Marriage, a History

Coontz (2005) focused on historical changes in marriages from prehistoric to present times, mainly in terms of how institutional and social needs affected restrictions on the liberties of wives.   Although she described historical periods as characterizing marital patterns, she carefully noted that both within and between periods, history has been cyclical.For example, birth and divorce rates have fluctuated based on the changing needs of economies during different times, and conceptions of women as either sexually â€Å"pure† or â€Å"wanton† have varied over the ages.   She takes issue with three â€Å"myths† she believes people hold:   that the history of women contributing to the support of their families has a fairly short history, and that both love as a reason for marrying and couples aspiring to the marital form of husband as sole â€Å"breadwinner† have long histories.Contrary to what Coontz believes many people think, from the beginning of human evolution, through the days of ancient Greece, until the 1950s, the majority of women were a part of what we now call the work force.   In prehistoric history, she, of course, noted that men were â€Å"hunters† and women were â€Å"gatherers,† since gathering could be done while caring for the young.   However, it was gathering, not hunting, that provided most of the food needed for survival, and hunters and gatherers shared within groups or â€Å"bands† (p. 38), rather than as couples.   Marriages between sons and daughters from different bands served to maintain friendly between-band relationships.The author dated the time that marriage became an institution where wives lacked power in â€Å"ancient agricultural societies† (p. 46), although â€Å"widows† would be a more accurate term than â€Å"wives.†Ã‚   Coontz was referring to the choices a woman had after the death of her husband, e.g., killing herself or marrying a relativ e of her dead husband.   These practices were a result of the development of economic inequalities, where wealthier families became more interested â€Å"in whom their kin married† (p. 46).Both economic theories and the fact that it is women who are able to reproduce make this interpretation convincing.   In addition, although not noted by Coontz, the fact that on average men are physically larger and stronger might explain why women were not able to resist in becoming dominated.Probably because women were the ones who gave birth, there has been a tradition of holding them accountable for failing to provide male â€Å"heirs† for their husbands.   Coontz recounted the well-known fate of Anne Boleyn in the sixteenth century (p. 133), who refused to become the mistress of Henry VIII, when his current wife Catherine failed to produce a son.Her refusal led Henry to break ties with the pope who refused to grant him a divorce, so he could marry Anne – but he had her executed when she too failed to produce a son.   People still speak of wives â€Å"giving† their husbands sons, when anyone who has taken high-school biology knows that women have nothing to do with a child’s genetic sex – i.e., since only men have a Y chromosome, women always provide one of their two X chromosomes and the genetic sex of a child depends upon whether the father passes on his X or Y chromosome.Prior to the seventeenth century, although married women and men might come to love each other after marriage, love was not considered necessary or even desirable in a marriage.   Indeed, early Christianity discouraged close marital or other family ties because one’s first loyalty was supposed to be to God (pp. 87-88).   In medieval Europe, marriages within family aristocracies were encouraged, and despite the selectively enforced rules of the Catholic Church, incest was not uncommon.The overwhelming majority of people were not among the ari stocracy, but marriages among tradespersons also were arranged for economic purposes, and the marriages of peasants generally were arranged by their masters.In the seventeenth century, marriage based on the personal choices of those being married was sanctioned.   But it wasn’t until the eighteenth century â€Å"in Western Europe and North America†¦ [that] marriage for love†¦[became] a cultural ideal† (p. 7), until the nineteenth century that marriage in the form of husband as â€Å"breadwinner† with a wife at home emerged, and it wasn’t until the 1950s that the economy in America permitted the majority of marriages to assume this form.It is easy to assume, as Coontz does, that those who marry for love have been happier than those in arranged marriages or those marrying for other reasons.   Interestingly, there seems to be no evidence that social scientists have ever tested this assumption.   We don’t really know, for example, wheth er women who marry for love wind up any more or less happy than women in arranged marriages, such as Golde, in Fiddler on the Roof (Stein, 1971), who ends her description of years of caring for her husband’s needs, by asking, â€Å"If that’s not love, what is?†Actually, the difference between a sexual relationship between a couple who love each other and a couple who are â€Å"in love† is not clear, and may, in fact, be a quantitative variable, rather than the qualitative one people assume.   Montagu (1999), considered a major anthropologist of the last century, wrote, â€Å"Marriages between persons of character who can be friends tend to last and grow in reward and happiness† and ultimately result in love, as opposed to marriages resulting from â€Å"that frenzy miscalled ‘love’† (p. 105).In fact, most of us know some very happily married couples who met because they were able to afford the expensive services of businesses t hat have replaced the â€Å"matchmakers† of days past.   In fact, based on observation, â€Å"love† does not â€Å"conquer all,† in the sense that most marriages still are between those of similar socioeconomic status, who are of the same race, and even the same religion.As for the form of marriage where the husband is â€Å"breadwinner,† as Coontz observed, the form was a goal of both husbands and wives.   Presumably, the rewards husbands expected were status, i.e., being a man who could provide for his wife and children through his own efforts (or the efforts of wealthy ancestors), having his needs met by women advised to have elegant meals and spotless homes and children awaiting his return from work, and the advantages of a charming wife to help him succeed in corporate America.   Women too must have expected status, i.e., snaring a successful husband through her own charms (or those perceived in women with wealthy ancestors), fulfillment in bei ng able to devote herself to raising her children, and leisure to pursue her interests.Coontz has noted that the male â€Å"breadwinner† model has worked and continues to work for some couples, but not for most.   Men were less vocal, probably because it’s harder, or perceived as less noble, to express discontent for having sole responsibility than to express discontent about not being able to assume responsibilities.   While Coontz devoted only half a page (p. 251) to male discontent, and does so in the context of rebelling against social expectations and wanting to enjoy the sexual pleasures Hugh Heffner was promoting, men were expressing the realities of the world of work they knew, as opposed to women expressing a desire to join a world they didn’t yet know.When you think of work, as others have done, in terms of what you actually do, as opposed to how much you’re paid to do it, how much work is there that’s inherently interesting or reward ing to those doing it, how much is even a pleasant way to pass the time, and how much is so meaningless and mind-numbing that those doing it are â€Å"leading lives of quiet desperation† (Thoreau, 1854/1995)?     Ã‚  It would be interesting to read about work and marital relationships written in the year 2050.Coontz views the rejection of the 1950s predominant model of marriage in the context of dissatisfaction with this model.   She describes The Feminine Mystique (Friedan, 1063/2001) as a wake-up call to women that was an important force in introducing the changes over the next thirty years that have made diverse forms of relationships acceptable.Friedan’s book was, in fact, a wake-up call to white middle-class women, but the rejection of the 1950s model of marriage probably should be seen as part of the larger historical context, i.e., rejection of a decade of fear of nonconformity after people witnessed lives were destroyed as a result of seeing communists un der all of our beds who were out to paint America â€Å"red.†Ã‚   The 1950s dictated not only marital arrangements but all facets of our lives.   While still oversimplified, perhaps the wake-up call that eventually resonated with many Americans was the question finally put to Joe McCarthy:   â€Å"Have you no shame, sir?† (Welch, 1954, cited in Kiely, 2005).SurprisesIt should surprise no-one that wives have had a long history in the work force.   If nothing else, we do know that â€Å"ladies† had maids and some of the ladies’ maids must have had husbands. We know too that some have considered prostitution the â€Å"oldest profession† and, despite the obstacles, there were at least some women who were able to become poets or scientists.   However, I had never thought about the large number of women, married and single, who would have had needed to work because the overwhelming majority of people were and in some countries still are poor.Whil e we all know that arranged marriages were not unusual in the past, I was surprised to learn that for most of human history virtually all marriages were arranged and love was not even considered a reason for marrying.   I guess my surprise is a result of our culture being saturated by stories of love.   If love is not the theme of a movie, it’s hard to think of any movie that doesn’t have a â€Å"love interest† as part of the plot.By the fifth grade, girls and boys claim they are â€Å"in love,† and, despite the changes in the ways Coontz believes young people think, most of the young people I know think, talk, and are more involved in both love and sex than in thinking about and working on equitable and mutually rewarding relationships.   Knowing now that loving before marrying wasn’t even considered for most of human history, I’d like to know how the concept â€Å"in love† developed and suspect it’s actually a social co nstruction – or perhaps simply means both loving someone and wanting a permanent sexual relationship with that person.As for the history of the â€Å"man as breadwinner† form of marriage, I did assume it had always been around, but was not surprised that it was a form that, except for the fifties, most married couples were unable to adopt.   Even in the fifties, this form of marriage was affordable by only a small majority   Ã‚  As long as women are allowed to work and can find jobs that pay more than the cost of childcare, for most of the world, working is not an â€Å"option† that women or men â€Å"choose,† but what one does in order to put food on the table, pay the rent, etc.Coontz said in reference to the nineteenth century, â€Å"It is hard for us to grasp the slim margin that made the difference between survival and destitution for so many people in the past† (p. 174).   This sentence probably surprised me more than anything else in h er book.   It is hard for me to grasp that anyone capable of reading a book, let alone writing one, is unable to grasp that this slim margin is true for â€Å"so many people† in the present, for many in the United States and for the majority of those living in many so-called third-world nations.   Perhaps this sentence explains why I had the sense that after descriptions of her own middle-class reality, she merely felt obliged to pay lip-service to the â€Å"unwashed masses.†Sometimes, what she failed to say was more revealing than what she did say.   For example, she failed to mention that a by-product of Friedan’s (1063/2001) call for middle-class married women to enter the work force resulted in poor, often minority, women being poorly paid (probably in cash) for caring for the children left at home or in children being left with poorly paid and poorly trained workers at understaffed daycare centers.   I also was surprised that she felt comfortable dr awing conclusions without providing empirical data to support them.   For example, she says that marriage â€Å"remains the highest expression of commitment in our culture.†Ã‚   She states this as fact, rather than as I would state my belief as an â€Å"opinion that the highest expression of commitment is between mothers and their children.†Finally, her noting that marital history was cyclical made me realize that it was a mistake to consider current social conditions in general as either permanent or becoming more firmly established.   However, Coontz herself believes that we cannot turn back from changes in patterns created by the â€Å"marriage revolution.†Ã‚   Why not?   She does not even consider this question.ReferencesCoontz, S. (2005).   Marriage, a History:   From obedience to intimacy or how love  conquered marriage.   New York:   Viking.Friedan, B.   (1963/2001).   The feminine mystique.   New York:   Norton.Kiely, K.   (2005 ).   Supreme court.   USA Today.   Retrieved April 23, 2007.Montagu, A. (1999).   The natural superiority of women.   Walnut Creek, CA:   AltaMira Press.Stein, J. (1971, based on Aleicham, S.).   Fiddler on the roof.   Minsch-Cartier Production.Thoreau, H. D. (1854/1995).   Walden.   New York:   Houghton Mifflin.

Kinetic sculptures; phenakistiscope

Artwork creations consisting of continuous moving parts or sounds are examples of kinetic sculptures. Windmills, wheels, mobiles, lava lamps and water all may be considered kinetic sculptures. Paintings giving illusions of continuing into the unknown, such as towers leading and combining into another item of the painting use kinetic elements. Sculptures containing motion are most commonly referred to as kinetic art. Artists use many scientific elements creating kinetic sculptures. Persistence of vision is a common element used in kinetic sculpturing.Persistence of vision means the human brain fills the blanks between sequential images seen in rapid succession creating an illusion of continuous motion† (Barsamian, July 3, 2006). Film, television and even stage acting adopt persistence of vision techniques making their productions come alive. Often art museums depend on outside affects such as lighting, strobe lights, external lighting, wall coloring and even other artwork to acc ent the kinetic sculptures. â€Å"Through the use or rotating mechanical armatures and synchronized strobe lights, three dimensional objects move horizontally and vertically and change their shapes in real time.The inspiration for this strange and wonderful world are animation techniques that predate the film such as the zoetrope, flip book and phenakistiscope, all of which are based on the persistence of vision, in other words, after image† (Barsamian, 2006). Moving kinetic sculptures originate with very simple lines, shapes, rectangles, and circles everyone learned before pre-K. Phenakistiscope is a spinning disk reflecting images. The wheel continuously spins as the viewer looks into slits of continuous moving reflections. The symbology of images is left up to what the viewer interprets, incorporating the persistence of vision concept.

How Successful Can The Management Of Fragile Environments Be?

How successful can the management of fragile environments be, given the constant and increasing demand for their exploitation? A fragile environment is an area where the flora and fauna have adapted to a specific climate and evolved to occupy many different niches due to extremely high competition for resources. Furthermore due to the constant abiotic conditions, specialisation and symbiotic relationships have occurred to such a degree that even the slightest ecological or environmental disruption cannot be accommodated, meaning individual habitats and ecosystems can be easily destroyed.This combination of specialisation and interdependence increases the overall fragility and vulnerability of this biome Fragile environments can be exploited in different ways, and for different reasons. For example the Amazon Rainforest, an equatorial tropical rainforest biome, has been significantly exploited for its agricultural potential and natural resources; cattle ranching, soya bean and palm oi l plantations, mining and timber. The most significant consequence of these forms of exploitation is deforestation.There are many management strategies to combat deforestation, popular choices are; legislation, ecotourism, selective logging and various tree regeneration schemes. In this essay I will assess the extent to which these management schemes are successful in terms of sustainability and environmental effectiveness, in light of inevitable increasing anthropogenic pressures on tropical biomes around the world. Firstly it is important to identify how fragile environments are exploited and for what gain. If we look at the Amazon Rainforest, one of the major forms of exploitation is land for cattle ranching.Vast expanses of the rainforest are deforested to make way for grassland to rear cattle. This form of exploitation was responsible for 80% of all Amazonian deforestation in 2009, due to the ever increasing global demand for beef as a new wave of middle classes emerge from dev eloping nations with a first world diet. Large soya bean plantations run by major agricultural TNC’s like Cargill in the Amazon increase its land for plantations at rates of 1. 3 million hectares every year. Brazil is one of the world’s top producers of soya bean.The expansion of this market is driven by low transportation costs from improved infrastructure (both in and out of the Amazon) and increasing international demands for livestock feed where China is one of the main consumers, due to rapid economic growth (9% annually) and high demand from its emerging middle classes. The creation of huge mechanised soy monocultures has already been the sole cause of 21 million hectares of deforested rainforest in Brazil and 80 million hectares from the Amazon as a whole, since the early 1970’s.While these industries stated above as well as mining and logging have contributed to 240,000km2 of deforestation in the Amazon, the hunting for bush meat by native Amazonian trib es has put considerable pressure on rainforest fauna. Since the late 1990’s Brazilian Amazon local people consume between 2. 2 to 5. 4 million primates each year. This process is unsustainable as the primates reproduce at a much slower rate than they are consumed. Moreover some of these primates are endangered, meaning reproduction is inherently slower.There is often a conflict of interests between the exploitation and conservation of fragile environments. Thus in order for a fragile environment to be managed successfully a balance must be established. However, in reality this can be difficult to achieve. It is often the case that many countries depend on natural resources from fragile environments for income and trade on the global markets thus making fragile environments an integral part of their economy. This is the case with many LEDC’s, who are reluctant to stop exploiting their activities for fear it will result in economic decline and slower development.In Brazi l for example, much of the mining industry that takes place in the Amazon brought in $9 billion to the country in 2006. Moreover it can be a misunderstanding that most people, who exploit fragile environments like through mining in the Amazon, are doing so out of choice. As most locals have no other viable alternative to generate income for their families. Furthermore indigenous peoples often receive little education regarding global affairs and may not recognise the need for conservation. In addition it is rare that a single fragile environment is endemic to one country, as they often span over several territories.A good example is the Amazon rainforest which lies within Brazil, holding 60% of the forest, Peru 13%, Columbia 10% and with Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana also holding small amounts. This makes it difficult to establish a uniform strategy across the whole are, and made harder still by low funds available for conservation in many of these countries. One of the more popular forms of conservation management is conservation reserves that protect biodiversity and ensure its population lives  sustainably with their environment.One example of such a scheme is the Central Amazon Conservation complex in the Brazilian Amazon. Established in 2003, it brings together four reserves in the Amazon; Jau National Park, Anavilhanas Ecological Station, Mamiraua Reserve and Amana reserve, a total area of 49,000 km2. Sustainable development reserves have protected areas from developments that could have seriously damaged the CACC. Dams, pipelines, mines and commercial logging projects have all been prevented from entering the area.These reserves have improved biodiversity and caused a 100% increase in the black caiman population, and a 300% increase in the pirarucu fish. Economic Alternatives Programs promote sustainable activities whereby local people who make goods from the forest’s natural resources can sell directly to buye rs without going through ‘middle men’ who charge a commission. Thus ensuring a decent income, preventing any local farmers giving up land to major commercial agricultural firms, where the land is likely to be deforested and indigenous communities displaced.Overall the economics alternative program has reduced poverty, increasing household incomes by 50-99%. However this protecting such a large area can be difficult. The vastness of the area means it is majorly understaffed, thus making the control and regulation of illegal activities difficult. Only 100 volunteer guards and 150 employed members of staff are present in the Amana and Mariraua reserves – combined area of 2,490,000 hectares of land. The size of the protected areas and the number of staff available makes it is very difficult to prevent access into the reserves.In Jau National park, an area of 2,272,000 hectares, there’re only 4 permanent members of staff. Thus fish and turtle poaching remains a n unresolved problem. As populations increase around peripheral settlements, more stress is put on it to satisfy the demands of the populations, for example many towns in the heart of the rainforest suffer from intensive poaching of primates and manatees. Overall it may seem that despite efforts, and indeed success, of implementing such conservation schemes, may decrease in effectiveness following growing demand for the Amazons resources from increasing population pressure.Ecotourism is also a popular way of generating income for the local people as well as promoting conservation. It is a popular method of generating income in developing countries without billion dollar investments. Local people can act as guides or be providers of transport and accommodation – creating a source of income. The environmental low impact theme and conservation awareness can potentially bring in public and private investment. In addition it is a more environmentally friendly form of employment co mpared to other occupations such as logging and commercial agriculture.Plus if the country makes the economic transition from a manufacture to service sector economy, the government will have an indirect economic incentive to conserve the environment through promoting ecotourism. Ecotourism has already proved to be an economic, environmental and social success. For example, Costa Rica has been pumping in US$1. 6 million annually since 2000 from ecotourism, resulting in jobs for local people and 25% of its land under government protection. GNP per capita rose from $1500-$2000 between 1978 and 1992.The village of Tortuguero, Costa Rica, a satellite settlement to the Talamancan national park took a survey which indicated that 88% were highly satisfied with the multiplier effects from ecotourism in the park; such as local employment empowerment and government funding into building eco lodges on old farmland in the village; attracting tourists to spend in their local economy. However, th ere are cases where ecotourism has not benefitted the local community or the country as a whole.It is often the case that an ecotourism service is provided by an international agent, whereby revenue is repatriated overseas, away from the local community. Moreover even if the service is provided by host nation companies, the jobs can be seasonal, menial and in most cases, low paid. The influx of wealth and foreign exchange can shift political and economic conditions to make the country or area dependant on tourism as opposed to domestic economic practises. This induces a degree of instability to the industry, making it vulnerable to sudden economic change, such as the global financial crisis in 2008.This can create a lack of demand and subsequent economic decline in the area and ultimately forcing the local population into occupations that unsustainably exploit natural resources. In conclusion, it is can be said with a degree of confidence that most schemes are beneficial to an exten t. Land which is protected, conserved and managed sustainably outweighs the possible environmental damage that can occur due to poor management and lack of funding towards the scheme. Moreover it is the schemes which involve the local community that have the biggest potential to be successful.Managing the environment whereby its inhabitants are able to reap the full economic benefits of its natural resources allows; growth, development and investment into the local economy – Thus resulting in a self-sustaining operation. However, as world population is not yet set to peak until 2050, the pressure on the environment and demand for resources is only set to increase. It is also worth noting that in the light of possible changes to our global climate system in the coming decades there will be an even greater threat to the Earth’s fragile environments.With the effects of anthropogenic induced climate change causing more extreme weather, the constant abiotic factors that hav e shaped our fragile environments across the globe face a deadly, permanent change. If we are to preserve any type of fragile environment at all, it could be argued that a universal effort to reduce our carbon footprint would be the most successful long term scheme to ensure the survival of the Earth’s biodiversity.

Topic Analysis - European Financial Crises Essay

Topic Analysis - European Financial Crises - Essay Example The origin of the global financial turmoil was the collapse of the real estate bubble in the United States, mainly the sub-primes1 mortgage market, which provided access to housing finance to almost everyone even those without the necessary guarantees. The problem was further aggravated by the securitization2 of sub-primes leading a contagion in the financial system, which resulted from massive defaults on the original loans that had been securitized (Ferguson, 2012, p. 19). There was high mistrust among commercial banks in the financial systems, which led to freezing of the interbank market, severely affecting liquidity distribution and forcing institutions to bankruptcy, both because of reduced activity in the interbank market and as financial institutions continued to sell even the good quality assets in fear of the unknown, or as a consequence of increased uncertainty. In the period 2006-2007, there was increasing panic as news of bankruptcy of firms such as Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley in the USA and Dexia in Europe, continued to stream. Some of these firms were however bailed out by the governments of the USA and Europe. In 2008-2009, the financial crisis began to hit the global economy3, introducing the first recession since the times of World War II. In EU alone, GDP went down by about 4.1% while rate of unemployment4 increased by 3.9% between 2008 and 2010 (Manfred, Griesbach, and Jung, 2011, p. 292). These were firm indicators to justify that there was indeed a heating problem that needed quicker action to resolve to avoid dire consequences. This paper will attempt to explain the Euro zone financial crisis and particularly explore the hypothesis that the â€Å"European situation has the potential to become a financial â€Å"time bomb†, which could destroy the euro as a currency, send global financial markets into a tailspin and global recession†. In doing this, the paper will address the

We spend too much on education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

We spend too much on education - Essay Example Assuredly, the returns to education are currently higher than they were a few years ago. However, to acquire this education, the government is seemingly spending more when compared with the efficiency it derives. Indeed, various costs relate to the acquisition of education. Nevertheless, the amount we spend on education does not seem to correlate with the value of the resulting credentials. As such, this paper shows that we are currently spending too much on education. The federal government and the American taxpayers are already feeling the pressure of financing education in America (Whybrow, n.y). Indeed, in its quest to provide education to its citizens, the federal government using taxes subsidizes costs on research, tuition, offers student’s loans, and scholarships (McArdle, 2012). In the recent years, these costs have been increasing as seen in the country’s education budget. Indeed, the education sector currently takes one of the biggest chunks of the national budget as the federal government, the taxpayers struggle to keep up with the increasing number of students, and the costs related to education. Notably, the eminent struggle to finance education shows that the results of previous financing have no capacity to support modern education. As such, we can confirm that the federal government and the taxpayers are spending too much on education. At the same time, Americans seeking to acquire higher education at the universities and colleges are currently paying a lot of money towards this venture. Indeed, such students or their parents have to pay accommodation, library, transport, alumni donations, tuition, research, private scholarships, and other costs related to quality education (McArdle, 2012). In fact, by 2011, an average college student would spend about $ 17,000 a year while those who opt to take the government’s education loans accrue about $ 23,000 a year (The New York Times, 2011). These figures have risen in the recent past and

Buddhism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Buddhism - Essay Example cess, went into a long period of contemplative meditation, received enlightenment and from thence came to be called The Buddha or the enlightened one. He passed on the knowledge to his followers through teachings based on four major tenets. The Buddha taught the four noble truths as i) the world is full of sorrow ii) desires are the main reason for sorrow iii) sorrow can be overcome by killing desires and iv) desires can be killed by following the eight-fold righteous path (Rahula, p.45). In this way the Buddha taught us the means to overcome sorrow, lead blissful life and ultimately attain Nirvana. The principle of righteous living differentiated Buddhism from the other major contemporary religions in the Indian subcontinent viz., Hinduism and Jainism, and impresses me as the most important of the Buddha teachings. The concept of middle path or magga taught by the Buddha as the most appropriate path to overcome sorrows has relevance for everyone and all times. It negates the other two extreme paths (of seeking worldly pleasures or practicing penance) since both have failed to eliminate sorrow from life on the one hand and can not stand the test of scrutiny as the solution for humanity’s problems (Rahula, p.92). The Buddha taught us to follow the middle path by practicing the eight-fold righteous living viz., right understanding (belief), right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness (recollection), and right concentration (meditation). As Rahula mentions in his book, ‘†¦they are all linked together and should be practiced simultaneously according to a person’s capacity’ (p.46). Together they constitute the essence of ethical and moral conduct. The context for conduct arises out of one’s day-to-day life and the never ending hankering after desires. Continuity of life or existence is termed as Samsara in the Buddhist tradition (pp. 48 & 60) and Samsaracakra as the cycle of life, death and rebirth,

Organisational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example The field of organizational behavior is concerned with the study of what people do in an organization and how that behavior affects the performance of the organization. Organizational behavior is derived by incorporating various behavioral sciences like psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science and social psychology to ascertain the expectation level. (Foundations of human behavior, 2006) (i) Interpersonal Roles: which derives from the manager's position and the formal authority like leadership, liaison etc. (ii) Informational role: this is a direct result of the interpersonal roles ending up in information exchange, e.g., spokesperson, a monitor (iii)Decisional role: managers role as problem-solver, negotiator, resource allocator etc which is a derivation from the above two roles. (GRI Report, 2001:6) All these roles are important in a manager's job and are interrelated, even though some roles may be more influential than others depending upon the managerial position. For instance, sales managers may give more importance to interpersonal roles, while the production managers give more importance to decisional roles. The above facts lead to a clear picture that the organizational behavior is necessarily concatenated with the behavioral sciences. ... udying the interrelated behavioral processes, their disparity at specific situations and their interaction in the decision and communication performance within and among the organizational elements themselves. (Behavioral Science, 2006) Behavioral sciences like psychology, sociology, anthropology etc, help to focus in deriving organizational behavior theories. The current study focuses on three main topics (i) Personality, (ii) Stereotypes and (iii) Group Dynamics I. Personality and the "Trait Theory" Individuals are different in their mental and physical traits. People who form the main components of an organization thus differ both physically (age, sex, height, weight, etc), and also psychologically (intelligence, attitude, motivational level, perceptions, etc.) This belief that each human being is totally different from each other is known as "Law of individual differences". This points out to a crucial fact that the management has to treat them uniquely to get the best out of each and every one. (Robbins & Judge, 2006) A theory on personality aspect, The Trait theory suggests that people have some traits in common with each other and are also different from others in certain other aspects. The main five personality traits emerged from this theory related to job performance could be summarized as extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience. In an organizational setup the personality factors which affect its performance are the Need pattern, introversion or extroversion, tolerance for ambiguity, self esteem and self concept, Type A and Type B personalities etc. These aspects will differ from person to person and as per the managers are concerned; they need to master the tolerance for ambiguity with other

General Electrics Joint Ventures Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

General Electrics Joint Ventures - Case Study Example Furthermore, in the process of being a ‘wholly owned subsidiary’, GE can freely engage itself with strategic alliances (499, 504). Back then, one of the possible reasons why GE stayed away from joint venture agreement is the fear of losing some of its technological know-how to its business partner. For many years, GE has been accustomed of having full control over its business operations. In the process of entering into joint-venture agreement with a local automobile manufacturer in China, GE will have to be forced to share control with its business partner. Q.2 Why do you think that GE has come to prefer joint ventures in recent years? Do you think that the global economic crisis of 2008 and 2009 might have affected this preference in any way? If so, how? In recent years, GE has come to prefer joint ventures over ‘wholly owned subsidiary’. Basically, it is possible that the global economic crisis in 2008 and 2009 has something to with GE’s decision to enter into joint venture agreements. One of the common problems that most business experiences in the host country is related to the differences in political system, culture, language, and business practices (497). Because of these differences, there is a strong risk wherein foreign companies could fail to satisfy the specific needs and wants of its target customers. Eventually, this increases the risks of business failure. GE decided to enter into joint venture with the state-owned Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) in China (484). Aside from making it easier to penetrate the market of the host country, joint venture enabled GE to effectively reduce the risks of losing large sum of money in case of business failure. When it comes to huge investment on R&D, GE could share the research costs with its business partner (497). Since the local business partner is more aware of the local

Treatment Approaches Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Treatment Approaches - Essay Example ach focuses on minimizing the bad behavior initially, and with the passage of time, having complete control over that particular behavior and getting rid of it (Denning et al., 2004). It is far easier to make people realize that using seat belts while driving can prevent many damages during an accident instead of eliminating the complete auto mobile industry to overcome damages in road accidents. The harm reduction approach mainly focuses on reducing the hazardous behavior of an individual that might cause harm to him/her and to the society in general. While disease model looks upon such behaviors with a different perspective. According to disease model, people addictive to drugs or alcohol are treated as chronically diseased and can get relief either by continuing to use the addictive drugs which in turn deteriorate their health, or by practicing self-restraint to abstain the addiction once and for all (Van and Davis, 2012). Hence, the objective of both the approaches is same i.e. curing addiction, but the method of analyzing the patient and its treatment is different. Legalizing Drugs: The government should realize that the people who are addictive to alcoholism and to other drugs will not leave them even if they are forced to do so, therefore, in an organized manner, these drugs should be made available to such addictive people in specific institutes where they will not only be monitored but will also be helped in getting over their damaging behavior. Safe Drinking: An individual with drinking problems not only put themselves in harm’s way by losing control which eventually leads to hazardous accidents involving others as well. Therefore, the best solution to control and overcome such situations is to drink in presence of a company. In this way, the results of drinking on an individual as well as on his surroundings can be controlled by those present around the drinkers. Reduced Drinking: The best way to get rid of addictive habits is by taking baby steps

Conflict Management and Negotiation Critical Thinking Essay

Conflict Management and Negotiation Critical Thinking - Essay Example The essay "Conflict Management and Negotiation Critical Thinking" discovers the Negotiation Critical Thinking and Conflict Management. In the modern world, handling of conflicts constructively is one of the paramount challenges. Even with maturing humanities, technology and scientific knowledge understanding, not to mention a more educated population, damaging conflicts are still prevalent. When conflicts intensify, the parties reach impasses, and gradually end up hurting each other in the conflict progression. This may lead to psychological problems, personal relations break down and group fights. Nevertheless, even with such adverse effects, conflict management academics still hold that many conflicts are potential to integrative resolution means. As such, parties can reach a mutual satisfactory settlement if they determinedly search for it. In order to handle conflicts constructively, the conflicting parties must be willing undertake an integrative approach. Hence, they must look for evidence in relation to facts and interests. Accordingly, they should be able to creatively exploit that information to breed mutually satisfactory settlements. As a consequence, integration is a significant concept in the conflict management methodologies. It is used in relation to numerous features of the conflict management practice such as integrative potential, integrative outcome, integrative procedure and integrative purpose conduct and helps both parties to arrive at a win-win situation. Case Facts In the case at hand Peter Smith and his wife Catherine Smith became involved in contemporary art in the 1970s. Subsequently, Peter was invited to become a member of the MCA board of trustees which he agreed to and was prepared to donate more money to the $10000 the organization had earlier requested. In 1989, Peter was elected as the chairman of the board. On the other hand, Keith Schmidt was hired by the board to hold the post of executive director at the start of the same ye ar and this was because of his wide knowledge on matters related to museum management. However, these two executives were in constant conflicts mainly in regards to expansion and fund management. Peter was more conservative especially when it came to expansion while Keith was objected towards growth and he viewed Peter as a barrier. The peak of their conflict reached in November 1991 when the board chose to vote for Schmidt’s projects to rapidly expand the MCA against Peter opinion. After this eventuality, Peter and Catherine disappeared from the Chicago art community. In 1997 MCA was under the leadership of Peggy Fischer as the chairperson of the board while Schmidt was still the executive director of MCA. It came to the realization that MCA was under financial constraint since it

Managing strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words - 2

Managing strategy - Essay Example The company’s maximum revenue is earned from the domestic streaming services, which accounts for $2.75 billion of revenue generation. Netflix is dominant in the American market, which generates almost 84% of its revenue (Marketline, 2014). This paper discusses the external and internal environment of Netflix, using theoretical models like PESTLE framework, porter’s five forces, VRIN framework, Value chain model etc. This is followed by the discussion of the challenges faced by Netflix along with the vantage point which the company has leveraged. The paper further discusses about the company’s strategic growth options which have been justified in the light of relevant facts and theories. Finally the paper will conclude with the summary of the major findings from the study, followed by recommendation on the chosen strategic decisions. Political influence: Netflix operates in the movie streaming and DVD rental business, which is rarely affected by the political scenario of a region. However, the political framework can impose certain regulations and ban particular movies with controversial content. Movies with political storyline often bring controversies and are eventually banned in several countries, which affect the business of Netflix. Economic influence: The economic condition of a region highly influences the business operation of a firm. The movie steaming and rental business is highly dependent on the disposable income of the consumers. Moreover, movies are considered to be leisure products and a customer will spend on watching movies only when his disposable income is in and above satisfactory level. The economic crisis of 2012 has impacted the sales of Netflix significantly as it has reduced the number of viewership and subscriptions (Li, 2013). Moreover, the economic crisis has also led to lower number of film productions. Social:

Mix Marketing Plan Essay Example for Free

Mix Marketing Plan Essay The mix marketing plan below is for the 2009 Mitsubishi Outlander compact all wheel drive (AWD) priced under $40,000. This market plan below describes the target market and objectives that are necessary to capture the target market. Furthermore, the plan offers recommendations and some of them methods necessary to promote the Mistubishi Outlander and create awareness of its release on to the market in 2009. Also in the mix market plan is situational analysis that is broken down into four parts. The first part is the current product which describes the brand and core product which in this case is the Mistubishi Outlander. The second part discusses the factors that will affect the price of the Outlander such as competition and demand. The third aspect talks about the current distribution and method in which to distribute the Outlander. This part also talks about the intensity of distribution and the intermediaries used to distribute the Outlander and the factors that influence the distribution such as storage and transport of the Outlanders from point of manufacture to the point of sale. The fourth situational analysis aspect is the promotional theme and the elements integrated in the promotion mix. The theme is that of cross between an all wheel drive and a sports utility vehicles that is both excellent as urban cruiser as well as an off road medium sized vehicle. The recommended target market for the Outlander is mainly the medium sized family that enjoys occasional family trips out of urban localities. The age group of the consumer interested in purchasing the Mistubishi outlander will range between 25 to the 50 years of age. This demographic will most likely reside in the upper middle class suburbs of Perth. The main aim of this mix marketing plan is to make consumers familiarise themselves with the Outlander, promote the outlander to all intermediaries through workshops and seminars. Increase volume of promotional content of the Outlander through media channels such as online advertising, email promotions, radio and television advertisements. The customers are made of the Mistubishi Diamond Advantage. Situational Analysis Current Product: The Mistubishi outlander is a cross over all wheel drive (AWD) from the product line of the Mitsubishi Motor Company. The Outlander is a shopping type of consumer product that is in its Introduction stage. It is a compact AWD that can be driven in urban areas as well as off road. However, the Outlander does not have Electronic Stability control system (ESP) but does come with an expandable row making it a seven seater and a bisected rear door for easy accesses to the rear cabin space. The ESP can always be added on to the future cars by adopting the system that is used in other Mitsubishi models. Current Pricing: The current influences on the price of the Outlander include demand, competition and other external factors such as economic situation and good value pricing (Kotler et al.2007, 350). The Mistubishi Outlander is in the monopolistic market as they are many sellers offering alternatives (Pierre and Toulemonde 2009, 1347) .AWDs such as the Toyota Rav Four and Nissan Extrail. The pricing objective of the Outlander is based on the price of competitor’s model of SUVs and the mix of models of the Outlander offered by Mistubishi under $40000. Current Distribution: The outlander is distributed indirectly from the factory through intermediaries such as the dealerships. Intermediaries provide a link between the manufacturer and consumer (Ansari, Mela and Neslin 2008, 60).The dealers include organisations that specialise in Mistubishi vehicle sales and services. Distribution of the outlander is selective for easier negotiations and one tone customer interaction. Some of the factors that may affect distribution include transport and Storage of the Mistubishi outlanders from the point of manufacture to the point of sale. Current Promotion: The main objective is to get the consumers familiarise themselves with the new Mitsubishi Outlander. The theme is that of a sports utility vehicles that is both excellent as urban cruiser as well as an off road medium sized vehicle. Advertising, direct Marketing sales promotions are some of the methods used to show to the customer the sporting side as well as its ability to use as urban vehicle through events such as the Dakar Rally. Recommended Target Market The recommended target market for the Outlander is mainly the medium sized family that enjoys occasional family trips out of urban localities. The age group of the consumer interested in purchasing the Mistubishi outlander will range between 25 to the 50 years of age. The consumer will most likely come from middle class urban setting and enjoys showing off the off-road capabilities of their car while being a comfortable and stylish car to drive around town. This target market has the most potential because the outlander is an urban sports vehicle that has an extra row of seats to accommodate a total of 7 passengers as compared to its rivals on the market within the same price range. The outlander also comes with a lot more standard features as compared to its rivals on the market. Some off the unique features include interchangeable all wheel drive that can be selected at any driving speed. The outlander also has a compact third row seat that does not compromise boot space and is still accommodate two extra passengers. Recommended Marketing Objective:’ In order to keep the Mitsubishi Outlander ahead of the other brand of cross over AWDs on the market, some short term marketing strategies will have to be put in place. These include : Making the consumers familiarise themselves with the Outlander, promote the outlander to all intermediaries through workshops and seminars. Increase volume of promotional content of the Outlander through media channels such as online advertising, email promotions, radio and television advertisements. Another approach would be to promote the Outlander through competitions, sponsorships of sporting activities and discounted sales to the first few customers. Boost the appeal of the outlander by offering membership to outlander car club through the Mitsubishi Diamond Advantage as part of a package deal for the purchase of an Outlander which is a 10 year 160 000 km drive train warranty and the 5 year unlimited 130 000 km warrant plus roadside assistance. Product recommendations Since the product at hand is a motor vehicle, the product packaging will not be required however all other aspects of the product such as branding extensions will be taken into consideration. The product at focus is the Outlander which comes from the product mix of Mitsubishi motor company; it only has one product lines with a narrow width. Therefore, only the depth of the product mix can be explored to give the consumer a variety to pick from the range of Outlanders available. The Mitsubishi Outlander is offered in three models namely the LS, XLS and the optional XLS Luxury pack. The Three models offered come with different options and at a varied price range depending on the added extras. However, the base model still has a starting base price of $31,990 that is fixed depending on whether the customer chooses to add extras to the vehicle. The base model of the outlander is the Ls which comes with 2.4 litre 4 cylinder MIVEC engine, driver and passenger side airbags. The LS models also comes with All Wheel Control 4WD (AWC), air condition, cruise control, Keyless entry, power windows, a steering wheel with audio controls, Stability and traction control. The XLS model has added on features that the LS does not have such as: Continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT), INVECS Smart Logic and 6 steps Sports Mode, Paddle gear shifts, Smart Key, Bluetooth voice activated phone connectivity, chrome grill surround, 18† alloy Wheels, Reverse parking sensors, Adaptive Front Lighting system, High intensity Discharge Head Lamps (HID), Fog Lamps and Privacy Glass. The third model of the outlanders is the optional XLS Luxury pack. This model has additional feature to the XLS model. These key features include 18† 7 spoke wheels, chrome exterior highlights, electric sunroof, Rockford Fosgate premium sound system with 9 speakers, Rear entertainment system, Mitsubishi Multi Communication system (MMCS) including satellite navigation and reverse camera, automatic dusk sensing head lamps, automatic rain sensing wipers, leather seats facings, power driver seat and heated front seat. Pricing recommendations The pricing recommendations for the Mitsubishi Outlander will include the product line price, product bundle pricing and optional –product pricing. The product line price in this situation is considered because the product line width is narrow and limited to the Outlander models namely the LS, XLS and The Optional XLS model. Therefore, the pricing of the models will also be affected by what model is being sold through the intermediaries to the consumer. The purpose is to insure profit maximisation of the base model LS by mass distribution to the companies and leasing companies. With the LS having least of the features, making it the level entry model of the Outlander models. The second thing that is considered when it comes to product line pricing is the optional product line pricing. This will help increase the Mitsubishi profits from the sale optional accessories that can be added to the features of the Outlander’s base model the LS. Some of the features intended for the target market include, 18† alloy wheels, reverse parking sensors, High intensity Discharge Head Lamps (HID), Fog Lamps and Privacy Glass, electric sunroof, chrome exterior highlights, Rockford Fosgate premium sound system with 9 speakers and rear entertainment system. The perceived value of the extras is reasonable priced as all extras added on to the Outlander models come with a 5 year 130000 km warranty. The last recommendation for product line price is product bundle pricing, where the Outlander models are sold as bundles. This can be achieved when either selling the Outlanders with just the basic features at a much lower price as compared to the base models. The target market is leasing companies, private and government organisations in bulk. Furthermore, pricing adjustments can be made to increase sales such as discounts on bulk buys and end of financial year sales and further discounts for early or cash payments. The Outlander is not new to the car market, therefore the new product pricing strategy that is recommended is the market –penetrating pricing strategy to attract a large number of buyers and share market as it’s a medium quality and medium price product. Distribution recommendations The recommend method of distribution channel is using indirect channel through intermediaries such as agents, retailers and wholesalers. The intermediaries act as the third party link between the Mitsubishi and the consumers. The involvement of intermediaries allows the Mitsubishi to reach geographical dispersed groups and avoid direct investment. The Mitsubishi car company does not have to have a direct involvement with credit facilities or have local knowledge of customers. Furthermore, Mitsubishi can earn a greater return by investing in their main business rather than in direct marketing. The intermediary can deal directly with the customers at a more efficient and effective level often provide a supplier or manufacturer more returns than the manufacture can achieve on their own. This due to the amounts of contacts they have in the industry, experience, specialisation and scale of operation. Therefore, the channel of distribution is the retailer channel. That is from the manufacturer to the retailer then the consumer. The retailers sell the Outlander directly to the customers by so doing making the level of distribution intensity selective. This enables Mitsubishi deal directly with a few selected dealers that sale and provided services of goods manufactured by the Mitsubishi motor company. Channel conflict is minimised by dealing directly with intermediaries who are responsible for delivery and sale of the Outlanders. By doing so the conflict most likely to arise is between the Mitsubishi and the exclusive distributors. Promotion recommendations Before any promotional recommendations can be made in terms of promotions for the Mitsubishi Outlander, a number of things have to be considered. The major decision that has to be made includes objective setting, advertisement budget, advertising strategy and evaluation. When it comes to setting the budget, the product life cycle (PLC) has to be taken into consideration. From the introduction of the new Outlander where light advertising and pre introduction publicity to heavy advertising and awareness. This is the growth stage where brand loyalty and personal selling are greatly enforced. The maturity stage involves the decrease in sales promotion personal selling and the decline stage is where advertisements and promotions reduce with limited sales. These stages will determine the over head for the budget. The other promotional recommendation is the public relations mix and media selection through which to do the advertising. The media strategy includes selecting the media format. For example the newspaper has mass audience following and is good for targeting a specific audience via quick distribution. Magazines are mainly for segmented audience however, the information is intensive and highly visual. Television combines both sight and sound however most ads are ignored and only good when trying to build brand awareness and if there are adequate financial resources for the advertisement. However, radio has immediate delivery and good for stimulate impulse purchasing, cheap to advertise but does not have a visual impact. Last, there is outdoor advertising at the car dealership on the lawns where there is great traffic flow. Sales promotion is also another way to attract new customers to the Mistubishi Outlander. This also helps retain loyal Outlander customers and also regain past purchasers who have no longer purchase Mistubishi Outlander. This can be achieved through cash – back offers, competitions, premium offers offering more test drives of the Outlander models. Promotions can also be done through personal selling and interpersonal communication with target consumer groups. This involves two way communications between sales people and individual customers. The sales people are the link between the Mistubishi motor company and the customers and vice-versa. Another method that can be used is direct communication using electronic network tools and technologies via the internet. Telemarketing, telesales other forms of direct marketing that can be used to promote the sale of the Outlander. Other unconventional methods of promotions that can be used are: viral marketing by passing on information to others creating exponential growth in the messages response. Viral communications incurs very little expenses however there is limited control over receipt of the messages. The forms of passing information and advertising that are becoming popular blogs. Blogging is one method of creating hype for a product with no costs and also be able to facilitate communication between organisations and their stakeholders. Endorsements by celebrities via paid verbal testimonials or physical association with a brand. The upside is that advertising air time is practically free and the public is often not informed whether the celebrity is renumerated by the company. Conclusion. The above mix marketing plan is designed for the 2009 Mitsubishi Outlander all wheel drive AWDs. The mix market plan describes the target audience and recommends ways in which to capture the intended market. The plan has further recommendation on how to create awareness for the 2009 Outlander and methods of price, distribution and promotion. The mix market plan also has situational analysis that breaks down the recommended mix marketing strategy into four aspects that current product, current pricing, current distribution and the current promotion. The mix market plan also explains the chosen theme that is a cross between an all wheel drive and sports utility vehicle that is also excellent as an urban cruiser. Furthermore, there is emphasis on the outlander’s unique features for vehicles whose base price is under $40,000.

Pellet Catalyst Development using Ferroxcube Process

Pellet Catalyst Development using Ferroxcube Process Pellet catalyst development using the Ferroxcube process The pellet preparation followed the classic routine of the powder metallurgy industry (NTUA): hematite (Fe2O3) or magnetite (Fe3O4) powders were homogenized in a plasticizer and greasing environment, within a rotating pan (Figure 7). Consequently, disks were pressed in a 150 bar hydraulic press (Figure 8). NTUA used the experience of CERTH (coordinators of the HYDROSOL projects to proceed in the proper preparation of the pellets). Figure 7. Rotating panFigure 8. The 150 bar hydraulic press After the initial pelletization by the hydraulic press, the pellets were undergone sintering and reduction in a controlled atmosphere (oxygen-reduced atmosphere) oven as shown in Figure 9, in order to obtain the magnetite phase certified by XRD, as shown in Figure 10. Figure 9. The sintering oven.Figure 10. XRD response of the sintered pellet, certifying the magnetite phase The porosity of the pellet and the neck development, offering substantial mechanical properties, have been monitored by SEM, as shown in Figure 11, as well as by the classic pressurizing methods. This way, the magnetite pellets have been stabilized in mechanical, electric and magnetic properties, offering mechanical robustness and electric resistivity below 10 Ohm or 3 à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ­Ohm.m (non-used pellet). Furthermore, an advanced manufacturing process has been proposed by the SUN Unit to the above-mentioned industrial technique. During sintering and reduction process, magnetic field can be added externally to the sintering and reducing ovens to magnetically orient the magnetite dipoles in the desired direction, allowing for advanced Lorentz force control. 2.2. A thin-film catalyst We have conceived and developed a thin film device for the hydrogen production which can be integrated in an automated system. The device can also be used for the reduction and oxidation process in oxide semiconducting films supported by metal substrates-wafers, even if they do not exhibit coherent magnetic order. The method is based on the Lorentz forces acted on the reducing oxidizing conducting electrons in the said oxide semiconducting films. Hence, this device can trap oxygen and hydroxyl from transmitted water, thus producing hydrogen. This such reduction and oxidation process in open air, as well as controlled atmosphere conditions. A particular application, useful for the HELENIC REF project refers to the three-layer depicted in Figure 15. The upper layer consists of a magnetite film not thicker than 500 nm, an insulating thin film supporting the magnetite film, not thicker than 500 nm and finally a metallic wafer made of Al or other metal, supporting the insulating and the magnetite thin film. Figure 15. Schematic of the catalyst Possible manufacturing methods include electrodeposition, physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition as well as lithography and masking methods for the generation of electric contacts on the upper thin film. Concerning Fe3O4 (magnetite) film, a preferable but not obligatory condition is to be able to provide magnetic order in all grains of the ferrimagnetic cells of the oxide. This is achieved by magnetic field during deposition or by post-processing magnetic field annealing with subsequent field cooling. The desired properties of the Fe3O4 (magnetite) film are indicatively as follows: Structure of the magnetite phase, which can be certified by X-ray powder diffraction Multi-grained microstructure with small necks between grains, monitored by Electron Microscopy Resistivity below 10 kOhm, indicative of semiconducting phase Magnetic order, observed by monitoring the magnetic hysteresis loop Mechanical robustness observed by hardness and wear measurement Applying electric current through the metallic support of the film results in magnetic field parallel to the surface of the film and vertical to the applied electric current. The amplitude of this field is: Where I is the applied electric current and a the thickness of the film. If the thickness a (sum of the magnetite film and the insulating thin film) are less than 1 à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ­m and the current I is C Amperes, then the applied field is: Thus, the applied field is controllable by the applied electric current through the metallic support. This current can easily be in the order of one Amperes in dc mode or several tens of Amperes in pulsed mode, if the thickness of the metallic support is in the order of 100 à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ­m, thus allowing the transmission of magnetic field larger than 1 T in the vicinity of the oxide semiconducting film. Therefore, passing electric current through metallic support, one can simulate the magnetic field vertical to the direction of electric current passing through the magnetite thin film. The directions of these two electric currents characterizes the direction of the Lorentz force on the conducting electrons of the magnetite film. Parallel currents result in forcing the electrons towards the insulating thin film, while anti-parallel currents force them towards the surface of the magnetite film. These two different directions of Lorentz forces have a different effect on the operation of the magnetite thin film, acting as catalyst for the production of hydrogen. Passing electric current along the magnetite film, independent on the electric current passing through the metallic substrate of the magnetite film, (i.e. from another source), along the same direction of the current transmitted to the metallic substrate, results in a Lorentz force acting on the charge carriers (electrons) moving them from the surface towards the insulating thin film. Thus, the surface of the magnetite film becomes activated, in other words is reduced due to the removal of the mentioned Lorentz electrons. Activation is the generation of electron vacancies, offering the generation of new oxygen vacancies (excess of oxygen vacancies). Thus, the resistivity drops, and the applied voltage results in higher current, which increases the local temperature to 280 320C. Such temperature increase is observable by any kind of pyrometer. The temperature increase is dependent on the combination of the electric current passing through the oxide semiconducting film and the magnetic field transmitted to it due to the electric current passing through the metallic support. The effect is reversible and un-hysteretic: increase or decrease of the amplitude of I x H product, where I is the applied current on the oxide film and H the field resulting from the current on the metallic substrate, results in un-hysteretic and reversible increase or decrease of the temperature and reduction of the oxide film respectively. Such activation can be maintained even in open air: the competition between the Lorentz electrons based reduction and the free air oxidation finally results in oxidation which can also be macroscopically observed by the decrease of the activated (reduced) area on the free surface of the film. Having limited the current passing through the metallic support may result in activation (reduction) shrinkage. In this case, increasing the current transmitted to the metallic substrate before the radiation disappears, or before oxygen vacancy excess disappears, the oxygen vacancy excess is rejuvenated. Such rejuvenation is completely reversible by using the magnetic field produced by the current passing through the metallic support (in the order of 1 T). After complete oxidation (phase transformation of all the Fe3O4 film to Fe2O3) such oxygen vacancy excess and consequent reduction of the compound is impossible with magnetic fields of this order. The reduction and oxidation process can be monitored by measuring the surface resistivity of the magnetite film. Such resistivity depicts the increase or decrease of oxygen vacancies on the surface and consequently the bulk of the oxide pellet. Increase and decrease of this resistivity is equivalent to the oxidation and reduction of the resistivity of the surface respectively. This effect is observable in all types of oxide semiconducting films even in the absence of coherent magnetic order in them. To be able to observe this effect in oxide semiconducting films, they should be in a continuous solid state form, exhibiting even a small electric conductivity, and provided that magnetic field and electric current of proper waveform and amplitude are simultaneously applied on the semiconducting oxide film and the conducting (metallic) support. Such reduction mechanism can be used in the reduction of compounds passing on or through the film surface. Our focus is the reduction of pure vapor water to H2, by means of trapping the oxygen or the hydroxyl of the water molecule to the reduced (or activated) magnetite. Such oxidation with consequent hydrogen production can be reversed back to oxide reduction (activation) by means of stopping the water vapor transmission. This way, the two electric currents will reduce (activate) again the surface of the oxide film, provided that no water vapors are transmitted to the pellet surface or body. A certain application of such effect is the use of the said pair of Fe3O4 (magnetite) film with its metallic support for the production of hydrogen and oxygen from water vapors, using the following algorithm: Independent electric currents pass through the metallic support and the oxide semiconducting film in the same direction. Thus, the surface of the oxide semiconducting film is reduced (activated). Then, water vapor is transmitted on the surface of the oxide semiconducting film, resulting in oxygen trapping, hydrogen production and oxidation of the surface of the oxide semiconducting film. As soon as the resistance of the surface of the oxide semiconducting film exceeds a certain threshold, indicating reach to a critical level of oxide film surface reduction, the water vapor transmission is stopped. Thus, the oxide film surface is re-activated, followed by consequent oxygen release, until the resistance of the oxide film surface reaches a minimum threshold, indicating proper reduction (activation), which is proper for oxygen trapping. Then, water vapor is re-transmitted to the re-activated oxide film surface for hydrogen production. The production of hydrogen and oxygen is followed by an automatic storage of these two gases in different chambers to be used for any scope, like thermal combustion or fuel cell operation or other purpose. Development of the thin film catalysts The Dynamic Hydrogen Bubble Template (DHBT) is an excellent method for the fabrication of macrostructures with nanoporous side walls. The method has been named from the phenomena when a series of hydrogen-bubbles generated on the surface of the substrae act like a dynamic negative template. Figure 1 demonstrates the theoretical approach of the technique. Figure 1(a) illustrates the hydrogen-evolution taking place on the surface there is no metal/metal-oxide deposition. The size of the bubbles increasing along the distance from the substrate surface. Fig 1(b) shows the SEM-image of copper nanofoams prepared by DHBT. Figure 1. (a) Simplified description of DHBT generated metal/metal-based foams; (b) Honeycomb-like Cu-deposit structure made by DHBT. The electrochemical deposition procedure of the development of the catalyst is divided in two main parts. At first preliminary experiments on deposition of magnetite film were carried out in order to determine the orders of amplitude of the different involved parameters (current density, geometry etc.). , the electrochemical deposition of iron-oxide films was carried out as a preliminary approach. Based on the results of the characterization, the parameters of the deposition were varied in a high range in order to obtain 3D-structured porous nanofoams. The films were electrodeposited onto copper substrates (purity: 99.5%). The substrates were mechanically polished with 800 and 2000 emery papers, respectively. Henceforward, the polished substrates were ultrasonically cleaned in deionized water, ethanol and acetone, respectively. The 2 cm2 active surface area of the substrate was ensured by commercial nail-polish and insulating tape. The galvanostatic deposition was carried out in a two-electrode cell using a DC Power Supply. Platinum-mesh was used as counter electrode. Two different arrangement of the working electrode have been tested as shown in Figure 2. The electrolytic bath was a strongly alkaline solution with pH 12.5 made of 0.037 M Fe2(SO4)3.x H2O, 0.1 M triethanolamine (TEA) and 2 M NaOH. After mixing the components at T = 80 à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C the solution had greyish-green color and no turbidity was observed. The parameters of the deposition process were varied in the terms of current density, bath temperature and deposition time. The range of cathodic current density was chosen j = 5-15 mA.cm-2, the depostion time was given from 5 min to 6 hours and the bath temperature was adjusted T = 60-90 à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C. The nominal thicknesses of the prepared structures were calculated by using the Faraday-law. The surface morphology of the deposited film-layers were studied by scanning electron microscope (Nova NanoSEM 230) and the crystallographic characterization was determined by X-ray diffraction (Bruker D8 Advance, Cu radiation-40kV, 35mA). Figure 16. a) copper triangle used as working electrode (W) by turning the active surface towards the surface of the electrolyte b) copper-plate (W) used as working electrode by immersing it totally and by turning the active surface towards the counter electrode (C). Concerning the development of 3D-structured porous films, the substrate deposition was not changed (Cu-foil, purity: 99.5%). SiC polishing papers were used in grade of 800, 1500, 2500 and 4000, respectively as a surface pre-treatment. All the pre-treated samples were ultrasonically cleaned in deionized water, ethanol and acetone, respectively. In that case, the active surface area of the substrates was reduced to 0.5 cm-2 and fixed with nail-polish and insulating tape. The galvanostatic deposition was carried out in a two electrode cell using a BioLogic SP 300 potentiostat. Platinum-wire was used as counter electrode. Concerning the result of the film-deposition the arrangement of the working electrode was set in vertical position. The electrolytic bath, concentrations and its properties were the same as described above. The cathodic current density was varied in the range ofj = 0.075-1 A.cm-2, the depostion time was changed between 30 sec to 180 s and the bath temperature was adjusted T = 90 à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C. Similar films have also been developed by using sputtering deposition and electron-gun aided deposition (Figure 17). Apart from the electrolytic method, thin magnetite films were also deposited onto insulating films by usign spuutering and electron gun physical evaporation at the NTUA. However, the obtained results on the porosity of the magnetite films are not comparable with the DHBT method and therefore they are not demonstratable at their current stage. Nevertheless, experiments are under way to obtain PVD films of the quality observed in the electrodeposited films. Characterization of catalysts Structural analysis The catalyst pellets were prepared by a proprietary process from Fe3O4 powders. IP SAS used Fe3O4 powder with declared purity better than 99% and nominal grain size of 2-4um supplied by chemicalstore.com, product code FE3O4M1. The phase composition determined by XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) is shown in Figure 38. Minor traces of Hematite can be observed at 32.8 ° 2Theta for the sample produced at IP SAS. Figure 38. XRD patterns from pellets prepared by SUN (red) and IP SAS (blue). Marked constituent phases are Magnetite (blue lines) and Hematite (black lines) A typical XRD response in the bulk SUN pellets and in bulk CERTH pellets is illustrated in Figure 1, demonstrating exclusive magnetite presence. Figure 1. XRD response of bulk pellets from SUN (left) and CERTH (right) illustrating exclusive presence of magnetite Phase transformations were studied by the means of in-situ XRD presented in Figure 41. Samples were mortar milled to obtain a fine powder that could be spread on the sample holder of the furnace. Milling force was kept minimal to preserve the structure of the pellet parts. Linear heating with indicated rate was used to obtain well-defined diffraction maxima with respect to the signal to noise ratio. Diffractometer was configured for parallel beam illumination with a secondary LiF monochromator to supress fluorescence from the Fe containing pellets. Formerly purely magnetite pellets are transforming to hematite in the vicinity of 300 °C. After the transformation no other phase change was observed. Pellets supplied by SUN exibit the transformation at higher temparature than the pellets prepared at IP SAS. This can be atributed to the smaller size of the Fe3O4 crystallites in the SUN pellets. Detailed pattern examination is shown in Figure 42. The studied powdered pellets exhibit only presence of magnetite and hematite respectively. Diffraction maxima at 26 ° 2Theta corresponds to SiO2 present as a thin layer grown on the non-reflective Si sample holder. Figure 41. In-situ XRD patterns of catalysts in air atmosphere with indicated heating rate Figure 42. In-situ XRD patterns of annealed catalyst pellets at indicated temperatures. Marked constituent phases Magnetite (blue lines) and Hematite (black lines).Catalyst prepared at SUN left, IP SAS right. Crystallographic study of the iron-oxide thin films samples was also realized. Figure 4 represents the identification of the observed peaks. Figure 4(a) shows the results of sample prepared in 3300 s in 70 à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C bath with -5 mA.cm-2 current density. Grazing incidence XRD patterns of this sample indicate the presence of magnetite (blue lines) and copper substrate (green lines). Grazing angle was 2 (red curve) and 6 degrees (blue curve), respectively. In Figure 4(b) the results of sample with same conditions as in Figure 4(a) can be seen, but in this case the current density was -9 mA.cm-2. Here, grazing incidence XRD patterns indicate iron (grey lines) and copper (green lines). Grazing angle was 2 (red curve) and 6 degrees (blue curve), respectively. Figure 4(c/1) and (c/2) show the results of XRD taken from the same sample with deposition conditions of 2 hours deposition time in 85 à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C bath and -12.5 mA.cm-2 current density. Figure 4. X-ray diffractograms of the iron-oxide electrodeposited samples prepared under different conditions. a, Άt=3300 s,T = 70  °C, j= -5 mA cm-2; b, Άt=3300 s, T= 70 °C, j= -9 mA cm-2; c/1, Άt=7200 s, T= 85 °C, j = -12.5 mA cm-2; c/2, powder scratched from the surface of sample c/1 In Figure 4(c/1) the grazing incidence XRD patterns were done on the sample with the substrate. Clear evidence of magnetite (blue lines), iron (grey lines) and copper as substrate (green lines). Grazing angle was 2 (red curve) and 6 degrees (blue curve), respectively. Figure 4(c/2) demonstrates grazing incidence XRD pattern of loose powder from the same sample as (c/1). Only magnetite phase (blue lines) is detected. Grazing angle was 2 degrees. The XRD results show clear evidence of magnetite if the current density does not exceed 8 mA.cm-2 cathodic current density (see Figures 4(a) and (b). Apart from that, XPS studies have also been performed after the check meeting. For integration reasons, they are demonstrated only in the Milestone 1 document. Microstructural analysis Morphology of pellets after preparation was studied by the means of SEM (scanning electron microscopy) shown in Fig. 39. The particle size is larger for the catalyst prepared by SUN. The particle size of sample prepared at IP SAS is in good agreement with the manufacturer specification and is rather homogenous in size distribution. Sample prepared at SUN is exhibiting a different size distribution ranging from very fine sub-micron particles up to particles with size increasing 50um shown in Fig. 39 and 40. As can be seen the porosity of the prepared pellets is higher for the pellet prepared at IP SAS. The grid shown in Fig. 40 is protecting the sample from being destroyed by the magnetic field in the microscope and thus contaminating the microscope system by fine magnetic dust in the pole-piece, lens and detector system. It is worth to mention that the particle size is not directly explaining the diffraction maxima broadening shown in inset in Fig. 38. This is due to the fact that the diffraction domain size is rather different than the grain size of a particle. We can surely state that the diffraction domain size is smaller in the pellet prepared at SUN rather than at IP SAS despite the observed grain-size distribution. Figure 39. SEM micrographs of catalysts prepared by SUN (left) and IP SAS (right) Figure 40. Low magnification micrographs of catalyst prepared by SUN (left) and IP SAS (right) Micrographs from the CERTH pellets (Figure 41) illustrate a clear evidence of necks, responsible for the significant reduction of temperature. Figure 41. Micrographs of the CERTH pellets, illustrating the presence of micro-necks, responsible for the improvement of the electric and mechanical properties Concerning the thin film catalysts, SEM analysis was performed. Figure 3 demonstrates 4 different SEM-images of the prepared samples. Fig 3(a) was taken on a sample prepared in 300 s deposition period in 60 °C bath with -7.5 mA cm-2 current density, and the nominal thickness was 2.24 ÃŽÂ ¼m. In Fig 3(b) can be seen the morphology of the sample prepared in 300 s at 70 °C with-5 mA cm-2 current densitywith nominal thickness of 23.55 ÃŽÂ ¼m. Fig 3(c) shows the SEM-result of the sample deposited with the same bath temperature and current density as 3(b) but extended deposition time: Άt = 900 s (dn = 30.28 ÃŽÂ ¼m). Fig 3(d) represents the SEM-image of the sample prepared in the highest bath temperature 90 °C with 5 min deposition time, -7.5 mA cm-2 current density (dn = 4.42 ÃŽÂ ¼m). The SEM-images clearly show the structural changes by increasing the bath-temperature. Filamentous deposit structure has been observed at 90 à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C. Due to the galvanostatic deposition mode the potential values have been not recorded. For better understanding of the structural formations potentiostatic deposition mode should be done. Figure 3. SEM-images of the electrodeposited iron-oxide samples with different deposition parameters (a) Άt=300 s,T= 60 °C, j= -7.5 mA cm-2 at 30000X magnification (b) Άt=300 s, T= 70 °C, j = -5 mA cm-2 at 15 000X magnification(c) Άt=900 s, T= 70 °C, j= -5 mA cm-2at 10000X magnification (d) Άt=300 s, T= 90 °C, j= -7.5 mA cm-2 at 10000X magnification. Concerning nano-foam, due to the fact that the experiments were done in the close past the characterization of the prepared nanostructures was done only by scanning electron microscope. Figure 5 demonstrates the first promising results of the electrochemical deposition of iron-based 3D structures by using hydrogen generation on the surface as a negative template. Such a structure was a result of applying -0.375 A.cm-2 and more negative current density, namely -1 A.cm-2 with different depositing times. Fig 5(a) to Fig 5 (c) represents a possible building process of the 3D networks with pore size range in 2-6 ÃŽÂ ¼m. Other type of deposit can be observed at Fig 5(d) to Fig 5(e) with numerous dendrites along the pore-sides by using current density -0.375 A.cm-2 with different deposition times. The formation of porous layer is not so obvious like in the previous case, but the size of pores are close in the same range than the pores formed at -1 A.cm-2.

Communication Strategies Used By Vietnamese Students Cultural Studies Essay

Communication Strategies Used By Vietnamese Students Cultural Studies Essay In Vietnam, English is now the most popular foreign language and anyone who would like to integrate themslves into the global society and access the worlds knowlege to be sucessful in life is aware that English competence is one the most important characteristics they need to have. English is seen every where in education, business, entertainment and cultural exchanges. Therefore, English is becoming the main communication language in the country. In light of sociolinguistics development, linguistic researchers have been paying more and more attention to the importance of communication in its social context. The social factors in communication competence have been recognized and studied. These have impacted strongly on teaching and learning the language. English learning is changing basically and positively. Learners of English do not learn English for the sake of learning itself by treating grammatical knowledge primarily and separately but in the belief that it is more important to communicate effectively in the language by sending and receiving messages, creating meaning and negotiating meaning. These lead to the tendency toward which communication competence has recently been enjoying learners great popularity. However, the effectiveness of communication in the target language is still both learners and teachers deepest concern since learners who have already spent significant periods of time on learning the language to co mmunicate as the main goal of their learning but then most of them encounter too many difficulties in communicating in the language. The learning context In Petrovietnam Manpower Training College, where I am working as a teacher of English, students, the subjects of the research, are engineers and graduates who are recruited to work in Petrovietnams projects and plants taking a special training course. They have graduated university with nearly equivalent English language education but have different English proficiency and like almost Vietnamese students, they have been trying to learn English in purpose of communication but find difficult to communicate in the language. At the college, English is taught as one of the main subjects to equip the students with the language that they would need to perform their job. English speaking is attached special importance to and students are expected to be good at communication in all circumstances after finishing the course. To serve these purposes, communicative language teaching Approach (CLT) is applied in teaching these students so that they can particularly improve their communicative skil ls. The rationales and purpose of the research. Communication is interactive. So in pre-intermediate speaking class, students are usually given topics to discuss in groups with the assistant of their teacher before presenting their ideas to the class. These activities aim to get students involved in interpersonal communication or interaction to compensate their lack of practice in the EFL environment. These tasks require the students big effort in trying to understand the others and getting themselves understood using any means at their learning stage. According to my observation, in most situations, students at this level of English proficiency appear to struggle with expressing their thoughts because of their deficiency in linguistic proficiency, general knowledge of the given topics or confidence in using the language. Some of them exert themselves to the utmost to reach their communicative goals by unconsciously or consciously using different strategies to solve their particular communication problems and relatively confident in completing the given task meanwhile the others just keep silent because they do not know what to do to deal with the problems they have during the conversation and they fail to keep most of the conversations going on as they want to. So the purpose of this study is to identify the common communication strategies used by the students to enhance efficiency of communication when they deal with the task of group discussion and the communication strategy use of students of different English proficiency. The research questions. The study is conducted to find out the answers to the following questions: What types of communication strategies are used by Vietnamese students in English speaking class to compensate for their breakdowns in communication and to enhance communicative effectiveness in small group discussion? Do students of different English proficiency employ communication strategies differently? Definitions of key terms. The term communication strategies is simply understand as methods or techniques that language users use to help themselves overcome problems occuring during communication to achieve communicative competence LITERATURE REVIEW Communicative competence The main goal of any language learners is to achieve communicative competence to get the best communication proficiency. According to Canale and Swain (1980), to attain communicative competence, learners need to gain the following perfect knowledge: Grammatical competence which is related to the language knowledge (words and grammar rules) itself. Sociolinguistic competence which is concerned to the ability to use and to interpret the utterances appropriately in different sociolinguistic communication situations. Discourse competence is the ability to combine grammatical forms and meanings to achieve a unified spoken or written text Strategic competence is the ability of using verbal and non-verbal communication strategies to compensate for breakdowns in communication due to limiting conditions in actual communication or to insufficient competence in one or more of the other areas of communicative competence and to enhance the effectiveness of communication Among the four components that make up communicative competence, strategic competence is likely relating to EFL learners most because of the problems they commonly run into in communication and the communication strategies they usually employ to solve the problems. These strategies are considered extremely important in negotiating meaning where either linguistic structures or sociolinguistic rules are not shared between a second language learner and a speaker of the target language (OMalley Chamot, 1990, p.43). Canale Swain (1980) once confirm that good strategic competence can help leanres with limiting L2 skills evade communication breakdowns. Communication strategies Many researchers have conducted research or studies on communication strategies so far. Consequently, each of them in their own view states different definitions and classifications of communication strategies. Definitions of communication strategies What happens if interlocutors do not understand each other because of their limited language resources? Can they keep their conversation going on when they can not make themselves understood? Cohen (1990, p.56) believes that a major trait of successful speakers is that they use strategies to keep the conversation going on. They use communication strategies. Tarone (1980, p. 419) describes communication strategy as a mutual attempt of two interlocutors to agree on meaning in situations where requisite meaning structures are not shared. Communication strategies, to Tarones interactional view, are socially-motivated strategies which are used by more than one interlocutors to solve the problems of mutual lack of understanding by negotiating meanings. A communication strategy is simply defined by Corder (1977 as cited in Bialystok, 1990) as a systematic technique employed by a speaker to express his meaning when faced with some difficulty. According to Faerch and Kasper (1983 as cited in Bialystok, 1990) communication strategies are potentially conscious plans for solving what to an individual presents itself as a problem in reaching a particular communicative goal. More relating to forms of discourse, communication strategies in this definition are psychologically-motivated strategies which are related to mental plans of each interlocutor implemented in response to the problems of expression. Different authors define communication strategies differently. However , most of the definitions show the purpose of communication strategies which is to deal with the problems that the language users face up to when communicating by employing appropriate techniques. Classifications of Communication strategies. In the research on communication strategies, Dornyei, Faerch and Kasper and Tarone introduced their own classifications of communication strategies and their classifications. Dornyei (1995 as cited in Brown, 2000) shows two branches of strategies: negative and positive. Avoidence strategies (negative): topic avoidance and message abandonment Compensatory strategies (positive): circumlocution, approximation,use of all purpose words, word coinage, prefabricated patterns, non-linguistic signal, literal translation, foreignizing, code switch, appeal for help, stalling or time-gaining strategies. Faerch and Kasper (1983) classify communication strategies in to two main categories with their subcategories: Avoidance behavior reduction strategies: Formal reduction: phonological, morphological  , syntactic and lexical. Function reduction: reduction of speech art modality, reduction of propositional context Achievement behavior compensatory strategies. Code switching Interlingual transfer: generalization, paraphrasing, word coinage, restructuring. Cooperative strategies Non-linguistic strategies However, Tarones typology of conscious communication strategies (1977 as cited in Bialystok, 1990) seems to be simpler. Tarone classifies communication strategies into the following categories: Avoidance: topic avoidance and message abandonment Paraphrase: approximation, word coinage, circumlocution. Conscious transfer: literal translation, language switch Appeal for assistance Mime: Prior research found that all language users used communication strategies consciously or unconsciously. Bialystok observes that communication strategies should be classified according to different cognitive processes and should be seen as a process of language use. I agrees with her at this point because of the fact that as language users, we all know that communication breakdowns may occur with anyone at any time during a conversation and when these problems happen, we all try some ways to get out of the trouble by using some techniques called communication strategies. Besides, Bialystok insists that communicative strategies are used by language user in both L1 and L2, in this view, communicative strategies only reflect the way in which the language processing system extends and adapts to the demands of communication (Lee, 2004). In fact, the communication strategy use occurs during communicating consciously or unconsciously. However, learning and using a language are activities related to cognitive processes so when language learners use the language and the breakdowns come, they are aware of what situation they are in and consciously think of an escape by employing different negative or positive strategies solve the problems like avoiding talking about the topic or concept that they do not know much, leaving the utterance unfinished, using many words to describe , creating new word or switch to their mother tongue when they cannot find the right words to use and et ceteras. So, what exactly do learners do in each communication strategy? In this paper, I would like to focus on the simpler classification, Tarones typology of conscious communication strategies but in comparison with the other two of Dornyei and Faerch and Kasper . Avoidance strategies Both Dornyei and Tarone define avoidance strategies in the same way by mainly referring to two substrategies: Message abandonment strategy which is used by learners when they encounters language difficulties. To deal with these unpleasant situations, learners tend to leave their utterance unfinished. Topic avoidance is another strategy learners use when they lack of or forget necessary linguistic knowledge to express their thoughts on the topic. Their language difficulties may related to vocabulary or grammar rules that they do not know or remember. To overcome them, learners keep way from talking about the topic. In my experience of teaching, students of very low proficiency usually use these strategies because of their serious deficiency for the target language instead of using the strategies called compensatory strategies in Dornyeis or Faerch and Kaspers classifications or paraphrase and conscious transfer strategies as Tarone mentions in her typology of conscious communication strategies. Paraphrase Including circumlocution, word coinage and approximation which Faerch and Kasper suggest can promote learning as well Circumlocution strategy Bialystok argues that circumlocution strategy in fact is paraphrasing strategy. In terms of linguistic, the conception of the two strategies are very similar. Both strategies help learners make good use of simpler language or structures they have at their learning stage to convey their thoughts that need more complicated vocabulary and grammar rules to express. Dornyei states that circumlocution is the strategy used by learners when they want to describe something that cannot find the exact word or phrase to use by paraphrasing it. Doing so, they use more words to describe a word in the hope that the listeners can get what they mean by themselves. Approximation strategy Dornyei and Taroneideas meet each other when they name the strategy approximation which Tiono and Sylvia (2004) found to be used the most by students with low communication apprehension and high proficiency in speaking class in Petra Christian University in Surabaya, Indonesia to compensate their failure in retrieving the lexical items they have learned or their deficiency in vocabulary when they are asked to retell a pictorial stories. In the strategy, learners appear to be confident and willing to make mistakes by using an alternative or similar lexical term which they know that is not correct to illustrate the meaning of another word or phrase they aim to refer to. By doing this learners try to make themselves understood by using their limiting vocabulary. Word coinage is another compensatory strategy that learners use when they lack of vocabulary. In this strategy they make up a target language word which is based on the morphological rules that they know well. For example: they know well that worker is a person who works so they create cooker (a person who cooks) from the verb cook. Conscious transfer strategies Literal translation strategy is usually used when the language users share their first language or background. Learners translate a word or an idiom or even a structure from their first language into that of the target language. In my learning context, learners use literal translation mostly when they have difficulties with finding correct collocations for a word. In this case they tend to translate word for word from another language. For example: deep coffee ( which is not stated in dictionary) for strong coffee. However, relating to translating a structure from learners first language, Faerch and Kasper name the strategy Restructuring in which learners reformulate the syntax of their utterance. Language switch strategy or code switch or code switching by Dornyei or Faerch and Kasper In this strategy, learners use lexical terms or sentences from their first language when they cannot find the appropriate ones in the target language to express their thoughts (They insert some words or phrases from their first language). The strategy is also often employed by first language or background shared learners. This strategies may be expected to use the most by the subjects of this study for all of them are Vietnamese and in reality, it is also easy to see this in any of the English class in Vietnam. Appeal for assistance Explicit request is the strategy where learners ask for help from the other people like more advanced learners or teacher by saying How do you sayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.? or What is this calledà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.?. Referring to dictionary strategy is made use by learners when they need the correct words or structures Mine or Non-verbal communicative strategy also what Dornyei calls non-linguistic signal or Non-linguistic strategy by Faerch and Kasper. In this strategy, learners use non-verbal language like gestures, facial expression or even imitating sounds to express meanings. Mine and message abandonment seem to be coi in Faerch and Kasper in terms of learning. They think that these two strategies cannot help learners with their learning. But as a teacher I share Tarones opinion that in some extent, by using these two strategies, the speaker can get help from the listener to find the appropriate or correct word or structure to express what he or she wants to say. In both teaching and learning context, mine and message abandonment can be positive signals from the learners to interact with their teacher so that they can be taught event while communicating. The review of related studies Many studies and research have been done so far on communication strategies and their findings showed that almost every strategy were used by learners. However what strategies employed were contingent a lot on the task given because different problems would arise depending on different types of task, one -way task or two- way one (Mei Nathalang, 2010). So that the task requires learners different effort and strategies to solve the problems. It is easy to understand this because less interactive activities exist in one -way task like story telling while two- way task like role playing or discussing includes mostly interaction. To deal with one-way task, learners tend to use paraphrase, restructuring and message abandonment since these strategies helps them to make clear the meanings as they try to ensure the listeners comprehension. Whereas to deal with interactive task like doing role play or discussing, learners need to make special effort to negotiate to get communication goals so they cannot simply employ avoidance strategies if they still want their conversation to continue and reach a mutual agreement on what they exactly mean. This agrees with the finding of Dobao Martinezs study of Negotiating Meaning in Interaction between English and Spanish Speakers via Communicative Strategies. The finding revealed that in interaction, when linguistic problems arose, intermediate or advanced EFL learners and their interlocut ors (who were English native speakers or other EFL learners of their level) worked together to find solution by coordinating their use of CS, negotiating meanings to reach a mutual agreement on the learners originally intended meaning. Prior research also showed that the numbers of strategies used by learners were not influenced by their target language proficiency (Ting Phan, 2008). However, concerning to only the numbers of strategies used by learners is not enough in terms of language teaching and learning. Fortunately, the result found in Kwoks study of communication strategies used by Hong kong students in small group discussion (1987) revealed that students were able to make good use of different communication strategies in discussion to make their communication more effective. Moreover, the result also showed that the more the students mastered the communication strategies, the much better they could do in small group discussion. Althought Bialystok believes that we should teach learners language rather than strategy but as a teacher I do argue in favour of implication about teaching strategies to learners from studies of Manchà ³n (1999) and Faucette (2001). In my learning context, the class with both high and low proficiency learners is common. So it is not difficult to recognize types of strategies that different learners use when the language problems arise and the effectiveness of strategy use that the learners achieve in communication thought what is seen in the learning context can be subjectively observed and assessed. So, the study is hopefully an opportunity to confirm the phenomenon through its findings. SHORT CONCLUSION The fact is that learners can frequently run into communication difficulties because of varied reasons related to language problems and all of them find some ways to escape from the trouble they got in. Those ways are called communication strategies. Looking back at the studies and research that have been done on communication strategies so far, some significant pedagogic implication have been recognized. That is communication strategy use can promote learners communicative competence or the confirmation that employing appropriate strategies can enhance communication effectiveness and communication strategy use is teachable. So, what types of communication strategies that can help learners increase communication efficacy should be considered mainly in this paper in the hope that more useful pedagogic implication closely involved English teaching will be found as reference for language teachers to deal better with their job as well as to help their students improve their learning.