Reasons behind the Financial Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reasons behind the Financial Crisis - Essay Example Still on torts, directors can be held liable due to their subordinates both beneficial and non-beneficial. The financial crisis is fostered by inept decision making poor planning and general laxity in troubleshooting. These problems accrue from middle management personnel, but a director is liable (Berlatsky 3). Directors can be held liable for breaching fiduciary duty to the corporations they run. This situation arises when a director tries to avoid conflict of interest such that, through their actions or omissions, they are doing an injustice to the corporation. An example is when directors knowingly enter into contracts that are financially inappropriate for their companies. The directors view their personal interests in the contract to be of greater value. Most directors have a tendency to act outside their authority in regard to letters patent and other corporate governing documents. Such decisions result in misappropriation of company resources, poor investment decisions and an inevitable financial crisis (Berlatsky 34). Directors are also liable for Risk Management in regard to the investments made by the company. However, this liability extends even more to the Gate keepers. Gatekeepers include lawyers, accountants and investment bankers. This group of professionals plays a significant role in advising the directors on what ventures they should and should not undertake. The first group is the accountants. An accountant’s failure to comprehensively account for the acquisition and use of financial assets, therefore, is equal to the failure of the company. Investment bankers should transparently render their advice on which ventures are more profitable than the others. Most investment bankers lack transparency owing to their self serving motives this led to increased debt burden or over-leveraging. Another crucial batch of professionals is the lawyers. Their work should be to ascertain the legal financial implications made by a director and in exten t the company they represent. These professions collectively failed to render their services effectively and with efficiency. They also did not uphold integrity especially in regard to safeguarding company assets. Finally, they did not comply with the law especially in light of contract procurement (Hamdani & Olin 56). The most eminent failure of internal and external auditors is fraud. Auditors are the main whistle blowers in regards to a corporation’s failure and success despite how minimal. In the event that they turn a blind eye to illegal, inappropriate activities of a company in managing and investing finances the result will be a financial crisis (Hamdani & Olin 78). Notable failures of credit rating agencies are apparent in the following three areas: Ratings methodologies: in this case, most of the credit rating agencies did not follow the recommended rating methodologies. There are also reports of the ratings leaking to interested parties before publish which is surm ountable to fraud. This unfair rating systems contributed to the great number of poor financial decisions made that led to the financial crisis. Fiduciary legislation: managing conflicts of interest: the agencies do not have clear cut policies to manage cases of conflict of interest. This is especially notable in instances where the issuer holds large shares in the firm. Timely, accurate disclosures: credit rating agencies are slow to disclose errors and fix them especially in reg

Global Smart Classroom Market Essay Example for Free

Global Smart Classroom Market Essay Classrooms that are technology-enabled are known as smart classrooms. These classrooms are equipped with hardware and software that enhance learning and improve the dissemination of knowledge. Smart classrooms have transformed teaching from a traditional process to an advanced learning process by using an array of audio-visual tools that allow teachers to demonstrate and communicate easily. These technologies consist of software such as educational ERP and disruptive technologies such as LMSs, LCMSs, interactive whiteboards, and simulation-based learning hardware. Smart classrooms use interactive modules, videos, and presentations to improve the teaching process and to engage students in multi-media technologies. Covered in this Report The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the Global Smart Classroom market for the period 2015-2019. To calculate the market size, it considers the revenue generated by vendors through the following product segments: Kindergarten K-12 Higher Education View our full TOC here Key Regions EMEA APAC Americas Key Vendors Apple Inc. IBM Corp. Microsoft Corp. SMART Technologies Inc. Other Prominent Vendors Adobe ATT Technologies Blackboard Cisco Systems Dell Desire2Learn Discovery Communication Dreambox Learning Echo360 Ellucian Fujitsu HP Jenzabar Knewton Lenovo Group N2N Services Panasonic Promethean World Saba Software Samsung Toshiba Udemy Key Market Driver Dynamic Interactive Learning Systems For a full, detailed list, view our report. Key Market Challenge Lack of Proper IT Infrastructure For a full, detailed list, view our report. Key Market Trend. Increased Usage of Smart Software For a full, detailed list, view our report. Key Questions Answered in this Report What will the market size be in 2018 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key market trends? What is driving this market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors? For more insights, view our Global Smart Classroom Market 2014-2018 report.

Thom Gunn’s Donahue’s Sister :: Donahues Sister

Thom Gunn’s Donahue’s Sister      Ã‚  Ã‚   Thom Gunn was a poet who often wrote of common hardships in every day life.   Gunn’s writing style and choice of topics makes it obvious that he was writing in the middle to late twentieth century, and this is what draws people of today to his work.   I believe that not only are people able to relate better to Gunn because of his topic selection but because of the time period the majority of his work is written in.   Ã‚  Ã‚   In the twentieth century, particularly since the 1950’s or so, we have witnessed as a society; the arrival of AIDS, an increasing amount of single parent families, an increase in drug and alcohol use among young people, controversy over homosexuality, and an increasing number of instances where we, as a country, have seen that money and power can get anyone off for any crime or wrong-doing.   In â€Å"Donahue’s Sister†, Gunn writes from a point of view that more than half of our population can probably relate to because almost all of us know someone with a drinking problem or have one of our own.   â€Å"Donahue’s Sister† shows the frustration of a brother as he explains the degree of severity that his sister’s drinking problem has reached.   The poem puts us in Donahue’s body from the start so as if we are looking at her standing at the head of the stairs, drunk beyond recovery.   Although there is surely room for different interpretations, I believe â€Å"Donahue’s Sister† is written by Gunn primarily to show the destruction that addiction can do to a person or a relationship.   Ã‚  Ã‚   In this paper, I will attempt to make Gunn’s voice heard according to how I interpret the poem, and by doing so I hope to show how relevant this poem was to the decade it was written in, the 1980’s.   I also will explore some other possibilities of how this may have related to or affected Gunn directly.   In other words, what factors may have been responsible for his writing this poem.   Ã‚  Ã‚   The beginning of the poem describes the sister standing eye to eye with Donahue at the head of the stairs.   She is in her own drunken world, which is referred to as her â€Å"private world† throughout the poem.   This depiction is very accurate of a drunk who believes that they have everything under control and that the world they are in is actually better for them than the sober world; reality.

Kurt Cobain Essay -- essays research papers

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain was born on February 20,1967 in the town of Aberdeen, Washington. Aberdeen is on the west coast and is about 108 miles southwest of Seattle. Aberdeen is a dreary place with about seven feet of rain a year. Kurt was born to Mrs. Wendy Cobain and to Mr. Donald Cobain. Wendy was a homemaker. She had a very tight bond with Kurt. He was her first born. She had another child three years after she had Kurt. Her name was Kim. Donald was a mechanic. He was very into sports. He often tried to push Kurt into sports but Kurt just didn't like them. Even though the Cobain's didn't have much they seemed to do all right. Wendy dressed her children in the best clothes she could afford. They always looked like the best dressed kids in Aberdeen. Kurt was an extremely happy child. He would wake up everyday so happy. He was always filled with joy and always had a smile on his face. Kurt once said his upbringing could be decribed as "white trash posing as middle class". His mother told him to stay away from the poor kids. She said they were dirty. So Kurt did and he also would beat the up. Then in 4th grade he realized he liked them better. Around that time people started to notice that Kurt was very good in art. Most of Kurt's friends didn't really like things like art and music. He loved these things so much he stopped making friends because he was different. Kurt was not such a health kid. His whole life he suffered chronic bronchitis. At age of seven he was diagnosed hyperactive. He was put on Ritalin. This seemed to make him stay up until four in the morning. They soon put him on sedatives. This did not work either. They made him fall asleep in school. Doctors told Wendy to try subtracting sugar and Red Dye #2 from his food. This was the right prescription for Kurt. Sometime during the 8th grade Kurt was diagnosed with scloiosis. In his later years the weight of his guitar made it worse. Suicide also ran in his family. In 1979 a great uncle committed suicide and in 1984 an uncle also committed suicide. Kurt was in love with music since the age of two. He was brought up in a musical family. One of Wendy's uncle had some records out in the 40's and 50's. Her brother was in a Rock and Roll Band. Her sister was in a country band and played the guitar. Almost everyone had some sort of musical talent. Kurt had always wanted to be a ... ... Kurt wakes twenty hours later and denies it was an attempt. At this time Nirvana decides to cancel the rest of the tour and take a rest. Through all of the tours their are rumors that tensions are high between the group members. The press says there is constant fighting. There is even a rumor that the group is going to break up. To add to the cancellation of their tour they also cancel all their involvement in Lollapalooza. Then on March 18,1994 a startling thing happens. Kurt locks himself in a room of his house. He will not come out and he has a 38 caliber revolver with him. He threaten to kill himself. Courtney Love once again calls the police. The police come and take control of the situation. They take the gun away. Some time around March 30,1994 Courtney calls for an intervention to get Kurt off of drugs. She realizes he really does need help. On March 31,1994 Kurt checks in to the Exodus Recovery Center. It seems as though Kurt wants help. This doesn't last long. The day after he checks in he jumps a wall and it is the last anyone sees of him. He is missing On April 8th an electrician finds Kurt dead in home, from an apparent self- -inflicted gun shot wound to the head.

Away and ‘Waiting on the world to change’ Essay

Change is a process, transition or alteration that affects all aspects of life and can affect attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. Michael Gow’s play ‘Away’ conflicts emotional, spiritual and mental change expressed through the characters along their journey of change. Gow has chosen characters such as Coral, Tom and Gwen to demonstrate the different types of changes that occur in the play ‘Away’. Gow uses techniques such as Intertextuality, allusion, structure, stage direction and symbolism to present the transformations the characters experience. In the song ‘Waiting on the world to change’ composed by John Myer, change is demonstrated through the reference of war and the hope of a change in future. Myer uses poetic techniques and symbolism to show the changes presented in the song. Change can take many forms and has a range of effects on those who experience it. Emotional change is displayed through both texts although it is displayed through Gow’s play ‘Away’ more so than in Myer’s song. Gow presents emotional change demonstrated by the Character coral. The emotional breakdown experienced by Coral due to her son’s death showed the audience her inability to function normally. Her journey is about an emotional recovery as she lost her social identity and struggles to find connection with others as she â€Å"can’t find anything to say† (Act 2, scene 2). Coral learns to symbolically ‘walk again’ and reconnect with the living world and accepts that there is life and death. Change can take many forms and has a range of effects on those who experience it. The use of Intertextuality of a play with in a play represents the life of the characters. Coral’s ‘Stranger at the shore’ symbolises Coral’s internal change and it shows that she has overcome her emotional, mental and spiritual conflicts and her character has encountered transformation. â€Å"I’m walking, I’m walking† Coral says in the ‘stranger at the shore’ at the end of the play which symbolises her internal change and the acceptance of her son’s death. Similarly, the sense of emotional change expressed through the lyrics in John Myer’s song is helplessness as he sings â€Å"It’s hard to beat  the system, when we’re standing at a distance.† John Myer is expressing frustration through emotive language in the fact that he alone cannot change the world to a more positive place. Change can take many forms and has a range of effects on those who experience it. Spiritual change was explored through the character of Tom in Gow’s play ‘Away’ as he demonstrates to his parents that he is aware of his approaching death and he accepts his fate. This is shown through the intertextuality technique of a play within a play and it acts as a symbolic metaphor used to represent the life of the character and an insight of what will happen to them as the play continues. As Tom becomes more accepting of his illness, his character demonstrates spiritual changes. Gow uses the structure of the play to the advantage of displaying Tom’s spiritual change throughout the play as not everything is revealed at once, keeping the audience engaged. When Tom’s illness is revealed, it inspires other characters such as Gwen, to encounter change also. When Gwen is informed of Tom’s illness, her thoughts of him change and in turn her personality towards others changed also. The reality of Tom’s death alters the perspectives of the characters and their encounter spiritual change in the way that they learn to appreciate the value of the present, but also to know where they are heading. It can be seen that change can take many forms and has a range of effects on those who experience it. Gow uses Gwen’s character to display mental change. At the beginning of the play Gwen is highly critical of Tom, unaware of his condition. Her change can be demonstrated through her dialogue as at the beginning of the play it shows negativity and seen as a source of conflict which changes to caring and of value. â€Å"This case won’t close† is an example of the attitude and conflict that Gwen was expressing before her character encountered change. Her change in attitude and perspective made her realise what she has is of real value. The techniques that present Gwens lack of self-understanding are stage props. In act 4, scene 2, the Bex she refers to was used as a remedy for what she can’t cope with. Later on Gwen rejects the prop of Bex and tries to come to terms with her new self. The turning point of Gwens change is the knowledge of Tom’s illness. Stage directions such as the miming in act 5, scene 1 where no dialogue was used to the reconciliation taking place between characters such as Coral and Roy and Gwen and her family. The relationship between Gwen and her family after her changes becomes closer as Gwen shows them affection. An example of this would be the difference in reactions when Gwen received her Christmas presents. She was affectionate and thankful, showing her character’s change by comparing that to her previous reaction when Jim ‘forgot’ the presents at home. Changes can take many forms and has a range of effects on those who experience it. Gow uses allusion in his play ‘Away’ which helps to present conventional meanings about the concept of change to the audience, achieved through the use of Shakespearean texts. It is a stage direction as the fairies in the opening scene symbolise a storm which refers to the internal conflict within the characters and the consequences of their individual changes just like a storm creates changes after it has occurred. The storm is a necessary destruction that brings the characters together on a ‘magical’ beach to be restored and reconciled. The characters at this point have all experienced change and the storm is a catalyst of their transformation. Upon coming home after the family holidays, the play completes a full circle by ending the play where it started. As the play completed a full circle, so have the characters that have undergone a total transformation in outlook by the end of the play. Shown through Gow’s play ‘Away’, changes can take many forms and has a range of effects on those who experience it. Alternatively, ideas of change presented in the Myer’s text/clip are different to those shown in ‘Away’. Ideas of change presented are that change is gradual and takes time. The composer’s attitude towards change is that its affects may not be immediate and this is expressed through the repetition of the phrase ‘waiting’. The repetition emphasises the need for time as well as hope that change will come one day. It serves as an indication that change is gradual and this reflects on the message being expressed by Myer. In order for change to occur, Myer expresses that a change of attitude and perspectives is needed. â€Å"We see everything that’s  going wrong with the world and those who lead it.† These lyrics assist in conveying the composer’s message that people don’t have the right attitudes or contributions to make a change. It can be seen that change can take many forms and has a range of effects on those who ex perience it. Change is clearly expressed through both texts and provides similar values or concepts in encountering change. Coral’s mental and emotional state is overcome by the acceptance of her son’s death while Tom and Gwen present spiritual and mental change when the reality of Tom’s condition has been recognised. Gow presented change through techniques such as symbolism, structure, stage directions, allusions and intertextuality. John Myer’s text resembles change with the use of poetic techniques and symbolism. The song displays the hopefulness and determination for a changing future. Both texts use techniques to show the change encountered and both focus on the value of change. As it if evident in both texts, change can take many forms and has a range of effect on those who experience it.

Free Essays on The Effects Of Divorce On Adults And Children

The divorce rate has risen since the 1950’s. In the 1950’s, divorce was looked down upon. No matter what happened between both partners, they still had to stick together. Marriage was a sort of set rule for people in those days. They were suppose to teach their children that divorce was not right by staying with each other even though they were not happy at all. Whitehead feels that it is best when both partners divorce as long as it makes them happier that way. A couple should not have to stay with each other and suffer because it will only bring pain to themselves and their children. The 1950’s was a very strict era where divorce rarely happened and not talked about at all if it did happen. â€Å"For most of the nation’s history, divorce was a rare occurrence and an insignificant feature of family and social relationships†(Whitehead, 620). Everyone had to have a perfect family, it was never said that both parents did not have problems, but they were suppose to work things out amongst each other to set an example for their children. The rates have really risen since then because it is felt that if a person is not happy in a relationship that this person should end it. â€Å"At the same time, splitting up has become an even more entrenched fact of American life. About 38,800 people were married last year in Maryland, and about 17,000 were divorced. In Howard County Circuit Court, there are more divorce cases filed than any other type of case†(O’Hagen). Because of these high rate before couples marry they go through a certa in amount of hours of marriage counseling. This is supposed to decrease the rate of divorce. Divorce is such a big issue that it should be thought about before taking action upon. It is thought to being a sin in some religions. When both parents take those vows to be with each other till death do part, they are suppose to take heed to those vows because they are taking those vows in the ... Free Essays on The Effects Of Divorce On Adults And Children Free Essays on The Effects Of Divorce On Adults And Children The divorce rate has risen since the 1950’s. In the 1950’s, divorce was looked down upon. No matter what happened between both partners, they still had to stick together. Marriage was a sort of set rule for people in those days. They were suppose to teach their children that divorce was not right by staying with each other even though they were not happy at all. Whitehead feels that it is best when both partners divorce as long as it makes them happier that way. A couple should not have to stay with each other and suffer because it will only bring pain to themselves and their children. The 1950’s was a very strict era where divorce rarely happened and not talked about at all if it did happen. â€Å"For most of the nation’s history, divorce was a rare occurrence and an insignificant feature of family and social relationships†(Whitehead, 620). Everyone had to have a perfect family, it was never said that both parents did not have problems, but they were suppose to work things out amongst each other to set an example for their children. The rates have really risen since then because it is felt that if a person is not happy in a relationship that this person should end it. â€Å"At the same time, splitting up has become an even more entrenched fact of American life. About 38,800 people were married last year in Maryland, and about 17,000 were divorced. In Howard County Circuit Court, there are more divorce cases filed than any other type of case†(O’Hagen). Because of these high rate before couples marry they go through a certa in amount of hours of marriage counseling. This is supposed to decrease the rate of divorce. Divorce is such a big issue that it should be thought about before taking action upon. It is thought to being a sin in some religions. When both parents take those vows to be with each other till death do part, they are suppose to take heed to those vows because they are taking those vows in the ...

Commentary on the World Bank †Government (300 Level Course)

Commentary on the World Bank – Government (300 Level Course) Free Online Research Papers Commentary on the World Bank Government (300 Level Course) Commentary on the IMF: According to the Meltzer Report As the Meltzer Report was released, the world continued to turn, and with these continuing revolutions new problems arose. Problems that will hopefully be dealt with more appropriately because of the work of the Congressional Commission assigned to come up with new and better ways for the financial institutions of the world to solve them. Arguably the two most important players in this field are the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In the following commentary both will be addressed in a number of ways. Their histories and purposes will be briefly addressed. Their main goals will be presented. The affect that they have had in the past will be brought into play. Lastly, the future of these two institutions will be contemplated. Using this wide array of information it will be decided here if in fact these institutions are serving any real purpose and if their future existence is either needed or at least worthwhile. The World Bank: The World Bank was established post World War II in an effort to attack issues of national rates and their possible fixations while at the same time attempting to bring some stability to the post war international markets. Lurking just beneath the surface was the fact that the World Bank, which was largely under the control of Westerners with Western sympathies, was also taking on the responsibility of rebuilding Europe. Thus nearly all of the loans given in the years immediately following the war were to reconstruct European national economies that had been destroyed during the war. Relatively few loans were given to developing countries. The World Bank would come to be known as a European controlled entity. Thus helping to answer the question of why these European countries are helped back on their feet immediately. This may also be attributed to the fact that the World Bank features weighted voting in which the more wealthy countries receive the larger amount of votes. The n the countries that are in fact developed and quite wealthy will have more of a say in what the bank will do. Therefore the World Bank will ultimately favor the rich over the poor. The headquarters of the World Bank feature a large sign that reads: â€Å"Our dream is a world without poverty.† The Meltzer Commission has said that it shares in this view. Unfortunately the World Bank and its sister development banks are not moving toward dealing with this problem and rectifying any of the issues that help keep the poorest countries at the bottom of the economic spectrum. Yet the Meltzer Commission, while agreeing in theory to the World Bank also agrees in doing next to nothing to be the one to step up to the forefront with a solution. The Meltzer Report goes on to state that the World Bank employ’s over 17,000 people in 170 offices around the world and have obtained $500 billion dollars in capital and extend some $50 billion in loans to developing countries. Still the World Bank is far from staying true to its word in the fact that despite they claim to be in existence to help out the poor nations of the world, some 70% of the World Bank non-aid resources flow to 11 countries that enjoy easy access to the capital markets. The World Bank came about to serve a universal view of the future as described at Bretton Woods in 1944; to maintain the gold-based standard, capital controls, trade barriers in former colonies and less-developed economies. While these were the original ideas of the bank, as times changed and crisis arose new steps had to be taken. At the same time the main goal of the World Bank was arguably neglected. In the past seven years, the World Bank provided $18 billion to developing countries. Yet in the same seven years, the private sector has donated $1,450 billion to the same developing countries. If the World Bank is supposed to serve the purpose of ending world poverty, and this is their main goal, what in the world are they looking at? The statistics were available to show the Meltzer Commission how little the World Bank has contributed in comparison to others. Do the leaders of the World Bank not have access to the same data or are they simply too naà ¯ve to see that they are not serving the purpose for which they were intended at their inception. Furthermore, if they are not serving the poor countries of the world and helping them to gain a footing in the economic world just exactly what are they doing? The World Bank has thus been thrust into the present day trying to find an identity for itself in the global economic structure. It has become evident that the World Bank is not a key player as it had been intended to be. Instead it is more realistic for the bank to share responsibility with other organizations such as the UN and the IMF. In doing so the World Bank has been forced to create new ideas and plans for action. Included in them is the loaning of money to places where there is a good chance that the bank gets its money back. These are safe loans for the World Bank to take on, as they will hopefully be two-fold in their intention. First they will allow the bank to avoid continually debt with deferment or even defaulting of loans, and they will also impose necessary sanctions against borrowing countries in order to receive the loans at all. It is the intention of all parties that this final step will eventually lead to the extinction of poor performing economies and pe rhaps even the â€Å"third world status.† Yet today the status of the World Bank is still unclear. They say that performance is the number one concern of the World Bank and the Meltzer Commission. But their performance has been poor and even as the Commission comments on this, they offer no solution except to say that ending or reducing poverty is not easy. So as the Commission is quick to point out these shortcomings and back them with excessive data, they stop there. The report tells us that the World Bank considers the title of â€Å"marginally satisfactory† as a success in policy. Using these criteria, which are shaky at best, the World Bank has had a failure rate of 59% from 1990-1999. And in the remaining 41% of cases, considered successes, the vast majority were concentrated in upper-income countries that have domestic resources and access to private-sector funding. In conclusion, the World Bank has an important role in reducing poverty and promoting growth, despite the fact that today their resources are a small part of the global capital flow. The use of more effective resources can raise the contribution of the Bank significantly. So what does the Meltzer Commission have to say in response? They say that this will only happen if the Banks gain a better understanding of their comparative advantage, where and how they can most effectively use their limited resources. So it is clear that the Meltzer report has come to the same conclusion, but in looking for advice that the Commission has to give, the reader finds little. The Commission says that the Bank can improve their performance by asking themselves three questions: Will the private sector perform this function, Will the local public sector perform this function, and will the Bank provide resources not otherwise available? Does the Commission give any answers to these queries? No they do not, they say one thing in a great, enlightened moment of political prowess. The World Bank should not continue to devote half its finding to projects of this kind. This does little for anyone concerned with the plight of the countries that need the assistance of any international bank or organization. While the World Bank apparently has a number of problems, the Meltzer Commission does little more than just point them out. They provide no concrete answers and they leave the future of the Bank up in the air, just where it does not need to be. The International Monetary Fund: The International Monetary Fund, also known as the IMF was created at around the same time as the World Bank. It was intended to prevent a reoccurrence of monetary and financial instability. It is considered to be the â€Å"American† sister to the World Bank because as the World Bank is largely controlled by European countries the IMF is mostly ran under the direction of the United States. Over time many critics of the IMF will argue that the strings of the organization are pulled by the American government and also that the IMF will become synonymous with Washington D.C. While the IMF was set up with similar intentions as those of the World Bank, in helping the international markets to avoid collapses and to provide economies with overall stability the IMF differs slightly. One of the main goals of the IMF was to create â€Å"fixed but adjustable rates.† These rates were to be â€Å"pegged,† which means set to a certain unit of measurement. This unit was to be the American dollar. The â€Å"peg† became the conversion of all member countries currencies to within 1% of the American dollar. The rate became adjustable if and only if it became unsustainable or if an economic crisis were to arise. These are just a few of the goals that were in mind of the early leaders of the IMF in 1944. But in the last half a century, the world has changed so dramatically that the IMF has had to deal with new challenges and ask itself what purpose it serves as the 21st century dawns. The IMF was established with two assumptions, both of which are no long valid. The fixed but adjustable rates ended in August of 1971 when President Richard Nixon closed the gold window, ending the U.S.’s commitment to keep the dollar price of gold at $35 per ounce. IN 1973, major countries agreed that the fixed exchange-rate system would not be restored. Oil problems and shocks of the 1970’s also created a new problem for the IMF. A problem surrounded by other problems that the IMF was never prepared to deal with. With the end of the gold standard the IMF had to reevaluate its role in the financial world. Thus the IMF decided to take on the responsibility for dealing with financial and economic problems affecting developing countries or the international economy. The 1990’s brought new challenges and financial crises, among them were the Mexican financial crisis, the East Asian crisis, and the crisis that arose as the former Soviet Union devalued it’s currency. The IMF heroically stepped up to the challenge and tried to fight these problems head on. They took funds from private lenders and investors and gave it to private firms and banks in developing countries. This transformed the institution from a short-term lender to a source of long-term, conditional lending. Yet as the IMF entered this fight with all of its guns blazing, they inadvertently sent the world the wrong message. They sent the message that if local banks and other institutions incurred large foreign liabilities and debts that the IMF would provide the foreign exchange needed to honor their guarantees. This became known as the â€Å"moral hazard.† The importance of this hazard cannot be overstated, as the IMF created a system of relief that would never require countries to repay their debt if the knowledge of IMF assistance was always in the back of their minds. Barry Eichengreen argues that countries that borrow from the IMF should be required to take specific steps to bring domestic arrangements into line. This requirement would create concessions to the IMF, as the countries implemented changes, they would most likely bounce back on their feet and the IMF would have a very good chance of getting their money back. Yet critics such as the Meltzer Commission are qu ick to point out that the downward spiral will only worsen if steps are not taken. The Meltzer report is in fact helpful in this area as it clearly points out some of the real criticisms that plague the IMF. The unlimited external supply of funds forestalls debtors from making concessions, the IMF wields far too much power over the economies of developing countries, and most importantly, the IMF has at times encouraged countries to adopt pegged exchange-rate systems even when it was more than evident that these countries economies would be unsustainable with the pegged rate. This is just a sample of the list of responsibilities that the â€Å"new IMF† has taken on since the 1980’s. The report is earnest in pointing out that the IMF has not always failed but that often the successful projects are lost somewhere in the shuffle of the enormous amount of projects that may be of no-win status. Yet finally the Meltzer Report is helpful in one area, as it seems that it takes a genuine interest in providing some insightful recommendations for the IMF and its future. Eichengreen states that the IMF is not a government and lacks the authority that a government has. It has no way to aggressively create change or to manipulate factors in such a way that they will get their money back. He also states that the IMF has done little in the last few years to create change and achieve such things as enhanced transparency, liberalized capital account, and reform in the financial and private sectors. The Meltzer Commission deals with these and other preexisting conditions and attacks them with advice. They believe that the IMF should restructure itself as a smaller institution, make all future loans short-term and not extend loans that are not being paid back regardless of reason. The Commission is not afraid to make examples of countries that are not able to repay loans and are d oing nothing but riding on the coattails of the IMF. They believe in restructured IMF loans with short maturity rates with only one rollover and that a penalty rate be administered if the loans are not repaid properly. While these are just some examples of what is actually an exhaustive list of potential solutions, they are helpful, efficient, well thought out and potentially successful. The implementation of these measures is something all together different. And the future holds their fate. Conclusion: In conclusion, the Meltzer Commission Report is largely a great example of what our government does best. They come together in a giant meeting of the minds and have someone record every magical thing they say. In this grand tradition the Meltzer Report is a classic. For the most part it is simply the re-hashing of histories and events and problems, much of which has most likely been the basis for who knows how many books or papers or god help us, reports. The Commission does little more than nitpick the World Bank and while it offers a number of stark criticisms it delivers little in the area of reforms. The IMF is a different story however, as the Commission clearly asserts more energy in understanding and sympathizing with this organization. Therefore saving the reader from thinking that the report itself was just barely above a waste of paper, time, and energies. This may be the result of the realization that the IMF is in a unique position to do a number of productive things to help the world today and in the future. Perhaps also they have given up on the World Bank, and relegated it to a status that it appears comfortable or at least complacent with: to be a second rate player who pitches its hand but does little to help the world in the long run. So it seems that the IMF is in fact the â€Å"prized calf† of the Meltzer Commission, the one with all of the potential, who only lacks a little coaching. Hopefully the IMF will heed some of this advice and come to the forefront of international monetary relief as it has in the past, only this time better equipped for the fight at hand. Research Papers on Commentary on the World Bank - Government (300 Level Course)Definition of Export QuotasAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeTwilight of the UAWPETSTEL analysis of IndiaInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyBringing Democracy to AfricaBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2

Persian is a Lovely Word

Persian is a Lovely Word Persian is a Lovely Word Persian is a Lovely Word By Maeve Maddox Amir Bahmanyari raises a question about the use of the word Farsi in English: . . . there is a well defined word Persian in English which refers to the language of the Iranian people. Why is it that the Arabic word Farsi [is] used in daily communications by the English speaking people instead of the English word Persian? I suspect that political correctness may have something to do with it. Since many immigrants from the Middle East refer to the language as Farsi, it may be that journalists and others think theyre being ethnically respectful by doing the same. Until fairly recently the word Farsi was little known to English speakers. Even though the country formerly known as Persia took on its international identity as Iran in 1935, the language spoken there continued to be known as Persian. As Amir points out in the rest of his comment, Farsi is an Arabic version of the original word Parsi in which the letter P was replaced with an F by the Arabic speaking people. . . there is no letter P in Arabic . . . Although the people of Iran have always called their country Iran, English speakers and most other outsiders referred to it as Persia until 1935. The change came at the suggestion of the Persian diplomatic delegation in Berlin. The suggestion may have been prompted by the fact that the word Iran means land of the Aryans and the word Aryan was very popular in Germany at that time. In English the words Persia and Persian have connotations of exotic beauty. The words suggest Persian carpets, Persian cats and Persian literature. The name Iran has less romantic connotations Referring to the Persian language as Farsi is a recent development that not all speakers of Persian are happy with. According to the ruling body for the language, The Academy of the Persian Language and Literature (Farhangestan), the term Farsi is an incorrect term for the Persian Language; an analogy would be requesting that the German language be called Deutsch by those who speak English. Wikipedia Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:30 Synonyms for â€Å"Meeting†English Grammar 101: Verb Mood45 Idioms with "Roll"

Four key Elements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Four key Elements - Essay Example The economic costs of the disaster was estimated to be more than $ 150 million since the disaster impacted in more than 90,000 square miles destroying property in Mississippi and Louisiana (Schneider, 2011). The key four elements of disaster response showed incapacity in addressing fire outbreaks, engaged in haphazard evacuation and inappropriate assembly points of the victims. The state and federal agencies lacked coordination and proper communication systems of identifying hazards and coordinating the response and recovery efforts after the disaster (Cooper & Block, 2007). Resources from state and federal agencies The state and federal agencies were not adequately prepared for the disaster since the collapse of man-made levees led to destruction of more than 90 percent of utility infrastructure and lethal pollution. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) lacked adequate emergency response mechanism and proper chains of command. FEMA experienced multiple challenges including deployment of personnel, deployment of command system, poor communication and coordination of search and rescue efforts (Levitt & Whitaker, 2009). FEMA did not establish a joint field office and failed in assisting in the deployment of medical assistance teams. Both New Orleans office of Emergence Preparedness and Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (LOSHEP) lacked enough personnel and experience in disaster management (Cooper & Block, 2007). New Orleans Police department was trapped in water thus making it difficult to provide communication and warning signs to the citizens. Existing laws also limited the Department of Defense authority is responding. The Departent of of Health and Human services (HHS) was slow in the response and coordination of public health services following the disaster. The department lacked enough personnel in the treatment of ill citizens, assuring citizens of the safety of food and environment (Levitt & Whitaker, 2009). First responders Most of the first responders were local citizens who just watched the disaster from rooftops and trees. The first responders failed to communicate or switch off the electricity. There was a breakdown in communication systems due to damage of the cell phone towers and radio antennas. The available police officers had to communicate on two radio channels thus delaying the issue of critical information (Levitt & Whitaker, 2009). Secondary emergency services Most of the secondary emergency services entailed National Guard troops and other secondary emergency response units such as NGOs like Red Cross contributed in the clean up and relocation of the victims (Schneider, 2011). The NGOs were instrumental in offering food reliefs, medication and shelter to the evacuated victims. Humanitarian organizations also provided blood donations, counseling services and logistical supplies. Private sector resources The private sector resources responded adequately to Hurricane Katrina. The private sector resources were utilized in all operations including evacuation, search and rescue, temporary shelters and medical response (Schneider, 2011). Private fire-fighting companies and security companies helped in evacuation, rescue and search missions. In addition, pharmaceutical companies assisted in providing cheap medicines (Levitt & Whitaker, 2009). Alternative actions that may result in positive outcomes In the future, the state and federal agencies must

Home depot Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Home depot - Essay Example This is the reason for the creation of so much competition between both these stores, since both of them are finding the best ways to improve the service to the customers, which would play a very crucial role, in increasing the customer satisfaction, which would improve their business during such tough times. (www.bloggingstocks.com) In the consumer’s mind there exist different types of gradation, for both Lowe’s and Home Depot. In the case of the Lowe’s stores consumers really believe that, there is a very good scope for the selection of the best products. They also feel that when compared to the Home Depot store, the Lowe’s store renders much better customer service. Most of the men and contractors get their needs satisfied through the Home Depot store that has resulted in the inflow of customers, mainly from these two sectors. In the case of Lowe’s, it has got the women as its main customers. Thus it is the differentiation of both these stores in the mind of the two genders, which has created the respective customer base. (www.bloggingstocks.com) Though there is a huge inflow of customers into the Home Depot store, still there doesn’t exist any kind of consumer loyalty for both the stores.

Crafting a Compensation and Benefits Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Crafting a Compensation and Benefits Plan - Essay Example Despite these internal factors, there are also those external factors that compel the manager to offer a particular salary range for employees. Some of these include the salary that is provided for the same position by other organizations that provide similar kinds of services. However, the ability to recruit and maintain employees lies on the ability to value and appreciate their efforts as opposed to issuing any monetary values. Comparable organizations in the same industry tend to offer varied salary and benefit ranges for the purposes of recruiting and retaining their employees for different reasons. In this case, the company that I created in a coffee shop that is renowned for the best service of beverages. This is mainly because both the provision of goods and services are given directly to the customers by the employees hence it is important to ensure that the best are recruited and the best efforts made to retain them for the sake of customer satisfaction. Those that may be involved as competitors and who are in the same industry include supermarkets and large retail chain stores as well as restaurants that may be involved in the sale of similar products at the same price. All of these tend to have the same structure in the composition of their staff and overall staffing with minor differences hence similar levels and need for recruitment and retention. Their salary and benefit ranges are as follows The 21st Century is varied from the other periods in terms of the abilities to recruit and maintain employees in terms of payment. What the current employees consider as benefits is completely different from what they considered to be so in the past. Monetary terms and payment played a large role in the recruitment and retention of employees in the past. It is, however, no longer the case as the current employees consider the value of the organization towards them more. What they consider as benefits of the company is the need to be engaged and involved

To what extent do politics of the WTO, limit (or increase) developing Assignment

To what extent do politics of the WTO, limit (or increase) developing countries' ability to realize the gains from specializat - Assignment Example Using postulates from the theory, it is clear that the best combination of trade at the international front should be guided by profitability analysis. The Theory of Comparative Advantage The theory of comparative advantage states that a party enjoys a margin of superiority in producing services or goods. This means that the party enjoys comparative over another country due the opportunity cost that exists due to lower production cost Chang (2008). Better said, two parties can each enjoy from trade if they produce the same goods or services at relative costs that are not equal. This theory also applies even if one party happens to have absolute advantage over another country as it enjoys the capacity to gain when it trades with another that is less efficient provided that the relative efficiencies are unequal. The law of comparative advantage is based on a number of vital assumptions. One of the main assumptions is that the parties involved incur no transportation costs in their deal ings. It is further assumed that costs do not vary and no party enjoys economies of scale. Furthermore, it is taken for granted that no trade barriers and tariffs apply to the parties in their engagement in trade. The assumption that factors of production are perfectly mobile also applies for comparative advantage to apply. Yet another assumption is that the goods or services being traded are identical or homogeneous. The final assumption is that the parties involved in trade have perfect knowledge of the goods being traded and therefore buyers and sellers are able to tell where the cheapest products exist. The theory of comparative advantage normally applies in international trade, countries being the parties involved. In its perfect sense, the theory elements responsible for the realization of the theory is very difficult to achieve since international trade often involves transportation, tariffs and trade barriers, the immobility of production factors and imperfect knowledge. Acc ording to classical theories related to international trade, countries are bound to gain mutual benefits when they specialize in making goods or producing services with lower opportunity costs. The theory of comparative advantage advocates for free trade and specialization in production rather that pursuit for self sufficiency. The World trade organization has played an important role in the liberation of trade especially beyond national borders Chang (2008). Three major features of the World Trade Organization negotiating environment are the abidance to the most favored nation (MFN) principle, the occurrence of negotiations among few countries, and the extent in times of time of the negotiations with economically significant nations joining the equation on a continuous basis (Bagwell and Staiger, 2001). Under the MFN negotiating environment, there are two major hindrances to multilateral efficiency that come into effect according to Bagwell and Staiger (2001). For one, every market access concession that a country makes to another country automatically is enjoyed by partners who enter the negotiation later. In order to reduce the free-riding potential a nation may end up offering a little to early negotiator so as to maintain bargaining power in latter times. The second hindrance to

Nursing Advocacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Nursing Advocacy - Essay Example As such, when nurses spend more time with their patients, as part of the advocacy role, they would risk jeopardizing the undertaking of other responsibilities needed in their respective units. The patient advocacy role has always been regarded to be imbibed in the nursing profession (Wood, 2010). The benefits associated with being patient advocate include promotion of the core values of preserving human dignity, respecting patient equality, and recognizing the need for patients to free them from pain and suffering (Jacksonville University, 2014). In addition, assuming a patient advocate role would assist in gaining the trust of patients so that more accurate assessment of the patients’ conditions from their own perspectives are relayed in the most accurate manner. The honest and accurate disclosure of the patients’ feelings and conditions from their points of views would assist in providing the appropriate interventions to facilitate treatment, as required. Negarandeh, R., Oskouie, F., Ahmadi, F., Nikravesh, M., & Hallberg, I. (2006, March 1). Patient advocacy: barriers and facilitators. Retrieved from BMC Nursing:

To what extent do politics of the WTO, limit (or increase) developing Assignment

To what extent do politics of the WTO, limit (or increase) developing countries' ability to realize the gains from specializat - Assignment Example Using postulates from the theory, it is clear that the best combination of trade at the international front should be guided by profitability analysis. The Theory of Comparative Advantage The theory of comparative advantage states that a party enjoys a margin of superiority in producing services or goods. This means that the party enjoys comparative over another country due the opportunity cost that exists due to lower production cost Chang (2008). Better said, two parties can each enjoy from trade if they produce the same goods or services at relative costs that are not equal. This theory also applies even if one party happens to have absolute advantage over another country as it enjoys the capacity to gain when it trades with another that is less efficient provided that the relative efficiencies are unequal. The law of comparative advantage is based on a number of vital assumptions. One of the main assumptions is that the parties involved incur no transportation costs in their deal ings. It is further assumed that costs do not vary and no party enjoys economies of scale. Furthermore, it is taken for granted that no trade barriers and tariffs apply to the parties in their engagement in trade. The assumption that factors of production are perfectly mobile also applies for comparative advantage to apply. Yet another assumption is that the goods or services being traded are identical or homogeneous. The final assumption is that the parties involved in trade have perfect knowledge of the goods being traded and therefore buyers and sellers are able to tell where the cheapest products exist. The theory of comparative advantage normally applies in international trade, countries being the parties involved. In its perfect sense, the theory elements responsible for the realization of the theory is very difficult to achieve since international trade often involves transportation, tariffs and trade barriers, the immobility of production factors and imperfect knowledge. Acc ording to classical theories related to international trade, countries are bound to gain mutual benefits when they specialize in making goods or producing services with lower opportunity costs. The theory of comparative advantage advocates for free trade and specialization in production rather that pursuit for self sufficiency. The World trade organization has played an important role in the liberation of trade especially beyond national borders Chang (2008). Three major features of the World Trade Organization negotiating environment are the abidance to the most favored nation (MFN) principle, the occurrence of negotiations among few countries, and the extent in times of time of the negotiations with economically significant nations joining the equation on a continuous basis (Bagwell and Staiger, 2001). Under the MFN negotiating environment, there are two major hindrances to multilateral efficiency that come into effect according to Bagwell and Staiger (2001). For one, every market access concession that a country makes to another country automatically is enjoyed by partners who enter the negotiation later. In order to reduce the free-riding potential a nation may end up offering a little to early negotiator so as to maintain bargaining power in latter times. The second hindrance to

BLUE STEEL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

BLUE STEEL - Essay Example As Turner fights for her badge and cases helped by Detective Nick, she is trying to imagine her relationship with a murder. She decides to spend the night with Mann when she watches her best friend killed. Turner hunts for the killer and after a long confrontation and wounds that she manages to kill Hunt. There are many themes and lessons throughout this file as discussed below. Bullet with her the name of Megan is one most revealed theme in the movie. Eugene recreates the supermarket scene, terms the gun as a lucky object, and puts it in use. Hunt engraves Turner’s name on the bullets, which Hunt uses to kill his victims. If Hunt had no reason for this act then his acts are psycho behaviors yet the blue steel glory sequence connected Megan’s body with her gun’s blue steel. Megan is associated with the killings when Eugene assigns her name on the bullets used in the killings (Tasker, 1998). The film’s exchange of sexuality as illustrated Mann describes a m an cut off his penis in a cab by a prostitute and not her wife. This story reveals the construction of women’s role in men’s affairs when the man’s penis was misplaced. In the story where the hooker has a needle ever ready and skills of sewing reveals the womanly trope of intertwining and male wish for tamed whore. Passing back and onwards of someone’s penis shows the suitable and unsuitable use of phallic power. Exchange of guns at the start of the film connected to the back and forth at the end of the film. Both passing of bullets and penis represents the issue of inaccessible economies operating between both male and female and the care both genders ought to have for their phalluses. Hunt pisses off when he sees a woman shooting a man in the supermarket. Hunt finds in Turner a beautiful person who is able to serve a public violence and this is which is a form of over-recognition. This strange recognition shows the reliance of yuppie devil for his indiv iduality. Such psychotic characters as constructed towards gender of feminine heroes are evident in the film. As the film starts, Megan kills a man on her first day in job and a customer who is already troubled before the shooting started pockets the man’s gun. Curtis’ social life starts when Silver plans for a date but she does not suspect why he is up to her. Another scene is created when Curtis and her father leaves home when Silver comes whose characters are intelligent and sets things up such that Curtis is seen as the killer herself (Freud, 1995). Blue steel is a thriller that has a shock and afterwards a surprise. One feels dumb after moving through the scenes of the film. For instance, Megan meets unexpected horrors by Strode and sexually abused in a brutal rape and made a device of sexual bias and rejected by the whole society. Megan is a new cop and helps prevent theft in a store by shooting assailant who were armed. After the killings, since a customer pocke ted the gun of the assailant killed and therefore Megan is in trouble because the department terms him as unarmed person. Her department disowns her for killing innocent man and Hunt starts killing people in the streets with the bullets engraved with Megan’s name. Movies like this that indulge the psychology, provide more reasons on murderer’s behavior of anti-sociality. In addition, before Megan and Eugene had sex, Eugene asks her to take away the gun

MG420 DLC Labor Relations Essay Example for Free

MG420 DLC Labor Relations Essay 1. Define the term â€Å"collective bargaining† and list and describe four issues that are mandatory components of a collective bargaining agreement. Efficiency, equity, and voice, these are the three primary objectives of labor relations, of employees, and even of some management employees. Workers seem to lean more towards equity and voice at the workplace, while management usually prefers efficiency. The complicated part is attempting to balance all three for an overall idyllic medium at the workplace for both employers and employees. One of the most encouraging guidelines that should be taken in attaining this balancing act would be through collective bargaining. Collective bargaining is a process of negotiating an agreement regarding the terms and conditions of employment through a system of shared responsibility and decision-making between labor and management (Budd 11-12). During a collective bargaining period, workers representatives approach the employer and attempt to negotiate a contract which both sides can agree upon, terms can typically be about wages, hours, promotions, benefits, and other employment components as well as procedures for handling disputes arising under it. An example that can better explain the importance of a collective bargaining is in an article called â€Å"Teachers union sues Middleton-Cross Plains school district†, (http://host.madison.com/news/local/education/local_schools/teachers-union-sues-middleton-cross-plains-school-district/article_d169fd40-5996-11e0-9c87-001cc4c03286.html), the author discusses how the union representing teachers in the Middleton-Cross Plains School District sued the district Monday over their collective bargaining negotiations. According to the complaint filed in Dane County Circuit Court, the union said the district bargained in bad faith and proposed non-negotiable contract changes including removal of just cause for discipline and discharge, total district discretion of work  hours, elimination of seniority protections, elimination of fair share union dues, modifications/freezes on salary schedules and elimination of compensatory time off. The union also objected to the district proposal that the School Board be the final step in the grievance procedure as opposed to having a third-party arbitrator as the current agreement states (Kittner, 2011). In this article, we see how the teacher’s union could not effectively negotiate an agreement regarding the terms and conditions of employment with the Cross Plain school district and had to sue for a good-faith collective bargaining agreement. According to our textbook, four issues that are mandatory components of a collective bargaining agreement are a s follow: (Budd 11-12) Compensation: Wages and benefits Vacations and holidays Shift premiums Profit sharing Employee Rights and responsibilities: Seniority rights Job standards Workplace rules Employer rights and responsibilities: Management rights Just cause discipline and discharge Subcontracting and safety standard Dispute resolution and ongoing decision making: Grievance procedures Committees and consultation Renegotiation procedures The two mandatory components of a collective bargaining agreement I would like to discuss in more detail are employee rights and grievance procedures. According to our textbook one of the four types of employees’ rights frequently granted in union contract is â€Å"just cause discipline and discharge†, an employee can be disciplined and discharged only for â€Å"cause† or â€Å"just cause†. As such, employees have the right to insist there be valid, job-related for reasons for discipline and dismissal (Budd 310). In an  article called â€Å"Is Poor Performance â€Å"Just Cause† for Discharge?†, provides a good example of employees’ rights â€Å"just cause discipline and discharge. The article discusses how the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled in favor of an employer who had discharged an employee for poor performance. The court ruled that the employees’ poor performance constituted a â€Å"breach of duty reasonably owed the employer† which is one of the seven reasons that constitute â€Å"just cause† for discharge under Indiana law and contracts (Lyman, 2012). The article also discusses how employer tried to improve the employees’ behavior. â€Å"The employee’s supervisors repeatedly discussed with employee the mistakes†¦but the mistakes â€Å"would happen over, and over, and over again.† Co-workers had continuing problems with the employee where she would always blame others for her problems. Despite counseling on multiple occasions, she showed no improvement† (Lyman, 2012). The second mandatory component of a collective bargaining agreement I would like to discuss, is grievance procedures. According to our textbook, a grievance is generally defined as a claim by an employee that he or she is adversely affected by the misinterpretation or misapplication of a written company policy or collectively bargained agreement. To address grievances, employers typically implement a grievance procedure (Budd 321). Most collective bargaining agreements include procedures for filing and resolving grievances. An article from the Daily Freeman News called â€Å"Saugerties school board wants grievance discussion with teachers’ union instead of arbitration† (http://www.dailyfreeman.com/general-news/20140215/saugerties-school-board-wants-grievance-discussion-with-teachers-union-instead-of-arbitration), discusses a grievance raised during a Board of Education meeting which involves a guidance counselor in the junior high school who has 329 students, which exce eds the 250 maximum student load. The union, in filing its grievance, asked that the student load be reduced and the counselor receive additional pay for the period in which it exceeded 250 (Zangla, 2014). Within a union environment, the processes will typically involve the employee, union representatives and members of the employer’s management team. The article goes into detail how they will be meeting and try to avoid arbitration. â€Å"Board President George Heidcamp said trustees want to resolve  the grievance with the teachers’ union without going to arbitration, which could cost taxpayers $10,000 or more† (Zangla, 2014). In summary, collective bargaining centers on the basic components of the system where employees, employers and union members meet in order to find what works best and find a solution. A key note to successful collective bargaining is the state of affairs and persons who are entrusted to negotiate should have the traits of patience, trustworthiness, friendliness, integrity, and fairness. Collective bargaining through its mandatory components have enabled many unions and labor management to either agree or take the next steps in trying to get a fair and profitable agreement for both parties. Works Cited Budd, John W. Labor Relations: Striking a Balance. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2013. Print. Kittner, Gena. Teachers union sues Middleton-Cross Plains school district. 28 Mar 2011. Web. 19 Apr 2014. . Lyman, Stephen W. Is Poor Performance â€Å"Just Cause† for Discharge? 31 Aug 2012. Web. 19 Apr 2014. . Zangla, Ariel. Saugerties school board wants grievance discussion with teachers’ union instead of arbitration. 15 Feb 2014. Web. 19 Apr 2014. . 2. List and discuss three U.S. laws that support collective bargaining, and three examples of employer unfair labor practices. We have learned that collective bargaining is the negotiations involving the representatives of labor and management for terms and conditions of employment that will apply to the employee. It is also important to understand labor laws that support collective bargaining that protect union activity to balance efficiency, equity and voice. According to our textbook, the three U.S. laws that support collective bargaining between labor and management, are the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (The Wagner Act), the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (The Taft-Hartley Act), and Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (The Landrum- Griffin Act) (Budd 109). The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935, also known as the Wagner Act builds upon previous legislative attempts to promote and protect workers’ abilities to unionize in the private sector if they so choose. It guarantees the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively with  their employers, and to engage in other protected organized activity. Employees covered by the Act are also protected from certain types of employer and union misconduct. (Budd 119). In an interesting Wall Street Journal article called â€Å"Volkswagens Union Gamble† (http://www.no2uaw.com/vws-gamble.html), provides a good example of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) at work. The article discusses how Volkswagen and the United Auto Workers union are trying to get workers from Chattanooga, TN plant to vote on unionizing. According to the article, â€Å"Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga are voting this week on whether to become the first foreign-owned unionized auto plant in the American South. The United Auto Workers union desperately needs the victory and is getting help from the National Labor Relations Board and even from Volkswagen, which may come to regret selling out their workers to the union† (WSJ, 2014). The editorial also goes into detail how the UAW tried to sidestep a secret-ballot election via a dubious card check. There logic for this was due to the fact that the Wagner Act allows a union to be certified if a majority of workers sign authorization cards and an employer acquiesces. Unfortunately, the workers argue that non-union plants have lower production costs, more workforce flexibility and less labor strife. They also argue â€Å"Volkswagens un-neutral neutrality agreement with the UAW is arguably a violation of Taft-Hartleys prohibition on employers giving a thing of value to a union seeking to organize its employees† and filed charges with the NLRB alleging that the UAW had lied to workers and bullied them into signing cards (WSJ, 2014). The debate about Volkswagen’s violation of the Taft-Hartley Act is ongoing and it takes us to our second U.S. laws that support collective bargaining. The Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, which is also known as the Taft-Hartley Act amends and adds to the Wagner Act in diverse and far-reaching ways and can be divided into three categories, â€Å"Restrictions on union actions, Enhanced rights of individuals and employers, and New dispute resolution procedures† (Budd 128). The purpose and policy of the Taft-Hartley Act was â€Å"to prescribe the legitimate rights of both employees and employers, to provide orderly and peaceful procedures for preventing the interference by either with the legitimate right of the other, to protect  the rights of individual employees in their relations with labor organizations and to protect the rights of the public in connection with labor disputes affecting commerce† (Budd 127). The act also empowers the U.S. president to petition a court to suspend a strike deemed a national security strike (Budd 128). In an article from the New York Times called â€Å"Dockworkers Strike Threatens to Close the East Coast Ports† (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/27/business/dockworkers-strike-threatens-to-close-east-coast-ports.html?_r=0), discusses how â€Å"dockworkers are flexing their muscles again, threatening a strike that would shut seaports from Massachusetts to Texas. It would be the first such coast wide strike since a two month walkout in 1977 that paralyzed the flow of tens of billions of dollars of imports – and the nation’s retailers and other businesses fear a painful replay if the 14,500 dockworkers make good on their threats† (Greenhouse, 2012). The strike threat has so alarmed corporate America that of more than 100 business groups which wrote to President Obama to urge him to intervene to push the two sides to settle – and, if need be, to invoke his emergency powers under the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act to bar a strike (Greenhouse, 2012). Eventually the strike was averted, the two sides agreed to sit down with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to discuss extending the long shore workers’ contract, during which time both negotiations and port operations would continue. Another U.S. law that supports collective bargaining is the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (The Landrum- Griffin Act) deals with the relationship between a union and its members. The Landrum- Griffin creates a bill of rights for union members that guarantees all union members equal rights of participation in internal union affairs, including voting and expressing views† (Budd 131). Part of the bill of rights of this act specifically mentions that all union members are entitled to receive a copy of the collective bargaining agreement. Additionally, the Landrum-Griffin Act tries to hinder corruption and racketeering in three ways. â€Å"First, unions and their officer are required to disclose financial records by filing reports with the U.S. Department of Labor. Second, the Landrum-Griffin act restricts the use of union trusteeships. Third, the Landrum-Griffin Act establishes the fiduciary responsibility of union leaders† (Budd 132-133). In a Wall Street Journal article titled â€Å"Obama Tries to Stop Union Disclosure† asserts how union membership peaked in the 1950s, when more than one-third of American workers belonged to a union. Approximately just about 7.6% of American private-sector workers belong to a union. A Rasmussen Research survey conducted in March found that 81% of nonunion members do not want to belong to a union. (WSJ, 2009). The response by union leaders and their Democratic allies to declining union membership is the Employee Free Choice Act. To increase unionization, it would deprive workers of private balloting in organizing elections, and it would substitute a signature-card process that would expose workers to coercion. The bill would also deny workers the right to ratify, or not ratify, labor contracts drafted by government arbitrators when negotiations in newly unionized workplaces exceed the bills rigid timetable (WSJ, 2009). Unfortunately, we see that instead of the democratic government abiding by the Landrum-Griffin Act, it is trying to create laws to appeal some of the current laws that protect union members from the unions or government. In the three above cases, the U.S. laws support collective bargaining, as well as protect from employer unfair practices. An unfair labor practices are defined according to our textbook as an illegal employers’ actions (Budd 122). The Wagner Act or the National Labor Relations Act has specific guidelines that both employees and employers must follow in order to maintain a positive work environment. At times, unfair labor practices do occur and place the workers in chaos. One of the unfair labor practice prohibits employers from interfering, restraining, or coercing employees who are exercising their Section 7 rights. Circulating antiunion petitions, using unnecessary surveillance to watch union activities, threatening employees with being fired, demoted, or causing physical harm, and bribing employees with wage increases are examples of Section 8(a)(1) known as the â€Å"universal enforcer† because it covers all employer violations of employee rights (Budd 123). The second unfair labor practice is known as Domination of a Labor Organization or Company Union Ban. Senator Wagner wanted to avoid management â€Å"handling† unions, preventing workers from forming legitimate, independent unions. Employers that initiate the formation of a union, provide financial support to a union, create a  nonunion employee representation plan, or create a labor-management committee that discusses wages and working conditions with some give and take with management is in direct violation of Section 8(a)(2) (Budd 123-124). The third unfair labor practice deals with employers discriminating to encourage or discourage union membership. Examples include firing a union supporter or someone trying to form a union, transferring a union supporter to a less desirable job or promoting an employee because of opposing a union, refusing to hire a potential employee because of past union participation or simply closing a part of a business because of antiunion reason s are examples of Section 8(a)(3) (Budd 123-124). A good example of two unfair labor practices is in an article called â€Å"1981 Strike Leaves Legacy for American Workers† (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5604656), in which the author discusses how over 30 years ago, former President Ronald Reagan set a defining moment in the history of the aviation, his presidency, and labor relations by firing thousands of unionized air traffic controllers for illegally going on strike. In February 1981, new contract negotiations open between Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which employs the air-traffic controllers. Citing safety concerns, PATCO calls for a reduced 32-hour work week, a $10,000 pay increase for all air-traffic controllers and a better benefits package for retirement. Contract negotiations with the FAA stall (Schalch, 2006). Then in August 1984, strike action began with 13,000 employees walking off the job in various locations, halting operations as busy airports including Dallas, Fort Worth, Atlanta, and Chicago. At that point, then President Reagan intervened sending a warning statement that anyone not returning to work within 48 hours would be terminated. Two days later most of the striking employees were fired. They were replaced by employees not participating the protests and military air traffic controllers (Schalch, 2006). As I understand the employer unfair practices, the firing of the unionizes traffic controllers and the hiring of new traffic controllers was a direct violation of Sections 8(a)(1) and (3), threatening employees with job loss, firing a union supporter, and promoting a union opponent to a better job. In conclusion, the three labor laws have shed some much needed light as to the rights of both employers and employees, not to mention has also set some much needed boundaries as to how far each side can go without treading into illegal or unfair territory. These laws must be put into place to regulate both sides equally and it also provides no confusion as to the right and wrong paths one must take when leading to collective bargaining. The examples of unfair labor practices by employers provide a clear view as to the lengths some employers will go to in an attempt to avoid or divert a union being organized. The Wagner Act has specific sections in its law that provides employers the knowledge of what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Works Cited Budd, John W. Labor Relations: Striking a Balance. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2013. Print. Greenhouse, Steven. Dockworkers Strike Threatens to Close East Coast Ports. 26 Dec 2012. Web. 22 Apr 2014. . Schalch, Kathleen. 1981 Strike Leaves Legacy for American Workers. 2006 Aug 2006. Web. 22 Apr 2014. . Wall Street Journal (Editorial): Volkswagens Union Gamble. 12 Feb 2014. Web. 20 Apr 2014. . 3. Describe the process of establishing and decertifying a collective bargaining unit in the workplace. As discussed earlier in this research paper, the definition of collective bargaining is technically when a group of employees negotiate as a unit with their employer over pay, benefits and working conditions. Chris Langford, a strategist and organizer at the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), (http://www.ifpte.org/news/details/Why-Collective-Bargaining-Rights-Are-Important), states that the principle stems from the idea that as a group, employees have more strength or bargaining power if they collaborate than they do if they try to negotiate with their employer individually. Because of its basis in collaboration, collective bargaining is inherently a democratic process since a majority of employees select the subjects they bargain over and vote on whether they agree to a contract (Langford, 2012). In our textbook the author, discusses how a bargaining unit is a group of several workers involved in a similar industry or occupational field that, on the determination of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), can engage in collective bargaining (Budd 199). This group also helps the union represent the other employees in the industry to handle any issues, improprieties, or unfair work ethics or practices that may come to light. To establish a bargaining unit, certain laws and doctrines must be strictly adhered to, the worker group must also have first established an organized union the deals with their specific industry. The union represents the group exclusively, and deals with all negotiations and discussions to further the workers causes. Once a union has been formed, the NLRB, looks at several criteria before allowing part of the worker group to be recognized as a bargaining unit. The NLRB reviews the workers mutual interests in working conditions, wages earned, training protocols, and number of hours in a work week. They also look at the management scope, the public interest factor, and the worker groups history of bargaining in the past through other associations (Budd 200). According to an article called â€Å"WNBA and Players Association Sign New Collective Bargaining Agreement† , the Womens National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the Womens National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) announced that they have entered into a new eight-year collective bargaining agreement. The new collective bargaining agreement includes an additional 12th roster spot, salary cap increases and reduced revenue sharing thresholds, making it more likely that the players will share in league revenue growth. In the article, we can see how an established a collective bargaining unit represent its specific employees (women basketball players) to conduct collective bar gaining with their employers (WNBA, 2014). So what happens if the collective bargaining unit (union) employees no longer want to be represented? To determine the wishes of the majority of the employees, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) allows employees to call for a special election to get rid of the union as their â€Å"exclusive representative.† This is called a Decertification election.

Reading Comprehension Strategies And Reading Skills English Language Essay

Reading Comprehension Strategies And Reading Skills English Language Essay Hammadon (1991) says: Reading comprehension is not just understanding words, sentences, or even texts, but involves a complex interartion of the readers prior knowledge, language profiency and their learning strategies (p.30). So reading strategies are very important to achieve the comprehension. Many types of reading strategies are introduced to guide students of all different levels. However, there were few researchers who investigate the relationship of reading comprehension strategies and reading comprehension of students. At HETC, reading has a key place in any English courses when students study English not only as the interest but also the demand for improving their study and promoting in their careers to achieve the long-term goals, especially some of them were assigned to live and work abroad. In their learning process, almost the students meet great challenges when dealing with the reading texts. They usually do not understand texts and cannot complete the tasks so they fee l tired in reading lessons. Therefore, what are the main causes of this current situation? In order to find out the answer, the researcher started a survey on the reading comprehension strategy use. For teachers at HETC, it is hoped that this study may offer them the ways on how to identify strategies used by the students and then they can decide what they should do to promote their students reading comprehension and in their learning as well. Literature review 2.1. Reading comprehension strategies and reading skills Oxford (1990) gives a detailed definition of language learning strategies: Learning strategies are specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more transferable to new situations (p.8) and described concretely how learning strategies are applied to the four language skills: listening, speaking, writing and reading. According to her, four strategies: listening strategies, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, or reading strategies are those learning strategies themselves that applied to each of the four skills. Of course, skills and strategies are two big words and common terms of the reading activities, as well. Nutall (1982) pointed out that reading was certainly a process of the readers, who used strategies to work with the meaning of the texts actively and then made sense from them. By the interesting interactions from the readers and texts, more and more researchers keep working to research the relationship between the use of reading strategies and reading comprehension. However, strategy and skill, are they different? Yes, it was actually apparent that they were different. Strategy meant people used the planned methods and implements to achieve their goals, but skill was known as a routine. Moreover, strategy was the result of conciously work towards goals. It helped readers to understand the meaning of contents in order to find out the answer or obtain a certain performance level in reading that they want for themselves (Gagnà ©, 1985). However, it is not always easy to make such a clear differnces between these two terms. Grabe and Stoller (2002) said that many abilities that are commonly identified as strategies are relatively automatic in their use by fluent readers (e.g. skipping an unknown word while reading, rereading to reestabilsh text meaning (p.15) Paris et al (1991) supposed an emerging skill can become more efficient and developmentally advanced when they become generated and applied automatically as skills (p.61). Sometimes this diff erence is not clear at all because that is part of the nature of reading. In this study, reading strategies are used to show specific actions, steps and plans that students conciously apply in their reading process to improve their comprehension. 2.2. The relationship between reading strategies and reading comprehension Reading comprehension must occur rapid in almost any purposeful context, and the more rapidly a text is read, the better reading processes are to effect. Those specific processes must be implemented effectively in combination to ensure the reading comprhension. Reading comprehension requires the reader be strategic. The reader needs to identify processing difficulties, address balances between text information and background knowledge, decide for monitoring comprhension, and shifing goals for reading. When a good reader use strategies, they can read fluently, flexible in line with changing purpose and then continue monitoring the comprehension. Similarly, reading is an process that evaluating the reader, who must decide if the reading information is coherent and finds out the purpose for reading.Alderson (2003) said reading as the interaction of four things. He claimed that the reader and the text together must be fluent reading or the ability to reach at an appropriate rate with ad equate comprehension, or the ability of the reader to use a wide variety of reading strategies to accomplish a purpose for reading (p.149). So discovering the best methods and strategies are the way that a good learner apply during a reading process. 2.3. Previous research on reading comprhension strategies Grellet, F. (1981) wrote a book Developing Reading Skills. This book showed the important role of reading and provided some techniques which help learners improve their reading skill. Nutal, C. (1989) proved reading is to enable students to read without help unfamiliar authentic texts at appropriate speed, silently with adequate understanding. Ozek, O. (2006) researched A study on the Use of Cognitive Reading Strategies by ELT Students. This study carried out to find out which reading strategies are commonly employed by ELT students while reading a text, and which reading strategies are needed to be developed to understand the text better, and to continue academic studies successfully. San San Kung (2007) did an investigation into the relationship between reading comprehension and the use of reading strategies among EFL students in colleges in Taiwan. Through the study, the researcher knew what the reading strategies the EFL students use more or less and what the differences between different grade students. Methodology This chapter will describe research methods used to collect data to answer the research questions and then explain how and why the methods are used. 3.1. Research questions This study aims to find out reading strategy use of HETCs students. This also has objectives to discover if there are any differences in strategy use between lower and higher proficiency readers, as well. Then to suggest some recommendations to raise students awareness of using reading comprehension strategies in the classroom. It aims at answering the following questions: What reading strategies are used by students at HETC? What are the differences in the use of reading strategies between lower and higher proficiency readers? 3.2. Descriptions of variables 3.2.1. Independent variables In this study, the independence variables were the students at HETC. 51 students were chosen as representatives of this particular group sudents to collect needed data. These 51 students were divided into four groups in which students are the members of higher and lower proficiency groups. These 2 groups were chosen to get information to answer the second research question ( More details about these groups and about higher and lower proficiency readers will be found in 3.3.1 and 3.4.2) 3.2.2. Dependent variable: The dependent variable in this research were the strategies applied in reading comprehension, i.e. reading comprehension strategies. 3.3. The data collection instruments: This study employs a combibation of 3 data collection instruments: General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) Questionaire Think-aloud interviews As one of the objectives of this study is to find out if there are any dfferences in the strategy use between higher proficiency (HP) and lower proficiency (LP) readers. The test was used to divide the subjects into difference groups in which groups of higher and lower proficiency were chosen to collect the data. Think-aloud interviews aimed at getting qualitative data and quesionaire was used to get quantiative data. The author can collect a large information of all mentioned strategies and the information from students who share their thought of strategy use in the think-aloud interviews. Of course, the think a loud interviews in this study can be one of the best ways to reaffirm the result got from the questionaire. For example, in the questionaire, the subjects report that they use life experiences to understand the meaning of texts or read the first and last paragraphs and then go back to read the paragraphs; the author will know they use these strategies or not in the interview. 3.3.1. Test A General English proficiency test is a procedure taken to collect data on students ability or the knowledge of disciplines as Information about peoples language ability is often very useful and necessary (Nunan, 1992). The GEPT was taken form the book IELTS for Academic Purpose: A short insentive course (see the appendix 3). Based on the result of the test, the subjects were classified into 4 groups. Group 1 consists students who just got from mark 1 to 2.5; group 2 has those who got mark from 3 to 5. The students in these 2 groups are LP learners. Meanwhile, the students who are in group 3 got mark from 5.5 to 6.5 they are at medium levels. And the last group group 4 consists of HP ones who got mark from 7 and over. After having the result of the test, the author decided to chose group 2 and 4 to collect the data to answer the second research question. So there are 51 subjects in these 2 groups. The author did not choose group 1 because their proficiency were too low and they we re only 1% of the subjects. Details of the test can be found in Appendix 1. 3.3.2. Questionaire: Questionaire is the second data collection instrument in this study. This is also a pretty popular means of data collection. Many researchers suppose that using questionaire in language research has many advantages. First, questionaire can be given to a great amount of students at the same time and it is self-administered. Second, to protect the privacy and keep the fairness, the subjects names might not be appeared on the questionaire. So subjects tend to share the information more naturally, even some sensitive information. Third, the data collected are more accurate because questionaire is usually given to all the subjects at the same time. This study used one survey questionaire to gather the information about reading strategies as well as the differences in strategy use between these two kinds of readers. According to the result of the questionaire (and interviews), the athor can make some recommendation to help students improve their reading abilities. The quesionaire was designed based on the questionaire of Shan Shan Kung (2007). This part consists 3 parts. Of couse, in this study, the author modified the first part personal information part. The next part concept of reading had 3 questions to explore the perceptions of English reading. The last part had thirty eight questions of strategy use. In the beginning of third section, thirty four questions utilized a Liker Scale point systems. The subjects were asked to respond to each statement by choosing among four answers: 1) usually; 2) sometimes; 3) rarely; 4) never. Each section has four to six questions (except section 1 has 10 questions because of discoverin g the reading process). Through the survey, the author found out which strategies actually actracted HP readers more than LP readers. 3.3.3. Think aloud interviews In addition to the quetionaire, interviews are used to obtain information by actually talking to the subject. The interviewer asks questions and the subject responds. Interviews are the good way for collecting data as Seliger, H.W. (1989) claimed Interviews are personalized and therefore permit a level of in-depth information gathering, free response and flexibility that cannot be obtained by other procedures (p.166). However, it can be costly and time consuming. In this study, think aloud interviews were used to collect the data about the students reading strategy. The Interviewer Guide for Reading Strategies developed by Honsenfeld et al. (1981). In oder to make the Guide appropriate for objectives of thi study, the researcher has made some changes in the strategies they posed ( see Appendix 3). 3.4. Participants in the study: At the time the study was carried out, the subjects had just finished an English course. Their textbook was à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Therefore, their commonly assumed proficiency was intermidiate. They were members of three classes. One class included 25 students , 24 in the other class and 21 in the last one and they stuied the same textbook. Their ages ranged from 19 to 24. Almost all of students had at least 3 years of learning English before this class. They were delivered a reading proficiency test to be divided into higher and lower proficiency readers. In this study, gender has minimal effect on the results because the number of male students is quite small in the total of the subjects. 3.5. Procedure The data were collected by the researcher during a week in autum 2009. After contacting the English teachers of the subjects in person to get approval for asking their students to participate in the study, the researcher pre-arranged the time. The researcher went to English classes to administer the tests. The students were asked to complete the test in 60 minutes. The English teachers and the researcher supervised and marked the test papers later. The 2 days after, subjects were distributed the questionanires. The researcher gave some directions to the subjects and of then encouraged students to ask for any clarifications they might need and any other extra time when they filled out the questionaire. And of couse, the researcher wanted to protect the privacy and the students fairness, so the students names would not fill in the questionaires. In order to advoid misunderstanding the questions, the questionaire were translated into Vietnamese which were enclosed with the English version. The questionaire administration took about 30 minutes in each class. For days later, six chosen students were interviewed individually at the researcher s office in HETC. The reseacher pre-arranged the time and contacted to the students by the phone. Before the interview, the reseacher gave the instructions and explained the purpose of the study to students so they could understand what they had to do clearly. Each interview took from 10 to 15 minutes. Data analysis and findings 4.1. The result of the questionaire 4.1.1. Demographic Data Table 4.1 Demographic Information of Students (N=51) Subject Frequency Percentage Total N % Gender Male 9 17.6 51 100 Female 42 82.4 Level Lower proficiency 32 63.7 Higher proficiency 19 36.3 Years of English learning experience 2 3 5.9 51 100 4 9 17.6 5 15 29.4 6 11 21.6 7 6 11.8 8 2 3.9 9 4 7.8 10 1 2.0 Look at the table 4.1, of the 51 students participating in the study, 9 (17.6%) were males and 43 (82.4%) were females. Of the 19 HP students (36.3%) and 32 (63.7%) were LP students. When asking about years of English learning experience, just 1 students (2.0%) has been studying English for ten years. 9 students (17.6%) have been studying English for four years, 15 students (29.4%) have been studying English for five years, 11 students (21.6%) have been studying English for six years, 6 students (11.8%) have been studying English for seven years, 2 students (3.9%) have been studying English for eight years, 4 students (7.8%) have been studying English for nine years. Because foreign language in general and English in particular were given into school from sixth grade in secondary school, and from tenth grade in high school ( in some remote areas), the most students years of English learning experience were between four and seven years. To answer the second section of the questionnaire about concepts of reading, the results were presented in Table 4.2. Table 4.2 The Relationship between the Important of Reading for Language Learning and Reading Hours per Week by higher and lower proficiency students Reading hours per week 2 3 4 Over 4 N % N % N % N % Higher proficiency students (N =19) Very important 2 10.5 5 26.3 6 31.6 3 15.8 important 1 5.3 2 10.5 Not important Lower proficiency students (N =32) Very important 6 18.8 7 21.9 5 15.6 important 4 12.5 5 15.6 4 12.5 Not important 1 3.1 According to the illustration of Table 4.2, HP students who thought reading was very important for language learning were 2 (10.5%) spent two hours per week on reading, 5(26.3%) for three hours per week, 6 (31.6%), for four hours per week and 3 (15.8%) for over four hours per week. HP students who thought reading was important for language learning were 1 (5.3%) spent two hours per week on reading, 2 (10.5%) for four hours per week. There were not any students who thought reading was not important for language learning. In the LP group, 6 (18.8%) students thought reading was very important for language learning and spent two hours per week for it, 7 (21.9%) spent three hours for reading, 5 (15.6%) spent four hours for reading. These LP students supposed reading was important for language learning were 4 (12.5%) spent two hours per week on reading, 5 (15.6%) for three hours per week. There was 1 (3.1%) students said reading was not important for language learning but still spent two hours per week on it. 4.1.2. Findings for Research Question One The research question one was What reading comprehension strategies are used by students at HETC ? After collecting data, it showed what the same or different strategies were used more or less by HP or LP students for helping them understand the contents of the reading materials in different reading situations and were ranked from low to high to represent which strategy would be used more or less by the students during their reading process in different situations. The results were listed in the following by all of students reading ability levels when they used reading strategies in different reading situations. The total results came from the 51 students in Table 4.3, 4.4, 4.5 and 4.6. Table 4.3 Means, Ranks, and Standard Deviations of the Uses of Reading Strategies in First Section by students at HETC When I read English materials, Mean Mean SD Rank 1. I read a table of contents, and then read the contents 1.82 1 .90 2. I focus on the first sentence of each paragraph for helping me understand the main points of the whole paragraph 2.51 7 .12 3. I underline the main points when I am reading 2.03 4 .97 4. I write Vietnamese on the margin for vocabulary words I dont understand during reading 1.86 2 .90 5 I skim over the full text, and then read details 1.88 3 .92 6 I use life experiences helping me understand the meaning of texts 1.86 2 .90 7 I use the background knowledge of the English culture to understand the contents 2.57 8 1.03 8 I use key words or sentences to guess the main idea of the articles 1.88 3 1.08 9 After reading each paragraph, I ask myself if I understand what I read before, and paraphrase the main idea, then keep reading the next paragraph 2.25 5 1.09 10 I discuss what I read with classmates 2.45 6 1.05 In Table 4.3, the result indicated which strategies the 51 students used more or less when they read English materials. The table showed the data with mean, mean rank, and standard deviation. As illustration of Table 4.3, the mean was from 1.82 to 2.51 and the rank was S1 (1.82) Table 4.4 Means, Ranks, and Standard Deviations of the Uses of Reading Strategies in First Section by students at HETC When I do not understand a vocabulary, Mean Mean SD Rank 11 I check the dictionary immediately 2.37 3 1.1 12 I mark and pass it, keep reading and then go back 2.33 2 1.08 13 I use other words in the sentence to infer the meaning of vocabulary 2.09 1 .87 14 I analyze its suffix and prefix to get its meaning 3.00 4 1.21 Through Table 4.4, strategy 13 I use other words in the sentence to infer the meaning of vocabulary was most used by the students when they did not understand a vocabulary during the reading process. On contrary, strategy 14 I analyze its suffix and prefix to get its meaning was the strategy which most students used least in this reading situation. Table 4.5 Means, Ranks, and Standard Deviations of the Uses of Reading Strategies in First Section by students at HETC When I do not understand a sentence, Mean Mean SD Rank 15 I use the context (topic, subject) to derive the meaning of each sentence 1.86 1 .91 16 I translate word for word into Vietnamese to better understand the meaning of the sentences 2.35 4 1.12 17 I take grammar analysis (ex: finding subject and verb etc.) to understand the meaning of the sentences 2.33 3 1.02 18 I analyze the structure of sentences (ex: sample sentence, adjective clause, or adverb clause, etc.)to derive the meaning of sentence 2.37 5 .97 19 I will analyze the verb tense (ex: past tense or future tense) or verb mood (ex: subjunctive mood or imperative mood) for better understanding 2.27 2 .95 In Table 4.5, those strategies had close mean scores between each other, but it also pointed out the differences from 2.27 to 2.37, except the strategy 15 had the mean score less 1.86. It described that strategy 15 I use the context (topic, subject) to derive the meaning of each sentence were the most used by the students when they did not understand a sentence during reading process. Vice versa, the means of the strategy 16 and strategy 18 to derive the meaning of sentence meant that they were used least than other strategies in this section. Table 4.6 Means, Ranks, and Standard Deviations of the Uses of Reading Strategies in First Section by students When I dont understand (including vocabulary and sentences,) except above reading strategies, Mean Mean SD Rank 20 I check books (ex: grammar books or encyclopedia) for references 2.16 2 1.14 21 I go on the Internet to find related information 1.98 1 .92 22 I ask teachers or classmates for clarification 2.27 3 1.03 23 I read the difficult parts several times 2.63 5 1.12 24 I read the contents orally several times 2.47 4 .94 25 I will memorize the vocabulary pertaining to the contents before reading 2.16 2 .99 According to the data, it presented that strategy 21 I go on Internet to find related information was used by almost students. The information technology nowaday becomes quite popular to students so they would like to search information on the Internet. The S20 = S25 (2.16) both stood the second position. The strategy that students used least was strategy 23 I read difficult parts several times. 4.1.3. Findings for Research Question Two Research question two was What are the differences in the use of reading strategies of the higher and lower proficiency students at HETC? Through mean, standard deviation, t-tests and p value, the data analysis depicted detailed information about the differences of reading strategy performance between these two groups of students. The comparative groups focused on higher and lower proficiency student. Table 4.7 Means, Standard Deviations, t-Tests and p Value between higher and lower proficiency students at HETC when I read English materials, Lower proficiency students Higher proficiency students T p (N=19) (N=32) Mean SD Mean SD 1. I read a table of contents, and then read the contents 2.00 1.054 1.72 .813 .999 .322 2. I focus on the first sentence of each paragraph for helping me understand the main points of the whole paragraph 2.16 1.118 1.78 .792 1.288 .20 3. I underline the main points when I am reading 2.00 1.105 2.06 .914 -.208 .84 4. I write Vietnamese on the margin for vocabulary words I dont understand during reading 2.79 1.084 2.78 1.069 .026 .98 5. I skim over the full text, and then read details 2.05 1.026 1.78 .870 .965 .34 6. I use life experiences helping me understand the meaning of texts 1.89 .937 1.84 .917 .189 .85 7. I use the background knowledge of the English culture to understand the contents 2.05 1.129 2.86 .871 -2.729 .00** 8. I use key words or sentences to guess the main idea of the articles 2.37 1.261 1.59 .911 2.412 .02* 9. After reading each paragraph, I ask myself if I understand what I read before, and paraphase the main idea, then keep reading the next paragraph 2.00 1.202 2.53 .983 -1.630 .11 10. I discuss what I read with classmates 2.53 1.264 2.41 .946 .359 .72 p As indicated in Table 4.7, strategy 7 and strategy 8 attended to the significant difference level (p Table 4.8 Means, Standard Deviations, t-Tests and p Value between higher and lower proficiency students at HETC When I do not understand a vocabulary, Higher proficiency students Lower proficiency students t p (N=19) (N=32) Mean SD Mean SD 11. I check the dictionary immediately 3.32 .749 1.81 .896 6.432 .00** 12. I mark and pass it, keep reading and then go back 2.89 1.1 2.06 .878 2.809 .00** 13. I use other words in the sentence to infer the meaning of vocabulary 2.05 .911 2.13 .871 -.279 .78 14. I analyze its suffix and prefix to get its meaning 2.84 1.344 3.13 1.07 -.782 .44 p In table 4.8, strategy 11 and strategy 12 attended to the significant different level (p