢If your child is a reluctant reader and not reading on grade level, buy her hi/lo books (books with a high interest level, low vocabulary). †¢Talk to your child’s teacher and ask for suggestions. †¢If your child likes incentives and the computer, enroll in an online book group. †¢If your child really enjoys a particular author, check with your librarian about other authors or books she might enjoy. †¢Children also often enjoy the opportunity to read children’s magazines As parents and educators, it is more important to spend time reading with your child on a consistent on-going basis. The method you select is not nearly as important as the time spent actually reading together. Conclusion Show me a child that can read and research will show you a child on his or her way to succeed. Parents, educators, grandparents, aunts, uncles all need to take time to read to a child. All too often parents rush out to buy the latest video game or latest toy. Where is that enthusiasm for the love of reading? How many children even see their parents read? We live in an age where technology surrounds us at every given moment; that does not negate the need to read and to take an active role in the education of children. The research speaks for itself. Reading equals succeeding. Works Cited Bagert, B. C. (1993). Helping your child learn to read. Retrieved February 25, 2010, from Kids Source: http://www. kidsource. com/kidsource/content/learread. html Lendabarker, K. (2010, January 3). Encouraging Children to Read. Retrieved February 25, 2010, from Suite101: http://earlychildhood. suite101. com/article. cfm/helping_children_develop_good_reading_habits NAEYC. (1998). Phonics and Whole Language Learning. Retrieved February 25, 2010, from Education. com: http://www. education. com/reference/article/Ref_Phonics_Whole/ NJ Department of Education. (2009, Unknown Unknown). Retrieved February 16, 2010, from www. state. nj. us: www. state. nj. us/education/cccs/2009/PreSchool. doc Pizza Hut. (n. d. ). Pizza Hut. Retrieved February 25, 2010, from Pizza Hut BOOK IT! program: http://www. bookitprogram. com/bedtimestory/ Uknown. (n. d. ). Literacy Guide. Retrieved February 24, 2010, from Bankstreet: http://www. bankstreet. edu/literacyguide/early2. html Unknown. (unknown, unknown unknown). Helping your child become a reader. Retrieved February 19, 2010, from Ed. gov: http://www2. ed. gov/parents/academic/help/reader/part4. html.

Advances In Medicine Essays - Philippe Pinel, Perri Klass, Medicine

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