Walt Whitman Pedagogy Analysis - 1035 Words

When someone first hears the word, pedagogy, what do they think of? A toddler trying to say that he has a pet dog? Maybe it’s a modern day rapper’s name? Or even a generic brand of Grape Nuts? In reality a pedagogy is a teaching, instructing, or prompting of children to do a certain action to better their lives. When many people hear this, they first person they think of is Walt Whitman, and for a good reason. Many of Whitmans Writings have pedagogic ideas in them, The â€Å"Destroy the Teacher† passage, â€Å"When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer†, and â€Å"Passage 6† from â€Å"Song of Myself† are just a few of his strongest pieces where he expresses his ideas on pedagogy. Walt Whitman’s three main ideas on pedagogy are that the teacher’s main purpose is so†¦show more content†¦Interesting word choice, â€Å"destroying† the teacher. He knows that once the student becomes smarter and surpasses the teacher, the teacher has no purpose for the student anymore, so in reality, the student â€Å"destroyed† them. In â€Å"When I Heard the Learnd Astronomer† by Walt Whitman, he is trying to portray that we cannot be spoon fed with our learning, we have to experience by ourselves. He starts off with, â€Å"When I heard the learn’d astronomer, When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them, When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself, In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars†. He says that the teacher can give you the information, tell you how to do the math, and show you the pictures, but is that really going to help you? Why be given the information if you can collect the information yourself, why be told how to do the math if you can learn and figure it out yours elf, why be given pictures if you can go out in nature and see everything with your own eyes. This was Whitman’s main focus, it’s easy to be spoon fed information, but what is really challenging is the going out, getting the information, and experiencing it for yourself.Show MoreRelatedInfluential Factors Of The Audience s Understanding1425 Words   |  6 Pagesopinion between Kevin J. H. Dettmar and Sarfraz Manzoor on Dead Poets Society is one such example. Dettmar states that: â€Å"Dead Poets Society is a terrible defense of the humanities.† This is because he thinks the film is void of literary criticism or analysis; the only things left are misleading and deeply seductive. On the contrary, Manzoor cites Dead Poets Society as his favorite film that is un-cynical, idealistic, hopeful, and which inspires him when he needed it the most. (His understanding of this

Auto Biography Free Essays

was born and brought up in Houston, Texas. Ours is a family of four with my parents, me and my younger brother. The schooling years of my life were toughest. We will write a custom essay sample on Auto Biography or any similar topic only for you Order Now I struggled a lot in my studies. The standardized procedure of education never interested me. I was an average student throughout my academic life. Extra-curricular activities like sports, drawing, crafts, etc. were my favorite things. I just remember that it was the second semester of 8th grade when I stood first in class. However, it didn’t serve any purpose in motivating me to take up studies seriously. I enjoyed understanding the concepts more than just memorizing ready-made notes. After completion of my schooling and college in the science stream, I chose to become a painter. It was a weird decision taken by me at that time. Today, however, I don’t regret it at all. My career in painting began a smoothly and I was more than happy to grab the right opportunity for which I was waiting so long. Today, I am happy with my life and enjoy it to the fullest. The positive attitude to face hardships brought out the best in me. Today I am looking forward to face the challenges of life in a positive manner. The content presented in the example above gives only a rough idea of how an autobiography should start; one can use a similar write up as an example of autobiography for college projects. Writing an autobiography is a huge effort and requires patience to put the facts and experiences in a proper manner. Autobiographies are detailed accounts of a person’s life and should be written with care and responsibility. The autobiography sample provided in the article above provides an idea about how to write about yourself in an interesting manner. Autobiographies are detailed accounts of our lives which help in remembering the happy and sad moments as well. One can draw inspiration from the tough times of the past and move on in life with a positive attitude. Read more at Buzzle: http://www. buzzle. com/articles/autobiography-sample. html How to cite Auto Biography, Essay examples

Me Myself and Irene free essay sample

This is one of my favorite movies of all time, and it stars my favorite actor, Jim Carrey. Here is a brief plot summary of the film. It starts with a very subtle mild mannered patrol officer called Charlie Baileygates ( Jim Carrey) getting married and having his wife leave him for the black limo driver, dropping three black kids in his lap. Charlie was such a pushover that he said that the kids were black because of his great grandmother, this is just an example of his gentile and gullible nature. Eventually as the years past him by and his kids grew, a series of misfortunes stretched over decades built up within him a furious rage which finally erupts in the form of Hank Evans, his alter ego, his other personality if you will, as nice is Charlie was is how mean Hank became, he was the type of person who wouldn’t take anything from anyone, get into a fight against impossible odds even if he was going to loose just to hurt the other party, and even steal ice-cream from kids and growl at them when they cried! Throughout the movie Hank appears whenever Charlie is hurt or in over his head to save the day, which is an example of Charlie running away from his inner demons, in the beginning it was either one or the other, Charlie or Hank who appears, but in the final scene they both appear taking over different parts of the body in a hilarious all out brawl over who should really own the body and who should disappear. We will write a custom essay sample on Me Myself and Irene or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In the end, charley, driven by the love he felt for the woman he was supposed to be protecting, and fearing for her life when she is taken hostage, pushes himself out of his cocoon of safety and decides to take actions into his own hands, driving Hank away for good. What Charlie suffered from in this movie was a rude and violent split personality, caused by Advanced Delusionary Schizophrenia with involuntary Narcissistic rage. That is the mental disorder I will be talking about in this paper. I will begin by splitting the diagnosis in half and talking about Schizophrenia first, then the narcissistic rage, and finally how the two go together. Schizophrenia is defined as a serious mental illness characterized as a loss of cognitive analysis, contact with reality, and a lack in emotional responsiveness. It commonly results in delusions and paranoia resulting in severe social and professional dysfunction for the individual, it is extremely rare and only affects about 1. 5% of the worlds population, targeting mainly young adults. Diagnosis is given based on the patients testimony and through several personality tests, there is no clinical laboratory test for Schizophrenia. Put simply Schizophrenia is a split personality disorder where the afflicted individual seemingly has two different personalities; some can be very extreme such as the case of Charlie. To the more spiritual Schizophrenia might seem like two souls inhabiting the same body, two very different beings, life forces, living in the same shell, battling over its dominance. There are five main types of Schizophrenia, mainly paranoid, which is where delusions and hallucinations are present, but thought disorder and lack emotional responsiveness are not, secondly, disorganized, where thought disorder and the flat effect (no emotional reactivity) are both present. Thirdly there is the catatonic type, where the individual might sit still and no nothing for extensive periods of time or display agitated fidgeting. Fourth is the undifferentiated type, which implies that the psychotic demeanors are present but the criteria for the first three types have not been met, and finally there is simple Schizophrenia which is when delusions and thought disorder are present but in a very low concentration. Charlie was the paranoid type, as hank only came out when something bad was happening but both himself and hank could process everything like normal people, but in different ways. Delusions and hallucinations were present, but they were certainly not lacking in the areas of cognitive thinking (they could both plan escape routes and plans of action very efficiently), disorganized behavior (Hank was a bit psychotic but that was his nature), or emotional reactivity (they both fell in love with the same woman but only Hank (the bad boy) got laid! ) Secondly there is narcissistic rage, which is defined as a violent reaction to narcissistic injury, or attacks on a person’s image of self-worth or self esteem. Normally when a narcissist is under attack and feels like their image is being demeaned, their first reaction is one of rage in an attempt to bring down their attackers own self-image in order to feel better about their own. It’s the narcissist’s self defense mechanism against injuries to their self worth and should not be confused with anger, although the two are very similar there is a major difference, what might ause narcissistic rage to a narcissist, will not result in anger from a person not suffering from this disorder ( I think I might have it! f**k! ) †¦. (Ok now I know I have it because I’m really angry that I have it! Goddamnit! I’m a crackhead! Excuse the language I’m a bit flustered†¦. wow†¦ narcissistic rage†¦ who would have guessed? You were right! ). Another cause of narcissistic rage is when the narcissist is being prevented from achieving their ‘grandiose fantasies’ such as getting an A on a paper, totally hypothetical example! I did not understand these terms when I watched the movie over and over again, but now I see how the two work together hand in hand in order to make this dynamic duo of Charlie and Hank. Charlie was the pushover and he kept holding everything in, one day he finally snapped (this is where the narcissistic rage comes in) but being the person he was he could not do anything about it. Research has shown that episodes of narcissistic rage can actually trigger Schizophrenia! And this is where Hank comes in to make his grand appearance, as Charlie’s way of relieving his anger. Now that I think about it, every single time Charlie became Hank he was demeaned in some way, people made fun of him, he got knocked out, the machine robbed him, whenever he was about to get into a fight or confrontation, or if he was ever loosing one, his narcissistic rage would kick in and Hank would come out to save the day. In the final scenes when his loved one is taken hostage, even when he was already beaten, he was too scared to run away and leave her alone, he wanted to save her, he screamed out â€Å"I’m not running away anymore! intended for Hank who was holding his leg hostage because he wanted to be let out, at that moment Hank was gone forever, Charlie stood up for himself and faced his demons, the ones he was fleeing from the beginning of the movie, no longer bottling up his fears or confrontations but instead facing then head on, his narcissistic rage was gone, an with that the trigger for his Schizophrenia, and Hank. Charlie proceeded to save the girl himself and they lived happily ever after, he doesn’t take the medication anymore. â€Å"Noble fear can make a lion out of the lowliest cur† (my own! )†¦. The human psychology is an intriguing concept Go figure.

Quickbooks Notecards Essay Sample free essay sample

The accounting system captures. shops. procedures and communicates information in conformity with applicable professional. industry and authorities criterions and besides meets the organization’s ain demands. A good –designed accounting system enables an organisation to pull off one of its most valuable resources – information. Accounting package plans allow one to pull strings and bring forth information following professional. industry and authorities criterions. every bit good as meet the organization’s ends. If well-designed. it enables the company to pull off it most of import plus. which is information. I. IntroductionB. Introduction about Quickbooks Collins. J. C. ( 2011 ) . A Quick Guide to Quickbooks. Journal of Accountancy. 1. Retrieved November 27. 2012. from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. journalof accounting. com/Issues /2011/Dec/20114555. htm More than 4. 5 million companies use QuickBooks. doing it by far the most widely used accounting system in the universe Quickbooks is used around the Earth by more than 4. 5 million houses. II. BodyA. Advantagesa. Company1. Less clip devouring Nelson. S. L. ( 2008 ) . Quickbooks 2008 for silent persons. Hoboken. New Jersey: Wiley Publishing Inc. Quickbooks automatically creates most journal entries for you. construct a test balance by utilizing your journal entry information. and – when asked – produces fiscal statements. Most of the work of double-entry clerking. so. goes on behind the scenes. Quickbooks is besides able to construct a test balance every bit good as produce fiscal statements in a neat and organized manner. which allows more work to be done in a shorter period of clip. compared to utilizing the manual pattern in journalizing minutess and fixing fiscal statements II. BodyB. Disadvantagesa. Company1. Has restrictions Nelson. S. L. ( 2008 ) . Quickbooks 2008 for silent persons. Hoboken. New Jersey: Wiley Publishing Inc. In malice of the fact that Quickbooks may be an uncomplete solution and may non manage stock list the manner you want or need. Quickbooks is still a really good solution. What Quickbooks does. it does rea lly good. Quickbooks is non able to cover with stock list absolutely. but it is still a good option because it does the undertaking of forming good. II. BodyB. Disadvantagesa. Company1. Has restrictions Drew. J. ( 2012 ) . Technology and CPA’s: vision of the hereafter. Journal of Accountancy. 2. Retrieved November 20. 2012. from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. journalofaccountancy. com/Issues/2012/Jun/20114844. htm This epoch is similar to the displacement from Lotus 1-2-3 to Excel in the late eightiess and early 1990s. and he envisions the impact of cloud and nomadic engineerings radically revamping the accounting package market place. The use of accounting package may be compared to the passage from Lotus 1-2-3 to Excel. Quickbooks may. in the long tally. be overthrown by cloud and nomadic engineerings. II. BodyB. Disadvantagesa. Company2. Weak security Phatak. O. ( June 2011 ) . Advantages and disadvantages of utilizing computerized accounting. Retrieved November 23. 2012 from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. buzzle. com/articles/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-using-computerized-accounting. hypertext markup language If safeguards are non taken. including installing of anti-virus package and securing of office web. there is a security hazard of losing informations due to choping onslaughts and descrying via Internet. Security becomes an issue if the installing of an anti-virus is non done by the company. This may take to choping and descrying onslaughts of rivals through the Internet which consequences to the loss of informations.

Free Essays on The Outstation-Theme, Character, Conflict

W. Somerset Maugham’s â€Å"The Outstation† tells an entertaining story that comments on the human condition itself. It is a story based on the conflicts of two very different men. These characters seem drawn from reality, each living in their own little world. Pride blinds them to the world around them, and leads them to misery. Conflict and character are central to Maugham’s theme. Maugham reveals facets of the characters with a few techniques. Through dialogue, we get hints at what the characters feel about each other and themselves. We also find out what kind of people they are through their use of language. For example, it is clear in the way Mr. Warburton speaks that he is prim and cultivated. When Allen Cooper speaks, it is clear that he is rough around the edges because of his use of jargon. We also learn a lot about the character through the use of their actions. Daily routines and treatment of others by the characters give us more insight into who they are. Through authorial comment, the narration gives us more understanding of each character. These techniques also show us the building conflict in the story. The conflict between the two characters starts right at the beginning of the story when the Resident, Mr. Warburton, is first introduced to his new assistant, Allen Cooper. Bad chemistry and tension between the two is noticed immediately. Warburton and Cooper are very different men and this first scene illustrates this with their differences in mannerisms and language. Cooper speaks, at first, with â€Å"exuberant joviality.† Warburton is â€Å"polite†. Cooper speaks with slang and colloquialisms; he is very casual. Mr. Warburton speaks formally and is even frigid. Here the dialogue leads us to see their differences in class, age, and character. Mr. Warburton is a stout fifty-four year old man. When his face is described by the narrator, it is a â€Å"red face with pugnacious features† and â€Å"cle... Free Essays on The Outstation-Theme, Character, Conflict Free Essays on The Outstation-Theme, Character, Conflict W. Somerset Maugham’s â€Å"The Outstation† tells an entertaining story that comments on the human condition itself. It is a story based on the conflicts of two very different men. These characters seem drawn from reality, each living in their own little world. Pride blinds them to the world around them, and leads them to misery. Conflict and character are central to Maugham’s theme. Maugham reveals facets of the characters with a few techniques. Through dialogue, we get hints at what the characters feel about each other and themselves. We also find out what kind of people they are through their use of language. For example, it is clear in the way Mr. Warburton speaks that he is prim and cultivated. When Allen Cooper speaks, it is clear that he is rough around the edges because of his use of jargon. We also learn a lot about the character through the use of their actions. Daily routines and treatment of others by the characters give us more insight into who they are. Through authorial comment, the narration gives us more understanding of each character. These techniques also show us the building conflict in the story. The conflict between the two characters starts right at the beginning of the story when the Resident, Mr. Warburton, is first introduced to his new assistant, Allen Cooper. Bad chemistry and tension between the two is noticed immediately. Warburton and Cooper are very different men and this first scene illustrates this with their differences in mannerisms and language. Cooper speaks, at first, with â€Å"exuberant joviality.† Warburton is â€Å"polite†. Cooper speaks with slang and colloquialisms; he is very casual. Mr. Warburton speaks formally and is even frigid. Here the dialogue leads us to see their differences in class, age, and character. Mr. Warburton is a stout fifty-four year old man. When his face is described by the narrator, it is a â€Å"red face with pugnacious features† and â€Å"cle...

How to Conjugate the French Verb Rendre

How to Conjugate the French Verb Rendre The French verb  rendre  (pronounced ren-dre) means to return and is frequently used in idiomatic expressions such as to give thanks to. This chart will show you how to conjugate this regular verb in present, past, subjunctive, and other tenses. Present Future Imperfect Present participle je rends rendrai rendais rendant tu rends rendras rendais il rend rendra rendait nous rendons rendrons rendions vous rendez rendrez rendiez ils rendent rendront rendaient Pass compos Auxiliary verb avoir Past participle rendu Subjunctive Conditional Pass simple Imperfect subjunctive je rende rendrais rendis rendisse tu rendes rendrais rendis rendisses il rende rendrait rendit rendt nous rendions rendrions rendmes rendissions vous rendiez rendriez rendtes rendissiez ils rendent rendraient rendirent rendissent Imperative (tu) rends (nous) rendons (vous) rendez Verb conjugation patternRendre is a regular -RE verbExpressions with rendre

Human Sexuality and Disability Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Human Sexuality and Disability - Case Study Example From this study it is clear that social control over sexuality, bound up with control over birthrate and morality, becomes a fundamental class and race marker, or just a kind of measure of normality. It should be mentioned that sexuality of individuals with disabilities is mostly taken as taboo and avoided giving publicity, as well as gender identity is often represented as disabled, e. d. problematic. The most ordinary example of the fact that society rejects sexual identity of people with disabilities is symbols on the rest-room doors.This paper stresses that  nevertheless on dealing with pure sexuality one may notice that disability in the first instance threatens to masculine. The reason is that female gender identity is not contradictory to disabled people passivity.   As for the disabled man it is clear that on drawing an analogy between himself and a popular culture ‘hero’ character, an active, successful, and well-knit men, he realizes a dissonance. In this c ase we get conflicting identities. This conflict gets to the center of attention of popular culture, appealing to disabled image. Tom Cruise’s character in the movie    «The Men, Born on the Fourth of July » is a classical example of an individual with disability living in US. The white war-horse is heavily trying to get used to own disability, which is presented in the context of emasculation or sexual disability.  All attempts to have some sexual life just face women’s jeers.... In the 1980'es the new ideology of 'normalization' came into existence, though eugenics continued to exist showing itself in fear and enmity. People having difficulties in learning have been usually treated as unable to play 'usual' (including sexual) roles. As a matter of fact gender identity makes different possibilities for a man and for a woman. In spite of the fact the demographical data is characterized by predominance of aged disabled women, most of them even of young age are treated like useless from the point of view of fertility, that is to say for performance of traditionally women's roles (Fine and Asch, 1988). Nevertheless on dealing with pure sexuality one may notice that disability in the first instance threatens to masculine. The reason is that female gender identity is not contradictory to disabled people passivity. As for the disabled man it is clear that on drawing an analogy between himself and a popular culture 'hero' character, an active, successful, and well-knit men, he realizes a dissonance. In this case we get conflicting identities. This conflict gets to the center of attention of popular culture, appealing to disabled image. Tom Cruise's character in the movie 'The Men, Born on the Fourth of July' is a classical example of an individual with disability living in US. The white war-horse is heavily trying to get used to own disability, which is presented in the context of emasculation or sexual disability (Shakespeare 1996: 194). All attempts to have some sexual life just face women's jeers. But this disable man gets over the 'lack of masculine', and attains high social status and general acceptance. He returns his own activity, initiative, and control by participation in pacifist movement.

Globalization and unemployment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Globalization and unemployment - Research Paper Example This has been as a result of opening up of trade barriers by counties and liberalization of markets. Globalization has also improved flow of information among different countries due to increased technological advancement. Business has been able to make use this opportunity through opening up various branches in the world as it has become easy to operate various businesses in the world through decentralized management (Wagner, 2000). Literature review Historical perspective of globalization Globalization history can be traced from the time people started moving others out of Africa to other parts of the world to work as slaves. Since then people have integrated immensely leading to a world with a generation that lacks cultural identity. Since then people has intermarried with each other leading to erosion of their identity. The level of globalization increased the level of technology since the period between first and second war. Since this time people have been trying to conquer dif ferent parts of the world (Wagner, 2000, p. 40). The world has even gone ahead to establish global organizations that are mandated with governing the globe e.g. international monetary funds, World Bank and United nations. Cultural and social impact of globalization One major impact that globalization is has brought is erosion of culture as a result of flow of information from different parts of the world. Currently, it has become so easy to get access to information from different countries at the current time. Some of the western culture has therefore, been integrated in societies that had previously maintained their cultures. This has made these communities to uphold new culture and do away with their culture (Wagner, 2000, p. 56). Globalization has seen introduction of unethical cultures from other parts of the world. Current technological advancement have seen increased sharing of information e.g. in social networks. As a result it has become so easy for the terrorist to plan an d execute crimes. Other behaviors that have seen tremendous increase include prostitution and drug abuse. The most affected are the young people who try to copy great musicians and celebrities. This has increased crime rate in different cities in America (Wagner, 2000). Globalization has increased the level of interaction of different people in the world therefore making the world a global village. An individual can be able to move from one place to another easily due to technological advancement. This has increased cultural interaction among different people in the world. People have been able to learn from other’s cultures on different aspects that their culture lacks. This has played a greater role in increasing cultural understanding among different people in the world. Globalization has resulted in social stratification and division of roles in the society. Since time when globalization started taking place, the family roles have changed tremendously. Initially women mai n role was to raise children and take care of their husbands. These roles have changed with more women entering the job market. Women has gone ahead to take up high positions in various organizations in the world. On the other hand, husbands have become involved closely with family matters e.g. caring for children unlike in the past where such a role was wholly

Vanity Is a Virtue Essay Example for Free

Vanity Is a Virtue Essay Okay, I’ll admit that I like what I see when I look in the mirror. And even though I’m quite nervous talking in front of you, capturing the attention of a number of students, with all your eyes and ears on me, feels very fulfilling. Say it. It’s vanity. And yes, I am vain. So, as vain as I am, I’m going to stand before you today and prove that vanity is not a dreadful thing. Vanity is a moral excellence. Foremost, let us scrutinize Mr. Webster’s definition of vanity – an excessive pride in one’s appearance, qualities, abilities, achievements, etc.; the character or quality of being vain. Vanity is far beyond that definition. Vanity, after all is not a sin, it’s not a bad thing. Some said that it is associated with pride and that being vain is being futile and worthless. But, I’ll firmly say this to you – vanity is more than that, vanity is just the better side of self-love, self-confirmation. Vanity is needed just like self-esteem. Without vanity we would never feel good about ourselves. Seeking self satisfaction is after all the key in what living our lives to our fullest expectations are based. Just as self esteem boosts ones thoughts and beliefs, vanity boosts our image and satisfaction of ourselves. We are after all by ourselves in this world. Vanity is providing self-affirmation of what we think we are, making us love ourselves more. It is self-confirmation, it is knowing the difference between what others tell you and what you may or may not be in life, it is gaining more respect for ourselves. Although the word vain has taken on lots of negative connotations, theres nothing fundamentally wrong with it. All of us are vain – in our own ways. I am vain because I believe in my capabilities and in my spirit that I will be a CPA Lawyer. I am vain because I am proud that I was fashioned in God’s image and likeness. I am vain because I want you to believe me, to convince you that vanity is a virtue. Vanity like anything in excess is bad as it overtakes and consumes. Vanity should be tempered with realism and sustainability. As long as we stay in control of our vanity and use it to push us to succeed then thats a great thing. Let me make something clear though: Im not saying you should be rude, or walk around with an attitude or anything. Theres a big difference between being vain and being arrogant. Another great thing about vanity is that it indirectly makes us take care of our health. Setting our sights on having a perfect physique is a good example. Being optimistic that we could achieve a good health status is another. And on the emotional and social aspect, if we feel good about ourselves and we have that sense of self-acceptance, then loving and accepting others will follow. After all, being vain and focusing on health as a motivator is a good thing. And vanity is far better than self- deprecation. So, with all that I have mentioned, if your friends start teasing and criticizing you whenever you start holding and posing on the camera, be proud. Whenever you face the mirror and see if you’re looking good, it’s just fine. And whenever vanity strikes, just remember me and all that I have said today. Just keep in mind that, â€Å"Virtue would not go to such lengths if vanity did not keep her company. †

Daniel Pearl :: essays research papers

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Intensive negotiations are under way with Pakistan for the extradition to the United States of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the top suspect in the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, the White House said Monday. Other government officials said that federal prosecutors from the U.S. attorney's office in Washington are working on bringing criminal charges in the case. But officials refused to comment on how soon a grand jury might bring any indictments. Asked Monday if the United States is interested in bringing a criminal case against Sheikh, President Bush said, "We're always interested in dealing with people who have harmed American citizens." White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said that the United States "would very much like to get our hands on Omar Sheikh and anyone else responsible for the killing of Daniel Pearl," noting that Pakistan is a sovereign nation and will continue its judicial process. "We will work closely with Pakistan to try to achieve that outcome of bringing them to the U.S.," Fleischer said. A Pakistani Embassy official in Washington, Asad Hayauddin, said that the two countries are engaged in discussions about the issue. Hayauddin said he doesn't know the status of the talks, adding that "Pakistan has always cooperated in bringing people to justice if required" and if there's a legal justification for a transfer of a suspect to U.S. custody. The United States signed an extradition treaty with Pakistan in 1931, and it went into effect in 1942, when Pakistan was under British control, Fleischer said. Hayauddin said that treaty was used to extradite Ramzi Youssef, convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and Mir Amil Kasi, convicted in the 1993 shooting deaths of two CIA employees, from Pakistan. Bush expressed satisfaction with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and his government's handling of the Pearl case. "I could tell from the tone of his voice how distraught he was, how disturbed he was that this barbaric act had taken place in his country," Bush said, referring to a recent phone call from Musharraf. "He knew full well that those killers did not represent the vast majority of the people in his own country, and he vowed to me on the phone that he would do everything in his power to chase down the killers and bring them to justice." U.S. indicted suspect last year

Martin Luther King Jr. Essay

Martin Luther King, Jr is a prominent African American in the history of the United States of America renown for his civil rights activism in his life making him an important human rights icon even today. Martin Luther King Jr was born in Atlanta, Georgia on 15th January 1929 in a Christian family with his father Martin Luther King Sr. a reverend and his mother Alberta Williams King. He had two siblings, an older sister and a younger brother. King grew up in Atlanta and attended Bookker T Washington High School. He joined Morehouse College at the age of fifteen and later in 1948 graduated with a degree in Arts majoring in sociology. He later enrolled in Cruzer Theological Seminary for theological studies and graduated in 1951. He enrolled in Boston University for his doctorate in systematic theology and received his PHD in 1955. He married Coretta Scott in 1953 and had four children. In 1954 he became Dextor Avenue Baptist Church Pastor at the age of 25. In 1955 he led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1957 assisted the founding of Southern Christian Leadership conference, 1963 led March on Washington where he delivered his â€Å"I have a Dream† speech and in1964, he received Nobel Peace prize. Thereafter his focuses was on poverty Vietnam War and religion and in 1968 April 4th, he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. His significance is still felt and have been rewarded the 1977 Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2004 Congressional Gold Medal and the United States further established a national holiday in his respect in 1986. (Bruns 1-30) Martin Luther King Jr accomplished a lot in his life. The 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott which he led was as a result of the oppressions and discriminations that African Americans were going through from the dominating whites. The Jim Crow laws existed and which segregated non-white communities in public services. The boycott lasted for a year leading to King’s arrest and his house bombing. However, he influenced the end of racial segregation on the buses and Jim Crow laws amendment in 1965. With other civil rights activists, Martin Luther founded the Southern Christian leadership conference in 1957. This group aimed at mobilizing the black churches against civil right abuse. Kings applied non violence techniques in his awareness a concept he borrowed from Mahatma Gandhi. In 1960s the American politics were dominated by civil right injustices. Kings therefore mobilized the society on right to vote, labor rights, civil rights and desegregation. He became so influential from public opinion sympathy. However, he was successful in influencing the civil rights act of 1964 and voting rights act 1965. In his fight against desegregation, King found himself in conflict with the law and in life threatening incidents. At one time he was stubbed on the chest by a woman because of his stance. In 1961 he was arrested and jailed along others in Albany movement. In 1963 along with SCLC he led the Birmingham campaigns that lasted for two months against all racial segregations and discriminatory laws. In these campaigns they confronted with the law enforcers and many were arrested. Children also took into the campaigns. Despite Kings Advocate for non-violent campaigns, at times pressure exceeded and violence was reported. These campaigns were significant in the Jim Crow laws removal and King’s reputation growth. He was also influential in the 1964 St Augustine and Selma Marches against white’s harassment. The 1963 March of Washington was very significant in the history of Martin Luther Kings as well as that of the United States. It attracted around half a million people from all racial backgrounds. It is at this place that he voiced his ‘I have a dream’ speech that influenced and still influences Americans even today. The march aimed at voicing freedom and equality in all sectors like in jobs. Along with other civil rights movements and activists, they voiced on poor wages, desegregations in public institutions like schools, protection of civil movements from police brutality, self government for Washington among others. There after, he continued with his activism expressing his stance on compensation of the disadvantaged and black Americans. He was involved in Bloody Sunday saga and influenced the Chicago marches that included the Belmont Cragin, Bogan, Gege Park, and Evergreen Park alongside others. He also opposed the Vietnam War terming the American government involvement as goal oriented and as the purveyor of the violence. â€Å"Beyond Vietnam† speech was very significant in his stance on Vietnam. He basically criticized the United States government involvement in to this war. All these pressures and influences he had against the American government made him very insecure. His life was endangered with instances of even physical assaults and life threats. All these led to his assassination in 1968 when in his civil duties. His death still remains a controversy as his enemies ranged from the government to individuals. His influence still remains even today. His is known to have influenced many prominent people including Jesse Jackson and Barrack Obama. His influence was also felt in the third world countries across Africa and Asia. (Bruns 1-143) The thoughts and the life of Martin Luther Kings Jr are very significant not only to the Americans but to the world at large. Many of the third world countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia have drawn their political dominance struggle from his teachings. By the year 1968 in his assassination, many African countries had acquired independence but elements of Europeans control still dominated their political and economic settings. They have applied king’s thoughts to seek fully their independence. In South Africa, prominent people against apartheid like Desmond Tutu, Nelson and Winnie Mandela, Alan Boesky have advocated kings thought in their struggle. The social divisions characterizing most nations in the world have brought discrimination of the lower classes. For instance the Rich discriminate the poor. The poor have continued struggling and in most cases they have used the kings’ non violence strategy for fear that the rich would overcome them in violence. (Roof 113-115) African American originally migrated in the United States as slaves. They were discriminated and oppressed in their places of work. Even after the abolishment of slavery, elements of oppression and discrimination were still rampant in American society. There was and have been the need to address this issue as the superiority nature of US depends on its entire people and not a particular race. Martin Luther was among the many people who have dedicated their lives to create a racism free society. He challenged the United States government which led to the abolishment of constitution based discriminative elements. It was upon his efforts that many other anti-segregation and civil rights have emerged. They have challenged consecutive government enhancing equality in race in the United States society. As a super power, United States have significantly influenced the global community against racism. It has influenced the united nation to act against racism in European world a place where racism is one of the major social issues. His influence is not only in black people but also in minority group in the world. Martin Luther King Jr is celebrated for he sowed the seeds of healing and hope in United States. His leadership was courageous, truthful, and compassionate of dignity and humility. He advocated for forgiveness, unconditional love and nonviolence element that most of the successful leader in the world today have adopted. His expression in the dream of America has in itself a lot to copy. He emphasized multiracial nation bound by justice, peace and reconciliation. His holiday is very significant in the American unity. There is not other day that brings all races together in a vibrant spirit of togetherness. The Hispanic, African Americans, Native Americans and all other immigrants feel they are part of the Luther’s dream on America. He had a vision on the world that its people and nations will overcome poverty, war, racism and violence. He had a vision on ecumenical solidarity which implied that all faiths have a significant contribution to the beloved society. His life and thoughts have also had an influence to many people in that his endurance in threats and beatings for the sake of the freedom for others. (Rev King Holiday) In education, he influenced sociology. He was an advocate of non violence reconciliation and unconditional love perspectives that can be applied in solving social conflicts. His emphasis on â€Å"what is the most loving way I can resolve this conflict? † in solving problem is the most diplomatic method that many nations have applied in solving their differences. He prompted love to all mankind. In his holiday Americans take that opportunity to help the unfortunate the sick and the poor in their society. His life is also significant to the Christianity way of life. It emphasized the love of God and the love for your neighbor as the greatest commandment. He was food of quoting the Bible and almost lived a perfect way. Jesus Himself died for the good of the people to set them free from their sins. Martin Luther’s died in the war for freedom of his people. He has influence many non-Christians to join the faith and also many Christians to imitate his strategies (The Struggle Begins) The election of Barrack Obama as the president of the United States is a reflection of Martin Luther King fight against racism in the US. It is an evidence of the extent the United States people have reached in race relation. It reflects Americans citizen’s decisions not on the color of the skin but on the content and characters of its leaders. Obama’s appointment can be described to be a fulfillment of King’s dream. He expressed his hopes in an equitable society and appealed to the moral consciousness of Americans. It is under this inspiration that the American voted in. Obama’s win was also on caution to those amongst the American who are still in racism ideologies. King’s influence will continue as such racist are now likely to reform making US a racism free society. (Zaid) Martin Luther king Jr was a young man who has influenced a lot of young men around the world. He worked tirelessly to fully realize his potential despite the challenges he came across. Unfortunately he was assassinated. His life has been a challenge to many youth who are vulnerable in loosing hope. His life is a testimony implying everybody can succeed in all areas in life. The ideology that the more one is aged the more successful is a thing of the past. Many youths have exploited their talents and have really succeeded under king’s inspiration. They are evident in sports, entertainment, politics, business and education. He emphasized on moral consciousness a concept that when adapted, one can refrain from civil disobedience reducing violation through drug abuse and other crimes. For any society to succeed in all dimensions of life, it must observe equality, be moral conscious, obey the civil rights, and use friendly strategy in solving conflicts. These were the king’s major advocacies. He is a significant icon in the United States success. Therefore, his strategies should be used all over the world in foreign and domestic polices. His thoughts and strategies can be effective in solving many conflicts around the world. Nation-nation conflicts may be resolved using a more friendly and diplomatic strategy. Domestic violence especially in African communities may be solved without violation of human rights and civil rights. Even as Kings influence continue to be felt all over, even as his dreams start fulfilling a lot need to be done to address the uncovered issues that still oppress the minority and the poor. He fought for civil movements and who should in turn continue challenging the violators of justice. Work cited: Roof, C. W.World Order and Religion: SUNY Press, 1991: 113 – 115 Bruns, R. Martin Luther King, Jr: A Biography: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006: 1 – 143 Rev King Holiday. Martin Luther king. Retrieved on Monday, December 08, 2008 from, http://www. theholidayspot. com/martin_luther_king_day/meaning. htm Zaid, I. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , Barack Obama, and the Fate of America. 2008. Retrieved on Monday, December 08, 2008 from, http://www. newislamicdirections. com/nid/notes/dr_martin_luther_king_jr_barack _obama_and_the_fate_of_america/ The Struggle Begins. Lecture 25 Martin Luther Kings. Retrieved on Monday, December 08, 2008 from, http://www. wfu. edu/~matthetl/perspectives/twentysix. html

Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski: Bio-bibliography Essay

A British anthropologist born in Krakow, Poland, Bronislaw Kasper Malinowsky left his mark in anthropological studies around the world. Throughout his career, Bronislaw dedicated his time to developing methods that dominated preceding anthropological fieldwork. Malinowski is most famously known for founding Social Anthropology and the idea of functionalism. (See Notable Names Data Base, The) Bronislaw Malinowski was born April 7, 1884 to mother, Jozefa, and father, Lucjan Malinowski. Lucian was a professor of Slavic philology at Jagellonian University in Southern Poland. Bronislaw’s mother, born Jozefa Kacka, married Lucjan at the age of 35 in 1883. Although she did not hold any place in the academic world, like her husband, she was part of a family that owned land and held a certain high-ranking status in society. (See Notable Names Data Base, The – Bronislaw Malinowski and Wayne, Helena pg.529) When Bronislaw was 14 years old his father died of a heart attack at the a ge of 58 leaving him under his mother’s care. â€Å". The family had been living on Cracow University grounds, but widow and son had to leave this home and thereafter lived in various flats in central Cracow. They were always rather hard up. A professor’s pension was not very generous: there was, however, some family money.† (See Wayne, Helena pg. 530) As a child, Malinowski attended Krakow’s King John Sobieski public school. He went by the nickname, Bronio. His mother’s side of the family being more maternal than his father’s side, Malinowski spent a lot of time with the Kacka cousins. Throughout his years at the public school, and later on during his college career, Malinowski always had a very gangly body structure and often was sickly looking. Due to poor health, Malinowski frequently had to take time off from school to slow down and not get worse. Malinowski had incredibly bad eyesight and it progressively got worse to the point where he was threatened with blindness. (See Wayne, Helena pg. 530 and Notable Names Data Base, The – Bronislaw Malinowski) While attending Jagellonian University, during one of his health breaks, Bronislaw Malinowski came across the work of a British Anthropologist, Sir James Frazer (2). Frazer’s work, The Golden Bough, sparked Malinowski’s interest in primitive peoples and about human cultures and society (1). Malinowski’s original focus at the college was mathematics and physics. He later decided to broaden his education by studying philosophy and psychology. After receiving his PhD in Philosophy, Physics, and Mathematics in 1908, Malinowski went on to study physical chemistry at Leipzig University in Germany. Then finally, ended his academic studies at the London School of Economics. This is where he received his DSc in 1913 and also earned his PhD in Science in 1913. (S ee Notable Names Data Base, The – Sir James Frazer, Bronislaw Malinowski) After college, Malinowsky traveled to New Guinea, Australia, and Melanesia. Where he began his early field expeditions and began his well-known work on the Trobriand Islanders. Malinowsky studied their marriages, trade, and their religious practices. Malinowski found it just as important to observe the people he was studying during their everyday lives as opposed to simply asking the different cultures questions. Malinowski had the idea that people, while under a study, have the tendency to lie in order to give the examiner what they want to hear. It was by observing cultures going about their lives as usual that Malinowski discovered that many previous discoveries made by other anthropologists, such as Lewis Henry Morgan and Sir James Frazer, were very incorrect. These other anthropologists committed a proverbial crime, known today sweeping generalizations. Malinowski discovered that in order to obtain factual and accurate data on other cultures, an anthropologists couldn’t rightfully assume that because one or two cultures have the same characteristic then a similar culture will also hold that same characteristic. This finding also disproved Sigmund Freud’s Oedipal Complex theory. Malinowski’s practice with extended fieldwork changed the game of anthropology forever. (See Notable Names Data Base, The – Bronislaw Malinowski) With Malinowski’s new approach to fieldwork study, he discovered that these â€Å"savage† cultures were actually more civilized than they had been given credit for in the past. â€Å"For example, tribal marriage and religious practices, no matter how strange or exotic, revealed themselves to be an integral part of the healthy functioning of the community, playing vital roles in trade, community cohesion, and social stability.† (See Notable Names Data Base, The – Bronislaw Malinowski) Along with his groundbreaking discoveries in fieldwork methods, Malinowski better known for his introduction to the idea of functionalism. Functionalism is â€Å"a theory stressing the importance of interdependence among all behavior patterns and institutions within a social system to its long-term survival.† In other words, people in a society require the social structure in order to function as an individual. (See Free Dictionary – Functionalism) Malinowski’s idea of functionalism was branched from Radcliffe Brown’s, another British anthropologist, similar idea called structural functionalism. â€Å"Malinowski meanwhile placed greater emphasis on the actions of the individual: how the individual’s needs were served by society’s institutions, customary practices and beliefs, and how the psychology of those individuals might lead them to generate change.† (See Notable Names Data Base, The – Bronislaw Malinowski) Malinowski marri ed twice. His first marriage was to Elsie Rosaline Masson in 1919. Together they had three children, all girls. Eslie passed away in 1935 after a long illness . Five year later, he married for a second and final time to Anna Valetta Hayman-Joyce, a painter, in 1940. Malinowski did not have any more children. Despite being in ill health in 1940, Malinowski continued to do field work. He had begun a new study; â€Å"a study of marketing among the Zapotec of Oaxaca.† Mid-study, Malinowsky died of a heart attack, just as his father had, on May 16 1942 leaving behind his successful contribution to anthropology. (See Encyclopedia – Bronislaw Malinowski) In today’s American society, we are taught that every race and culture is equal. Bronislaw Malinowski taught us this by pointing out cultures’ same differences. For example, one culture may turn to magic or sacrificial practices to overcome evil while an American culture might pray to a higher, unknown power. These may seem like two different extremes but they are equally a practice of religion to help cope with uncontrollable forces of the universe. I found it very werwinteresting that, although this may seem like common sense to people today, there was one person who was able to destroy sweeping generalizations and the idea of a â€Å"savage† culture. With over fifty successful pieces of work, and seventeen published books, Malinowski had four books that were his best known: Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922), Crime and Custom in Savage Society (1926), The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia (1929), and finally, published after his death, Magic, Science, and Religion and Other Essays (1948). (See Notable Names Data Base, The – Bronislaw Malinowski)

Educational Linguistics

Educational Linguistics Free Online Research Papers 1. 00 INTRODUCTION First named as a field 30 years ago and defined in two introductory books (Spolsky, 1978; Stubbs, 1986), the title â€Å"educational linguistics† was proposed by Bernard Spolsky in 1972 for a discipline whose primary task would be â€Å"to offer information relevant to the formulation of language education policy and to its implementation† (1974:554). It is an area of study that integrates the research tools of linguistics and other related disciplines of the social sciences in order to investigate holistically the broad range of issues related to language and education. In his book â€Å"The Handbook of Educational Linguistics†, Spolsky (2008) says that he first proposed the term â€Å"educational linguistics† (EL) because of his dissatisfaction with efforts to define the field of applied linguistics and of his belief in the close relationship among research, theory, policy, and practice. He asserted that it should be a problem-oriented discipline, focusing on the needs of practice and drawing from available theories and principles of relevant fields including many subfields of linguistics (Hornberger, 2001). Pica also supports this idea and sees it as a problem- and practice- based field â€Å"whose research questions, theoretical structures, and contributions of service are focused on issues and concerns in education† (1994: 265). With the responsibility it has taken for L1 and L2 learning, EL has become particularly influential on the scholars engaged in Foreign Language Education (FLE), who attempt to understand how teachers teach and how students learn languages in schools, and especially how they acquire foreign literacy skills, that is, the ability not only to comprehend and interpret but also to create written texts in the foreign language. FLE has become, since the 1920s, a highly scientific field of research that draws its insights mostly from social and educational psychology, thus educational linguistics (Kramsch, 2000). In the following sections, educational linguistics will be examined in detail creating associations with foreign language learning/teaching (FLL/FLT). In addition to the background information and its relations to a number of approaches, theories, and methods; its principles and how they are implemented in ELT settings will be discussed. Moreover, its relations to language teacher education and its contributions to FLL and FLT will be put forward. Finally, advantages and disadvantages of educational linguistics will be given in an objective way. 2.00 RELATED APPROACHES, THEORIES, AND METHODS The problem-oriented nature of EL leads it to look to linguistics together with other relevant disciplines such as theoretical linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, anthropological linguistics, neurolinguists, clinical linguistics, pragmatics, discourse analysis and educational psychology. This transdiciplinary structure provides it to be associated with a number of approaches, theories and methods. 2.01 Whole Language Approach Rigg (1991) claims that the term â€Å"whole language† comes from educators not from linguists. It is an approach developed by educational linguists in 1980s to teach literacy in the mother tongue, which is one of the important issues that educational linguists are concerned. In this approach, it is emphasized that learning goes from whole to part for the reason that the whole is not equal to the sum of the parts. Actually, it can be traced back to Gestalt Psychology, which is a theory of mind and brain proposing that the operational principle of the brain is holistic. Similarly, Whole Language Approach adopts the view that learning cannot be achieved through isolated entities; that exacly corresponds to the educational linguists’ hatred for segmental phonogy and their insistance on educational phonology. 2.02 Humanistic Approach Humanistic Approach originated by Carl Rogers in 1951 (Demirezen, 2008), also has close links with EL in the sense that it focuses on the emotional side of learning and the principles such as learner-centeredness, cooperation and unearting students’ potentials, which are also basic elements of educational psychology, and thus EL. 2.03 Communicative Approach Communicative Approach is also associated with EL regarding the idea that the fundamental aim of language instruction should be communicating in the target language. In order to achieve this, it is not sufficient to have a comprehensive knowledge of language forms and functions; what is further needed is exchange of meanings in real communication. 2.04 Discourse Theory Discourse theory and especially discourse analysis play a significant role in Educational Linguistics. As Stubb (1986) stresses that it is important to distinguish between language in education and linguistics in education, referring to the need to study language â€Å"in its own terms† (1986:232), as a discourse system, rather than treating language at the level of isolated surface features, ignoring its abstract, underlying, sequential and hierarchic organization. 2.05 Interactionist Theory In parallel with communicative approach, interactionist theory also puts emphasis on the effect of social environment in which linguistic competence can be turned out to be communicative competence through interaction and by the help of nonverbal components, much more meaningful language learning can be achieved, as proposed by educational linguists. It is worth noting that â€Å"classroom interaction† is the core of educational linguistics research. According to the associations given above, it is obvious that communicative language teaching, silent way, suggestopedia, TPR and other methods such as task-based and competency-based language teaching can also be linked to educational linguistics. 3.00 THE BIRTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATIONAL LINGUISTICS As a research area, educational linguistics is very young. Its birth occured in 1972 with the works of Bernard Spolsky in America. As mentioned earlier, it grew from the discomfort with the ambiguity of the term â€Å"applied linguistics†. Therefore, the history of educational linguistics is inextricably linked to applied linguistics. Since its inception, applied linguistics has had a broad scope, but it is language and education that has come to be dominant (Spolsky, 2008). In 1950s, it included a wide range of topics (linguistic geography, dictionary and literature, rhetoric, stylistics, lexicography, general language planning, etc.); however, while ELT was gaining momentum in 1960s and booming by the 1970s, many of these areas which were included in applied linguistics either received less attention or became the object of interest of other developing areas of study. The problems and controversies regarding the nature and scope of applied linguistics were driving forces in Spolsky’s decision to formulate a more precise title for the research studies specifically related to language and education. Moreover, there was also an implication in the term applied linguistics that linguistics is simply applied to issues of social practice. Such a â€Å"unidirectional† approach is undesirable and even dangerous especially in education where attempts by linguists to insert their theories directly into practice have led to disastrous results in, for example, phonemic approaches to reading and audiolingual approaches to general language learning (Spolsky, 2003: 503). Spolsky felt that applied linguistics in broad sense obscures the work specifically devoted to language and education. He also felt that to use applied linguistics in a narrow sense to refer to only language education research obscures the multiplicity of the work being done within the field in other domains. Namely, the term applied linguistics was imprecise and disadvantaging for everyone concerned (Spolsky, 2008). He first set fourth his vision for its nature in a presentation at the third AILA congress in 1972, later published in its proceedings. Then, in 1976, the department of Educational Linguistics was established at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education within the deanship of Dell Hymes (Hornberger, 2001). In 1978, Spolsky published a seminal monograph on educational linguistics. Moreover, in 1984, the journal Working Papers in Educational Linguistics has been established, and since then, sixteen volumes have been published under student editorial direction which include topics ranging from speech act analysis and classroom discourse to language planning and second language acquisition. At the beginning, people thought that his objective was to provide a new label for applied linguistics. This was largely stemming from a view of applied linguistics as being solely occupied with language and education. However, it was later understood that it’s a â€Å"unified field within the wider discipline of applied linguistics† (Spolsky,1978: 2). And today, it has turned out to be an independent field whose â€Å"starting point is always the practice of education and the focus is squarely on the role of language in learning and teaching (Hornberger, 2001: 19). Now, it is widely believed that it is EL which should be responsible for L1 and L2 learning, not applied linguistics. 4.00 THE NATURE AND COMPOSITION OF EDUCATIONAL LINGUISTICS Concerning the nature and composition of EL, Spolsky (2008) puts forward that language teaching takes place in a school and is closely tied to sociological, economic, political, and psychological factors. Therefore, a good language education policy or effective methods of implementation will not ignore linguistics and the other related fields but will represent much more than an application of linguistics. In this respect, educational linguistics is concerned with the dynamic ways in which theory, research, policy, and practice inter-relate, and all work done under the rubric of educational linguistics is focused on this relationship. Actually, what is distinctively important in his original formulation is his â€Å"problem-oriented approach† to doing educational linguistics (Hornberger, 2001). Problem-oriented nature of Educational Linguistics In educational linguistics, one does not simply apply disciplinary knowledge to a specific situation. Instead, the researcher starts with a problem (or theme) related to language and education and then synthesizes the research tools in his/her intellectual repertoire to investigate or explore it (Hornberger and Hult, 2006). Here, the synthesis of research tools refers to a number of methods used in related fields for data acquisition and analysis such as tutorials, observations, surveys, questionnaires, statistics, national/international anthropological archives, goverment information sources, etc. All these research tools present educational linguists the data from different perspectives and help attaining reliable and valid findings for a specific situations. Still, Spolsky admits that linguistics has a central role to play and it is in this area that most educational linguists will have their primary training. However, while there has been a consensus on the relevance of linguistics for education (and also education for linguistics), there is still less clarity as to the nature of this relationship between them: is it application, implication, interpertation or mediation? Or is it coexistance, collaboration, complementarity or compatibility? Spolsky insistently emhasizes that educational linguistics â€Å"should not be, as it often seems, the application of the latest linguistic theory to any available problem†, but rather a problem-oriented discipline focused on the needs of practice (1975:347). He argues that linguistics has applications to and implementations for education, both directly through language descriptions and secondarily through linguistic subfields. At the same time, such a relationship includes the â€Å"coexistance of activities, collaboration of efforts, complementarity of contributions, and compatibility of interests† – a balanced reciprocity which may well serve as a model for theory and practice in the whole of the educational linguistics field (Hornberger, 2001: 9). In educational linguistics, the focus on educational practice is both indirect and direct. The knowledge generated in EL may be used to guide the process of crafting sound educational language policy which is designed to influence practice. On the other hand, this knowledge may be used to guide sound teaching practice as it is implemented in relation to educational language policy. Then, the scope of educational linguistics, Spolsky (2008) later elaborates, is the intersection of linguistics and related language sciences with formal and informal education. One of the core themes in educational linguistics is language policy. Within language policy, it is educational language policy that they are concerned. Educational language policy forms a part of wider national language planning, focusing specifically on the educational sector as â€Å"the transmitter and perpetuator of culture† (Kaplan and Baldauf, 1997: 123). Other themes dealt within EL can be specified as L1 and L2 acquisition, language choice, language and ethnicity, descriptive analysis of speech acts and discourse, educational implications of linguistic diversity, language planning, bilingual education, spoken interaction in professional settings, and biliteracy. 4.01 Subfields of Educational Linguistics Thanks to its problem-oriented nature, educational linguistics has close links with a number of disciplines which are regarded as ‘subfields’ of educational linguistics by Hornberger (2001). This also proves that EL is an independent field, not a subfield of applied linguistics any more, but it has its own subfields. They can be tabulated as follows: Theoretical Linguistics: It is a branch of linguistics concerned with developing models of linguistic knowledge. It involves the search for and explanation of linguistic universals. Syntax, phonology, morphology, and semantics are the core of theoretical linguistics. Sociolinguistics: It is the study of effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context on the way language is used. The chief contribution of sociolinguistics in educational settings has been to draw attention to the differences between language use in the classroom and in students homes and communities. Because it is important to teaching and learning, language is heavily regulated in classrooms. Teacher talk is the name given to the special register that teachers use. It is a means of inducting pupils into specific topics and approaches and imparting instruction. Like all registers, Teacher Talk has developed certain conventions and properties. It typically comprises longer and more complex utterances than the teacher expects from the pupils (Mehan, 1979). Psycholinguistics: It is interdisciplinary in nature and is studied by people in a variety of fields such as psychology, cognitive science and linguistics. Linguistic-related areas are phonetics and phonology (focusing on how the brain processes and understands these sounds), morphology (relationships among words and their formations), syntax (how words are combined together to form sentences), semantics, and pragmatics. Anthropological Linguistics: It is the study of the relations between language and culture, and the relations among human biology, cognition and language. It studies humans through the languages that they use. Neurolinguistics: It is the science concerned with the human brain mechanisms underlying the comprehension, production and abstract knowledge of language, be it spoken, signed or written. Neurolinguistics has highlighted the special role of that part of the human brain known as Broca’s area in crucial aspects of human language, namely syntax: the component of language that involves recursion. Clinical Linguistics: It is a sub-discipline of linguistics and involves the application of linguistic theory to the field of Speech-Language Pathology. The International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association is the unofficial organization of the field and was formed in 1991. They conduct researches with the aims of advancing techniques in assessment and remediation in Speech-Language Pathologists and offering insights to formal linguistic theories. Pragmatics: It is the study of the ability of natural language speakers to communicate more than what is explicitly stated. The ability to understand another speaker’s intended meaning is called pragmatic competence. Another perspective of pragmatics is that it deals with the ways we reach our goals in communication. Discourse Analysis: It is a general term for a number of approaches to analyzing written, spoken or signed language use. Discourse analysis has been taken up in a variety of social science disciplines such as linguistics, sociology and psychology. As stated earlier, it has close links with educational linguistics in the sense that language is a discourse system so it should not be treated at the level of isolated surface features. Educational Psychology: It is the study of how humans learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions, the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools as organizations. It informs a wide range of specialities within educational studies, including instructional design, educational technology, curriculum development, organizational learning, special education and classroom management. It both draws from and contributes to cognitive science and the learning sciences. Actually, it is one of the most important fields from which educational linguistics benefit. It is clear that linguistics and psychology are indispensable parts of educational linguistics. However, language teaching should not look to educational psychology or linguistics for revelations or discoveries on how to teach language, but should learn to utilize these disciplines to make the vast practical experience in the teaching of foreign languages more meaningful, to evolve definite principles of language teaching and consolidate them in a true science of language learning (Politzer, 1958). 5.00 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATIONAL LINGUISTICS The principles of Educational Linguistics got matured around 1970s by Spolsky giving references to a number of related disciplines. Giving a general framework for the practices of foreign language education, they can be specified as follows: 1. Literacy is at the core of foundations of education. Literacy can be defined as the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. It involves a continuum of learning to enable an individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society. For this reason, EL stresses that literacy should be in primary consideration at each and every stage of educational processes. 2. It is educational linguistics which should be responsible for L1 and L2 acquisition, not applied linguistics. As an independent field of inquiry with its own departments, journals, conferences and scholars specialized in the field, EL is the one which should conduct researches and studies specifically on L1 and L2 learning, and thus seek ways for improving opportunities in language learning contexts. 3. Verbal intelligence is one of the most-used predictors of educational success. Therefore, learners should be encouraged to have sufficient amount of linguistic competence and then turn it into communicative competence. 4. Education needs linguistics since the improvement in language skills of writing, reading, speaking, and listening can only be achieved through knowledge about language. Spolsky (1978) himself admits that linguistics is an indispensible part of language learning process. Without knowing about language itself, it is impossible to use it properly. The important point is the ‘proportion’ that should be allocated for linguistics in language learning. It should be as it is required in foreign language education, not more than that. 5. A learner-centered, holistic, humanistic, and problem-oriented language teaching approach should be adopted. Only in this way, learners’ full potential can be unearthed and they can fulfill the communicative functions of language use. 6. The use of target language in real communication should be the focus of foreign language education. Literacy in foreign language can only be achieved through the use of target language in all stages of learning, and thus teachers should create opportunities for learners to use the language outside the classroom. Especially in the context of foreign language learning and teaching, this can be managed through the use of technological devices. 7. Language education is a whole together with individials, educational setting, curriculum design, and educational language policy. Therefore, language learning process should be considered as a whole with its components and all planning should be made within this framework. In the light of these principles, educational linguists aim at organizing classroom activities so as to fulfill basic functions of foreign language education such as literacy, communicative competence, learner-centered language learning tasks, and attempt to consider language learning/teaching issue in a holistic manner including learners, schools, curricula and national policies of the governments. 6.00 EDUCATIONAL LINGUISTICS’ RELATIONS TO ELT Even though it is considered as a young field, educational linguistics has been very active since 1970s in the sense that it has strong arguments related to the teaching of English as a second or foreign language. Its emphasis on â€Å"classroom interaction† is one of them. Educational linguists think that as well as it is the core of educational linguistics research, classroom interaction is a significant part of language teaching methodology. It is also important since it is closely associated with power and control in classrooms and schools. Since the main objective of ELT practices is to be able to make students equipped with necessary knowledge of language so that they can communicate well in real world, educational linguistics’ focus on classroom interaction is quite reasonable. On the other hand, Pica (1994) notes that educational linguistics research has shed light upon primarily two domains of practice: design and implementation of learner-centered, communicative curricula and professionalization of the classroom teacher as decision-making educator. Stubbs (1986) also supports the idea and adds that educational linguistics provides teachers with the knowledge of language itself and how to teach it, so this, in turn, helps educators tackle with English language education problems such as the teaching of vocabulary, reading and writing. Teacher’s role is very important in this respect. As well as being a good source of knowledge for the learners, s/he should also act like a psychologist so as to determine proper applications in accordance with learners’ mood, perceptions, backgrounds, etc. Namely, s/he should be a professional need analyst. According to EL, ELT practitioners are required to create an autonomous, interactive and meaningful language learning environment for the learners while making necessary decisions in accordance with the school and the state policies because classroom applications are thought together with its hierarchical structure in EL. Similarly, learners are regarded as the center of all classroom practices and thus educational objectives of the school and the state. All materials are presented in a meaningful way which enables learners to see the whole picture first and then getting the necessary knowledge through this holistic structure, not in isolation. Similarly, that is why educational linguists reject segmental phonology, but creat educational phonology to be used in language education. 7.00 EDUCATIONAL LINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION The recent recommendation by Fillmore and Snow (2002) that all teachers need to know quite a bit about language has revived old debates about the role of linguistics in educating teacher trainees. At the beginning of the 20th century, the predominant assumption was that teachers were born and not made, or if they were made, they were self-made. Therefore little attention was paid to the idea of foreign language teacher education. By the 1920s, however, articles began to appear that outlined curricula for the training of high school language teachers. One of the problems confronting teacher education programs in the early years of the century was lack of speaking ability on the part of candidates for certification. Teacher exams were proposed over the years to ensure a reasonable level of proficiency. They were required to pursue general methods and testing courses as well as courses in the psychology of learning. As a consequence, teachers were no longer producers, but were consumers of knowledge related to language learning and teaching. By the 1960s, teachers were expected to demonstrate both subject matter and professional competence. They were required to take courses that focused on the language itself. When linguistics courses were taught, for example, linguists in general had serious problems making linguistics relevant to teaching. Especially interesting is that in a 1964 special issue of the Modern Language Journal, a set of guidelines for teacher preparation was published. Despite the fields best efforts, one problem continued to nag the profession -the low level of language proficiency among future teachers. This was due to the fact that although teachers were knowledgeable about language itself, they were not taught how to present that knowledge in communicative ways (Lantolf, 2000). This great lack in language teacher education became booming in mid 1970s and drew special attention of educational linguists. Then they have proposed that language teachers are not –and should not be- pure linguists, thus they should learn linguistics as it is required by language education. Furthermore, EL also emphasizes that as well as language learners, teacher trainees also should be educated in a holistic and humanistic way which will enable them to teach foreign languages in the same manner, and all practices in teacher education process should aim at revealing trainees full potential in communicative competence. 8.00 EDUCATIONAL LINGUISTICS’ CONTRIBUTIONS TO FLL / FLT While educational linguistics contributes distinctive disciplinary focus, concepts, methods and history, it also takes distinctive form in each of the following types of curriculum (Spolsky, 2008) and comes up with novel perspectives in curriculum planning. Skills: An economistic-vocationally oriented curriculum: In this kind of curricula, teaching aims to facilitate the acquisition of skills which are seen to be discrete or separately specific, and are taught via pedagogies that stress explicit teaching, identifying sub-skills and teaching these separately and aiming through apprenticeship to combine the subskills. For instance, it may be suitable for â€Å"language for specific purposes†. Eloquence: A humanistic-intellectual paradigm: When curricula are conceptualized as in some sense â€Å"humanizing†, the educational linguistics makes use of notions of eloquence, expression, rhetoric, and elevated culture. Informing learners of timevalidated canonical thought, works of art, and literature distinguishes this class of curricula. Virtue: Paradigms of religion or social ideology: Some curricula aim to reproduce norms of life that derive from ethnicity, religious creed, or moral ideology. Educational linguistics, in this respect, serves unique goals of teaching, content sequencing, assessment, and evaluation associated with modes of practice particular to the ideology of the schools involved. Nationing: The discourse of loyal citizenship to nationality-defined states: Nationing, both in new nations intent on forging identities larger than regional or local ones and in established nations intent on preserving distinctiveness, utilizes linguistic based narration, story telling about national cohesion and unity, or subliminal and continual reminders of the persistence of nationality (Billig, 1995). On the other hand, it gave way to the emergence of Whole Language Approach in 1980s which is also called â€Å"the real books approach† since it used real books instead of coursebooks (Demirezen, 2008). Its focus on meaningful and purposeful communication in language classes enabled it to help students be at ease while communicating. In this respect, it is not wrong to say that Ausubel’s Meaningful Learning Theory is one of the contributions of EL to the teaching and learning foreign languages. As an opposition to the traditional language learning theories, particularly Audiolingualism, it has derived from a cognitive perspective to language learning and teaching, thus attempts to find ways of creating meaningful learning situations in which learners feel comfortable and construct knowledge with their own effort. Participatory approach is another term proposed by educational linguists which means a process through which the views of all interested parties are integrated into the decision-making process ( Alatis, et all. (1996). That is why EL benefits from a number of disciplines to solve an educational problem. Educational linguistics also created a market of materials designed specifically for foreign language learning and teaching. Different text types and application-oriented materials became available all around the world. Furthermore, it became influential on the emergence a number of language teaching methods such as Silent Way, TPR, content-based and task-based language teaching, which are all holistic, humanistic, and problem-oriented in nature. But most importantly, educational linguistics enabled L1 and L2 learning to be an independent field with its own research studies, approaches and applications for better educational opportunities. 9.00 CRITICISM OF EDUCATIONAL LINGUISTICS Educational linguistics is a relatively recent issue that draws scholars’ and researchers’ attention from a number of disciplines and thus takes various reflections concerning its strong sides and inadequacies. They can be listed as follows: 9.01 Advantages of Educational Linguistics It has been understood that there is a need for more research into teachers’ explicit beliefs about, and understanding of, language in order to enable us to understand teachers’ central role as educational linguists, that is, as conscious analyst of linguistic processes. Educational linguists made an attempt to address a fundamental problem –the language barrier to education- i.e. the instance where a child acquires a vernacular language informally and is required by the educational system to acquire a different, standard language (Spolsky, 1974a), a problem which recurs for millions of children daily, weekly, and yearly all over the world. It has elucidated that education and linguistics are in need of each other all the time; especially teaching linguistics to the educators is important so that they can cope with the problems such as teaching vocabulary, reading, and writing. EL follows from this notion that educational linguists variously investigate a host of themes related to individuals, the institutions they inhabit, and the socities in which both are situated, all as they relate to language and education. This holistic perspective makes it so strong and successful. 9.02 Disadvantages of Educational Linguistics Although educational linguistics claims that it is an independent but transdisciplinary field any more, there are some other arguments which insist that it is still a sub-branch of applied linguistics. For instance, van Lier (1994) puts forward that researchers working on language learning should consider themselves to be linguists who do applied linguistics who do educational linguistics. In a similar way, applied linguists also claim that for a discipline to be an independent one, it has to create its own approaches, theories and methods. Therefore, they assert that EL cannot be regarded as a seperate field in this respect. However, the contradiction that applied linguistics –considering itself as an independent field- also does not have its own approaches, theories, or methods weakens this argument. The inadequecy of EL concerning these aspects can be explained best with its being such a young field to produce its own approaches, theories, and methods. In the course of time, educational linguistics is to come up with novel approaches in L1 and L2 learning and improve current practices with more efficient and innovative ones. 10.00 CONCLUSION Concerning Spolsky’s own words; educational linguistics starts with the assessment of a child’s communicative competence on entering school and throughout his or her career, includes the analysis of societal goals for communicative competence, and embraces the whole range of activities undertaken by an educational system to bring its students’ linguistic repertoires into closer accord with those expected by society (1978: viii). With its roots in the controversies of applied linguistics, educational linguistics has grown into a thriving field of inquiry focused on foreign language education. Its transdisciplinary nature has allowed it to flourish in a wide range of disciplinary climates. While this wide range has resulted in an impressively diverse body of knowledge with great potential to influence educational practice, it has also made it challenging to develop a sense of cohesion for educational linguistics as a whole. Although the question â€Å"Do we really need educational linguistics as a separate field? † is still echoing especially at the part of applied linguists, EL has proved that language practicioners are really in need of such a distinct field so as to specifically work on the issues belonging to this particular area: foreign language education. On the other hand, this does not mean that applied linguistics is useless any more. In the case that EL becomes insufficient to solve a particular problem related to language learning and teaching, it is applied linguistics that EL will call upon. In this respect, the two are always in juxtaposition and cannot reject the presence and significance of each other. Even though there are some oppositions concerning its independent structure, today it is obvious that educational linguistics stands powerfully as an independent but at the same time transdisciplinary discipline. This position can be summarized best with the metaphor used by Hornberger (2001): birds on a wire. He says that the shifting and repositioning nature of academic disciplines can be depicted best with this methaphor. When a new one joins their midst; if they refuse to budge, the newcomer will have to fly off again. That is to say, educational linguistics has indeed found a place on the wire amidst its peer disciplines and goes on its way with strong paces. BIBLIOGRAPHY Akar, N. (1991). Educational Linguistics within English Language Teachng Departments in Turkey. Doctoral Dissertation. Hacettepe University. Alatis, J.E., Straehle, C.A., Ronkin, M. and Gallenberger, B. (Eds.). (1996). Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics. Georgetown University Press, Washington, D.C. Attardo, S. and Brown, S. (2005). What’s the Use of Linguistics? Pre-Service English Teachers’ Beliefs towards Language Use and Variation, pp. 91-100. In Applied Linguistics and Language Teacher Education. Bartel, N. (Ed.). Springer, US. Billig, M. (195). Banal Nationalism. London: Sage. Demirezen, M. (2008). Whole Language (Integrated) Approach and Its Aplications to ELT. Hacettepe University (Unpublished). Fillmore, L. and Snow, C. (2002). What teachers need to know about language. In C. Adger, C. Snow, and D. Christian, (Eds.) What Teachers Need to Know About Language. Washington, DC, and McHerry, IL: Center for Applied Linguistics and Delta Systems Co., Inc. Gee, J. P. (2004). Educational Linguistics. In Davies, A. and Elder, C. (eds.). The Handbook of Applied Linguistics. Blackwell Publishing. Hornberger, N.H. (2001). Educational Linguistics as a Field: A View from Penn’s Program on the Occasionof its 25th Anniversary. University of Pennsylvania. Hornberger, N.H and Hult, F.M. (2006). Educational Linguistics. In K. Brown (ed.), Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. (2nd edn. pp.76-81). Oxford: Elsvier. Hudson, R. (2004). Why education needs linuistics (and vice versa). Linguistics, 40, 105- 130. Cambridge University Press. Kaplan, R. B. and Baldauf, R. B. (1997). Language Planning: From Practice to Theory. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Kramsch, C. (2000). Second Language Acquisition, Applied Linguistics, and the Teaching of Foreign Languages. The Modern Language Journal, Vol.84, No.3, pp.311-326. Lantolf, J. P. (2000). Introduction to the Special Issue: A Century of Language Teaching and Research: Looking Back and Looking Ahead. The Modern Language Journal, Vol.84, No.4. pp.467-471. Mehan, H. (1979). Learning Lessons. Cambridge, MA. Harward University Press. Pica, T. (1994). The language educator at work in the learner-centered classroom: Communicate, decision-make, and remember to apply the (educational) linguistics. In J.E. Alatis (Ed.), Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics, 264-288. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press. Politzer, R. L. (1958). On the Relation of Linguistics to Language Teaching. The Modern Language Journal, Vol.42, No.2, pp. 65-68. Rigg, P. (1991). Whole Language in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly 25, 521-542. Spolsky, B. (1974). The Navajo Reading Study: An Illustration of the scope and nature of educational linguistics. In J. Qvistgaard (Ed.), Applied Linguistics: Problem and Solutions (Vol.3, pp.553-565). Heidelberg: Julius Groos Verlag. Spolsky, B. (1974a). Linguistics and the language barrier to education. In T.A. Sebeok (Ed.), Current Trends in Linguistics, 12, 2027-2038. The Hague: Mouton. Spolsky, B. (1975). Linguistics in Practice: The Navajo Reading Study. Theory into Practice, 14(5), 347-352. Spolsky, B. (1978). Educational Linguistics: An Introduction. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House. Spolsky, B. (2003). Educational Linguistics. In W. J. Frawley (ed.), International Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Vol. 1, 502-505. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Spolsky, B. And Hult, F. M. (eds.). (2008). The Handbook of Educational Linguistics. Blackwell Publishng. Stubbs, M. (1986). Educational Linguistics. New York: Basil Blackwell. van Lier, L. (1994). Educational linguistics: Field and project. In J. E. Alatis (Ed.), Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics 1994, 197-209. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press. van Lier, L. (2004). The Ecoogy and Semiotics of Language Learning: A Sociocultural Perspective. New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Research Papers on Educational LinguisticsStandardized TestingInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesResearch Process Part OneThree Concepts of PsychodynamicOpen Architechture a white paperThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenThe Project Managment Office System

Are the Differences Between Management and Leadership Essay Example for Free

Are the Differences Between Management and Leadership Essay What are the Differences Between Management and Leadership? † Management and leadership are closely related but is not the same thing. They are both necessary and complementary to each other. In the corporate world, there are vastly different jobs that require different skills. There are similarities with the two and you can hardly become a great manager without good leadership capabilities. Being a manger does not always mean that the person has the natural ability to lead. And being a good leader does not always make for the best manager. Leaders can be found in all departments of the workplace. A person can be called a leader if he can successfully influence and encourage colleagues to work toward and objective in which the goal is beneficial to the group. The leader’s job is basically to inspire and motivate. Leadership is an ability that is difficult for some people to learn. However, they may not be able to handle difficult business related issues that a manager might have to handle. A manager is considered a leader by definition of the position. Employees are required to follow this individual as required in their job descriptions. Managers offer stability and confidence in organization. Managers are good at delegating tasks and achieving results, but may not be the first person employees look to for guidance. Management may be described as doing things right, while leadership is doing the right thing. Managers have subordinates, while leaders have followers. Employees may not feel a sense of loyalty to a manager, but will stick with the leader because they have a greater sense of belief in them. Managers who don’t have true leadership skills lack certain qualities that are attractive to followers, such as charisma. Being able to blend the styles of a leader and a manager represents a distinguished skills set. That’s why people with the ability to be leaders and mangers are found at the top of all successful companies. The most successful businesses and teams have strong leaders who know how to motivate employees and managers to the results needed to achieve success. I personally think businesses should carefully review applicants for management positions to make sure they have the abilities to lead as well as manage. If the applicant does not possess all of the qualities needed to be a great manager then perhaps they are not the right person for the job. I would not want a manager who you could not depend on in times of crisis and conflict. http://guides. wsj. com/management/developing-a-leadership-style/what -is-the-difference-between-management-and-leadership. Are the Differences Between Management and Leadership. (2018, Oct 31).

The Role of the Midwife in supporting women with Breech presentation Essay

The Role of the Midwife in supporting women with Breech presentation to have a safe vaginal delivery and the implications for practice - Essay Example As a result, without sufficient training and experience for obstetricians and midwives in managing vaginal breech births, the skills of these practitioners have been reduced. Based on this critical assessment of studies on vaginal breech births, it has been established that there are various factors affecting the incidence of vaginal breech births, lack of experience among birth attendants at the top of the list. Also, the fear of litigation is impacting on the conduct of vaginal breech births. These practitioners are also unwilling to risk the life of the infant by attempting to deliver these infants vaginally. However, as was mentioned, studies have not definitively indicated that caesarean deliveries are actually improving survival rates for breech infants. More studies in line with this research are needed in order to provide specific and definitive results which can be applied in the practice. This dissertation examines the decreasing use of vaginal breech deliveries, in the context of choice available to women, the experience and expertise of the responsible midwives and the trends toward preferential delivery by caesarean section. This dissertation will be based on the author’s perspective, available evidence and current practice and will further evaluate if the women’s choices with regards to delivery of the breech are significantly impacted by the deskilllling of midwives or by the actual risks of the procedure itself. Current practice, as supported by the NICE and RCOG Guidelines recommends the counselling of women on their possible options for delivery, emphasizing the risks involved in vaginal and caesarean births (Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 2006). Many obstetricians and midwives however have only ever experienced vaginal breech deliveries in a simulated environment, often making vaginal breech births riskier options for women (ROCG, 2006). Since practice is now